Happy Birthday Janelle!

Today is Janelle's 9th birthday!   Janelle is loving, intelligent, talented and outgoing. She tells me that she is a "half-tom-boy."  When I asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said, "a pocket knife."  I thought that was an unusual request from a nine year old girl!  I found her a nice pocket knife set with two knives and tons of other gadgets that goes along with it.  I also got her a soccer ball, dodge ball, Halloween shirt and gloves, loads of socks (since can never find a matching pair), and a new game.

Janelle wanted a birthday party with night games this year.  It worked out perfectly since her birthday fell on a Friday and also over a school break.  The weather was ideal too.  Since her birthday is in October, she has always had a Halloween themed costume party every year for her party.  They were always a lot of fun, but also a lot preparation and work.  So I was glad that she opted out of the costume party this year.  This party was so simple and yet the kids all had a blast.  We had pizza and then the kids played night games the entire time with no interference or help from me.  Jared led them in several games like "Fugitive," "Hide and Go Seek Tag," and "No Bears Are Out Tonight."  The kids just ran around laughing and screaming and having a great time.  They came in for cake and ice-cream and gift opening and then went right back outside.  I had made vanilla covered popcorn with candy corns last night for party favors and wrapped them into balls along with a giant package of skittles for each kid.  It was low key and fun and I didn't stress out at all (like I often do at birthday parties)!

Janelle loved it too.  One of the great things about Janelle is she is always very appreciative.  She is always the first person to say "thank you" for a meal, or to express appreciation if we take her some place fun.  She kept telling me "thank you" for her presents and how much she liked them and expressed appreciation for the party.  Being grateful and appreciative is such a wonderful quality to have and I am glad she has it.  I am glad I have Janelle for a daughter!

 

 

Rezults, FHE, Midterms, Caving, Archery

Monday:  Well, I finally broke down and got a gym membership.  I used to have a membership at Rezults Fitness Center several years ago and really enjoyed it.  I went to a kick boxing class every morning at 6:00 a.m. for about a year.  But then I got pregnant and after awhile I just felt too tired to work out and I let it lapse.  This past year my exercise has been sporadic at best and I was thinking about getting another membership especially since I could bring Jenna to the "kidz kare" which would give her some variety in our morning schedule and some other toys and kids to play with.  My friend started going to their Zumba class and has really enjoyed it and suggested I try it out.  So I finally did it.  I went to the Zumba class this morning and it was fun!  I do think I will really enjoy it.  And Jenna liked playing in the kids' center, especially since her friend was there.  So now I am committed and will be working out a lot more!

This weekend Elder Lee's mother was visiting from Texas and his Aunt and Grandparents were visiting from Arizona.  He was so excited to see them all.  They all came to church with him yesterday and we had them all over for dinner tonight, including Brother and Sister Perkins, and so we had a house full.  We had Mexican food for dinner (Elder Lee's favorite) and then moved to the basement for a family home evening lesson.  Elder Lee's Grandparents and Aunt are not LDS and so we were happy to share with them a little Mormon Culture by having a traditional FHE with music and a lesson.  We all enjoyed a nice visit.  They came for the weekend and are all flying home tomorrow.  Janika slipped out for a Madrigal performance but was home within the hour.

Tuesday:  Today I spent several hours grading the midterm videos for my class.  They always take a long time to go through them and write out feedback.  Tonight was the written portion of the test.  I stayed after to grade them but had to leave to get Jaiden to dance.  Then I printed up some little birthday invitations to Janelle's upcoming party on Friday and drove her around to deliver them.

Wednesday:  I went with my friend to Rezults where we tried to keep up in the Zumba class.  It is fun but neither of us are dancers by nature and this teacher obviously is.  There is no way I will ever be able to do some of those moves!  That's okay, as long as we are having fun and keep on moving, right?  I finished grading all of the midterms today and got the grades turned in.   Jaiden went to a Halloween party of a girl in her school class.  Their yard was filled with spooky decorations.  She had a great time doing the activities and eating the treats!  She came home with a Halloween bucket she decorated filled with treats and surprises.

Janika went caving (spelunking) tonight for Young Womens and Jase had the opportunity to participate in Archery.  I am grateful for Young Mens and Young Womens and the new experiences they provide for my teenagers.  I remember growing up I had many fun "first time" experiences through the church youth activities -- water-skiing, cliff jumping, water-rafting, and many more.

