During the advertisements between General Conference last Saturday, Corey saw a commercial for the BYU Ballroom Dance Concert. He was impressed, so he bought tickets, it sounded like a good thing and he loves supporting BYU. We showed the kids this finale from last year's concert - pretty neat!
For some reason I thought it was going to be on a music stage in the HFAC, but it was in the Marriott. Big venue for a big performance!
We invited Iveth and her kids to come with us. (Diego had to work) We are all ready for the show!
I nursed Peter during most of it but I tried to be discreet. We made it through the whole show with just a few kid interruptions for more the bathroom or for popcorn. Afterwards the ks enjoyed meeting some of the dancers.
We can all attest that it was even better live. The finale was to the Greatest Showman music again, so a lot of the same things as in the video above, but really cool to see it in person. We loved it!
We danced as we walked to the cars
Thanks for taking us Corey, that was great, let's do it again next year! We got pizza on the way home. We'll end this post with a few pics of our lovely baby Peter that I took after we got home -
Daniel and Owen sleep in Mel and Abi's room right now. Daniel was all scrunched up next to the screen of his play pen this morning.
Are you comfortable, little D?
That was at 7:30 this morning, but I let him keep sleeping and I went and turned on the fridge.
It was making the stupid noise again two days ago, so we've had it off for 24 hours to melt. Gives me a good excuse to clean it out and find the rotten and moldy food hidden inside.
At 9:30 Daniel was awake. He doesn't have a carry around blanket like Owen. But he does have a twin sized bed comforter in his pack N play. He likes having a big blanket to hide in.
I see you Daniel!
Talk to the hand, Mom.
So today was a big day for Abi. It was Nova Graduation, oooo. Abi wanted me to come. I was able to because Wesley came home to attend to sleeping toddlers. Otherwise I would not have made it, cause sorry, it's just not worth it to wake them up.
Abi got a few awards for whatever it is that they do in Nova - build a rocket and something else...
Abi, refresh my memory.... And what does NOVA even stand for? I could probably google it to find out, but I'm not going to. She got to go give high fives and fist bumps as he received her diploma
Abi holding her diploma in her right hand. She does have one, she just forgot to hold it up and it just happens to blend perfectly with the floor.
Abi was one of the 4 students chosen to read her "Nova Constitution" and she felt very honored by that. But even with that prestigious privilege, that wasn't enough to beat out Peter for being the hightlight of the show...
Abi really wanted me to bring Peter, so I did, and I thought that photo was precious of her friends all adoring him... All those cute future mothers. And two other items of interest - my BlendTec pitcher had a broken seal, so I drove down to their showroom to buy a new one. And look at this entrance!
It's a blender! and as you walk in the door, under your feet is a glass floor and you can see a rotating blade under neath. I thought it was pretty fun. So got a new pitcher, yay, I'm going to start blending greens and some vegan protein shakes. And last pic - I save Peter his first haircut today. Cause it was looking a little silly with that dark hair in the back but nothing on the sides and only a little bit on top.
Today after school, around 6:00 - Lily was upset at Abi. Abi wouldn't let her have another slice of pizza or use the computer. Lily was so upset that she decided to show just how mad she was by taking a bottle of school glue and pouring it out on the carpet. And gluing a yellow piece of paper to the wall. Isn't that nice?
Good news: it wiped off the wall very easily. Bad news: It didn't come off of the carpet easily. Good news: it was white glue, so you can't see it in the carpet. Bad news: I couldn't wash it out, so now when we all step on those spots, you can feel the stiff glued on carpet under you feet. I'm pretty sure that it is going to irritate me until we get the carpet in the house replaced someday - on the list of things that we will do once the mess makers children are all gone. Mel showed me a Instagram page called "Kids are the worst", it is pretty funny, and sometimes it feels like it's true, but I know it's not, they're the best. Well, babies are the best atleast. Kids, they're fun, they just destroy things. They destroy things quickly and often. So we'll have nice things once they are all gone. (Then will our grandkids just become the new destroyers?) Just God's way of helping us to not have our hearts set on things of this world I guess.
