Valentines and lots more of February

Though that moment of order, when I felt like I might be getting into a manageable routine (see jan post), FLEW quickly AWAY, February has had a lot of fun:

Emily was in the North Davis District Spelling Bee. We sat with a family in our ward, whose son, Bridger had also advanced. She was happy and great, and though bummed to get out in the 2^nd round on “Cinnamon” of all things, she remained happy for the experience and was amazing to stay as cool and collected as she did! (as a note, we spent so much time studying the EXTRA words that eliminated her in the school spelling bee, that we didn't review the original 200 words as much, which cinnamon was—as it turns out they skipped right over those extra words, and just went off the list after she got out!--ah well!). She has since been named the fastest keyboarder in 4^th grade, so will get to compete(?) in that as well. We're also sure she's due to get an AR points award for the school, as EVERYONE knows how much she LOVES reading, and has packed in the pages this year. That was one comfort of the end of the spelling bee, “At least now I don't have to decide between reading and studying spelling words, and can just go back to reading!” She is one motivated child! (we're all glad someone in the family has the energy!)

 

Brian felt awful about missing the spelling bee, so I tried taping bits of it as we went along, and he texted us encouragement from the City Zoning mtg he was attending. He decided to apply for a vacated City Council position that will be appointed this Tuesday. There is a lot going on in our city right now, and he is very good at sorting through all of the information and stating his opinions in clear ways. He's been encouraged by quite a few to apply, and volleys between being enthused or overwhelmed at the prospect. We've been over at the city bldgs every Tuesday the last month or so, either listening to or commenting on decisions to be made. We had Amanda's family over, and her husband, who is part of an engineering firm does a lot of work w/ smaller cities like ours in the area, was really informative. Keeps life interesting!

We had a sweet Valentine's Day—heart shaped pancakes, heart clothes and haridos, cards around, lots of valentine making, and heartshaped bbq pizza w/ strawberry spinach salad and brownie strawberry bites! Brian was SO excited to find and order a little (and so cheap we had to try it!) raclette for Valentine's Day.  Our Madsen friends introduced us to this Alpine Chalet fondu-ish like treat w/ roasted potatoes, fancy cheese, and great delectable-ness while we were in GA last year, and we LOVED it! Ours didn't arrive by Valentine's Day (Brian let me know it was coming--he can't BEAR not sharing surprises like that!), but we did get to go to a city council mtg together :), and we've had fun having couples over to use it—I think we had company Fri, Sat, and Sun last weekend, which for us, is quite a record!

 

Brent has kept up the basketballing—his city team has had a sad losing season, but it's been good practice for him, and he LOVES playing with his Deacons team that hasn't lost a single game. After a few missing assignments at the beginning of the year, Brent's really taken control of his school schedule and been REALLY on top of all of his work and assignments. He really delights in being “in the right” when he feels like he can control that. He is SO independent!--I often have to remind myself to check in on him. He's also been making efforts at including Spencer, which warms his parents' hearts! 

Maddie's had fun joining in YW ball as well, and her team gets far enough ahead that they practice passing her the ball frequently and encouraging her to just “SHOOT!” (I suspect, like her mom, she's mostly in it for the ice cream at the end!) She's joined a MESA club (some Math and Science club) at school, but mostly loves to keep her schedule laid back and manageable. She still does some babysitting, loves reading, and, besides the British shows she copies her parents in watching, she's taken to watching, “Andy Griffeth” or “AFV” at night to wind down. She almost makes me feel guilty with how patiently she helps out Lucy and Anne.

Spencer had a “Great to be 8” Fireside to prepare for baptism, and his first Blue and Gold Banquet, complete w/ our local falconers coming in with a cool bird showing (Spencer was sure we should try and get a “pet” falcon to fly like they had, though I had to resort to realism w/ this craze—Spencer really does love EVERYthing!). He's SO excited to be baptized and start cubscouts. You can't help but love how unreservedly, he puts his whole heart into everything he does: all of his friends are his best friends, everything he does is his favorite hobby, and even his little testimony, which he bore in Sacrament Mtg last Sunday, is absolutely sure.

Anne has been scheduled for SURGERY! She saw an ENT a few weeks ago, who concluded after all the things we've tried, that she could benefit from tubes in her ears and tonsils and adenoids removed, so March 12 is the big day! We're hoping 1-her hearing will improve (she seems to constantly have fluid behind her ears, making her hearing sound constantly underwater); 2-her sleep will improve, as she is OFTEN so exhausted and ALWAYS LOUDLY and LABORIOUSLY snores, and 3-that w/ the pressure from her adenoids gone, she will reduce her wintry sicknesses in large degree. Her surgery will be @ Primary Children's Hospital, which I'm grateful to have access to, as they are SO fabulous with children, as anyone who's dealt w/ them agrees. She's also (finally) progressed to PLAYING on her violin!--a little “Tukka, Tukka, Stop, Stop” on E string 25x/ day :). We make a game out of practice time, and she is still asking for “Violin Time” every day, so it is fun. When Emily heard how nice I was, even about her kind of abusing the instrument, she admitted she was kind of surprised I stayed “so nice!” How sad I didn't start as a Mom w/ some such program that kept me motivated to “be nice!” Live and learn I guess, but to see I actually DO have some control over how I act is humbling!

