Week of 1-20-19

SUNDAY

This was a fairly uneventful Sunday.  All I could think of was that it was Audrey Nybo's farewell, which I LOVED!  That girl is so ready for a mission!  And how Molly did in Primary!  I had planned on sitting in the back so she wasn't tempted to nag me for things, but then I had to go up for something Shalane was doing and surprisingly, she only came up to me once, I offered to sit in her chair with her, she ended up not loving me sitting under her and we switched back.  Then she went to her class pretty much all by herself!  I was really happy about it.  Possibly a step in the right direction.  Next week, I will disappear before we switch to classes.  The evening was a lazy one- everyone was feeling sick- especially Brad.  So it worked to just lay around.  We did hit some really intense chapters in the Saints book and the kids got really into it (as opposed to half of them being asleep).  It is hard to believe that they were treated so poorly by our American Government, but then, thinking about this shut down- I also can believe it!  There are some selfish people out there and if they are in a position of power...  But so crazy to read what Joseph Smith went through and the faith that carried him through his trials.  Pretty powerful.  I love experiencing the faith and endurance so many of the early Saints had.  It's very empowering.  1-20-19

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY
Well, it was a day off from school, and apparently a day off from life for all of us :).  Minus all the laundry that I did (seven loads- holy moly!), we really took it easy!  The younger kids went outside during the first part of the day- we had been dumped on with some beautiful snow that morning- so Luke, Noah, Erika, Jack and even Molly were out there making forts and slides and throwing snowballs- it was a lot of fun!  I loved watching them!  I think my favorite part was when Noah came in to help Molly some more (he had gotten her all ready to go and done all the hard work) and she had a hair in her mouth.  She couldn't get it out with her gloves on and my attempts to get it out were failing, and so she took her glove off and pulled the hair out.  As soon as she got it out she said, "There.  Now help me put dis back on, Noah." HA!  He had seriously just slaved over the gloves, getting them on was not easy, so now he had the job of putting that one BACK ON.  His face was priceless, but he was actually willing and carried through.  These kids love their little sister- it's so evident and so fun to witness.  They both went back outside.  They played out there for quite a while.  Then came in and vegged with the rest of us on the couch.  We did pause the shows to play a few games.  The girls and I played Scattergories.  Then everyone played Apples to Apples and some Telestrations.  That was actually the funnest part of the day- Telestrations.  There were some funny happenings during that!  Erika's, "Oh, I thought it said, 'Couches'!" to Noah's "Krutches".  Then her, "Oh, I see it now."  Hahaha!!  And Luke's, "Dorito holding a bomb" answer!  Still makes me laugh!  And Charity's drawing of an invisible snowboard... good times.  I think we managed to make the day pretty fun even though we were lazy and being super frugal.  The kids pretty much ate anything that was edible in the kitchen that day.  Time to start rummaging through the food storage maybe.  1-21-19

FHE
Nate taught our lesson about Christ being The Light, from Come Follow Me.  I loved the lesson.  Everyone got into it and participated too.  I am LOVING the Come Follow Me program.  It's been so good for our family.  Such a breath of fresh air I think.  We played the game Jack got from his primary class- well, it wasn't really a game, but he turned it into one- we colored the pictures of the nativity and he would ask questions about each of the people and we would hold up the person it applied to.  He wanted to bear his testimony when we were done and talked about how he knows that when we lose something we can pray to find it and that it is exciting to have a new baby.  I loved his testimony.  He's so cute.  We had sherbet for the treat and then we all retired to the family room for the Jazz game.  It's amazing how much everyone looks forward to those.  Unfortunately our six game winning streak came to a screeching halt.  1-21-19

DAY 33 OF THE SHUTDOWN
This is getting to be a little much.  We had the talk with the kids about how this is our trial, we need to handle it the right way, praying and doing what we can to save money.  They are geared up now and seem to understand that this is temporary, but that we need to be strong.  One of the coolest things happened though.  We took some pictures of the meat Nate made for Lynn last week and Nate put out a post with them on Facebook about the shutdown and his role in it and offered a few smoked meat items and immediately orders came pouring in!!  It was awesome!  And such a cool miracle!  We seriously can see blessings that we may "not have room enough to receive" them!  Well, hopefully, Nate can follow through and we can deliver on all these promised orders.  But how cool is that! We will have plenty of money to last us a while from this.  Makes me so happy to think that Heavenly Father would bless us that way.  I was so happy that Nate had come up with a way to EARN the money rather than just asking for handouts- I'm sure some people only ordered because it was something nice to do- but at least they're getting something in return.  So cool.  I think we will make it out of this shutdown alive.  I'm not even worried anymore.  Another cool thing- my minister Christie May stopped by and handed me a card with some thoughtful words and a Walmart gift card for more money than I feel I should accept!  It was so nice and SO generous of her.  We have been so blessed.  I really can't complain at this point.  1-22-19