I keep trying to write down what we eat for dinner, and I think that once I get a month's worth of meals, then we can just put dinner on repeat. But I keep forgetting to write what we have. But I remembered Monday - we had veggie burger and fries. And I remembered yesterday - coconut rice bowls with orange chicken and teriyaki shrimp. And today was a busy Wednesday with people coming and going at different times, so I made mac n' cheese for the toddlers, and a Purple carrot salad for Corey and I, it was meh. But I'm glad I'm recording meals. I don't really remember anything my mom made for meals when I was growing up, other than rice and chicken with some cream of chicken soup in the rice. Oh, and stuffed green peppers (I didn't like those, but I remember my older sister would request them for her birthday meal, and thus I was not excited when it was her birthday). So even though I don't remember what I ate as a child, I'm sure that my mother fed us all everyday, seeing as I am alive and survived to adulthood. So part of me wants to record that mundane stuff here so that the kids can know about it, in some future day when they are living their own lives and trying to remember parts of their childhood, which will just be a fading dream.
(That is a good picture to post after saying "fading dream" huh?) That was Owen asleep at the top of the stairs this morning. He's doing pretty good at sleeping in his new area, in Mel and Abi's room, in his pink chair. As Corey headed downstairs and out for work, he saw Owen at the top of the stairs and said "...there's a dragon!" Yes, Owen the little sleeping dragon, be careful not to disturb him as you make your escape!
One good win today - I bought a little copper sponge over the weekend, I used it on the stovetop today and it looks so clean! Yay! And something cute this evening, I was doing some lifting and Owen came and joined me with his two 3 pound weights.
I heard something that I liked recently - the Keisers said how important it is to exercise at home and show our children how we incorporate these healthy habits and then they will start to develop them too and will make it a part of their lives. I thought that was a good idea. I've been thinking I'd like to join a gym, but maybe now I won't, cause I do really like the idea of my kids learning by watching my example here at home.
Ethan came back from China on Wednesday a week ago (April 3rd). He was there for 10 days.
When he left on March 24th, he had to be at the airport at 3:30 am. Caleb told them to just not go to bed, so Ethan stayed up packing, then Corey got him a stash of ice cream to help him stay awake. We didn't hear from him while he was gone, except for a few texts saying he was having trouble logging into the table that had his music on it. I will try to update with more pictures of it after I get the link - Here was a post of their itinerary from the Soundhouse Facebook page as they left -
"The traditional gift for a 20th anniversary is china. We took that to heart as we celebrate the Soundhouse’s 20th year. We are just taking off from Salt Lake for our first ever Crescent Super Band tour to China! Over the next week and a half we will be playing 6 shows across the country. No Facebook access there so we will be posting photos when we get back. Next stop - Beijing!"
And here is a post that one of the chaperone mom's (Erica) shared on her facebook -
Dear China,
I wasn’t too excited to meet you but I’m so glad I joined Zane and The Crescent Super Band for an amazing adventure. This trip was nothing like I thought and consider it a huge success that I didn’t crap my pants.
1. I figured out the old ancient Chinese secret....always find the handicap bathroom. I proudly didn’t use one of your disgusting squatty potty’s.
2. Why is your ground so uneven?!? No two steps are the same?!? Random steps and different sizes. Americans are tripping all over the place there. 3. I love how clean your streets are...no garbage laying around and sparkling clean. I’ve never seen so many mopping the cement. With that being said why aren’t you using toilet paper and soap?!? I prefer to keep my butt and hands clean then maybe I’ll think about the streets...maybe. 4. No wonder everyone is so thin! You eat the same thing over and over for every meal and with chopsticks, so not much can make it into your....my mouth. 5. Why do you all shout when speaking?!?Why are we so angry? Also on that note, I’m clearly misusing my car horn and driving way too cautiously.
I loved my visit although I got a little scared, sweaty, and nervous when the United States X’d my face and sent me to the cold, cement room by myself while they debated letting me leave you while questioning my horse head. What a beautiful place with beautiful people....I’m especially a huge fan of your babies. XieXie
Ethan brought home some nice chopsticks for each of his siblings. He said he went to the souvenir shop and said "I need 12 of something...." I thought that was funny. He also brought back key chains and some nice silk art pictures for me and his grandmothers. His grandparents sponsored his trip and provided him with quite a bit of spending money, plus he had his birthday money too. He took all of it with him and found out after that you can't take Chinese currency out of the country, and you can't exchange it back to US dollars, so he just had to spend it all - he bought himself some birthday clothes (Vans hoodie, Ray Ban sunglasses, new backpack). He had a great trip and was up and going the whole time. That schedule there combined with the jetlag from returning has left him feeling more tired than he usually already is (which is pretty tired). He stayed home and slept last Thursday but went to school on Friday. He might need another week to recover though!
