Sick Day

This morning, Talie woke up with a fever, a few hours later, I got a call from the school that Dallin had a fever, and then Kennedi woke up from her nap with a fever. It came time to pick up Ashlynn from school, and I was rocking Kennedi in the rocking chair, and announced that I had to get up and go get Ashy from school, and Peyton asked, "Can I hold Kendedi?" So I got up and placed her on his lap. When I returned with Ashlynn, they were in that same position - well, Kennedi had slid off to the side of his lap a little - but he was ready for me to take Kennedi back.

Luckily I had checked out the movies, "Anne of Green Gables" from the library earlier this week, so we have plenty of low key activities for them to pass the time away until they start feeling better.

Summer in March

Peyton and Kennedi are always in the mood to go swimming. When one of them gets the idea to get their swimsuit on, they quickly solicit the other one to join them. Unfortunately - for them, they don't get to swim as often as they dress for it. This particular day, it's like 40 degrees outside, but it doesn't stop them from laying out on their towels on the back patio.

Notice the snow behind Kennedi. With 0%body fat, I can't figure out how she can stay warm.

One Saturday morning, Benson, Dallin and I came back from an early B'ball game and found Peyton and Kennedi in little bins filled with warm water on the family room floor. Talie was babysitting, and this was her solution to keep them happy without letting them get in the hot tub. She simply brought their "hot tub" inside=) - she always was a problem solver. Both Kennedi and Peyton had their own little bin and were as happy as could be.

In first grade, Ashlynn has been learning about our national symbols. At the end of this unit in school, her teacher, Mrs. Kempf, had the children dress in red, white, and/or blue and present a program to the parents. Mrs. Kempf put together a pod cast in which each of the children read a report that they had done on a specific US symbol (Ashlynn reported on the Bald Eagle), and in between the reports, she had taught the children a variety of patriotic songs which they performed. The program consisted of the traditional favorites, such as "America the Beautiful", some cute clever ones about Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington, where they acted out young George cutting down the cherry tree, and they finished with the song, "I'm proud to be an American", where the kids sang with great conviction. I'm sure you had to be there to truly appreciate it, but at the end of the last song, there was hardly a dry eye in the room. The spirit was so strong as everyone felt their love for this great nation. I was very proud of the class, and very grateful to Ashlynn's teacher for teaching the children something that is truly important. Thank-you Mrs. Kempf!

Half of Ashy's cute class, wearing adorable hats and head bands, provided by Mrs. Kempf.

Last Sunday, Kennedi and I were laying down on my bed, snuggling. And I asked her, what she learned in nursery today, and she said, "Toys." Not getting the answer I wanted, I rephrased the question, and asked, "What did your teachers teach you about?" To which she replied, "About Jesus."
"What about Jesus?" I further inquired.
"Umm, Jesus died yesterday. And the angel rolled the rock away."
I was amazed at how much my little two year old understood that her teachers were trying so hard to teach her. Again, I was thankful to my childrens' teachers for the love and time they put into teaching my children.

A Real Tear Jerker!!!

So we were supposed to leave for Idaho Friday, for Benson's youngest brother's mission farewell, but since Dallin's team won their 1st championship game, they were supposed to play at 10:00 on Saturday morning, and - if they won - again, at 2:00 for the final championship game. The boys won their 1st game, so we ran home, packed up the car, and returned for the final game. We were playing against a team we had already won before, so we had hope. The game was going very well, at one point we were even leading by 8 points. Dallin played great defense and swished two sweet shots (my favorite, is watching his confidence grow and watching his Dad's proud smile). But by the end, we were only up by 2 points. I turned to one of the mom's and said, "The worst that can happen, is they make a basket and we tie and go into over time." Well, with 30 seconds left on the clock, somehow a player on the other team sunk a 3 pointer (the 1st one I'd seen all season). With about 15 seconds left, we tried our best, but missed the basket, and the ball game and championship was over. The boys were so cute, about half of the team was crying, they were so disappointed. But, they played great, and we're super excited for the next season!