Uncle Conan

My boys have named a new "Favorite Uncle".  They have lots to choose from and it changes from time to time.  This time it goes to my brother Conan.  You see, he drives a big rig and stopped in Boise and had a short visit with us.  During that time he let them climb into his cab, see his bunk beds, and pick up and KEEP all of the loose change on the floor.  He also took us to eat at their favorite restaurant, Fiesta Guadalajara, went to Pack Meeting and played Wii.

3 months

I plan to share the normal things of today because I realize in a couple of years what I'm doing today won't be the normal anymore and I will forget.

Beatrix is now 3 months old and about 11 lbs.  I don't have anything more accurate because the bathroom scale needs batteries.

# of times I drove to the elementary school today: 3 (bringing Hyrum & Rachel home from Reading with First Grade, taking Hyrum to Kindergarten, bringing my 2 boys and the neighbor's 3 girls home after school)

# of laundry loads washed & dried:1 (Leo's; it has yet to be put away)

What we ate for dinner tonight: Chicken and Rice casserole, steamed Brussels sprouts, baby carrots straight from the bag, and homegrown grape juice

# of diapers changed: 4 (two were poopy - one of those a blowout)

I didn't  keep track of the hours sitting nursing Bea.

I made 8 tissue-paper pom-poms for tomorrow night's Relief Society dinner.  I have 36 more to make.  It seems like a million.

I read the beginning of Chapter 5 in the Lorenzo Snow Teachings of the Presidents book.  This opening paragraph just makes so much sense to me.  It is logical.  And I have had a witness that it is true.

We were born in the image of God our Father; he begat us like unto himself. There is the nature of deity in the composition of our spiritual organization; in our spiritual birth our Father transmitted to us the capabilities, powers and faculties which he himself possessed, as much so as the child on its mother’s bosom possesses, although in an undeveloped state, the faculties, powers and susceptibilities of its parent.

I completed 2 levels of Angry Birds on my Kindle Fire.  It took me many tries to accomplish this.

I took Hyrum to the dentist (after reading but before kindergarten) to get his teeth cleaned.  He has no cavities!  The dentist and hygienist both told him that he should brush his teeth twice a day and for longer than 30 seconds.

I didn't get an email from my brother Carson (serving a mission in Armenia).  Most likely because I didn't send him an email last night.

I encouraged Roderic to practice his violin.  He played a 2-octave G Major scale and Allegretto.

I practiced "Time After Time" for about 10 minutes using the interpretation from our coaching session yesterday.  And I learned that Spontuneous Quartet will perform 12th out of 26 and Syringa Sound Chorus will perform 8th out of 19 at contest.  I'm pretty excited about that!

Brrr, it's cold!

It is cold.  Unusually cold.  Right now at 11am, it is 10 degrees F.  The thermometer hasn't risen above 25 degrees F since January 10.  At the elementary school, they have had only a handful of 'outdoor recesses' because the temperature has to be above 20 degrees F in order for the kids to go out.

Last night, as we were putting the kids to bed, they told Ryan that the cold water wasn't turning on in the bathroom.  Uh-oh.  The water pipe feeding the upstairs was frozen!  Thank goodness for google, and a father (Ryan's) who goes to bed late, Ryan was able to thaw the pipe (using a blow dryer) and avert disaster.  Now if we could just have our children tell us when things aren't working correctly when they first notice it...

Off to the races!

Roderic got to participate in his first Pinewood Derby!  He and Ryan built a Mario Car, which was pretty cool.  They spent 3 Saturdays and a couple of weeknights working on it: researching designs, making drawings, carving, sanding, painting, sanding, and assembling.

His car did great at the race!  He came in 10th place overall in the Pack, 4th out of __ in the Wolf Den.  The special guest judges (teachers from Trail Wind Elementary) deemed his car the "Most Italian".

Blessing Beatrix

On Sunday, December 30, 2012, Beatrix was given a name and a blessing at church by her father.  It was a beautiful blessing and Bea didn't make a peep throughout.  She did spit up quite a bit during the rest of the meeting, though.  My mom wrote in shorthand the blessing as it was being said and then transcribed it for us.

l to r: Alton, Aanja, Milaka, Roderic, Ambrose, Hyrum, Sabrina, Leo, Ryan, Me, Beatrix, Grandpa C, Grandma C.

My parents flew up from Texas and the Stringhams (minus Doug) drove over from Portland for the occasion.  Due to a snow storm and the freeway being closed at LeGrande, OR (a charter bus slid and crashed and rolled down an embankment, leaving 9 dead and 30 more injured), Milaka decided to stay overnight.  My kids were happy with that development because it meant they got to play more games with their cousins!  They played several games of Fluxx and Settlers of Catan (Aanja, playing for the first time, won).

The Ludlows were planning to attend, but they had to replace their van battery instead.  Colter was going to ride with the Ludlows, since his only other means of transport is a motorcycle.  Ryan's parents had also planned on attending, but Dorothy was sick with a cold/laryngitis.

Can't Complain

If there is only one thing I've learned as a mother to young children, it is that you DON'T complain when they sleep from midnight to 7:30am.  But, it does make for a sore mom waking up.  'Cause if there's another thing I've learned its that you try to sleep when the baby sleeps!

 Leo really likes to hold Bea, even if she cries!