So I think this is pretty funny. Every month, we get a notice from the power company, sharing how our power usage compares to our neighbors who have similar sized houses. Surprise surprise, our large family uses more power than the empty nesters and smaller sized families. But does the power company take time to find this out? No, all they do is tell us that our home is not power efficient and they send us a sad emoji-ish light bulb to emphasize their disappointment is us.
Look at that stare, judging us... condemning us. Telling us we are only "fair" wasn't enough, they tell us how much more we are spending. Ok, I get it, I'll tell the kids to turn off the lights! Believe me, I'm trying! But no, that wasn't enough, they send us a picture of a big disappointed light bulb to really drive the point home. I'm sorry little light bulb (stop looking at me like that!) I will try harder! Someday, it make take us years, but someday, I know we will earn an approving smile from you. I won't give up 'til that day comes. Until then, know that I see your face, I sense your sadness, and I will try to bring you happiness, I will try to earn a "good" smile from you, someday...
So, other then Mr "shame on you" lightbulb, it was a good day - We had veggie burgers and fries for dinner, I turned my burger into a burger salad, which I quite enjoyed.
After dinner, Corey took the kids swimming at Dimple Dell tonight for FHE, but I was able to insist their clean their rooms first (little girls room is clean, hooray! (except under the bed...)), I stayed home with Peter. I'll try to update with pics of their swim time later.
Yesterday and today were the 2019 Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. One of my favorite times of the year, always a spiritual feast. I already know I need to go back over all the talks, cause this is the first time in a long time (like prob since I was a teenager) that I didn't take any notes! I didn't fall asleep at all though so that's good (that was also prob a first!) I didn't catch Priesthood, so I need to listen to that, and when I listen to all the talks again, I'll have pen and paper to help me really process things and write things down. I can remember that I loved Elder Holland talk, with his comment about the Ox always being in the mire, and also that he gave mothers and their "marvelous disarray" a pass on being tardy for church, yay! That's me. Mostly the disarray part... boys with messy hair, girls with wet hair, dirty fingernails (we haven't been doing great at frequent baths for the kids since Peter's been born) so yeah, we're often a mess, but I'm usually there on time with the toddlers before the meeting starts. I'll have to encourage my oldest boy at home to review this talk. It's fun having two solid family days though. I like having everyone at home.
We all spent more than a little time adoring Peter - He was being real cute smiling at Wesley -
we tried to capture it on video (try to ignore the screaming toddlers in the background, they were fighting over who got to wear the pool floaties)
He's so cute
He's been eating his hands and is starting to try and grasp his hands a little bit -
His little fingers are getting active and learning how to work -
That means pretty pinky fingers!
What else - yesterday at Costco I bought some treats for us to snack on during Conference, to make it fun. Bad part about that - I ate most of them. Note to self (again): DO NOT BUY IT ("it" meaning = junk food). Just don't let it in the house.
I had more than anyone of the chocolate European cookies and I bought them, so I can't blame the unhealthy food on Corey this time. So, since I was full of rubbish and sugar, I didn't feel like making a meal, so the kids fended for themselves, and Corey cooked too - and all those cooks in the kitchen means the house is a mess. That's what I get. But again, I do like everyone being home, I just need to manage myself and our home better.
Something else that happened this weekend - Ethan came home in tears last night. The 3 older boys share a room, and Wes and Hyrum didn't talk to E when they saw how sad he looked - they knew they should give him space, so they grabbed their pillows and blankets to sleep on the couch. After Priesthood session, Eth went to go hang out with his girl (despite our reminding him to not have a serious girlfriend - see For The Strength of Youth - topic: Dating) During their visit, they happened to share small parts of their patriarchal blessings as they talked, and they mentioned parts of their blessings which upon further discussion made them feel like they are not going to get married to each other - like hers says something about her supporting her husband (made it sound to them like he is inactive in the LDS faith?) and Ethan's says he will be strong in the gospel, so then were both heart broken and crying cause it isn't meant to be. I'm sure there was more to it than that, but there's my nutshell version of it from what he explained to me. So, eventhough we don't even want him to get serious with a girl right now, as I was in his room comforting him, I assured him that that is not how blessings work - he and she both have agency, if they want to get married, they can get married, but hello.... you are both still in high school! "Who you are going to marry" is not a decision that needs to be made right now, or any time soon. Please, Ethan, focus on getting accepted to college first! Please? Who you chose to marry is up to you, but I am fairly certain that you WILL marry, therefore you might want to be ready to provide for her and your family, hence our encouragement for where you should be focusing your attention - ACT, music practicing (keep Ray happy! He is your teacher and the professor of music at the school you want to go to!) Focus, child, focus focus. (I do think things have been better since we took away his smart phone.) We will continue to try and keep his approaching future before his eyes.
Last night the kids were having a dance party in the front room. It's fun to have dance parties. I was just remembering out last dance party and it was almost exactly one year ago! Maybe we're just all excited for spring, so we dance in April. So, I had to share this video of Wesley doing his Fortnite dance last night. It's his own version of the Orange Justice move (see here at :40) I don't think he's ever played Fortnite, Maybe he learned it just cause it's kinda trendy, like the floss move, which Wes also does. What do you think, does Wes have a future in dancing?
Mel and I got a real kick out of seeing him.
And my apologies to Sophia, who was calling my name over and over again trying to get my attention and I wasn't very quick to hear her, sorry Soph.
These videos were in color but Mel did something to them when she uploaded them to instagram. Anyway, funny kid.
Here's another video of Wes feeling the music when I picked him up after carpool on Wednesday - jammin' out to High Hopes -
and one more from last week - driving home last week, getting the song in his head apparently.
Funny kid. What else did we do today.... Oh, so today I went in the basement, took out the trash, and noticed some of the things that were thrown away when the basement got cleaned out yesterday. I noticed a few legos and got those cause they were within reach, and then other toys and things, likes a skirt for the itty bitty strawberry shortcake dolls, but I figured who cares, the girls won't miss them. But then, I saw a small piece from the Otrio game! And I've got something I can't handle about losing puzzle pieces or game pieces. So when I saw an Othello game recently at the DI, I bought it just so I could have all the extra game pieces, cause we had lost two, and I had Mel made me pieces out of scuply clay, but it just wasn't the same. These ones don't perfectly match, but they're legit, so yeah, now I have a whole stockpile of Othello pieces, I should be good for life. But when I saw the Otrio pieces, I was like oh no! and I carefully dug around, and found another one. Green and red. I went to the game, put it together, turns out the small blue and purple were missing too!! It's okay, I told myself, I'll have Mel make some out of Sculpy, (...but knowing it would always bug me.) (Not that we even play this game that much, cause I don't want to let the kids play it cause I don't want them to lose the pieces! Dumb, right? I mean what is my problem, what is the point of even having this game if we don't use it?!?!) So I dug around in the garbage and remembered hunting through trash in Brazil after our maid cleaned up there as I tried to find little pieces to a piano keyboard that I had borrowed. It's one of the cons to having someone else clean your house. But still, in this case, it was worth it to have Iveth's help and have a clean basement now. But with a little bit of hope I dug through the garbage, and miracle of miracles, I found them! So we have a complete Otrio set, and now I'm keeping it locked in my bedroom. (Back in January we put a keypad lock on our bedroom door too, trying to make that a safe space for us that is kid free (well, almost, cause Peter is in there)) So my goal is to actually play that game with the kids this week, should be simple enough goal, right? The Otrio game or Othello, I'll report back if I reach my goal.
Last night, Diego and Iveth signed a year contract to rent a basement apartment that is in our neighborhood, so that is going to be fun to have them close by! Cause we've all fallen in love with them. The boys really seem to be smitten with Maria. Owen is very attentive, like he will hold her hand and guide her down the stairs. And Wes and Hyrum think it's funny to tell him to go kiss her, and he does. Here they are reading in my room -
So, they won't be as close as in the basement, but they are just a short walk away. Their oldest will be going to the same school as the girls. Today we helped them with phase 1 of the move. We went over with them when they took their first load - Wes was excited to hold onto their van and ride along with his ripstick, something I have not let him do.