TIRED
I was SO TIRED on Tuesday!  I did produce, which may have contributed, but I think I am just coming down with something.  Brad stayed home for the first few hours of the day then went to school when he was feeling a little better.  Jack stayed home with the cough he had all night and all morning.  Poor guy.  But Molly, Jack and I really just laid around MOST of the day.  Kind of embarrassing, but much needed apparently.  I didn't mind the blessing of produce going well (minus the few little mess-ups by Mitch), everyone picked up their baskets and paid!  I didn't have to nag anyone except a few venmo payments.  It was a nice little tender mercy.  I'm really happy for those lately.  1-22-19

BOARD MEETING
The Parent board meetings for Lacrosse are SO BORING!!  And they feel so very pointless!!  I wish there was a way to not go without not going.  This will be a fun season though- I hope Kelly has fun.  1-22-19

PLAYGROUP
I'm about ready to retire from playgroup right now.  I feel like it isn't what it used to be for me.  I go and sit there for a half hour trying to get Molly to want to be there.  Then a few people show up and we get to talk which is really nice, but it seems like every week I say something, or something is brought up that I end up regretting talking about or even thinking about.  It's frustrating.  Then that's all I can think about all day and it kind of eats me up.  1-23-19

SHOPPING WITH DAD
As per tradition, my dad and I planned my birthday/Christmas shopping trip.  We usually have to drive around all over the world and back, or spend hours at the mall, but this time, I knew exactly what I wanted, I just wasn't a hundred percent sure if I would find it in a store.  We went right to Hobby Lobby, and there it was!  The Cameo 3!  My dad so generously bought it for me and then took me to dinner at a place in Station Park- the name of it is not coming to me.  We had a good time and talked a ton, which is nice.  I wish we could hang out more often.  1-23-19

PRIMARY AUXILLARY TRAINING
We have known about this meeting for about a month.  They called it a mandatory training.  We didn't know anything else about it!  All day Thursday I was dreading it.  I did not want to go.  I was tired, I was hungry, I wanted to be with my family, I wanted to watch the girls play YW basketball.  I was really having to drag myself to it when it was time to go.  It's a good thing Barbara offered to drive because I really don't know if I would have made it otherwise.  So on the way there we were jokingly saying that this meeting "better be revelatory".  That was the word Barbara used- I thought it summed up my feelings perfectly! So we walked in, a little early, and all these people with special, fancy pinned on, like REAL name tags with official titles came and started hugging us and introducing themselves to us, in that order, and asking about our callings and really trying to show an interest- it was funny.  And sweet.  I must say I liked it!  Then we noticed Michelle King who Barbara and Terrie knew was on the Primary General Board, and THEN we noticed sister Cristina B. Franco!  From the Primary General Presidency!  I remembered her accent and her talk from conference about the chocolate cake!  It was awesome to see her in person!  She came over and introduced herself as well.  I started to get a little excited for this meeting.  So anyway.  To say this meeting was "revelatory" would be the understatement of the century!  It was so amazing!  I LOVED it!  They had us participate in their discussion, raising hands in the huge chapel that was full all the way to the back, but they talked about all the things we have been having concerns about.  They simplified the new schedule for us and gave us a little more confidence in it.  It was totally the jump start I've been needing with primary!  It was really really neat!  I totally loved it.
Some of my notes:
"I am a disciple of Jesus Christ".
The temple gives us perspective.
I want to be more aware of the kids on Sunday not just the functions of the schedule.
Convey love!
Go without haste!
We cannot be casual in the way that we teach children- in our home as well.
Diligent and consistent prayer opens up up to revelation.
Consistency in small things brings great blessings.
Identify the doctrine in Primary Songs--- this was really cool- they had us sing some of the primary songs and then identify the doctrine- very cool!  I tried this with the kids later in the week and they seemed to like it as well.  It's crazy how easy it is to find doctrine in the songs the little kids are learning.
So I really appreciate the opportunity I had to go to this meeting!  Made me feel like I can do this!  Not just my calling in Primary, but my calling as a mom.  I loved it. 
1-24-19

NOAH'S STEM DAY AND SPELLING BEE

Nate, Molly and I got to go to the school to see all the kids' STEM projects in Noah's class.  This was pretty fun!  Sure beat all the work of the Science fair!  I'm not going to lie- I LOVED not having to do that this year!  Noah's project was a noodle car!  They worked really hard on the design of their car and making it work- it was fun to see them fixing it up and making it work for us.  They did a good job.  I enjoyed looking at the other projects too.

