Activities and Concerts

Our last activity days was originally supposed to be a family history activity put on by the Chandlers (Susan and Dave) in our ward, who are in charge of family history. Sister Chandler had to tell us a few days before that she wasn't going to be able to do it on the 24th because she was able to get an appointment for her eyes to be dilated prior to surgery and said last time her eyes stayed dilated for about 13 hours. Sister Gale was supposed to be out of town, and I thought it was going to be just fine because of the family history activity. When that changed, Sister Gale decided to come home from her trip early and she found a bunny craft for the girls to make. We did the craft and a game, along with jump ropes.

They are made out of heavy paper and have a weight in the back to make them rock.

I guess the Kennewick School District has a tradition they've been doing for a long time now for the 5th graders. Each year the 5th graders practice some songs that they will sing together. It's called the 5th Grade Choral Festival. All of the 5th graders from every school will perform together. Except they do have to split it up into two sessions because there are so many. On the same night as activity days was Charlotte's performance and there were 9 schools. The second night there were 8 schools. They did some popular songs that I love and some I hadn't heard of. The funny thing was that I went to the practice earlier that morning as a chaperone and there were a lot more kids at the practice than the actual performance. I had heard Charlotte's teachers tell the students that they didn't have to go unless they wanted to or their parents made them. The cool thing is that they did record it on YouTube and so anyone could watch from anywhere. I totally forgot about that option until right before the show started.  After they sang several songs, the choirs from Kamiakin and Southridge High schools performed one song each. Then the 5th graders sang more. One of the songs I really liked was the one by Carrie Underwood called "I Will See You Again". 

The students who sang were in the bleachers.

Charlotte was in this section, right side, 3rd row from bottom.

The very next day they had an awards assembly at the girl's school and Charlotte won the Citizenship Award in her class. 

To celebrate, I took Charlotte to get a free ice cream with a coupon she had won previously. She saw the big spoon by the doors and had to get a picture.

Okay, I don't remember what we were doing before taking this picture, but I love it and wanted to save it here. Alice is such a sweetheart!

Jack had a Wind Ensemble Band Concert on the 27th. It basically means advanced concert band. We enjoyed watching like always, and it was great to actually see him up front this time with his French horn!!

The weather was nice one day and so the girls and I took a walk in our neighborhood. Charlotte would let go of the leash sometimes to see if Milo would stay with her, and he did! It was funny because he also stepped in the loophole that we usually hold on to and just kept walking like that. We had walked down to the Gale's house to let Milo play with his new friend, Harley. They had so much fun running all over the yard and playing keep away from each other with some of the toys.

We spotted this bird in someone's front yard on the walk home. At first, I thought it was a chicken, but I'm not sure. It's kind of cool looking though.

The last weekend of March was the first weekend of the kid's spring break. I knew we would be going out of town the next Monday and staying in Nampa all week, so we did a little clean up in the yard before going. I trimmed a bush while Garrett raked leaves. The only picture I took was of him working. I'm posting a picture of the bush I trimmed but it was taken a few days earlier. I hated to trim that bush when it looked so pretty with all of the yellow, but I knew it needed to be done because that bush would get huge over the summer. I wish I could have gotten out there early enough to trim the bush before it bloomed. Next year I'll either trim it really early or wait until after the yellow blooms fall off before trimming it.

He worked hard for me and I'm so thankful he was willing to help.

This was what the bush looked like several days before I trimmed it. 

Alice was finally able to wear her new spring dress she got for Christmas from her Grandma Butterfield.

Baptism, Play and Other Stuff

On March 14th, it was "Pi Day" (3.14....) which is a math term, so some people like to celebrate with having pie. I usually forget, but this year we were invited to a Pi Day party. It was for any adults in the ward, but it was at a member's home, Andrew and Michelle Gould. They have only been in the ward for about a year. Anyway, I didn't actually find out about it until the day before the party and I didn't have time to come up with any special kind of pie to make, so I went with pumpkin, because I already had a can of pumpkin ready to go in our pantry. There was a competition for the homemade pies, but I didn't really care about that. I knew I wouldn't win with just a pumpkin pie, but it was definitely a popular choice to have a slice. We cut very small slices so that they were sample size. By the end of the night we came home with only two small slices, which the girls were very happy to finish off for us. 

The next day on the 15th, it was the annual Leprechaun Dash. Curtis and I took the girls and Milo to the 1-mile run/walk. It was really cold that morning, so I wore my long underwear and multiple layers. I was nice and comfortable. Milo did a lot better this year and we were actually able to walk him with the crowd this time. Charlotte held his leash most of the time. Curtis, Charlotte and Milo were going a lot faster, so Alice and I walked together. It was a cold morning, but it was still fun. We even got there early enough for the girls to get a free t-shirt. Afterwards, we took the girls to get a donut from the donut shop called Popular Donuts.

