Grammie Time

We selfishly brought my mom here as her birthday present. It was a present to us to have Grammie here to share a week of our lives and be here for the science fair, the school play, and to have some special one on one time. 

We spent a morning in downtown Snohomish, which of course means eating at the Snohomish Pie Co.

We waited in the bright sun while my mom finished looking around an antique shop. My washington girl doesn't know what to do in the sun.

We drove to Edmonds beach all together.

 We played at the Children's museum.

Layla and Perry were thrilled about the new pajamas Grammie gave them--Mickey and Princess.

My mom was a part of Kacin's surprise for his 10 year old trip (more on that later).

She also made sure she took each child on a date. This is such a highlight for them--they love this time. I even got to go eat and shop with her, too.

On her last day here, we stopped at Kerry Park in Seattle to take in the view and to play before heading to the airport. I was happy to see my kids take care of each other as they played.

I was disappointed that Kyler pushed my mom on the spinning toy and I missed it! :) I heard it was quite fun and dizzying.

Thanks for a fun week, Grammie!

These days

Eric brought this home from work one day. Just what we needed--a 5 lb gummy bear. We chopped part of it up and the kids ate some for our family home evening treat one night. 

Eric started a new thing. It's called play a song from the 90's, 80's or 70's before we go to sleep. He surprises me with the song every night. He says he might let me request songs, but there is no guarantee that he will use my suggestions in this nightly ritual. These lullaby's, of sorts, have been a variety of classics. One night, it was a george strait song. Who knew that Eric knew every word to "Heartland"?

Kacin refers to the dishwasher soap as "George". It all began when Perry was watching Curious George while Kyler was loading the dishwasher. Ky gets sucked in to the tv no matter what is on. He distractedly asked me to hand him the George so he could start the dishwasher. Kacin couldn't stop laughing and here we are a couple of months later and the name has stuck.

Layla loves gymnastics and going to Sundi's house. She asks every single day if she can go to those places.

I came to the resolution that it is not very likely that I will go back and teach elementary school again. I've been going through more pocket charts, bulletin board borders, big books, and posters getting rid of things. It's taken me a while to let go of that part of my life. I loved teaching 1st grade. I'm glad I had that chapter of my life. But I'm even more glad to have this role as a mother of four.

We decided to tackle some big house projects. We are painting our kitchen cabinets. Today we go pick out new countertops. Our flooring guy gave us an estimate and we are waiting on samples to make a decision. I think it's all exciting. E is glad we are doing it, but I'm getting the feeling he doesn't enjoy the process quite as much as I do.

Layla loves being the helper at preschool. I think she has brought my Grandma Neff's singing frog at least twice for her show and tell. This time Polo (Kacin's polar bear) got to be shown off, too.

Here is Layla's group and their Leprechaun trap.

Once upon a time I wanted Kacin to go play, even if that meant making a mess. Layla has taught me all about mischief. Locking doors, clogging toilets, bowls of water spilling over her room, scissors and crayons in her bed and on her sheets, and toys placed in all sorts of random places and bags. It's never to be naughty, it's always to help or because of her imagination--she has big plans this girl. She keeps me happy and busy.

To renew our foster care license, half of our family had to go get shots. E, Kyler, and I were the lucky ones to get vaccinated. I still don't do well around needles, but if I don't look at all (even while the nurse is preparing the needle  or cleaning my arm) than I don't get light headed anymore. That' a good thing. Kyler is a champ. He doesn't even think twice about it. He even took on the role of Perry's entertainer while we waited. Well, he held Perry's entertainer in his hand and cuddled Perry.

Seussical, Jr.

The Hunter, the Who, the Jungle Creature . . .

Kacin was looking good up on that stage.
(I'm sad I never got a picture of him in his big Who coat and bow tie.)

Nearly every time I tried to run Kacin's lines with him at home he rolled his eyes, complained, whispered them, or recited them in a bored voice. But then at the performance I was thrilled to hear him loud and clear, with expression and hand gestures. I guess he just wanted to surprise me. It was so great watching him up there. Seriously, it is the best watching your child shine.

I came with him to the dress rehearsal. They had a professional there taking pictures for the program.

He only performed in the Friday show. We got a babysitter for Perry. I was at the YCL retreat, but I left in the middle of it and met E, Kyler, Layla, and my mom at the auditorium. I have so much fun watching Kacin perform! And I know he had a lot of fun being a part of this production. There are a lot of talented kids at his school. He made some great friends.

This was his bio in the program.

Great job, Kacin!