Then later in the day, after school- we all made our way over to see Noah in the school Spelling Bee.  This was a lot of fun- Noah did SO GOOD!  He got some pretty hard words that I wasn't sure he would know how to spell, had me pretty nervous, but he did SO GOOD!  They switched to the "off list" meaning the words the kids didn't get to study, for round 5.  This was a surprise and not something we had anticipated, but Noah stayed strong for the first round of that, and then for his last word he got the word "physique".  It was such a bummer to hear this word because WHO KNOWS HOW TO SPELL PHYSIQUE!!  Certainly not a 5th grader!  Kinda crazy.  He tried and did his best but got out.  He knew he had done his best I think though, because he took it really well.  I was so proud of him!  He had worked pretty hard on this and improved and made little successes the whole time, which I think is very admirable.  It's just too bad these things aren't always all that fair :).  Good job though, Noah!  1-25-19

PORK BITES, WINGS, AND POPPERS
Okay, so we experienced one of the hugest miracles we've ever had this week!  Nate put a little cry for help-ish post on facebook, telling people about the shutdown and how we are not getting paid, bla bla bla, and then put a menu of these three items for people to order.  Well, the post exploded!  As of Thursday it had been seen by 4,000 people!  Everyone was sharing it and making nice comments and a LOT of people were placing orders!  It was CRAZY how quickly all the orders came rolling in!  Almost overwhelming at times.  I got on the computer and made a table with all the information so that we didn't lose any orders and could keep it all straight.  By the time we were delivering the meat we had about 40 orders.  Nate smoked about 80 lbs of pork belly for 40 lbs of pork bites, 172 jalapeno poppers, 355 wings, and then 3 lbs of pork for pulled pork.  How crazy is that!  In one weekend!  It was nothing short of a miracle that we got that many orders, he was able to cook it all, that we packaged (thanks to my revelation in the wee hours of the morning) and delivered it all (I'm still kind of proud of my awesome mapping job- getting them all out in the quickest route possible, all over Kaysville, Layton, West Jordan, and West Valley) on time, and that we stayed happy through it all :).  We were completely exhausted by the end, but it was a really cool experience otherwise.  It did take us about five hours total to deliver it all.  I made Nate promise we wouldn't do deliveries ever again :).  The food was great, we're still getting compliments days later, and pretty awesome that Nate pulled it all off!  1-25-19

JAZZ GAME- THANKS DAD!

So every year my dad gets Nate Jazz tickets for Christmas.  This year he wasn't able to buy the tickets at Costco, so he just said he would buy them when we picked a game.  Well it came time to order, which happened to be during this shut down, so it was slightly awkward to be choosing a Jazz game to go to when we weren't sure if the Government was ever going to reopen again and Nate was going to get paid.  So anyway.  We picked the Timberwolves game.  We had no idea how busy and stressful that day was going to be with Nate's orders and deliveries (also Noah's STEM day AND Spelling Bee), so it ended up being a really great reward when it was all over.  And to top it off it was a really fun/exciting game!  We were ahead by like 20 points almost the entire game!  It wasn't until the last 5 or so minutes that the other team caught up!  Then we were neck and neck for the INTENSE last few minutes/seconds!  Luckily we won!!  That would have been a bummer to lose, but man, it was intense!  Possibly too intense for Nate!  He was still feeling the pressure from his huge weekend.  But it ended up being a lot of fun.  I'm so glad we went!  and actually, while we were out on deliveries, we learned that the government was going to reopen for three weeks and Nate would slowly get paid back everything they owe him, so that was another huge relief!  Life is good! 
1-25-19

SATURDAY CRAZINESS
Saturday, we recovered.  We cleaned the church in the morning, and then we
went to basketball games!  We had one every two and a half hours!  Kinda nuts, but lots of fun!  Everyone did great at their games!  We were happy to beat Mike Flood's team, even though he so generously had ordered some meat from us :).  We ran the last few orders of people who had wanted their food that day, and tried to get in some rest before our huge evening.  Nate had to work which was a bummer, but we were all just a little less stressed with the opening of the government and Nate knew there'd be more people at work... so nice day.  1-26-19