We also enjoyed an “Art Night” at the school, which I wasn't too avid about attending, but with the children's shoving, we made it. They had all done a great job too, of transforming the school into a giant, interactive art museum! I wish the pictures could've captured it better, but we walked into a room filled w/ snowflakes, hanging from ceilings and pasted to walls, and Christmas lights illuminating them all. Then we toured the library w/ a lifesize dragon covered w/ scales made by the whole school, a large 3-D volcano, and glow-in-the-dark rainforests, and hallways filled w/ Tibetan “prayer flags” all of the children made. It was quite a group effort, and crafts and things to make in all of the classrooms, complete with a liquid nitrogen show (performing art!?)!

 

We also have some things to look forward to:

-NEW CARPET!! We finally have it scheduled w/ a carpeting store that is a client of the law firm, so they are trading services, and we get to replace all of our upstairs carpet in a week—right before Anne's surgery, so hopefully, the timeline will work!

-Summer Vacation!! After a few in-depth Family Councils, complete w/ bar graphs (Brent) and online photo tours (Mom), exploring the vacation options for 2012 (keeping in mind most of our vacation budget goes to our every other year excursions to GA). The choices came down to: 3 days at Grand Canyon, 3 days at Moab, passes for the Syracuse Family Fun Center (bowling, lasertag, minigolf), passes for Cherry Hill Water park, or passes for Seven Peaks Water Park. After voting and deliberating for a week, we finally decided on the Seven Peaks passes, which also include passes for Trafalga, some REAL soccer tickets, ski passes for one week of March, and a few other goodies—AND it was by far, the cheapest deal at $30/person due to an online coupon site. It is a bit far away (South Salt Lake), but we are all still excited at the prospect of something we don't usually do. Also, to give me comfort, we've aimed to go to Grand Canyon in 2 years, and hopefully even to Redwood Natl forest in 4. Then, Maddie will be moving on, and we can restart our Natl Park cycle w/ Yellowstone, Zion, Grand Canyon, etc. to let the younger kids relive it. Also, we may still be able to camp in Moab a bit this year! I don't know why I feel so much comfort in a plan, but I DO derive a lot of joy from looking forward to things! In the meantime, we'll enjoy today—and these pictures of “Sunday dishes” I LOVE:

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!!

What is cuter than a two year-old?? We LOVE having one in our house--even if we now have to tape her diapers on at night to keep her from taking them and her pajamas off EVERY night!! And even after she breaks glasses by throwing them down to the floor as hard as she can (just for fun--not in anger!), or dumps out drawers or pulls out eggs or scoops of flour, we still can't get enough of her! Lucy loves to go, go, go--she loves kicking and throwing balls as much as any of our boys have, thinks it's a daily chore to run to the couch after lunch, throw off the pillows, and JUMP as high as she can until Mom gets her down for naptime.  She delights in throwing things all over a room, climbing on top of the kitchen table and the piano.  The only time she slows down is when the TV is on--which she tearfully begs for as, "BONNY, BONNY" (Barney) or "DOWA, DOWA."  I've never had a child so attached to the screen so young, so we do our best to find other diversions.  Thankfully, she also loves stories and telephones, and anything else she sees big people doing.  As exuberant as she is, she also LOVES being soft around babies and animals--we all love to watch her little Cosmo voice as she tries to calm our cat, or how she scrunches up her shoulders and arms to speak in a soft voice and examine a baby.  She's taken to singing w/ Anne now, and we love some of her favorite words and phrases: "Satuday!" "Idonknow!" (answered in response to every question starting w/ "Where is...?")  "In a Moning" (when we ask, "When is Monday (or any day of the week)?").  She is so crazily fun and adorable, and it is really fun having such a crew to look out for her.  It's obvious she loves her adoring fans too, as she's always asking after a nap, etc., "Where Mannie? or Bent? or Pencer? or Emanee? or Anne? or Daddy?" We were to have family over for her birthday, but w/ sickness/ schedules, we just had a fun family night at home w/ macaroni and cheese, asparagus, and strawberry cake.  Brian asked if she'd asked for strawberry cake, which she hadn't, but to see her around "Behwwies!" anyone could tell  she'd be excited.  Anne helped us pick out a new (bigger) carseat for dolls, an orange ball, and her own cell phone, which also plays songs (she couldn't decide whether to talk on it or dance to it, and repeatedly switched between the two.  Grandma M also made her a darling doll quilt that matches her own quilt.  She was a riot blowing out her candles--she did blow at least one out, but as the pictures show, she was prepared with backup.  Spencer couldn't wait until after supper to giver her one of his zhu-zhu pets that she LOVES since it does seem alive.  She oohed and aahed over it all through breakfast, rocking it like a baby, and cracking up w/ this adorable hands-over-her-laugh whenever it squeaked at her. 

