Everyday Stuff - April 2013 Edition

Cat really enjoyed reading about dinosaurs.

Oops.

10 Days before Luke was born, Ben and I were very touched that we received a
brand new car seat for the baby, from an unknown benefactor.

It came with the added bonus of a new playhouse for the big kids.

During a walk in the neighborhood, Eliza picked some flowers buds in a neighbor's yard.

After our walk, we came back to the house to find a family of garden snakes slithering
around our driveway.  There were 4 in all.

Cat decided she needed an additional piece of furniture in the
downstairs bathroom so that she could have a place to spread out
her hair accessories and tools.

Drawing pictures for Mema and Papa's upcoming visit,
Eliza drew a rainbow while Jack drew monsters.

We placed Jack's and Eliza's pictures, complete with captions, on a wall of the room
Mema and Papa stayed in so they had a bit of decoration.  And entertainment.

I'm beginning to think this child will never tire of playing with trains.

I was finally able to attend a "Show What You Know" morning assembly at Cat's school.
The 2nd Graders sang a song about rocks (below) and I recorded it, but the sound didn't
work for some reason.  I was glad to be able to attend, though!

I found this list of rules for "Cat's and Eliza's Room House" pinned to a 

board in their room.  It also contains consequences for each broken rule, 

and a place where Cat can mark how many strikes the offender receives.

Dot painting.

After everyone had finished their meals at McDonald's, Eliza still had quite a bit left.  So she
decided to take it all with her - the drink, hamburger, pack of apples, and toy.

The kids love it when we let them wash the windows of the car at gas stations.

The last picture is my favorite - that was my view of Eliza trying to wash the window

while I was inside the car.

Ben has had a couple of shooting sessions with the kids, using his Red Ryder BB Gun.

He's been teaching them how to use it, and Cat is getting pretty good at it.

Jack is saying "hi" to Mema and Papa, who are on Sype
(two weeks before they came to UT to visit us.)

Did you know you can sharpen a pen in a pencil sharpener?

Cat's teacher was cleaning out her cabinets and came across a Walkman,
which Cat was thrilled to receive.  I dug out a small box of cassette tapes
and found one tape of Muppets songs, half of which I'd recorded over at some point,
and a tape of songs inspired by Prince of Egypt, both of which the kids listened to.
The kids loved using the Walkman, to the point that they fought over it,
so I then started letting one of them use my Discman.  (Yes, my original Discman
from high school, and it still works, and it is still used occasionally.)  In the above
picture, Jack is using the Walkman, and Eliza is listening to the Discman.

Cat's school had a Dress Like Your Favorite Character Day, and Cat chose to dress
up as Ramona Quimby.  Her shirt says "ROMONA."

Jack's class had a unit on insects and he came home with a giant ant.

April 15th, 2013: Jack's last opportunity to eat snow.

Photographer: Jack

Photographer: Jack

Photographer: Cat

Photographer: Unknown

Photographer: Unknown

My grandparents were passing through town when Luke was a week old,

so they stopped by to meet the little guy.  I was thrilled to be able to introduce them

and we had a wonderful little visit.

We interrupt our regularly schedule blog posts to bring you this important message.

Eliza got new boots.

She picked them out all by herself, and would not be deterred.

She tells everyone that they glow, but they don't.  They merely sparkle.  Beautifully I might add.  She also loves that they go "clomp clomp" when she walks.

We thought she would probably sleep in them the first night we had them, but she decided to merely place them beside her pallet.

They make me smile.  And so does that adorable little blonde girl.

More Fun with Mema and Papa

There were many more adventures to be had during Mema and Papa's two-week visit.  Below, we walked around a park in the Provo Canyon one afternoon.  It was chilly.

While Ben and I were at the hospital with Luke, Mema and Papa took all the kids to Salt Lake City one day.  Here are a few pictures they snapped of the kids at the Book of Mormon Celebración exhibit in the Church History Museum.  This children's exhibit is one of my kids' favorite things to do.

Once I was home from the hospital with Luke, Ben and Eliza showed Mema and Papa Squaw Peak while Cat and Jack were at school.  Apparently there were quite a few paragliders gliding around that day, so they got a good show.  I love that it was so windy that Eliza is holding on to her hat in all of the pictures.

Another day, everyone went up to do some sight-seeing in Northern Utah while Luke and I napped and enjoyed the quiet.  They went to the train museum in Ogden:

The building also housed a Browning Museum, which, thank goodness, captured the grown-ups' interest more than the kids'.  (There was also an antique car museum, not pictured.  Cool place, huh?)