On Monday the 17th was St. Patrick's Day, but my kids did not have school that day because it was a reserved snow make up day. The school district scheduled two snow make up days and decided to use the one that we needed for the weekend of Memorial Day, especially since it was only a half day originally. I took the time to open my new puzzle and got the border put together. Well, that's as far as I have gotten to this day. Curtis needs to buy me smaller puzzles, like 500 piece so I can do them quicker. AND not so complicated. I'll do this puzzle, but it may take as long as my balloon puzzle did, even though it's 1000 piece instead of 2000 piece.

On the 20th, our relief society put on a dinner and service activity. We had a few sisters in the ward that made us a Mexican dinner that included tamales, rice, beans, salsa, and fried tortillas sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. It was all delicious! After the dinner, they did a short tamale making demonstration and then we filled Easter eggs for the ARC. We had a pretty good turn out with about 25 women.

I was there early to help set up and get us in the building.

Catalina Diaz, Margaret Quintero, Toni Diaz

The weekend of the 22nd we drove over to Lewiston for Bridger's birthday and baptism AND Jayden's play. We drove over Friday night and got a hotel this time because Michelle's family were staying with them. After checking in we drove over to Stillman's to hang out and visit for the evening. We thought our hotel would have a pool and packed our swimsuits to go swimming. Well, they do have a pool, but it's outdoors and still closed and too cold. Our second disappointment with the hotel is that we thought breakfast was included, but it wasn't. It was available to purchase separately restaurant style. We decided to go get breakfast at a little place in downtown Clarkston (because our hotel was in Clarkston) after we all got showered and dressed for the baptism and checked out of the hotel. Curtis and I shared an omelet, and it was good. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, just that it seemed to be in downtown, I think. After breakfast, we drove straight to the church for the baptism of Bridger. He happened to get baptized on his birthday. It was neat that the family all had parts in the program. Jayden gave a talk, and they even had Keaton read a talk that Alex wrote while on his mission. Alex was able to watch the baptism online. Technology can be great for these types of things!

 After the baptism we all drove over to Stillman's to eat lunch. Then it was off to see Jayden in his high school play, The Wizard of Oz. They did a great job!

Charlotte thought their statue of the mascot was pretty cool. This was by the front doors.

Curtis saw this golden toilet and of course had to get a picture. I don't remember what it was all about, but it looked like it was some sort of rivalry trophy, kind of like when Nampa had the bell.

Laverne got a picture of Alice with "Dorothy" after the show.

Jayden already changed before he came out for pictures.

These guys are great buddies. Jack talked up a storm with Brogan before and after the show.

Alice by the statute.

After the show it was back to Stillman's for a birthday party for Bridger. We quickly put up decorations while he played video games downstairs. It was Spiderman themed. I remember when Garrett and Jack loved Spiderman and Batman.

As soon as the party was over, we finally hit the road to go back home (at like 8:30pm). It's a good thing it's only a 2 1/2 hours drive. We needed to get back for church the next day, especially since they were sustaining Curtis to be the new Elder's Quorum President for our ward. He was already a counselor before so it's not as big of a shock or adjustment. He'll do great and it was a great weekend. We were so glad we could be there for the baptism and play.

Another Trip to Nampa and Tim Tam Slams

Last Thursday after school, Garrett and I made a short trip to Nampa for his orthodontic appointment to do a retainer check. We actually got into town earlier than expected and stopped by Dad's house on the way to Grandma's. He had some temple names to give us and a puzzle board for me. It's a board with drawers in it that I can store my puzzle on while I'm working on it. I love that I can move it around easily, so if I want to change to a different room I can. While I was visiting with them, Garrett went to the back room where the toy box is and put together a Mrs. Potato Head. That was totally unexpected. I'm glad he was having a good time.

Laverne (Mom) got a picture of us that night just in case she didn't the next day.

The next morning was his appointment at 9am. They took some last x-rays and pictures. His retainers still fit very well, so they didn't need to make new ones. Then I asked them if we could get an extra set of retainers because that's what they said to do in the missionary paperwork. They said they could and they could also give us a mold so that he could take it into any orthodontist later on and get a new retainer made if needed. It cost $240 for the extra retainers and $60 for the mold. Not cheap but it will be good to have them on hand. We'll pick them up the next time we're in town. They said after that we didn't really need to come back in unless we happened to be coming into town and we want them to check his retainer, or if he has any problems, especially since we have to travel so far. So could be done after that. It's really up to us.