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK

DAY 1:  -Mom takes shower (20 minutes--left Barney on for girls to watch on my bed 15 feet away)
-Anne comes in bathroom at end of shower to say, "Lucy make a mess!"
-Mom came into kitchen to find Lucy pouring newly opened box of Cream of Wheat all over kitchen floor for skating? (still has wherewithal to photograph evidence)

-Mom goes downstairs (after sweeping up cereal) to get something for dinner out of storage room, and finds EVERYthing within reach pulled off of shelves onto floor.  It took a minute to realize what had happened.  My first thought was, "Big Mouse??"Gallons of honey, cases of beans, chili, peanut butter, ketchup, pasta, oil, and chips.  Fortunately, only some pasta boxes and graham crackers were opened.  (I had to tell Anne to keep out of my sight while I cleaned up, but still had foresight to photograph)

DAY 2:  -Mom is foolish enough to shower again (left girls with JayJay the Jetplane on downstairs, closer to all of the toys)
-Got on phone since things seemed calm, and went downstairs just to check on girls
-found ENTIRE DVD/XBOX CABINET OVERTURNED AND EMPTY.  Luckily, Mom didn't answer when I called, so I could make sure none of our equipment was broken as it dangled down from the TV (mounted to the wall).  Put Anne in "Eternal Time Out," truly questioned the innocence of children for a brief moment, then got her out of time out to help me put the dvd's away, before putting her back in time out (it didn't help that she giggled her way through time out--and went upstairs to find
-Lucy spooning out half a can of baking powder with a measuring spoon all over that cream of wheat floor.
(no photographs that day)
 This was all just ON TOP of all of the ordinary emptied drawers all over room, upturned box of ribbons in bathroom, pulling every washcloth and handtowel into that bathtub, having a permanent meal stuck to the floor under the table, pulling all of the pillows off of the couch to use as personal trampolines, Lucy taking all of her clothes and diaper off in her crib (which she recently did 3 TIMES in one night, and then crying when she wets the sheets!) and emptying my makeup all over my bathroom after applying--all of which happens at LEAST weekly, and to which I am used to! Did I just say a blog or 2 ago how I felt more on top of things in January, like I could get into a schedule?? Did I just say how wonderful I felt like all of the Suzuki time was for Anne and her growth and our relationship?? It also didn't help to have Early Out week all week, and the children getting home 2 hours early, JUST as I'm starting to get a handle on things.  This is just to make me feel better on those lonely empty-housed days when all of the children are gone or in school, and I become one of those moms telling the mothers of toddlers, "Oh, ENJOY it!--these are the BEST YEARS!" And they are--the best in my life so far, but it sometimes makes it challenging to accomplish one simple goal of not losing my temper or raising my voice anymore! Maybe I'll just stop showering!

On a more adult note though, we've had fun jumping into civic affairs this week! Brian and I attended a rather heated City Council Mtg Tuesday night in an effort to prevent some industrial development being put in right next to our high school, and across the street from a lot of our ward.  We've just had a couple of new council members elected that are giving the mayor a little bit of a run for her money, and (fortunately) making it harder for her to push everything through she wants to.  Brian, along w/ many from our ward, spoke during public comment time on some research he'd found on the harm industrial developments can have on land and home values, and had quite a few calls through the week, trying to make sure he continues to come and speak at these meetings.  We also went to Nate & Stacey's Saturday afternoon to hear from a new Senatorial Candidate (Dan Liljenquist) here in UT, and from a group trying to spread the word about a Common Core Curriculum being accepted by nearly all the states in the Union, even though the roots of the program begin w/ UNESCO and the UN, and are predominantly funded by Bill Gates.  Even if he were the most qualified and virtuous educator available, it still tastes awfully foolhardy to give so much power to educate so many people to just one person, and relinquish so much of our states' rights.  Stacey didn't know much about this Dan Liljenquist, but as a county delegate, she was curious to hear his message, and Brian and I were heartily impressed---he's done quite a bit on our state Senate financially--passing huge welfare and medicare reforms w/ unanimous support, and has trained 16 other states in similar areas.  Also w/ strong moral foundations, I was REALLY intrigued because he was an ECONOMIST, and used a lot of that reasoning and incentive idea to make sensible and practical solutions.  After loving Freakonomics, written by economists, and just watching Moneyball (starring the amazing work of an economist in baseball), I was already convinced an economist running our country could be brilliance :). Also loved his optimism, and loved the chances to feel like a grownup for a bit.--which was good, because this is what I came home to :)--Lucy apparently wanted some cocoa: