Indoor Soccer

A few years ago, Enoch played fall soccer.  He seemed to enjoy the games, but not so much the soccer.  So, we weren't sure if soccer was his thing.  We brought up indoor soccer to him and he said he would like to play.  We signed him up, not really knowing what to expect.
Enoch wasn't the star player by any means, but he did have fun.  He preferred playing defense over offense and took his job seriously (most of the time).  There were times that Enoch's focus wasn't quite there and he would just stand there while people ran all around him (and Greg and I have to just laugh), but he did like protecting the goal.  One time while playing defense he was right next to the ball and didn't kick it.  I was sitting in the bleachers not far from him.  I said, "Enoch, why didn't you kick the ball?"  He replied, "Mooommm, I'm playing defense.  I'm just suppose to run around."  Okay - he did that well.
His team, the Purple Dragons, were pretty good.  They won some and lost some.  I'm glad he participated and gave it his best shot.  I don't see a soccer scholarship in his future, but he made some friends, was active (like that's a problem with Enoch!) and he had fun.  That's a win-win-win in our family.
I only took a few pictures because the lighting was so bad in the gym.  These are from the game that Greg (with Gavin's help) was the substitute coach.

 

A Lesson for General Conference

My parents are serving in the Sierra Leone mission and last month Elder Jeffrey R. Holland visited.  It was a wonderful experience for them and life-changing.  They wrote home with so many amazing experiences and we are so thrilled for them that they were there.
My mom wrote home a short report about what each leader spoke of in their conferences.  Sister Holland told a humorous story about Elder Holland.

Elder Holland is even more wonderful at home than you see him here. One night I was having a hard time sleeping. He was sleeping soundly. I turned to him and said, “I don’t know what to do. I just can’t seem to get to sleep.” Even though he was sleeping soundly, he raised up on his elbow and said, “If you’ll fast and pray about it, I know you’ll be able to sleep.”

This is one of the many stories we talked about for Family Home Evening.  Enoch thought this story was hilarious and would tell anyone who would listen.

A few nights ago at dinner I was so tired I was practically falling asleep at the table.  Between being 35 weeks pregnant, having miserable seasonal allergies and both of them contributing to not sleeping, I am exhausted.  Unfortunately, I'm so tired that even the kids are noticing.  Enoch asked me what was wrong and I told him I'm just not sleeping well.  With perfect seriousness he said, "Mom, I know if you pray and fast about it, you will be able to sleep better."  Not only sweet, but full of faith!

A few days later I was thinking about that conversations (at 3 am while I was wide awake).  Enoch is right, Elder Holland is right (even in his sleep).  It was a great lesson to me to listen to our leaders.  Sometimes at Conference I find myself agreeing with the talks, but not doing anything about it - it doesn't apply to me right now, I'll get to it later, wasn't that good advice?  So many excuses.  But Enoch taught me that everything our leaders say is for us, personally.  That we can apply everything they say to us and we need to incorporate it into our lives. 

I'm hoping I can be better at this.  If not, I know that Enoch will help me!

Bean Museum

Today was our last Minimal Monday of the year (yippee!).  We decided to take a trip to Provo to visit Uncle Jarom, tour the Bean Museum and eat ice cream.  Aunt Michelle and Marcus came too.
It has been quite a while since we have been to the Museum, but not a lot has changed.  Kate liked the giant butterfly made out of butterflies, Enoch liked the wall of fish and Gavin thought the whole thing was creepy.

 

 

 (for Grandma and Grandpa)

After the museum we walked to the Creamery for ice cream.  We realized that location didn't have a big selection of flavors and no tables.  So, we drove to Creamery on the Ninth.  BYU ice cream is so good and we weren't disappointed.  

It was fun to spend some time on campus, especially with Uncle Jarom and Aunt Michelle.  We'll have to do it again.

Stash Dresses

Kate has grown out of all her dresses and I was feeling quite bad (and a bit embarrassed) when we took her to church last Sunday in a dress that was clearly too short.  Again (like her skirts), I decided that I had plenty of fabric downstairs to make some dresses.  Kate and I went to the sewing room and picked out some fun fabric.  I made three, but one is for Easter, so I'll show you that later.

Kate's favorite part of this dress is that is so twirly. 

Kate was really excited to have a dress made out of this fabric.  I only had one yard and the pattern called for 1 3/8 yds, so I knew I was pushing it.  I squeezed it out, but in the end, the dress was a bit short.  I added a little ruffle on the bottom and I think I like it better.

I think it turned out very pretty.  Speaking of pretty, isn't she beautiful?  She convinced me to buy a waver for her hair ever since our neighbor did her hair one day.  Her hair is naturally so straight, that I was concerned about the curl staying in, but it does okay and I think it looks so cute (and makes her look so old!).

It's a good thing I'm almost done sewing for this summer - only jammies for Kate and Enoch, a few shorts for Enoch and some burp clothes for the baby.  It's getting harder and harder to sit at the sewing machine.

