Fun With Grandma and Grandpa Westra!

We've enjoyed having my mom and dad come and stay with us for a few days.  They came down Wednesday evening and attended the Family History Expo at the Convention Center all day Friday and Saturday.  Grandma and Grandpa brought Jared, Josh, and Jaiden their birthday presents (early).  Of course the kids couldn't wait until their actual birthday and so they opened them right then and there.  Grandma and Grandpa even brought gifts for the other kids too so that they wouldn't be left out of the "gift-opening" party.  

Jared got the game "Mille Bornes" which the kids played with Grandma and Grandpa several times over the course of their visit.  The younger kids also wanted Grandma to read them their new stories.  They love the books they receive from Grandma throughout the years.  She always signs and dates them and they love to open the books and see who it is for and how old they were when they received it.

Friday night Rick and I attended the "Evening With a General Authority" at the Institute for Seminary/Institute teachers and their spouses.  The speaker was President Henry B. Eyring (broadcast from the conference center in Salt Lake).   We enjoyed the talk and it was fun to socialize with the other teachers afterwards.  

Saturday I attended an interpreter workshop on Educational Interpreting most of the day.  It is always fun to get together with other interpreters from the area.  Jase went to his scout Pow Wow all morning and Rick bravely took the five youngest grocery shopping with him.  Jaiden and Josh had both earned a "GOLD ticket" and so Rick took them both out to McDonalds for their special date.  Josh got stuck at the top of the play-center and was afraid to come down the slide so a little girl had to help him down.  My Mom and Dad took Rick and I went out to dinner Saturday night and we enjoyed our "double-date!"

 

The kids always love playing with Grandma.  Jenna quickly learned how to say "Grandpa" and was toddling around exclaiming "BaPa BaPa!"   Check out the "cup tower" that Jared and Grandpa made around Josh!   Grandma and Grandpa came to church with us this afternoon and attended the sign language class.  I snapped some pictures before we left but Jenna was NOT happy getting her picture taken!!

 

Josh, Boots, Jenna, and Jared snuggling on the front porch swing...

Love Notes

I found these notes from Janika on our bathroom counter. What a nice surprise!!

Sign Language for Babies!

Okay, so it doesn't look like much, but she really is signing!  (I hurriedly snapped these on my way to class, but I will take some more later).  The first sign is "nose," the second is her sign for "water."  "Water" is actually made with a "W" hand but most babies start off with some kind of variation like she is doing here.  The next is "milk" and then "daddy."   Jenna is starting to use lots of sign language and it is so much fun!  She can speak a few words: "Jase," "Josh," "Mama," "sock!"  But she is able to sign far more words than she can speak.  That is why sign language is such an advantage because it reduces the frustration of not knowing what your baby wants!

She started signing "more" several months ago but didn't start using other signs until recently.  Now she signs:  more, milk, water (with one finger), eat, hat, candy, dog, cat, bird, bath, shoes, socks, nose, diaper, potty, where, hi/bye (which is just your normal wave), mom, dad, ice-cream, cereal (sort-of), finish, and book.  She is learning new signs everyday and will copy any sign (or try to anyway) that we show her.  It is so cute and so fun to get a glimpse into her sweet little mind!

There are numerous benefits to teaching your baby sign language.  If you are interested in learning more about it, I have a web-site and an e-book on the subject at:  www.signing4babies.com

Jenna is Walking!!!

Our little Jenna is FINALLY walking!!  Hooray!!  She has been walking for a couple of weeks now, so the magic age for her was 16 1/2 months.  She started taking a steps here and there several months ago and so I thought that walking was just around the corner, but she didn't seem too interested until recently.  She now walks most of the time (a little slow and unsteady still, but doing better all of the time) but sometimes still reverts back to crawling.  I have been anxious for her to start walking since her knees, shins, and tops of her feet are always filthy from crawling around on our floor (yeah, obviously our floor is not very clean!)

And  now she can finally wear those cute little-longer church dresses that she could never crawl in before because her knees would get caught on the skirts.  Now I just need to find her shoes!  I never bother with shoes until my kids are walking.  I think she has some cute little black Mary Janes somewhere...   I had to send her to church in some sandals today which didn't really go with her outfit just so that she would have shoes on her feet.  Tomorrow I will dig through her "grow into" clothes and see what I can find....