CHARITY'S HONOR CHOIR CONCERT
Charity has been working on these honor choir songs for quite a while, singing parts over and over again with her phone recordings, going to rehearsal after rehearsal, then a long all day one down at Murray High, and then the last one at the tabernacle.  It has been a huge ordeal!  I had no idea how big it was and I'm not sure she knew either.  They had honor choirs from all over the state come together on these songs which was really cool. Grandma Ruthie, Grandma Hatch, Simon, and Aunt Jen (with the Taylor kids in tow) all came out to support Charity!  Well, we brought them out :).  We drove the grandmas and Simon.  The program was AMAZING!  It was really neat to witness.  They did great, the songs were entertaining, and it was just a really cool feeling there.  I loved it!  What a cool experience!  Jen especially loved it as well.  I loved her reaction afterwards.  Charity seemed pretty proud of herself.  So after, she went home with friends to go celebrate and we took Jen and the Taylors to her car at the train station, then Grandma Ruthie to her house, and then dropped off Grandma Hatch and Simon!  It was a very long night for Noah, Erika and I (Nate was working, Kelly was babysitting the under 6-er and her big brother who wouldn't have loved going, along with Luke who just lazied his way out of going.  Brad was out with friends.).  I think we got home at about 11:30!!  Pretty fun night though- really great experience for all of us!  1-26-19

Took us a while to find her before it started!  Good thing we were an hour early!

Week of 1-13-19

SUNDAY THE 13TH
I'm calling it this because it was not my favorite Sunday.  Molly was a pill.  She was a lot of work for Nate during Sacrament meeting and then the second hour was all about making me work.  I made the mistake of giving in to her a couple times and then it was all downhill from there.  She did horrible in Primary and wouldn't go to her class... it was so annoying.  I think I need to start sitting in the back so she can focus and feel like she is there on her own, being a big girl.
The rest of the day was a little crazy too.  I didn't feel well and slept quite a bit.  Thankfully I woke up in time for Great to be Eight and made it over to the church in time to see that Barbara had done everything on her own and then sit and visit.  It was a good meeting.  I felt pretty useless, but whatever.  When I came home we had frozen waffles and burritos for dinner and then called it a night after reading scriptures.  It wasn't our best Sunday.  I want to fix that.  We have some work to do I guess.  BUT! We did get good seats on the comfy benches.  That was nice.  I hated last week when we had to sit in the back.  I did better at not getting mad about it, but it is not my favorite.  Erika doesn't like it either apparently :). I skipped out on the family meeting this month.  Feel bad about that.  1-13-19

JACK'S SICK
Poor Jackie started feeling sick on Sunday and by Monday morning, he had reached a new low.  He had a sore throat, nasty barking cough, and a fever.  So he stayed home.  It was a bummer to see him feeling so crappy, but I loved cuddling with him throughout the day (and getting stuff done around the house that I usually wouldn't have gotten done if I hadn't been confined to the place all day!).  Molly and I missed music makers which was a bummer too, but overall, we made the most of it.  Jack found his new favorite show on Netflix, DinoTrux- I think that's the name.  Watched it for a good 4 or 5 hours.  I probably shouldn't admit that, but he was sick!  He fell asleep a few times throughout.  Hopefully he's doing better tomorrow!  Poor guy.  1-13-19

FUN SHOT COMPETITION
Erika and Noah had their rounds of the Fun Shot competition.  This was a fun new thing for everyone.  We weren't sure what to expect, but it was a really organized, quick thing that gave us a fun activity for FHE.  Course Charity and Jack ended up staying home to do homework and watch tv.  It was nice of Charity to stay with him so I could go.  Erika was first- they did a one minute run around to different locations on the court and tried to get points based on how many places they shot from and how many they made.  Erika's first round was amazing!  She made most of her shots which was just so cool!  Her second round wasn't as good, but she made it to all the positions at least twice which was good.  She ended up with 51 points and was the champion in her age group!  Her runner up only got 26 so that's how awesome she did :).  Noah was after Erika and I cringed as I saw them moving the shooting positions back as far as they did!  All they way to the three point line for some of them.  He did great!  He doesn't know what his final score was, which is a bummer, but we were all really proud of him (and Erika) for even being brave enough to try!  These kids are so cool!  The stuff they do!  The older boys have theirs on Thursday.  We'll see how that goes :).  We stopped at Bowmans and Fiiz for donuts and hot chocolate for the family night treat and to celebrate our little stars.  Then we came home and watched the Jazz game :).  1-13-19

LONG NIGHT
These don't happen very often, but when they do I make sure to whine about it :).  Nate was working the mid, so of course, my bed then became an option.  EVERYONE was needing something as I was trying to fall asleep.  Poor Molly needed to sleep with me and had had a pretty late nap so I consented just because I was so tired.  Then she had owies on her "hucking" fingers so every time she put them in her mouth she would cry.  Felt like every five minutes all night long.  In between finger crying, Jack came in crying about his legs hurting.  We got him all situated with the heating pad in his room, hoping that would work, but he was back in my room a few more times throughout the night.  Finally he asked if he could lay in my bed and it was close enough to five that I just gave up fight.  Let him take my spot and I got up and started my day.  It was awful.  I really don't love those nights.  Like I said, they don't happen very often, but they're so hard!  1-16-19