The next stop was Hill Air Force Base to see the big aircraft in their museum:

There were also plenty of every-day activities.  Mema and Papa were able to attend a couple of Cat's soccer games, in very cold weather.  And we did a lot of hanging out at the house, too.

ASIDE: I think a perfect illustration of what's most important to kids is the fact that the above picture, the picnic in the back yard, is what Eliza said was her favorite memory from Mema and Papa's visit.  She happens to not be in the picture, but she was there too.  I love that she valued the picnic lunch more than the tours and outings and trips, more than the treats or fast food meals, and more than the gifts and surprises.  It reminded me of this part of the talk "Good, Better, Best" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks:

In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best. A friend took his young family on a series of summer vacation trips, including visits to memorable historic sites. At the end of the summer he asked his teenage son which of these good summer activities he enjoyed most. The father learned from the reply, and so did those he told of it. “The thing I liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.” Super family activities may be good for children, but they are not always better than one-on-one time with a loving parent.

I am thankful for Eliza's reminder that the things we think are big and exciting aren't necessarily the best way to bond and create memories.  The most important thing is just being together.  I try to remind myself of that, though I'm still not as good at it as I should be.


We had a great time with Bill and Cleo while they visited.  The sight-seeing was fun, but it was definitely secondary to just enjoying their sweet company and beautiful spirits.  Their visit was planned around Ben's graduation, and I had hoped that Luke would be born before Bill and Cleo arrived, but it was wonderful that they were here to take care of the older kids while we were in the hospital with Luke.  We knew the kids were well taken care of, and they were so happy to have that time with Mema and Papa.  Thank you, once again, for making the trip all the way to Utah.  Now I think we should plan another one.

Bridal Veil Falls with Mema and Papa

The first Sunday of Mema and Papa's visit we decided to go on a walk at Bridal Veil Falls.  The paved path takes you to the base of a beautiful waterfall in Provo Canyon, and it was a lovely way to spend a cool spring afternoon.  The kids did a pretty good job of walking, and they loved playing in the water, despite its temperature.  They also fed the fish, which is always a hit.  Unfortunately, this walk didn't seem to help to induce labor at all, either, darn it.  But it was still a fun outing for everyone.

The Stomping Grounds

The afternoon of Cat's piano recital, we all drove to BYU to walk around the campus and take pictures for a graduation gift I was putting together for Ben.  We also walked around the Provo Temple and, of course, got some ice cream at the Creamery.  (I also thought this would be a good opportunity to try to "walk the baby out" but I guess we didn't do quite enough walking, cause he didn't come out until a few days later, when we forced him out.)

BYU Campus

First we hung out at the Cougar statue in front of the football stadium, then in and around

the Tanner Building, which houses the Marriott School of Management.

You can see the Tanner building to the right of this sign, and the Y on the mountain behind it.

Provo Temple

BYU Creamery on Ninth

Let's Rewind - Cat's Piano Recital

Time to start catching up on the posts I'm Oh So Very Behind On.  In order to save time, the posts will probably be shorter than normal.  I just want to try to continue to represent the things that have happened in our lives, since I consider this a family history log.

Cat worked really hard to learn the two pieces she performed at her recital.  Unfortunately, I didn't do a good job of ensuring she perfect either of them, so her performance wasn't as good as it could have been.  (I was preoccupied with trying to get Luke to be born, and Ben's upcoming graduation, and Ben's parents' visit, and getting the house in order for our move...)

She began learning her pieces back in January and it was a painstaking process.  She chose both of them after listening to them, and they were much harder than anything she'd attempted in the past.  She didn't have the background to know how to learn the pieces on her own - the rhythms, accidentals, hand movements, etc., were tough - so I had to sit down with her and we figured it out together, measure by measure.

She was so excited to master each section of these pieces and loved playing them.  Below is the best recording I have of her doing the harder of the two pieces, the 1st Movement of Hadyn's Sonatina in C Major.  (She'd performed it even better, I just don't have it recorded...)  This was a couple of days before the recital.

When she performed the Hadyn during the recital, she got off part-way through and couldn't get back on track.  I was really proud of her that she didn't quit right away.  She continued until she came to a reasonable stopping place.

Below is the other piece from the recital, Beethoven's Russian Folk Song, which was shorter and not as technically difficult.

The recital was the weekend before Ben's graduation from the MBA program, so Ben's parents were able to arrange their visit to be in town for the recital as well as the graduation.  It was wonderful to have them there!

Cat has worked really hard to come so far in piano in such a short time.  I'm so proud of her!

 

And I have to include this picture of Jack and Eliza after the recital.  Eliza is enjoying her chocolate cupcake.  Can you tell that Jack already ate his?