Scattered Thoughts

1.  The weather has been so warm lately.  The kids are wearing shorts and sunscreen.  With the weather being so toasty, Gavin set up his hammock he got for Christmas.  He had a difficult time finding the right place in the backyard, but finally found a solution.  He slept out and lasted until about 1 am, when cars started drag racing on the road behind our home.  He left his hammock up for a few days and would climb in to read and relax.  Enoch and Kate also thought it was very cool.

2.  Kate and I took the afternoon off to have a girl's day.  We attended the BYU Gymnastics meet and had a wonderful time.  Kate loved all of it - the gymnastics, Cosmo, the treats and it just being the girls.  She kept hugging me and saying, "Let's have girl's day all the time!"  I agree.
3.  My sweet husband is beginning to believe that the word, nesting, should be considered a four-letter word.  I've been very stressed about getting things done before the baby comes and Greg has gotten the brunt of it.  He has been wonderful!  He works on projects in all his spare time - a Saturday here, a few minutes there.  He has accomplished so much.  What a great guy!

She's not spoiled or anything!

I know, I know, she is spoiled.  And I'm the worst offender.
Kate has been pedaling around her trike for a few years now.  She has outgrown it and she is really big enough for a two-wheeler.  We were planning on getting her a bike for her birthday, but we gave her her gym bar (since that didn't work for Christmas).  We thought we could give her a bike for Easter, but the Easter Bunny usually doesn't go so far out.  Greg and I were torn.
I had found a cute, pink bike on Amazon that we were planning on ordering.  On a whim, Greg suggested we visit The Bike Barn in Lehi to check out sizing.  While there, we spotted a pink, flowery bike that we knew Kate would love.  It was perfect, professional bike-store quality and on clearance (cheaper than Amazon, which never happens)!
The next day we brought Kate to the store just to see how she would react.  She immediately spotted it and went over and climbed on and started riding.  She didn't say much, but she had a big smile on her face.  When she finally got off, she looked up at me with her huge blue eyes and said, "Mom, can I have it.  Please."  How do I say no to that?  And if you think I'm bad, you should see Greg react to her.  Yep, she's spoiled because we can't say no to her!
So, Kate came home with a new bike, with a pink basket- not for her birthday, not for a holiday, but because she's such a good girl and we love her.  And she loves her bike and tells us thank you every time she rides it.

Caucus

I'll admit, I've never been to a caucus meeting.  I've heard about them, but really wasn't sure what happened there and if I really needed to attend.
This year there has been a huge push to get more people to attend their caucuses.  I thought about it.  Then, Gavin informed me that he had volunteered to help at the Republican caucus and I was going with him.  Isn't it great when your kids are better than you?
We arrived 30 minutes early and the parking lot at the Junior High was already full.  I did manage to get a seat in our precinct's room (the band room).  They filled the room with chairs and by 7:30 all the seat were full and about 30 people were standing.  I was very lucky and sat next to Kristie Hampton, who probably felt like she was sitting next to a squirmy toddler.  My back was really hurting and I just couldn't get comfortable.  About half way through she was so kind and rubbed my back.  What a great person!
Gavin spent his time showing people to their precinct's rooms and answering questions.  After the meetings started, Gavin and a few other Scouts came back to our room and distributed and collected ballots.  He also helped tally votes.  He did a great job and was very responsible.
I'm glad I attended.  I now understand better how the caucus system works and I feel good about contributing by casting my vote for delegates.  I was only able to vote for the Precinct Chair and Vice Chair (by then it was 9:30 pm and I was in charge of getting four Scouts home on a school night).  I'm happy with who we voted in and I'm confident they will pick the best person to represent us.

Scattered Thoughts

1.  Enoch is now sporting a large gap in his teeth.  He has lost his two front teeth.  Luckily for him, one of them is already coming in.  We are all so happy they are out.  He wouldn't pull on them at all and they were sticking out at wonky angles because they were so loose.  It was a little disconcerting to look at them.

2.  Gavin has been attending band concerts and competitions almost every week for the last month.  Usually they are during school, so he is also making up a lot of tests, quizzes and homework.  But, he is learning a lot and enjoys being with his friends in Jazz Band.  It's fun to see him wearing a white shirt and tie to school (even though he hates it) and he looks so sharp.
3.  The other night while I was doing the dishes I caught a glimpse of why moms do everything they do.  It is so rewarding to see your children getting along and being kind.  Enoch and Kate have a wonderful relationship and they rarely fight or argue; it's so fun to see them together.  Enoch was reading to himself and Kate the book, Wacky Wednesday, by Dr. Seuss.  Enoch loves that book and they both like looking at the pictures to find the wacky things that are wrong.   They were having so much fun being together.  Later, we read Kate's favorite book, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet.

