Since taking this day, Luke has done a lot of temple building. He uses blocks or other toys, or even random items such as boxes of pasta from the shelf, and tells me it's a "tempal." I love it.
Temple Construction Site
A few weeks ago we drove down to Provo to see how the new temple is coming along on a Sunday afternoon. It looks amazing! It's incredible to see how far it has come from the literal shell of a building that was up on stilts, 40 feet in the air.
My Last Yard Sale Ever
A few weeks ago our little neighborhood had a neighborhood-wide yard sale planned on a Saturday morning. I didn't plan on participating, since Ben would be out of town during the yard sale and Jack would have a soccer game halfway through the allotted time. But when got home from a friend's house on Friday evening and the kids saw the neighbors getting things ready for their yard sales, they were adamant that we participate. So the younger kids went to bed and Cat and I worked on collecting and pricing things for a couple of hours before we went to bed that night.
Eliza wanted the proceeds from the things that came out of her closet (old burp cloths, mostly) to be designated as her personal earnings. Cat found some things she wanted to sell in her room. And, not to be left out of the Aspiring Money Makers, Jack gathered some random cars and things from his vast vehicle collection and put them on a stool. I had some reservations about the cars he wanted to sell - some were sentimental, one was broken, and some that were being sold alone but were actually parts of sets - but in the spirit of the yard sale, and wanting to support my kids in their efforts to de-clutter, and not pass on my unreasonable sentimentality when it comes to stuff, I bit my tongue.
Wouldn't you know that while I was gone perusing some of the neighbors' sales, a shopper bought two of Jack's items that actually brought me to tears when I told Ben about it that night. Someone bought the very first Thomas engine Jack had ever owned. (I blogged about it here.) And a wooden Clarabel coach that was part of a different Thomas set.
Is it ridiculous that it brought me to tears? Perhaps. But Thomas the Tank Engine has been such a huge part of my kids' lives and they've gotten so much mileage - forgive the pun - out of those trains that it would've taken pretty extreme circumstances for me to part with them by choice. But I guess if they weren't that important to Jack, then they shouldn't be that important to me, right? It's just stuff, after all.
In the end, we made $9.50 in sales. The kids spent $4 on popsicles a neighbor was selling as a fundraiser for a grandchild. I bought a big basket from another neighbor for $2, and Cat bought a desk for her room for $10. Cat kept riding her bike around the neighborhood to check out the other sales and talk to our neighbors and people browsing the sales would ask her if she was selling her bike. She's outgrown it and wants a bigger bike, so when someone asked about it toward the end she decided to sell it. We got $15 for the bike. Which means we had a net profit of $8.50. And... Cat needs a new bike. And... we'll never be able to replace Thomas and Clarabel.
Please remind me never to do another yard sale.
As you can see, we didn't come up with a whole lot to sell. (I could have been more ambitious in my efforts to get rid of things, but after moving across the country, then moving again two years later, I felt like we'd trimmed down quite a bit already. Plus, I try to make regular trips to our local thrift store to donate unwanted/unused items.)
Eliza wanted the proceeds from the things that came out of her closet (old burp cloths, mostly) to be designated as her personal earnings. Cat found some things she wanted to sell in her room. And, not to be left out of the Aspiring Money Makers, Jack gathered some random cars and things from his vast vehicle collection and put them on a stool. I had some reservations about the cars he wanted to sell - some were sentimental, one was broken, and some that were being sold alone but were actually parts of sets - but in the spirit of the yard sale, and wanting to support my kids in their efforts to de-clutter, and not pass on my unreasonable sentimentality when it comes to stuff, I bit my tongue.
Wouldn't you know that while I was gone perusing some of the neighbors' sales, a shopper bought two of Jack's items that actually brought me to tears when I told Ben about it that night. Someone bought the very first Thomas engine Jack had ever owned. (I blogged about it here.) And a wooden Clarabel coach that was part of a different Thomas set.
Is it ridiculous that it brought me to tears? Perhaps. But Thomas the Tank Engine has been such a huge part of my kids' lives and they've gotten so much mileage - forgive the pun - out of those trains that it would've taken pretty extreme circumstances for me to part with them by choice. But I guess if they weren't that important to Jack, then they shouldn't be that important to me, right? It's just stuff, after all.
In the end, we made $9.50 in sales. The kids spent $4 on popsicles a neighbor was selling as a fundraiser for a grandchild. I bought a big basket from another neighbor for $2, and Cat bought a desk for her room for $10. Cat kept riding her bike around the neighborhood to check out the other sales and talk to our neighbors and people browsing the sales would ask her if she was selling her bike. She's outgrown it and wants a bigger bike, so when someone asked about it toward the end she decided to sell it. We got $15 for the bike. Which means we had a net profit of $8.50. And... Cat needs a new bike. And... we'll never be able to replace Thomas and Clarabel.
Please remind me never to do another yard sale.