After the appointment, we went to the Wallace's to give Sydney a few clothing items from Alice and visit a little while. Then we headed back to Grandma's where Garrett worked on homework, and I started a puzzle with Grandma. Dad and Laverne joined us after they finished at the gym. Dad helped with the puzzle while Mom read a book. We had decided to go out to eat to Thailand Express for lunch. Garrett has been really interested in Japan lately and wanted Japanese food or at least something similar. He would like to go to Japan on his mission. The food was really good (as usual) and we got there at a good time. That place is popular, and you usually might have to wait for a while to get a seat, but we got right in because we didn't get there until about 1:45 I think. The nice thing about going at lunch time is it's half the price and half the amount of food. Half the amount of food was plenty for me. It was the first time I was able to eat my whole meal at this restaurant and not take any home. Garrett had to box his up though, but he finished it later on our ride home.

Grandma tends to have her eyes closed for pictures. LOL

I wasn't in a big hurry to get back home because it was Friday night, so we went back to Grandma's to finish the puzzle we started. When we finished the puzzle I taught Dad, Mom, and Grandma a new game called BANK. We learned it from some friends. You just need two dice and the app on your phone. You roll to get points, but there's ways to lose the points if you don't put it in your bank soon enough. Whoever has the most points in their bank after 20 rounds is the winner. By the time we finished playing two rounds, it was time to go back home, and we left around 4:00pm. Garrett and I were able to drive straight home without stopping once and got home at 7:00 (pacific time). Visiting with family and friends, even if it's only a few of them, always makes the trip so much more worth it. And doing the puzzle and going out to eat made it feel like we were there longer than we were.

Monday was activity days again and we went with a green theme for St. Patrick's Day. We started out with an activity where the girls had to spread peanut butter on bread for a sandwich without looking. To do this, they teamed up with another girl. One would sit on the chair with the plate in front of them and then the other would sit/stand behind their teammate and reach their arms under their teammate's armpits and proceed to feel the plate with their hands. Some of the girls didn't want to do it at first but I think they ended up having fun with it. Then we let them sprinkle on some cinnamon sugar if they wanted it and eat it with the rest of their snack. While they were eating, we put on a video of a woman speaking who was born without arms. She was pretty amazing as she could do so many things with her feet, including flying an airplane! 

After the video we had lots of time left (which is very unusual for us!) and so we had the girls help clean up and then I circled them up to play "Do You Love Your Neighbor?". I had wanted to play it last month, but we never had time. And we had 5 new girls that had never played it before. This game is always a hit and this time the adults got to play also. It was a fun activity. Later that night, both of my girls were trying to do things without their arms because of the video we had watched. Charlotte was trying hard to climb up her bunk bed without arms. She finally stepped on a chair (which I held down with my foot) and was able to wiggle her way up. It was fun to watch them as they both pulled their covers up without their arms. They used their teeth instead. Silly girls.

We laid out sheets under the tables just in case it got messy. The bread and peanut butter were placed in front of them and their snack plates in the middle of the table. I told them we had to do our activity first and not to touch the snacks. We wanted them to eat snacks while watching the video.

Veggie straws and a pretzel clover made with a softened Rolo and green M&Ms. We also gave them green grapes and celery with peanut butter if they wanted them later.

The weather was so nice that day that after activity days and dinner I asked Garrett if he wanted to take a break from homework and go throw a football out back. He did join me and then Charlotte and Alice as well. It was tough for Charlotte at first but she steadily improved as we kept throwing. We played until it got dark and was getting difficult to see the ball. Charlotte loved it and said she wants to play football for girls now. I don't even know if they still do that anymore, but they did when I was in high school. Alice couldn't throw as far but she did pretty well also.

The very next day after school Garrett wanted to throw the football again. I was busy making dinner at the time and couldn't. He tried Curtis since he was already home, but he was busy. I told Garrett that Charlotte wanted to play catch again, as she said so when I picked the girls up from school that day. So Garrett, Charlotte and Alice all went out to play again. I was able to get a video and picture. I love it!

She can throw as far and high as I can now. I can hardly believe it! The ball is as high as the roof in this picture.

Catching the ball is a little more difficult but she's getting better at that also. She started throwing the ball over the fence behind Garrett also (which is still our yard).

Yesterday we made a last-minute decision to feed the missionaries since they didn't have a dinner appointment yet. We had been trying to get together with them ever since our last dinner appointment got messed up by illness. I had already planned to make Coconut curry for dinner because we hadn't had it in a long time, and I forgot how much it made so I bought enough to double the recipe. I'm glad I did because it made plenty to feed not just two missionaries, but three. I didn't realize there would be three but it worked out just fine.