Science Fair

We spent the majority of a saturday, just before the project was due, working on Kyler's science fair project.

All 5th graders at our school must complete a project. I can't say that we were jumping for joy about this opportunity. Science is cool, but typing it all up and placing it on a piece of cardboard is not really. But it all worked out nicely and was a good experience for us.

Kyler did an awesome work of it. We helped supervise the burning and I was his assistant when it came time to printing and gluing everything together, but otherwise it was entirely his own good work. He should be quite proud.

His project was to figure out which material burns the least so you would know what would be the best to wear around a campfire.

Here are some of the pictures from the experiment itself.

He concluded that denim would be the best to wear around a campfire.

He displayed his work at the 5th grade science fair. I was at Kacin's dress rehearsal that night so I sadly couldn't be there to see him proudly standing next to his work, but Eric and my mom went to support him and his work.

I heard he took 75 selfies that night. They only sent me one. :)

on health

When the number of children in our family doubled over night, we went into survival mode. We started eating out a ton and exercising less. E and I had less time and less energy for those things we should be doing to stay healthy.

We have gradually gotten back on track as a family. Our kids are doing pretty well. But E and I decided we were ready to make more steps in the right direction of healthy living ourselves.

We created a challenge a few weeks ago, just between the two of us. Week one we had to eat 5 fruits or vegetables a day. In theory, that sounds so easy. Not for us. I've learned to dislike those things. I found myself choking down a banana and trying to disguise corn into my burrito. I know, corn probably shouldn't even count as a vegetable. It's pretty sad how I've trained my body to be disgusted by all things good for you.

I did it though. I got all of my fruits and vegetables each day (and I only counted corn that one time). We declared ourselves pretty successful with week one. The second week we added in you can not eat sugary sweets/treats. I thought that would be impossible for me. I turn to sweets nearly afternoon when I have my headaches or I'm tired or after Perry has been having an extremely aggressive tantrum or I'm worried about something.

I surprised myself. I learned that I do have some self-control after all. I found some better alternatives for my afternoon sugar fix that left me feeling much better than a candy bar or cookies ever did. I've learned to take a few minutes for myself to read, close my eyes, sleep, grab a more filling snack, or do a few push ups.

Oh, on the weekend I still cheated a little. I was at a girls camp YCL retreat and those chocolate covered cinnamon bears were calling to me. But it was nice to have a better balance about what I am putting into my body.

I've been thinking a lot about my emotional/mental health, too. A seasoned mom sat by me during relief society at church one day. She had noticed us during sacrament meeting. This is embarrassing funny because I actually thought Perry was doing quite well that day. The worst of it was only that he threw his sippy cup down the aisle of the entire chapel during sacrament meeting. I was quite pleased he hadn't aimed it at anyone so I was counting this as a plus in my book. (What do people really think of us?! Ha!) She noticed us working with him and I guess it got her thinking about her own days as a young mom with 5 kids, running a daycare, and with a husband who was gone working/school long hours. I was grateful for the wisdom she imparted to me about the importance of caring for yourself--she laughed about how if she had only realized this back then it would've saved her money on counseling later on. A couple of other moms chimed in on their experiences and thoughts. It was nice to be surrounded by wise, caring women.

It's true. My health as a person is important. That's why at our house date night is given such high priority each week. And I try not to don't let myself feel guilty when I take time to read and rest in the afternoons. It also helps that I read my scriptures each morning and take hot showers at night. I write in my journal and started a daily gratitude journal. I still practice yoga when I can, or at the very least yoga breaths when I am containing Perry when he is in a rage. I know what I like and what I enjoy doing (this is something those ladies told me--they couldn't have told anyone back then about themselves). I have good people to talk to, especially my husband. Because of these things, I stay sane (well, as sane as I could ever be).

I don't think health is about what size I wear, but about how I feel. It is about being in control and staying balanced.

Wish us luck on next week's challenge--we still have to agree on what we are adding to the 5 a day and no sugar, but it might be not eating after 8pm. yikes!

Macho Chef

I think it's E's dream to be in a bbq-ing competition. He whet his appetite the other night at the annual elder's quorum activity.

And the winner of the best main dish at Macho Chef Night is . . .
Eric Allred!

For his smoked ribs with "oooh yeah bbq sauce" (his awesome dr. pepper sauce).

Here are the winners of each category--main dish, appetizer, drink, and dessert.

Let's see that trophy closer up.

We are so proud of our macho chef. In Layla's words, "Whoa, dad is amazing."