Thursday:   Rick and I went and ran some errands this morning after he got his driver's license renewed. I went to the Zumba class.  It has been a different teacher every single day which makes it even more difficult to learn any of the dances.  Today started Fall Break and so we all got the day off from school and work.  It was nice.  We got some projects done around the house and I was able to go shopping for Janelle's birthday tomorrow.  I hadn't had time to do any before this point and so I was grateful for a "holiday" in which to do it.  I was even able to get some reading done in my latest book!   

Primary ASL

Rick and I picked up our Bountiful Baskets at 6:45 a.m., which is too early on a Saturday morning, but the yummy fresh fruits and vegetables make it worth it.  I was especially excited for the case of giant fresh peaches I had ordered.  As soon as we got home I started working on my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow.  The branch had scheduled a special lesson for General Conference highlights and so that was fun to do.   I am also the primary liaison for the branch, which usually involves nothing, but the primary program is coming up and we combine with the hearing ward for sacrament meeting that day.  So I need to find primary kids from our branch to sign each of the songs in the program.

The music leader from the hearing ward had me teach all of the kids two songs in sign language but we need someone to sign the rest of the songs while the primary kids sing them.  I spent several hours today at the computer translating primary songs in to ASL.  Some of them are already demonstrated in ASL on LDS.org, but I still need to type out all of the words in ASL gloss in order to be consistent with the signing that I will be demonstrating to the kids.  After several hours on the computer today my back and neck were killing me.  

Sunday:  One of our speakers asked Janika to put together a musical number that would go along with her talk.  We don't have a lot to choose from and so she ended up singing, "I Love to See the Temple," and all of the branch primary kids signed it.  It was really sweet.  Usually we only have a few primary kids but lucky for us the Bonny family was there today and so we had a nice big group of kids signing the song.  I really do love ASL and the opportunity to work with the Deaf here in the Branch.  It was been a wonderful blessing for our family!

It was too beautiful of a day to stay indoors and so I took all of the kids for a walk to the park.  After playing for awhile we decided to walk to the nearby skate park.  We haven't been there in ages.  We were the only ones there and the kids had a great time running around in the giant bowl and pretending like the different ramps, slides, and bars surrounding the bowl were all part of a giant obstacle course for them.  Jase and Jared had so much fun doing tricks on their roller-blades and scooter that they couldn't resist re-visiting the park several more times this week.   

Walk to School Day

Today is "Walk to School Day" and so I sent a text to the other two moms from my car-pool to let them know I am walking with the kids.  I asked them to have their kids over early if they wanted their kids to walk with us.  The moms decide to walk too and so we all have a nice visit while walking with our younger kids in strollers. We should do it more often.

It had been rainy on and off yesterday and the morning was really quite cool with a bit of sprinkling by the time we arrived home.  In years past "walk to school day" was celebrated with tables set out in the playground area with free granola bars and juice to all of the walkers and their families.  That always seemed to generate quite a crowd and even those who drove their kids to school would park a ways away and walk the last little bit with their kids.  But the past year or so they stopped the treats and this year I saw hardly any families walking to school. Sad. Well, I enjoyed my walk none-the-less. 

The High School was putting on a parade tonight and I was planning on taking the kids to it.  But it was raining hard by that time.  I don't know if they still held it or not but I didn't want to brave the cold and wet in order to find out.  I brought Janelle to Achievement Days.  An hour later I picked her up and dropped Rick off for his appointments.  We only have one car right now and he usually brings his scooter but the rain took away that option and so I had to run into town to pick him up when he was finished.  I hope we find a car soon now that the weather is turning cooler.  

Back to Back Lessons

Tuesdays are one of my busiest days of the week.  This morning I drive Jase to his piano lesson at 6:30 a.m. and then drive Janika to Madrigal practice since her ride had over slept.  Jase normally rides his roller blades to piano but his regular short cut through the empty lot was muddy from last night's downpour.  As soon as I get back from dropping off Jase and Janika, I hurry to get Janelle up and ready for the day before her lesson at 7:00.  She can be a bit pokey and so I have to do a little hovering to make sure she isn't late.  Our neighbor boy comes over and I bring him with me to pick up Janelle and then drop them both off for school choir practice, which is every Tuesday and Thursday before school.  Then I pick up Jaiden and bring her to her first piano lesson at 8:00.  I hurry home to make sure Josh is ready for school.  I drive Josh and Jenna and two of the neighbor kids to pick up Jaiden on our way to school.  So by 9:00 this morning I have already made about seven trips in the car.   Luckily one of the other moms bring the kids home after school, so the afternoons are a lot less busy than the mornings.    