After dinner we introduced them to the Tim Tam Slam. Curtis had me pick up some Tim Tams because he was invited to present for the youth that night about his mission to Australia. He also ordered some vegemite for trying on toast. Anyway, I bought an extra package for us to have at home, so we were able to share them with the missionaries. They loved it! They too were also going to the church to be part of that missionary activity, but they were the only ones who got to do the Tim Tam Slams. Thankfully we had just enough hot chocolate for them to try it because Garrett has been drinking a lot of it and we ran out. 

To do a Tim Tam Slam, you bite off opposite corners of a Tim Tam cookie and then use it like a straw to suck up the hot chocolate. It will melt the chocolate inside and then you eat it. It's warm and gooey. I have never been successful at getting it to work but maybe I'll have to try it again. I haven't tried in a long time.

Elder Webster, Elder Thompson (this was our first time meeting him), and Elder Williams (he had crutches because he tore his ACL in his knee while playing basketball).

They enjoyed the Tim Tam Slams.

 

On a side note, we learned the hard way that it is much cheaper to buy Tim Tams locally at Safeway or Target than off of Amazon. Curtis didn't think there would be any at any stores here in the Tri-Cities because we used to get them at Costplus World Market, but that went out of business. So he just ordered off of Amazon. I had heard years ago that you could find them at Target, but now I learned by Googling "Tim Tams near me" that Safeway had them as well for the same price as Target. Curtis spent about $40 for about the same number of cookies that I spent about $18 on. It pays to check around first! We will be sending the Amazon order back! I actually went to Target first to pick them up because Charlotte needed some new shoes and we had wanted to look there for shoes. Unfortunately, they were out of stock on the Tim Tams at Target, but we found some at Safeway afterwards. I actually had to go back again yesterday to pick up more because we didn't realize that it was a combined youth activity, not just the priests or young men. Surprisingly, Curtis came home with 4 or 5 extra packages, so I guess we get some for ourselves.

Trim Project and Fun Stuff

Now that we're into March and the weather is warming up, we have finally got the itch to work on projects again. We had done a little last Fall and never finished what we started then because we got busy and then it got cold! Last Fall we had started hanging trim in our bedroom and a small part of the hallway. Well, we got as far as painting and hanging the boards up but didn't finish with painting over the finish nails and caulking. At one point I did at least fill in the holes with wood filler but never got around to sanding and painting. So, our trim looked like it was sick with spots all over. Ha ha! On Saturday, March 2nd, we got to work sanding and painting the trim. I finished up painting last Thursday. Then last Saturday, the 8th, I finally painted the doors while Curtis did caulk. I do still need to do a little touch up painting, but we're so glad to get that much done and to get going again on projects.

He helped with primer painting on the parts of wood that needed it.

This is how I had it set up in the garage. It has one coat of paint on at this point.

This is a reminder of what the doors looked like prior to painting them. They came pre-primed.

You can see the difference between Garrett's door and the closet versus our bedroom door. It's so much nicer now!

Finished bedroom and bathroom doors.

Finished closet door.

Inside the bathroom. We still need to figure out how to fix the squeak in the door hinges. It rubs on the paint, so we might have to remove the board and trim it again.

Me painting the doorway. At that point, the door had not been painted yet.

On Sunday, March 3rd, Curtis and I took Jack to get his Patriarchal blessing. I had been thinking about Jack getting his patriarchal blessing lately, and then the next thing I knew, he had his interview with bishop and sent me the information to set him up an appointment to get it done. I'm so happy that he wanted to get it on his own. There were some great things mentioned in his blessing. I want to read it again because I can't remember it all, but I know he had a great experience getting the blessing and that he loved the things that were said. That got me thinking about my patriarchal blessing and I couldn't remember where I put it! I did a lot of searching to no avail and finally decided to request it online. Right after I received it and printed it out again, I found where I put the original. It was in the back of my senior scrapbook, along with Curtis's love notes from when we were dating and letters he had sent me from Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm so glad I found all of those! 

I told Jack later that Nikki had never gotten one, and I wondered what hers would have said if she did. He reminded me that she still can get one. I loved that he said that, and I hope she does some day.

Patriarch Newbry took a photo of us afterwards. What a great experience! 

Garrett has seemed happier lately and more willing to play games and do other things. While Curtis, Jack and I were on a call with Nikki to read from a book called "Atomic Habits", Garrett played a Harry Potter board game with the girls. I was SO happy to see the three of them playing together. In the end, Charlotte won and I'm happy that Alice did not get upset. She tends to get a little upset when she's not playing well or doesn't win. We're trying to teach her that it's okay, as long as you're having fun.

Last Tuesday evening the girls had an event at their school for Read Across America Day, honoring Dr. Suess's birthday. They had some fun activities, and the girls got to pick out some free books because they had donated some books to get "book bucks". It's basically a book exchange.

Alice got her face painted and posed as Cat in the Hat.

Charlotte showed me that she can cross her eyes. She's such a funny girl.