WEDNESDAY FAMILY NIGHT
So one of my favorite things happened this week- there was no mutual on Wednesday night!  This is the greatest thing ever!  Everyone is home and has nothing to do but sit around and be together- it's the best!  Mutual is on Friday this week, so I will pay for it later, but there's something really magnificent about having the evening to ourselves.  Makes me wish they'd switch to bi-weekly activities... but that's just me.  So anyway- we decided to do a little lesson- since we didn't ever get to the lesson on Monday night- and talk about some of the things in our Come Follow Me books.  It was really great- I LOVE hearing everyone's comments and the discussions we have are great!  I loved this week, thinking of things we can do to "be about our father's business" and then setting some goals in the categories of mental, physical, social and spiritual.  Pretty awesome.  Then we watched the Jazz game of course :).  1-16-19

SECOND SEMESTER
So far so good!  We've been in the second semester for a few days now and I think it's going okay!  Charity doesn't like her classes yet, but she never does this early- I think we need to give that a week or so.  Kelly hasn't said much, but she is starting drivers ed, so that's gotta be cool :).  Brad is starting Musical Theater and found out they're doing Adam's Family the Musical.  He's not sure if he wants to tryout for Fester or Lucas- we'll see how it goes.  Luke loves having classes with a lot of his friends and even gets to sit by the really funny kid in science :).  I'm glad he and Brad have their manufacturing class together- that should be interesting :).  Winkler.  Noah, Erika and Jack don't have a lot of new changes, although, I've heard a LOT about Erika's new seat in her classroom and how horrible it is, so that was the downside to the new semester.  Hopefully it gets better for her soon.  1-17-19

FUN SHOT COMPETITION 7/8th GRADERS
Luke and Brad got to have their round of the Fun Shot Contest Thursday night.  I was so sad when Luke told me he didn't really want to do it!  I tried to talk him into it a little, but didn't want to force him, so I gave up.  I couldn't even get him to just bring his jersey in case he changed his mind.  We went to Centennial and they all started practicing from the green spots on the floor.  Luke was doing really well and I kept thinking what a bummer it is that he wasn't going to even try.  Right as it was about to start he sat down by me and said, "I kind of want to do it, but I kind of don't." And I just said, "What do you have to lose?  It's not like you lose anything if you don't win!  It's just for fun!"  He quickly decided to do it and went and grabbed a paper.  Brave kid.  There weren't as many people there as we had expected.  I think there were eight boys.  It was intense.  They both did really good on their first rounds, second round was harder- I think they got tired.  But really- they did awesome and I thought maybe they had beat the other kids (I wasn't keeping track of the points).  Neither of them made it to the next round, but it was so much fun to participate!  They were good sports about it and were happy to go get Frosty's after :).  1-17-19

REC CENTER FOR HALF OF US- INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD FOR THE REST
So Friday was the big Rec Center night for the youth.  The kids had all been looking so forward to it!  Even the younger kids- because they knew this meant staying up late for them :).  It sounded like Nate and the boys spent most of their time in the pool and playing basketball.  The girls talked and ate treats and swam.  I'd have to have them describe it all, but it sounded like a good time!  They were all thoroughly exhausted the next day!  I let them sleep in pretty long.
The younger kids and I got to have a fun movie night.  We settled on the movie (after MUCH deliberation and discovering that you can't rent Aladdin online right now- sad day) Indian in the Cupboard.  I had never seen it, saw that it was from the 90's so I prepared the kids for possible bad language and the need to turn it off if things got hairy- you know how those 90's "kids" movies are!  It ended up being really cute!  There was SOME language and ONE SCENE, which I'm so ANGRY they had in there, but we skipped that and the rest was okay.  The kids actually really loved it and I was surprised with how into they got :).  So that was fun.  Too bad we'll never watch it again.  But I had just been talking to Erika about how my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Hunt read that book to us in class and I LOVED IT!!  I can still picture where we sat to read and her facial expressions.  It really was awesome back then.  I let them watch some nature show after that- it was about fish and Erika and I got a kick out of the one with buck teeth trying to break open the clam and then the weird WEIRD fish that turns from a female into a hideous looking male halfway through it's life... I think Erika is now scarred for life.  So strange!  The kids all fell asleep during this one, so I turned off the tv and headed to bed all by myself :).  It was a fun evening.  I was glad everyone had fun.  1-18-19