Cat's Miming Debut
Don't you just hate it when you get into a good groove with something, then your groove is derailed and it is even harder than you thought it would be to get that groove going again?
That's how I feel about this blog. I love this blog. I love having an opportunity to keep track of the goings on in our family and share them with all 4 of you who read this. I know it's going out of style (or already has?), that I'll probably lose another one of my loyal readers very soon, and I won't be surprised if I one of these days I get an email from Google saying that Blogger no longer exists.
Nevertheless, I want to try to get into my groove again. I want to blog most days. I want to share pictures of my kids and the funny things they say, along with lots of other worthwhile things. But after such a lengthy absence, I have really wrestled with the best way to get back in the saddle. I think I've finally come up with a solution. I've done it before, when I needed to play catch-up, so I don't know why it took me so long to think of it. Since the thought of getting completely caught up before blogging about anything current paralyzes me (hence, I haven't blogged much at all since my hiatus began), I will begin trying to catch up with TBTs. Hooray for Thursdays!
But today I would like to include at least one anecdote, so I'll tell you about our Primary Program.
I think that the annual Primary Program has gotten more and more exciting for me as I've had more children enter Primary. Today we were not early enough to Sacrament Meeting to get a first-choice seat, so we opted for the front row over the overflow. It worked out great, though, because Jack behaved very well. His teacher had told me that they moved him around a bit during the practices to try to find the optimum good-behavior seat, and I think that knowing Ben and I were watching him gave him a little extra motivation. We could even hear him singing, which was really fun. We could also see Cat, in the far corner of the back row, sitting, singing and behaving perfectly; and Eliza, to the right on the very front row, who looked very much like a singer for the first half of the program when she was singing with her mouth wide open, apparently enunciating and projecting very well, then losing interest toward the end.
We had a perfect view when the three of them came to the front of the stand for their parts. Most of the children spoke in a group with their Primary classes, but our kids were given parts where they introduced our family and talked about principles of family life, so the three of them spoke in a group. They headed to the podium, but in a last-minute change, were directed to stand at a microphone to the side of the podium. The mic was too tall for Eliza, but she stood on her tippy toes and did her best to speak into the mic. It was fine for Jack, and he said his part just fine and scurried back to his seat. But the mic was much too short for Cat, and she wasn't sure what to do for a moment. Then she decided to bend her knees to lower herself down to the level of the mic, like a mime acting like he's going down in a glass elevator. It was hilarious. A definite highlight of the meeting. Oh, and she did a great job saying her part as well.
I got emotional as I watched all of these sweet children sitting together, and singing songs which teach beautiful Gospel truths. What a privilege to be among little ones every day. I'm so thankful to get to be a mother to these children of mine.
That's how I feel about this blog. I love this blog. I love having an opportunity to keep track of the goings on in our family and share them with all 4 of you who read this. I know it's going out of style (or already has?), that I'll probably lose another one of my loyal readers very soon, and I won't be surprised if I one of these days I get an email from Google saying that Blogger no longer exists.
Nevertheless, I want to try to get into my groove again. I want to blog most days. I want to share pictures of my kids and the funny things they say, along with lots of other worthwhile things. But after such a lengthy absence, I have really wrestled with the best way to get back in the saddle. I think I've finally come up with a solution. I've done it before, when I needed to play catch-up, so I don't know why it took me so long to think of it. Since the thought of getting completely caught up before blogging about anything current paralyzes me (hence, I haven't blogged much at all since my hiatus began), I will begin trying to catch up with TBTs. Hooray for Thursdays!
But today I would like to include at least one anecdote, so I'll tell you about our Primary Program.
I think that the annual Primary Program has gotten more and more exciting for me as I've had more children enter Primary. Today we were not early enough to Sacrament Meeting to get a first-choice seat, so we opted for the front row over the overflow. It worked out great, though, because Jack behaved very well. His teacher had told me that they moved him around a bit during the practices to try to find the optimum good-behavior seat, and I think that knowing Ben and I were watching him gave him a little extra motivation. We could even hear him singing, which was really fun. We could also see Cat, in the far corner of the back row, sitting, singing and behaving perfectly; and Eliza, to the right on the very front row, who looked very much like a singer for the first half of the program when she was singing with her mouth wide open, apparently enunciating and projecting very well, then losing interest toward the end.
We had a perfect view when the three of them came to the front of the stand for their parts. Most of the children spoke in a group with their Primary classes, but our kids were given parts where they introduced our family and talked about principles of family life, so the three of them spoke in a group. They headed to the podium, but in a last-minute change, were directed to stand at a microphone to the side of the podium. The mic was too tall for Eliza, but she stood on her tippy toes and did her best to speak into the mic. It was fine for Jack, and he said his part just fine and scurried back to his seat. But the mic was much too short for Cat, and she wasn't sure what to do for a moment. Then she decided to bend her knees to lower herself down to the level of the mic, like a mime acting like he's going down in a glass elevator. It was hilarious. A definite highlight of the meeting. Oh, and she did a great job saying her part as well.
