Wolf

The Blue and Gold banquet was last night.  Ethan received his Wolf Badge and was able to participate in a few skits and jokes with the other kids in his pack.

This is Shawn's "I'm having a good time face".  

Writing on the Wall

Ethan really wanted to do something special for Shawn for Valentines day.  Shawn's favorite show is the Big Bang theory and he and Ethan like to watch it together.  On the show, they always say "Bazinga".  Ethan laughs every time.  So he wanted to make Shawn a shirt that said "Bazinga" on it.  He asked me for an old shirt and took a marker and wrote the word in big letters on the front.  Ethan was so proud of his homemade gift and happily gave it to Shawn on Valentines Day.  It was cute.  Liv decided she didn't want to be left out so she sneakily went upstairs and took one of Cole's good school shirts.  Next she proceeded to decorate his shirt and wrote him a message in permanent market.  She proudly gave Cole her gift and couldn't figure out why I was a little upset.  While I was mad at first that she ruined a good school shirt, a few seconds later I realized how very cute and thoughtful it was at the same time.

But the problem really is that Liv has a problem with writing on things she is not supposed to.  Constantly I am taking away markers, pens, and pencils from her because she is writing on something she is not supposed to.  Walls, floors, desks, dressers, dolls, etc.  She writes on EVERYTHING.  So I decided that I needed to give her a canvas to create her own masterpiece.   This was our solution.

I took a large roll of white paper and covered one of her bedroom walls.  She has already spent several hours there coloring and adding to her "Masterpiece Gallery".  That is what she calls it.


Speaking of creating your own art.  The other day the boys had an art show at their school.  Here is their artwork.

Typical Saturday

Today was a typical Saturday at our house.  The kids got up before Shawn and I, and tip toed quietly downstairs in hopes of getting some serious PS3 time before we got up and made them clean their rooms.  Saturday is clean room day.  Unfortunately it didn't last long and we made them clean their rooms and eat breakfast just in time for Shawn to take Ethan to his Parkour class.  Following this the kids played outside making this:

and then we had lunch and got ready for Cole to do this:

While Cole plays, Ethan and Liv do this:

Following the game we went out to dinner (the kids chose Mexican and Ethan insisted on having two margaritas).  And then we came home and watched a movie until bedtime.

That is a pretty typical Saturday at our house these days.

Mardi Gras

I am a sucker for a holiday.  If possible, I will celebrate any holiday that comes my way.  My husband and kids are pretty used to it and in fact, usually when I say, "I have this idea" the first thing that happens is shawn thinks "oh great, what now?"  But I think it's why he loves me :) (that and I always throw in some great food.)  Despite that Mardi Gras is a big drinking holiday (and the we don't drink), I wanted to celebrate anyway.

We had a fun time creating our personalized Mardi Gras masks.

For dinner we had traditional Jambalaya with chicken, bacon, ham, andouille sausage, shrimp, vegetables, and rice.  Cole ate two huge bowls, Liv ate one bowl with several large pieces of shrimp and Ethan ate half a bowl (he's my picky eater).  We also had Mardi Gras colored chips and salsa, slush drinks, and Kings Cake (a traditional Mardi Gras dessert).

The kids thought it was fun to try and eat with their masks on, but they could barely see out the eyes.

After dinner the kids asked when we were going to have the dance party.  It sounds like they actually do understand the real meaning of Mardi Gras!  But this is the way we dance around our house....

Love Day

We had a great Valentines day.  We spent the weeks prior making a heart wall with all the things we love about each other.

Ethan has been asking for an iPod, so the kids woke up Valentines morning to new iPods.

Actually, they are fake, but for a second the kids were really happy!!

The kids celebrated at school with lots of homemade valentines and lots of sugar.

I helped at Liv's class party. 

When the kids got home from school there was a Valentines Treasure hunt waiting for them to find their valentines gift.  They each got a new book and some candy.

We spent the next hour reading all the special valentines from friends at school and eating as much candy as possible.

Then we had our Valentines Love Dinner.

Menu:  love potion, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, spinach salad with strawberries, and chocolate and raspberry sherbet heart ice cream sandwiches)

update and happenings

It's been a busy week, but nothing too noteworthy to report.  Just the typical running from place to place so here is a quick update.

Liv's been working really hard lately on learning to read.  She is doing  great job and can read pretty good for a preschooler.  My boys never showed interest reading early like Liv does.  She has a dance recital coming up next month and continues to be my best helper around the house.  (also my fiestiest)

Cole is doing great in school and continues to progress.  He is reading wonderfully and seems to get along with his friends at school and hasn't gotten sent to the principals office since he punched a 4th grader several months ago :)  I continue to volunteer in his class every Friday morning and am continually amazed aGt how well behaved his class is.  Cole is still working hard playing indoor soccer and seems to love it.  This is a portrait of Cole that he made in class.

Ethan has also made some great strides in school and is doing wonderful.  He is a typical busy, loud, and crazy 8 year old boy.  He has a particularly hard class this year and we have been struggling, but over the past month things have greatly improved.  He also is maturing and growing right before my eyes.  The other day I watched him get the door for an older lady all by himself.  Friday night Shawn and I had "The Big Talk" with him and boy I was glad we did.  He already had heard several of the terms in class and was very familiar with them.  The conversation actually ended up being really spiritual and we talked a lot about the creation of the earth, God's plan for us and Adam and Eve.  I'm really proud at how responsible he is becoming.  He continues to enjoy scouts, swimming and parkour.  Ethan has decided to quit the swim team the end of this month.  He is more interested in diving so that will be his next venture and the swim team takes up a lot of time (2-3 practices a week).

The kids school had a magic show the other day.  Shawn and I were both able to come.  Cole laughed and had a great time, Liv sat on the front row and was stunned with silence, and Ethan sat in the back convinced he knew the secret to each trick.

We haven't received hardly any snow this year.  The kids have been a little disappointed, but the temps have been really cold lately so I'm just hoping for a quick spring.

Big news for Shawn and his research at work.  His research project was selected to be presented at the big PAS (pediatric academic society) conference in Boston in April.  Shawn also got a new calling today at church, he is in the Elder's Quorum Presidency.

I continue to juggle being a stay-at-home mom and working mom.  I volunteer in the kids classes whenever possible and continue to serve in my church calling in the Primary Presidency.

Funny Liv

Liv is a fun, spunky, crazy and loud little girl.  She says such funny things.  She is also pretty stubborn.  This is just a quick post to record some of Liv's funnies.

Liv's job is to empty the dishwasher.  While doing this she always refers to the utensils as "the tinfoils"

Liv always sits on her feet causing them to fall asleep.  Whenever this happens she says, "my feet are buzzin."

Last, like I said she is loud.  Always singing and yelling.  While at Office Max the other day she needed to go to the bathroom.  There is something about being in a bathroom that echoes causes my children to sing.  While Liv was in the bathroom taking care of business I finished grabbing a few items out in the store, only to be startled by loud singing.  Shawn and I were several isles away from the bathroom, but could hear Liv loud and clear.  Several customers walked passed the bathroom wondering what was going on inside, while Shawn and I just laughed knowing that it was our sweet Liv singing away on the pot.