FUN MONEY
Aunt Jen venmo-ed us some money Friday labeled "fun money during the nasty shutdown".  What a cool sister/aunt we have.  I'm so grateful for all the help that we have received, all of the offers to help, and everyone who has shown concern for us during this shutdown.  It really hasn't been too bad, just stressful.  I wish the Government would get their act together and do something, but I'm loving all the blessings and opportunities to pray for help and to give thanks.  It's been miraculous.  Also, Nate put a little post out there, to sell his meat and he had a few takers- Lynn being the main one.  So nice of him to help us out- and he got some yummy meat out of it :).  1-18-19

STOWELL LUNCH
My mom planned a lunch for all the "Stowell girls".  Thankfully she was willing to loan me some money so that we could go.  I loved visiting with Becky, as always, and hearing about her kidney stone- ulgh.  And Aunt Nancy sat by me and I got to hear the plans for the Red Riding Hood bike ride- I think I might actually train and go with them next year!  Sounds fun!  I think I could be ready by then.  I talked with Kathy a little about a game night and making aunt Danny's birthday cake, and then went and sat by the Cassler girls to hear what was knew with them.  Didn't hardly get to talk to Lana or Stephanie.  It was a nice time.  Charity, Kelly and Erika seemed slightly bored, but I think they survived.  1-19-19

TOP TEN

I was looking back at some old posts to get pictures for pack meeting and saw some of my old posts where I would just list things about all of us and what we are involved in at the time- they're really fun to read, so I thought I would do that again!  Perfect at the beginning of the year and everything :).  So here is a Top Ten list of everyone's Top Ten :).  In no particular order of course:

MOLLY:
10- Molly runs/hops/jumps/skips everywhere she goes.  No matter how close she is traveling, she uses double the energy it would take anyone else.  SO MUCH ENERGY IN THIS GIRL!   She tells me "I a runna!" on a regular basis.
9- She avoids all "hacks" whenever her legs are not "too tired a walk" and she is going somewhere.
8- She loves to watch movies on the tv.  Right now she loves the My Little Pony movie, Up, Mulan, Big Hero Six, Inside Out and Spirit on Netflix.  To name a few.
7- She is ALWAYS hungry and says she wants to "eat up dare" (eat up there) meaning she wants to go stand in front of the pantry and look up and pick what she wants to eat.
6- Molly is still one of the best sleepers this family has ever seen.  Still takes a nap during the day and does so with very little fight.
5- She does not like to be alone.  Going to the bathroom requires a buddy.
4- She loves to play the Cupcake Game.
3- She still sucks on her two fingers.  Unless one of them has an owie and then she has to try her other hand or thumb which she doesn't love.
2- Molly idolizes Erika.  Erika is her everything.  It's cute to see how much she needs her big sister.  She's very lucky to have someone like Erika.
1- Molly is very persistent and usually gets what she wants through exhausting the person she is asking.  She has milked being the youngest to the very last drop... not sure how much longer this will last with her older siblings :).

JACK:
10- Jack likes to be at home.  I love it when he says his prayer and adds, "at home" to the end of his sentences.  "Bless us to have a good time at home."
9- Reading has finally clicked for Jack!  It's been a rough year and a half of him struggling with reading, but recently it has totally clicked!  So fun!  he even tried out the word commandments the other night during scriptures.
8- Jack is an creator/builder.  He loves an empty box or container.  Between he and Noah there are always plenty of huge treasures in their room.
7- He loves toast.  That is his go to when he has rejected dinner and is still hungry.
6- Jack is still one of the best cuddlers on the planet.  He likes to lay on my side when I'm laying on the couch.  Even falls asleep if he's there long enough.
5- Jack loves his mom.  And treats her right :).
4- When Jack doesn't want to play with a friend, he tells them.  He is not afraid to voice his opinion.  Ever.
3- He really doesn't like to take showers.  Takes a lot of convincing to get him in there most nights.
2- Jack loves wrestling with his big brother Brad.  His giggle mixed with Brad's laugh is pretty much what I picture heaven sounding like :).
1- Jack is not super competitive.  He had a hard time competing with his classmates in basketball and really just wanted everyone to be having fun.  Or resting :).

ERIKA:
10- Erika spends a lot of her time doing what Molly wants her to do.  She reads to her at night and keeps her happy during the day.  Molly is really lucky to have her.  I think Erika feels lucky to have Molly as well.  Best big sister ever.
9- Erika still loves fruit.  It is her go to snack.
8- Erika is an athlete.  She is good at every sport she tries.  It was fun to watch her play soccer this year and she is still amazing on the basketball court as well.  Not to mention running.  It's fun to watch her put her heart into things and succeed.
7- She loves her comfy onesie jammies and wears them whenever she can.
6- Erika would die if she didn't have Kate on a regular basis.  She has a hard time playing with other friends because they are not Kate.
5- Erika loves school.  She looks forward to it and complains about days off from school.
4- Erika is a caretaker.  She seeks out those who need a friend at recess and always reaches out to people in need.
3- Erika has a way of making everyone feel special and loved.
2- Erika has a really fun sense of humor and makes me laugh ona regular basis.
1- She loves the Gospel and is working hard to build her own testimony.  Reads her scriptures daily.  Even the Old Testament, on her own.  Such a good example.