Back to Church

After two weeks of having sick kids, I am happy to report that everyone is better and we were ALL able to go back to church today!  One week missed is one thing, but two weeks and I was starting to feel a little less-active.   So I was grateful to be able to go back today...and grateful that we had a fairly smooth morning without too much trauma!

Blue and Gold Banquet

One of the drawbacks about teaching an evening class is the fact that sometimes I have to miss out on the kids' activities.  Tonight was the Blue and Gold Banquet.  Jared was getting his "Bear," and I would really have liked to be there.  Here is the cake he decorated.  If you can't tell what it is (no, it isn't a bird, it isn't a fish turned sideways), it is actually the Webelos sign.  All of the kids had a great time at the Blue and Gold.  Those earning their "Wolf" got to drink "wolf blood" and those getting their "Bear" got to fight with a bear.  They had a tent set up with someone inside growling so loudly that one of the toddlers actually started to cry in fright. Jared had to go inside and fight the bear.  After a couple of minutes some of Jared's items flew out the tent door.  First one shoe, then the other shoe, then his neckerchief.  Jared came home proudly carrying his bear patch and several arrow points.  So I am assuming he won the fight.  Way to go Jared!

 Thank you to our Cubmaster, Christin Olson.  My kids told me that you are "The BEST" cubmaster ever!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Rick got up and fixed a big breakfast for our annual Valentine's Day breakfast.  He always writes everyone little love notes which he leaves on each person's plate.  Unfortunately most of the family is sick (thus the socks around the little kids' necks) and so the only ones who were able to go to church were Jase and Rick.   So it was a pretty boring Valentine's Day.  I am just ready for everyone to re-coup!!

Valentine's Social

 

I would like to say that this beautiful bouquet of roses is a Valentine's Day gift from my husband, but it is actually for the High Priest Group Valentine's Social today.  That's okay, my hubby isn't a big gift giver (when it comes to purchasing gifts anyway) but he gives in tons of other ways all year round.  And each of the husbands gave each of the wives three roses -- one of each color, which I have quite enjoyed brightening up my kitchen table.  

After a nice meal at Golden Corral, we went grocery shopping.  Rick actually does all of the grocery shopping in the family.  He looks for deals and knows how to get a bargain.  Today I went with him since we were in town, but usually he brings one or two of the kids each Saturday and makes a date out of it.   He also does most of the bed-time routine each night (I am pretty much tapped out by bedtime).  He bathes the kids, folds laundry and often cooks dinner.  He even mentioned the other day that since he was getting a vacation this year and I wasn't, that perhaps he could take all the kids for a little outing over Spring Break so that I could get a much needed break at home.  That would be the BEST Valentine's Day gift EVER!!

Love you, honey!!

School Valentines Parties

Last Monday night for family night, the kids got to go shopping and pick out their Valentines.  All of the instructions from teachers said to just sign their name on them and not the names of their class-mates.  Of course I can see why -- it makes it much less complicated and faster to pass out that way.  I also remember when I was in elementary school meticulously picking out which particular valentine went with each person.  My brother didn't want to bother with them and so he paid me to sign his valentines for him.  I remember receiving a valentine from one of my classmates (a boy) who signed his name "like, Scott" because he didn't want to sign it "love, Scott."  I thought that was so funny!   

Janika helped Josh, Jaiden, and Janelle put together their valentines with their treats so that they would be ready for their class party.  Jared didn't even bother to sign his.  Janika even offered to do it for him but he declined.  Well, their parties were today.  Josh was excited to show off all of his treats after pre-school.  Unfortunately Jaiden was still coughing all night and had a fever and so I didn't dare send her to school.  So Janelle picked up her valentines for her.   Jared came home with the Valentines he received stuffed into a paper sack.  He always forgets to give me his notes (unless he needs a signature for a field trip) and so if he was supposed to make a fancy Valentines container and bring it collect the candy and valentines, I didn't get the memo. 

Sunday we got a box of Valentines treats that Grandma Jensen sent down with Julie, and yesterday we got a box in the mail from California.  Michelle had sent the kids a giant bag of salt-water candy and a big container of licorice.  The kids were ecstatic of course.  But given their present health conditions we are handing the candy out sparingly.  They should last us a while!