A few cute little neighbor girls come over for playgroup for a few hours at our house.  Jenna is happy to have someone to play with.  I take all four little girls with me to pick up Josh from kindergarten at 11:45.  Their moms pick them up and I have lunch and clean up and hopefully a little nap and finally get a shower in time to leave for class.  After class I hurry home because caroling practice is going on at the same as my class and Jared is tending.  I also need to get Jaiden ready for dance, drop her off, and then pick her up an hour later.  Tomorrow is "walk to school" day and only a couple of evening commitments, so hopefully things will be a little less hectic.  

 

Happy Birthday Jenna!

Jenna is THREE years old today!  I was starting to lose hope that she would be potty trained by her birthday, but I stopped bugging her about it and this past week she really got it together and hasn't had an accident for the past five days (except while sleeping) and I haven't had to remind her to go once!  Yeah, Jenna!!

Jenna is a sweetheart.  She says and does the cutest things.  She loves to be tickled.  She loves Dora (a new discovery to her thanks to our recent addition of Netflix).  She is very independent and likes to do everything herself!  I stopped putting her down for a nap most afternoons (she did take a nice long one today though) because she was so difficult to get to bed at night.  But she will often watch a show in the afternoon and fall asleep on the couch for an hour or so. She loves to play with friends.  She loves to eat (or nibble) all day long.  She is constantly saying, "I'm hungry!"  Unfortunately this leads to messes all day long.  She often goes through three outfits in a day due to spills and messes.  She loves to dress up in costumes.  She can now pick out her own clothes and dress herself completely -- even if it doesn't always match (as you will see in many of her pictures).  I figure it doesn't really matter since she is home all day anyway and getting dressed on her own helps to foster positive self-esteem and independence.

Josh, Jaiden, and Janelle were so excited for her birthday and a week before her birthday they all went through their toys and chose out two or three for her and put them in gift bags.  She opened their presents before school (because they were too excited and couldn't wait any longer to give them to her) and then I had her open the rest of her presents tonight.  She got a nice card and money from Grandma/pa Jensen and a really nice book from Grandma/pa Westra.  Elder Lee also got her a very nice book.  I got her a play-dough kit with Elmo that makes Alphabet letters, a toy ball, bubbles, and a teddy bear.

Happy Birthday, Jennalee -- we love you very much!

 Morning pictures (before her hair was curled)...

     Evening birthday pictures (yeah I was lazy and just put my gifts into the same gift bags that the kids used this morning..)

Attending General Conference

Rick, Janika (16), Jase (14), Jared (11), and Elder Lee left Friday at lunch time to drive up to Salt Lake in order to attend General Conference at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.  A few weeks ago Rick told me that he was able to get a few tickets for Conference and he wanted to take the older kids.  I had mentioned it to the kids and they expressed no interested whatsoever.  In fact they said they would rather watch conference on TV in their pajamas.  I told Rick about their reaction and he said that he would talk to them.  The next family home evening Rick posed the question, "How far would you go to see a prophet of God?"  The kids were quiet seeing where this was going.

He shared a couple of stories from the scriptures and then a personal experience about when he learned for himself that President Benson (the prophet at the time) was a true prophet of God.  I also had a similar touching experience when President Hinckley came to speak in our city several years ago.  The spirit was present as Rick shared his experience and the mood became more somber.  As he finished he quietly asked, "Now, who would like to come with me to hear the words of the prophet at General Conference?"  Janika, Jase, and Jared all raised their hands, as did some of the younger kids, but they were not invited on this excursion.  I hope that they were able to feel the spirit and receive a witness that we do indeed have a living prophet on the earth today.

Here are a couple pictures taken from Rick's cell phone...

They all went to Saturday's morning session and then Rick and Jase and Elder Lee came back for the Priesthood Session that night.  They made the long trek home Sunday morning and we all watched Sunday's afternoon session together down on our basement couch.  They said it was weird to think that they were actually there in that building just yesterday!  It was neat for Elder Lee.  He is from Texas and who knows when he will have this opportunity again.

Meanwhile I was home alone with the little ones trying to keep them all occupied and quiet so that I could watch the sessions.  I really relied on Janelle to be my little helper and babysitter.  After the weekend was over she said, "Boy it is tough being the oldest child!"  Janika was grateful that someone acknowledged what she has gone through for so many years!