NOAH:
10- Noah is an inventor.  He can always think of a good use for an empty container.
9- Noah loves riddles and creates his own.
8- Noah has a great sense of humor and creates stories, jokes, and comics to share his humor with the rest of us.
7- Noah has really gotten into coding.  He creates a new game almost every day and lets us all try them.
6- Noah wakes up early on his own every morning so that he can sit on the couch and then go down and code a new game :).
5- He is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to science. Or math.
4- Noah has become quite the basketball star.  It's fun to watch him play this year and do so well.
3- Noah has a very sensitive side.  He appreciates a loyal friend and knows how to make others feel important and loved.
2- He is the king of comebacks!
1- He's never too old or too cool to have a sleepover with his sister Erika.  They are really good friends.

LUKE:
10- Luke is a really good student and has made school a priority this year.  I've been really impressed.
9- He doesn't love to be in the spotlight.  But he will brave fast and testimony to bear his testimony frequently- pretty cool considering how much he doesn't like to get up in front of people.
8- Luke is still a tease and a goofball.  He knows the most annoying sounds and chants.
7- He likes chips and stuff.
6- Luke gives his mom a hug every morning as he is getting out of the car, then says, "I love you, mom." as he shuts the door.  Melts my heart every time.  He also likes 30 second hugs at night.
5- Luke loves little people.  He asks me if we can have another baby every once in a while.
4- He's gotten really good at basketball.  I LOVE that he has mastered the three-point shot!  So fun!
3- Luke has been key in training all the new deacons in passing the sacrament.  He is a humble teacher and never hesitates to help someone out.
2- He takes his holding the Priesthood very seriously.  Very honorable.
1- Luke likes to scream random things across the street at Trenton as they are parting ways on the walk home from school.

BRADLEY:
10- Bradley gives his mom a hug and kiss every morning and every night.  Always has, hopefully always will.
9- Bradley is hilarious.  Very witty and quick to make us all chuckle.
8- Bradley helps with dinner almost every night.  Whether he wants to or not, and does it without complaint.  He's becoming quite the cook.
7- Bradley is a gentle giant in our house.  All of the little people look up to him and love to have his attention.
6- Bradley is really fun to watch when he plays the cupcake game with Molly.  He has incredible patience and makes it fun every time.
5- He honors his Priesthood and takes his responsibilities as a teacher very seriously.
4- He is a basketball star- even when he's playing with the Priests and Teachers!
3- He doesn't like sweets very much.
2- He has not limited himself to one crush, he has three!  And they're all cute and nice :).
1- Bradley loves to perform!

KELLY:
10- Kelly is my go to scribe.  She has amazing skills in calligraphy.  She downplays this skill, but really could go places with it.
9- Kelly is a friend to all her younger siblings.  She listens to their stories, gets into it, laughs and asks follow up questions.  Makes everyone feel like they matter.
8- Kelly plays lacrosse and is getting really good at it.  It's been fun to watch her progress and grow.  She's a great teammate as well.  She should apply to be captain.
7- Kelly is forgiving.  Doesn't hold grudges most of the time.  Helps us all to be better at this.
6- Kelly enjoys getting her driving hours in.  She is still learning, but does a great job behind the wheel.
5- Kelly is a very loyal friend.  And always thinks of ways to make her friends feel special.
4- Kelly likes Twizzlers and cinnamon bears.
3- She likes anything that's soft or yellow.  Clothing especially.
2- She is really good at recognizing when help is needed and offers to help me on a regular basis.
1- Kelly leaves little notes for people to make them feel loved.

CHARITY:
10- Charity can turn anything into a reason to laugh.  Even the silly things that happen to her are funny rather than embarrassing.  She knows how to laugh at herself and doesn't take things too seriously.
9- She works really hard in school and knows how to talk to her teachers when her hard work hasn't done the trick.
8- She holds herself to a very high standard in most areas of her life.
7- Charity is an amazing singer.  Fills our home with music.
6- Charity is a loyal employee.  Even though she doesn't love her job, she insists on being a good employee until she can find a better one.  She would never call in sick or leave a co-worker/boss hanging.
5- Charity is fun.  Always has been.
4- Charity is the biggest Jazz fan on the planet.  And most loyal.  She lives for her Jazz games.
3- She doesn't need a whole lot to make her happy.  She's very easy to please and finds joy in simple things.  Like tortilla blankets.
2- She loves Crumbl cookies :)
1- She has a very sensitive side and likes to feel listened to and loved.

