52 Weeks of Blessings -- week 10-- Spring

This week's blessing is spring! Today was SO nice and springy that I couldn't resist using it as my blessing of the week. I love how people feel good and get out and enjoy a beautiful spring day! I love when the trees bloom and the flowers push their heads up through the dirt! The motorcycles were out in abundance today, people were out washing their cars and for walks all over town. The SUN was shining and it was a warm 50 degrees {hey, that's warm when we've had days and weeks of frigid weather (this link the weather note is on the very bottom of the post) !} Today a lady brought a nest in to share with the kids at Church. It had fallen from one of her trees in a wind storm a few years back and since it was undamaged in the fall she saved it. the kids were all fascinated by it. Spring means the renewal of life. New born calves are dotting the fields, birds are returning from their winter homes in the south, the brown lawns will soon be bright and green. Also, it is the time we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior -- a renewal of life!

Here we have some spring science projects: Robby made the "green house" with the neighbor kids, it is sponges with grass seeds that he waters daily. Scott and EmmaLece planted flowers during their primary class today at church. They were SO excited! Emma said she was growing a flower and Scott said he was growing dirt!
Although I know we will probably have cold and snow again before spring truly arrives, I do so love the first glimpses into SPRING!

A day of play!

It was sorta warm on Monday so we went out to play.They've been begging to ride the Gator. Since the snow melted we could pull it out of the garage and take it for a spin around the block.Some scooter time was requested as well.
The big kids arrived home from school.And of course some skate-boarding!

52 Weeks of Blessings -- week 9-- Literacy

This week I'm grateful for the blessing of literacy! I know that there are still places in this world where children and adults can not read and do not have the opportunity to learn. I am so thankful to have been born in a country and in an age where most people can read and have the opportunity to learn! I couldn't imagine not being able to read! What great adventures the written word opens to us. It is SO exciting to watch children "get it" and take off reading! I ♥love♥ to read and I hope and pray that my children also have and develop this wonderful blessing! Following are small samples from our collection -- with a few from the library thrown in! Children's books! Who doesn't ♥love♥ a good children's book?! Every night I read 2 to 4 books to the twins. They are finding their favorites and memorizing them! :)
For the older {and not so old}! We have all the Harry Potter books but I could locate them all {must be hiding in a room!}
And then some for the a bit older than the kids ... or maybe for the teens too! Whether you're learning, laughing, living in a fantasy, or crying, there is nothing like a good book! I'm thankful for the blessing of literacy!

Shower saga continues and new glasses!

If you read this post, then you know about our shower troubles and how we thought they were over! Well, that fix only lasted humm, about 1 week. The water pressure was still great, we were now just having other troubles.... like the hot water would not turn off! {Yeah that's cost effective! :p} So, on Monday, Troy took it apart again and found that it needed new "O" rings. Off to the hardware store we head and, viola it's fixed! Until Wednesday at 6:30 AM when Cody is ready to hop in. He comes in my room to inform me that there is now NO hot water in the shower! Poor kid ended up taking a spit bath in the sink! Then Troy comes home a little after 7 AM, I tell him about the new shower problem, but he's in need of a nap before he can tackle it. Around noon he gets up to watch the kids so I can go to centers in Robby's class. He takes the mixing valve apart yet again. Turns out the new "O" ring slipped off and blocked all the water! {How can something so small block the flow of the water?} Great! easy fix we had hot water! He takes his shower and tells me I might also want to ... just in case, right. OK, works great for me, so when Cody comes home we tell him he might want to jump in while it's still working..... Cody gets in and ...poor kid has the worst luck... again NO hot water! By this point Troy is starting to get a bit irritated. We figure we're going to need to replace the whole thing, so he calls the plumbing company and requests a call this evening. No one calls, of course. By Wednesday night, he's decided with a little help, he should be able to replace the fixtures and soldier the pipes. {I'm not quite as confidant as he's not done much if any soldiering, but OK whatever I just want to be able to take a shower!} Thursday, bright and early he gets to work on it. He ends up having to cut a larger hole in the wall because the one left by the previous owner was not big enough to reach all of the pipes. {There's nothing like lath-n-plaster backed with dry-wall!} His help arrives at 9:30 AM and they really get to work. I went to play group at 10 AM until about 1 PM. The project was finished around 4:30 PM! After one stubborn pipe just refused to soldier finally held on! The bathroom gets all put back together and I get the maiden voyage .. the pressure is wonderful and hot to cold ratio is great! Troy takes his shower and aside of the fact I used all the hot water {how could I have done that I'm sure I only took a 10 min shower....... :)} Kyle's mom comes to get him and asks if we know we have water on the floor! WHAT!? So, guess who calls -- that's right the plumber! Oh well, too late, we got it under control! The big girls and I went to a baby shower after dinner and Troy and Cody checked out things. After they fixed 2 more leaks and changed out the connecting pipe to the faucet, ran a bead of caulk round everything, it appears that we have NO more leaks! Thank the powers that be! A good strong warm shower and NO leaks! :)

On to another note, Savanna has joined the glasses club! She is so excited to be able to see clearly.

Another installment of Scottisims and Emily update

He comes running up to me...

Scott: "It hurts really really bad!"

Mom: "Do you want me to kiss it?"

Scott: "No, it's not gonna work!It hurts! Mom, you know what? The skin got off, yeah it did!"

Guess it was better cause he went away.

Scott: "Can we go to the park today and go sliding? Is it 100 degrees?"

Mom: "No, it's not 100."

Scott: "But how many is it? I don't know!"

Mom: "I don't know either... looks like 10 degrees!

Scott: "Is that warm?"

Said to me while playing the Wii: "My feet muscles and my butt muscles and my leg muscles and my arm muscles are flopping!"

Mom: "It's time for bed, you've already been read to, kissed, hugged, tucked in and given the flashlight, so go to bed!

While doing his little head shaking body movin' attitude Scott responds with: "Yeah, well I don't want to go to bed, cause I don't!"

{The first picture yeah, he totally posed that for me! The second and third were taken by Shantel with her camera.}

Emily is up to 3 lbs 4 ozs! She's such a trooper!

52 Weeks of Blessings -- week 8-- Baptism

This week I'm thankful for the blessing of baptism.....Today Robby and his buddy were baptized. Robby said, "Today is the best day of my life! I'm gonna remember this day forever!"
Saturday was also a special day for Shantel, it was her first Temple trip. Took these shots of the kids afterwards. Shantel went home and wrote 5 pages in her journal about her first Temple trip. I think it was a good day. She also said that it was a day she would never forget! This was Cody's 3rd Temple trip.Sibling love?!

What kind of blogger are you? and other fun things

You Are a Life Blogger!

Your blog is the story of your life - a living diary. If it happens, you blog it. And make it as entertaining as possible.

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

I SO want to visit Ireland!

Your Hidden Talent

You have the power to persuade and influence others. You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around. The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it. Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think!

What's Your Hidden Talent?

Shantel got better results than I did!

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree template - Pedigree
Thought it would be fun to do Robby too! He thought it was funny:)