I got emotional as I watched all of these sweet children sitting together, and singing songs which teach beautiful Gospel truths. What a privilege to be among little ones every day. I'm so thankful to get to be a mother to these children of mine.
Way back in June...
Well, in an attempt to do a little catch-up, here's a quick recap of some things that happened 'round these parts in June.
 |
| Fish-sitting again. The kids really love this, but I find that even the level of commitment necessary to keep a betta fish alive is too high for me. Feed something other than my family three times a day? Whoa. That's asking kind of a lot... |
 |
| At the beginning of the summer, we were all pretty gung ho about daily learning time. The kids even got all set up to do learning time outside one morning. It didn't last that long... |
 |
| Jack had his first experience with rec league soccer in the form of the summer training camp that is available for kids who register early. He loved it. |
 |
| I was excited to bring the younger kids to the library's summer reading kick-off event, which was called "Teddy Bear Picnic." Everyone had a stuffed animal they brought and Cat was convinced it would be incredibly lame, so I told her she could read her book by herself in a shady spot nearby. But since it was all about science and it was NOT lame, she decided to participate anyway. |
 |
| After the science demonstrations there was a puppet show. The kids enjoyed meeting the puppets afterward. |
 |
| The science demonstration lady showed off the bug collection she put together with her kids and it was pretty cool. For about two seconds I was actually tempted to start a bug collection with my kids for the summer. I'm not saying I hate the idea of starting a bug collection. This just wasn't the summer to do it. Gimme a couple more years. |
 |
| Hello, Puppets. |
 |
| Have I mentioned that Jack and Eliza started folding their own laundry this summer? On the first day we did this, Luke was enjoying un-folding as much as he could, so Cat helped him fold washcloths, which worked out great. |
 |
| We went to a new-ish children's museum at Thanksgiving Point called the Museum of Natural Curiosity with some friends and the kids had a blast. |
 |
| This was my favorite part - a music studio where you could tap on the computer screens to manipulate the rhythm and melody of a bunch of percussion instruments. I could have stayed in there for a while. |
 |
| This part was really cool too - a water table with little toddler seats built into the table so the kids could be surrounded by water without having to actually sit in it. Genius. |
 |
| We hung out at Orem's Summer Fest for a little while and Jack and Eliza LOVED the little roller coaster. It reminded me of our trip to California last fall. |
The over-sized slide was a big hit with everyone too.
 |
| Another fun one for J & E |
 |
| Luke was really into all of the rides, until we tried to put him on them. Then he would immediately scream until we took him off. I was glad to find a ride we could do together because he had a great time as long as Mommy was with him. |
 |
| Cousin Playdate at the park. Everyone is in this picture except the baby. |
 |
| My voice teacher made me a tape of vocalise to warm up with and the only place I can listen to it is in our car (yes, our car is pretty old). Luke reminded me of why kids and cassette tapes don't mix. |
 |
| We had a good time at the origami exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art for the second time, this time with my cousins who were visiting from California. |
 |
| Jack learned first-hand the misery of having to write sentences as a punishment. Grounding him would have been easier on both of us... |
 |
| We ran into our friend Liberty at the Riverwoods Freedom Fest Block Party. |
 |
| J & E also got to meet a skunk. |
 |
| These two took advantage of the face painting. |
 |
| Eliza also got free hair chalk and nail polish, but it's hard to see. |
 |
| Jack just enjoyed a romp in the splash pad. |
 |
| Father's Day Breakfast |
 |
| Father's Day surprises - |
 |
| We met up with some of my cousins and their kids at Liberty Park in SLC. Such a cool park. |
 |
| Because we were traveling during Cat's birthday, she had an early birthday playdate with a few friends. They made fabric-backed glass plates and decorated cupcakes to take home on their plates. Then they watched "Cupcake Wars." |
 |
| Cupcakes! |
Back to School 2015
(originally published February 18th, 2016)
Well, another school year had to come along and put and end to the fun we were having over the summer.
This year Cat is in 5th grade with a teacher she really loves, in the first ever 5th-6th combination class at the school. Jack is in 2nd grade with a new teacher but lots of old friends. Eliza was absolutely ecstatic to start school. She has a new teacher who's been at the school for a few years but is teaching Kindergarten for the first time.
Well, another school year had to come along and put and end to the fun we were having over the summer.
This year Cat is in 5th grade with a teacher she really loves, in the first ever 5th-6th combination class at the school. Jack is in 2nd grade with a new teacher but lots of old friends. Eliza was absolutely ecstatic to start school. She has a new teacher who's been at the school for a few years but is teaching Kindergarten for the first time.
 |
| First day of school for Cat and Jack |
 |
| Running for the door after I made them pose for pictures. |
 |
| Eliza's first day of school. |
 |
| First week of school DONE. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)