Noah's 11th Birthday and a day off from school

NOAH'S 11TH BIRTHDAY AND A DAY OFF FROM SCHOOL!
Happy Birthday to Noah!  I woke up at my usual time, realized during my morning prayer that we hadn't made Noah a birthday sign, so I quickly determined that I would wake up Kelly and see if she wanted to, if not, I would get on it.  So I grabbed my sign off the door in preparation for the new one.  Folded it up nicely, which came to me after deciding that if I crumpled it or tore it I would probably wake people up, threw it away, then headed back up to Kelly's room.  As I passed the front door, I looked down on the floor and noticed... my birthday sign.... on the floor??  It was so weird, but quickly, I realized that I had folded up and thrown away a sign that Kelly had made the night before for NOAH!!  AAAHHH!!  It was actually really funny when I figured it out.  I grabbed it out of the trash, unfolded it, which I was grateful for the inspiration to NOT crumple it up, and hung it back up on the door- looking good as new, minus a small chunk that tore off on the tape.  It was hilarious that the day started out like that :).  So we spent the morning singing to Noah, having his breakfast (third choice because we didn't have all the ingredients for first and second choices... oops) and then cleaning to get ready for parties that night.  We headed out at noon to go check out the Clark Planetarium.  This ended up being a fun idea!  I was so happy I copied it from the Maughans :).

Everyone just kind of ran around to their hearts' content.  We all really loved the ball maze/rollercoaster thing.  Luke and I couldn't help but think about his marble rollercoaster we've been making.  Lots of fun.  Jack and Molly spent some time in the little slide/playground thing which was fun.  It's interesting to watch those two interact.  Not as much like the older kids used to.  Kinda makes me think it's the age gap.  I don't know though.  Everyone has such different personalities, could be anything.  We grabbed some popcorn as we left and parted ways- Nate and Erika went to go get Ruth, the rest of us came home to await the party guests!
Noah's friend party was a lot of fun.  I feel like it was really rushed and that might just be because I felt weird about having just two hours for an 11 year old.  I don't know.  We got them each $23ish dollars ($160 divided by 7- thank you Boondock's for the cool deal on New Year's- got it for half the price!), on their cards, and I knew that wouldn't take long to use, and Noah didn't have any other desires for his party, so we just left it at what we thought it would take!  So anyway.  I took Noah and his six friends to Boondock's for the arcade!

First game in and Josh hit the Jack Pot on one of the games!  Pretty fun!  They all ran around trying to get the most tickets.  I wasn't sure whether I should follow them around or just sit on the bench, so I did both intermittently.  It seemed like they were having a good time.  It took us almost as lot to spend the tickets as it did to earn them, but everyone was able to finally spend all their tickets at the end.  I get a kick out of how they all bought a bunch of small things rather than one BIG things.  Kids.  We got home, had our cupcakes, candy "cake", and ice cream.

I loved how we did it this year, asking questions about Noah and letting whoever got it right pick their candy from the "cake" it's always kind of a dilemma to me to decide who gets what.  They all seemed happy when I told them they all got five things from the cake.  There was a mad dash to rip it apart.  Kinda funny.  Then we did presents and the party was over! 

 I enjoyed listening to them talk in the car- I just love kid conversations.  Cracks me up.  I'm glad Noah got to have what he wanted for his party this year even with the shutdown.

After the friend party, we cleaned up a little, and awaited the guests for the family party!  I was exhausted.  I got a little grumpy.  Luckily it didn't last.  Nate had been slaving over some chicken wings for the party and for a friend, so we waited for him to take those and then ate and had presents and cupcakes and ice cream.  I forgot to mention that I made Noah's favorite candybar into cupcakes this year!  I liked this idea- maybe make it this year's thing :).  Butterfinger cupcakes- the bite I had was pretty amazing!  Just like a butterfinger! 

 It was nice to have Grandma Ruthie, Jen, Grandpa Hatch, Dawn, and Grandma Hatch here to support him!  I loved watching him open Grandma Ruthie's gift- a bunch of cool sentimental things from her and Grandpa Russ.  Even the cool puzzle thing from her dad!  A lot of cool things.  Grandpa gave him a retractable fishing pole and pocket knife tool thing.  Grandma Hatch gave him a pillow.  He got Battleship and a Jazz shirt (which we failed to give him til the next day- bad thing about buying things early, but I couldn't resist the Christmas deals) from us.  We all retired to the Jazz game after and that was that!  It was a nice day!  I loved that he got the day off from school and that we got to make it a family day!  I hope he felt extra special.  1-11-19