Singles Awareness Day

Janika and a group of her friends decided to dub Valentine's Day as "Singles Awareness Day."  They even met at someone's house to decorate T-shirts which they all wore to school the next day and to the school 80's dance.  Here is Janika modeling her shirt.   I was gone to my ASL class when she left for the dance and forgot to get a picture when she got back.  She wore the T-shirt, pink and white polka-dotted leggings with short denim shorts over the top and long socks bunched up to look like leg warmers with her converse tennis shoes.  She wore blue eye-shadow, borrowed some of my old earrings, and sported a side pony-tail.  Funny, I went to school all through the 80's and never once wore a side pony tail -- or remember anyone else wearing one for that matter!   And apparently sporting her "singles shirt" didn't stop a couple of boys from asking her to be their Valentine...

Janika made these um...jello/pudding Valentine's creations for all of her friends.  They were cute but I am not quite sure how tasty there were since I couldn't bring myself to actually eat one.  The ones that didn't get passed out turned into a pile of red goopy mush by the end of the day. 

Jase's Braces!

Hey that rhymes!!

I picked up Jase from school this morning to head out to the Orthodontist for braces.  So he and Janika will overlap by a month.  The kids and I went in and signed all of the paperwork and then stopped by the Health Food Store to get some gluten-free food for me (I have Celiac).  Then we picked up Jaiden from kindergarten (I kept Josh home from pre-school Monday and today since he is still coughing) and then picked up Jase.  I kept debating whether or not to bring Jase back to school for his last period, but he convinced me to just bring him home.  I guess I wasn't that hard to convince knowing that if he were home I could actually go take a nap!  Jase got green rubber-bands for St. Patrick's Day.  That way, if anyone tries to pinch him, watch out!

 

Tonight Janika and I went to New Beginnings for our home ward.  Now that we are members of the Deaf Branch, we don't see most of our ward members anymore.  We miss everyone!! 

Mom's and Muffins

This morning was "Mom's and Muffins" at the elementary school.  It is difficult enough trying to get all of my kids ready in the morning and to school  by 8:55,  but to get myself ready too and everyone there by 8:15 is pretty near impossible in this household.  We managed, but not without a fair amount of tension.  Josh and Jenna are still sick, but I brought them anyway, since I didn't want the other kids to miss out.  They probably wouldn't have cared though.  The kids went ahead and got school breakfast while we were there too.

After school today I brought Janika to the Orthodontist. She gets her braces off next month and can hardly wait!!  
 

Egg Drop

Well, Janika's egg survived the science class "egg drop."  It is a good thing, because she and her friend really got attached to their eggs.  They even went to great pains to decorate their eggs in brightly colored nail polish (I guess I should have gotten a picture of the egg before it was all wrapped up.)  Then they wrapped it in bubble wrap and quilt batting and finally a blanket.  I think Jani felt a little jilted that she didn't get to carry around a flour sack baby like the kids in the "teen living" class, so she cut out a picture of a baby to stick on her wrapped up egg before bringing it to school. But don't worry, she took off the baby picture before letting her teacher throw it off to ceiling!   

Busy, Rainy Day!

Today was a busy day!  First we went to Tyler Maxwell's baptism.  We love the Maxwells.  After serving in the Deaf Branch for nine years, they feel it is time to return to their home ward.  They have served so diligently in our branch and we will truly miss them! 

We went over to the Maxwell's house after the baptism for a nice meal and then hurried home so that Rick could take Janika and Madison to their friend's birthday party at Jumpin' Jacks.  Meanwhile, I took the rest of the kids to a local park for James Speed's birthday party.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain and freezing!  Of course the kids still had a great time though!  They all really got into the Pinata.

After an hour at the park, everyone hurried over to the Speeds for birthday cake.  Janelle and Jaiden went (and stayed a loooong time, I hope they didn't wear out their welcome!) and Jared, Josh, and Jenna snuggled by the fire, warming up!  

 

Then we cleaned up the house and fixed a yummy meal of barbecued Salmon and Chicken.  Rick's sister, Julie, and Scott were in town working on their new house in Hurricane, and so they joined us for dinner.   Janika and Madison bathed all of the younger kids and got them to bed.  The middle kids stayed up and watched a Star Wars movie and Janika and Madison worked on making flower clips for their hair.    Then I stayed up and put together a Mexican Dish for our Branch "Break the Fast" potluck for tomorrow.  Busy but good day!