Scattered Thoughts on Coal

1.  Coal isn't much of a barker.  She barks when someone comes to the front door.  She barks when she is outside and wants to come inside.  She barks when the kids are playing crazy with her outside.  And she barks when Greg gets out the shovel to clean up poop (really any shovel, she also barks at snow shovels).  But, she is a growler.  She has her mad growl, her bored growl and her "I love you" growl when you snuggle with her.  She also has a sad whine.  She gets her front paws up on the front window sill and whines when the boys leave for school.
2.  She is still quite dangerous with her puppy teeth and claws.  Greg gets the worst of it because he plays the roughest with her.  The other day she was playing with Enoch and jumped up and got his nose.  He now has two scratches on either side of his nose.  These are Greg's wounds from last night.

 

I found these tiny sharp pieces of metal on the floor the other day.  I couldn't figure out what they were until I found the other part of the credit card!  Yep, Coal chewed up a credit card.  I'm hoping she didn't actually swallow any of those pieces.

 3.  This picture should probably gross me out, but I know she will only climb up there when the dishes are dirty.  She stays away when the dishes are clean.  Her favorite things to lick clean are spoons.

  

4.  I love this picture!  This is Coal and Hippo.  Hippo was the first toy we got for Coal the night we brought her home.  She has slept with Hippo every night since then.  In the morning she is so excited to get up and play that she will run out of her crate.  It only takes her a few minutes to go back and stand in front of her crate and whine until someone opens it and she can get Hippo.  I often find her snuggled up with Hippo during the day.

5.  Another favorite toy is tennis balls.  She LOVES chasing them!  And she is getting better at bringing them back to you.  I bought her a set of doggie tennis balls and she had broken them in half in two hours!  So, now she gets just normal tennis balls. 

 I think the kids were trying to torture her.  They found this huge tennis ball in the shed, got it out and started throwing it to her.  Obviously, she can't pick it up in her mouth.  She circles it while growling at it, pounces on it, stands over it.  It's quite frustrating for her.  I finally put it away.

Dog Cousins

Today was such a beautiful day.  We decided to take a break from the home projects and spend some time outside.  We called the Kellys and Fords (they were busy), and invited them to check out a dog park in Sandy.
Kate was so excited to see Toby (Kelly's dog).  She said, "I haven't seen my dog cousin in a long time."  We were also curious to see how Coal would react to his dog cousin.
The park was designed for dogs, just gravel and some rocks.  They did have a few picnic table to sit at and watch the dogs.  It was quite busy with a lot of dogs of different sizes, temperaments and breeds.  We laughed when we saw all the collies.  They have a lot of energy to burn off (we know!).
Coal had fun exploring and running around.  It took her awhile to warm up to the park, but then she was off.

 Coal seemed quite indifferent to the other dogs and had more fun playing with the people.  She is definitely more of a people dog and enjoys the attention.  Toby is a dog dog and was right in the middle of all the dogs.  So, Coal and Toby really didn't play together much, but they were friendly when together.

It was a fun day and I'm glad we could get out and enjoy the sunshine.  We used sunscreen for the first time and the smell made me so excited for summer.  We will have to do it again!

Stash Skirts

This morning when Kate got dressed, she put on her favorite skirt.  Unfortunately that certain skirt is my least favorite item of clothing Kate owns. I made it last summer and it fit her fine then, but she has grown (shocking, I know) and it just didn't fit the same.  It is form-fitting and every time she sits it rides up her hips and becomes much too short and we can all see too much of her.
I made her a deal - if we could put away that skirt, I would make her a new one.  I was planning on making a few for summer anyway.  My sewing room is full of cloth, so Kate and I went downstairs and picked out some fun fabric.  I am determined to sew with what I have and not buy anything new.  This is the first skirt I pulled together.  I had so much fun sewing it that I made a few more.

 

Kate probably likes this one the best.  She loves purple.  You can't see it very well in the picture, but it is a three-tiered skirt.

I really like this one.  Kate wasn't too excited about the green trim, but she's living with it.

Which one do you like?

It's great to be sewing again.  I still have a lot to do before summer and the baby comes.  Hopefully, it will get done!

Snow

We finally had a major snow storm.  The kids were thrilled.  We are not sure how much snow we actually got because of drifting, but it was a lot.  Greg and Gavin shoveled about nine inches off the driveway.  It didn't stick around long because of crazy Utah springs.  The weather warmed up the next day and the snow melted quickly.  But, we enjoyed it while it was here.
A few days later, we drove up to the cabin to sled.  The snow was great and we had a good time even though it was quite cold.  The boys (Greg, Gavin, Gavin's friend, Matt, and Enoch) sledded while Kate and I stayed warm in the cabin. 

 We took Coal up with us and tied her to an one hundred foot rope.  She loved being able to explore and play in the snow.  By the time we left, she was so cold she was shaking.  I held her on my lap, close to the heater, all the way home.  She was doing better by the time we got home.

This winter has been quite unusual.  While some of us haven't missed the snow too much, others have found it disconcerting to go through most of the winter without snow.