I hadn't seen their apartment yet, but it looks great! And a super fun back yard too -
Everyone went out to play. They don't have furniture yet, but while we were there I thought that a few of the things that we have would work well for them, so we're going to give them some things we have in our basement (but first we had to clean out basement to make a path to the bed). So phase 1 was just moving the things that were already within reach in the basement - their clothes and boxes of household items, and we're gifting them the 3 mattresses they've been using while they've been here. things. When Diego left for work around 3, Iveth stayed and she wanted to help get the basement back in order for us. I jokingly said "Yeah, nice and clean like it was before you guys came, haha" cause it was NOT clean before they were here. The mess down there was not cause of them. They were only on one side of it, but all our kids together were super creative in their games and getting out everything to play, and in that process made major havoc on the already disastered unfinished side. I really should have taken a before pic, cause it was bad. And then, in a few hours, it was all made good by Iveth working a miracle! She started on the east side, and little by little worked her way across the floor. I came and went, going up and down the stairs doing things, making dinner for both our families (breakfast: hasbrowns, tofu "eggs", pancakes and fruit).... and feeding Peter, and Iveth worked a miracle over the course of the evening and got it all spanking clean!
Like all of it, she is amazing. It is a total miracle.
Then tonight I drove her to Sugarhouse to buy a table I found on the classifieds, and I also found another little table and chairs that were free and a free bookshelf, and tomorrow for phase 2 we'll move over the bunk bed and trundle and couch that we had in the basement. It's a win-win: I get a clean basement and get to clear out things that we aren't using, and they get a furnished apartment, and the kids all play - we had a dance party going on tonight. Iveth and I have also gone walking in the mornings together, so it is great to have a friend like her! I'm really grateful that Corey met them at McDonald's, it's been a blessing for all of us.
So like two weeks ago, I gave it a try to nurse Peter while I'm at the computer. If I use a big fluffy pillow, he gets comfy and nurses while I type and go over money or blog. So we're both happy! I was able to catch up January and February, so that's good! It also helps that he's got the warm fabric already all around him, so my transfers to the couch or a bed have also been pretty successful.
Here he is in the boy's room in Hyrum's Big Joe chair. The boys room is one of the safest places to hide Peter in a place where I can hear and see him, but he is off of Owen and Daniel's radars unless he cries.
So I was able to keep getting my oh so important "stuff" done. After another feeding I transferred him to a couch in my room - little snuggle bug -
Mel held him when she came home from school. Time for me to get dinner ready.
On Saturday we invited our friends from Mexico to stay with us. They've been looking at apartments, cause they had to be out of their house on the 1st. They didn't have anything finalized, so they are going to stay with us for a few days while they finish looking. We were gone last night, but got back in time to do a quick clean up of the carpeted area and then they were here. It's not much, but better than wasting money on a hotel. They are having their kids still go to school in their old area until they know where they are going, so they haven't been here during the day, but it's fun to visit with them at night. Ivet and I went on a walk this morning. I didn't exercise yesterday morning, and if I don't get it in in the morning I usually don't get a chance to redeem myself. But yesterday I kinda got dinner set up by putting lasagna in the oven and I got a salad ready, and then I went on a one way walk up the canyon at 4:50pm. Corey drove up to pick me up around 6 before he came home after work. I almost got in 4 miles. It was nice to get out of the house and to not be on the treadmill. I'm glad spring is here.
So we have basement guests for a few days, and today was also an important day because (drum roll...) today we moved Owen and Daniel out of our bedroom! I wanted to do a complete overhaull/rearrangment by moving all the girls together again, and then let Owen and Daniel have the small room, but Mel asked if we could wait on that until after she leaves. Yes, we will have to rearrange again in the fall anyway, so ok, we'll wait.
I haven't been going into the basement because #1 I'm pretty sure it's a disaster that I don't want to acknowledge and #2 cause it's our friends space for a few days. But the kids don't mind going down there. They came upstairs this afternoon with the mouthguard game things, which I'm pretty sure were up high on a shelf, so I'm guessing that they are turning things upside down down there and that it's a total wreck. Daniel wanted me to put it in his mouth. After the first try, I really wasn't sure it would fit. But he was insistent and we did it. Say cheese!
Natalie is a ham, which by definition is "someone who enjoys performing and who tends to behave in an exaggerated or playful way when people are watching." We're watching you Natalie!
Natalie and Daniel
I'm sure that is what I'm going to look like in a few days when I go see the toy mess/damage that has been done down there!
Two pictures from yesterday - Abi let Natalie do her hair and make up.
It was a contest. Natalie dressed up Abi, and Sophi dressed up Lily. Then they brought around their works of art for all of us to judge and cast our vote.
I asked if we were voting for the best "worst" or the best pretty. It was for the best pretty. I said my vote was for Lily. Abi knew what to expect, so she was okay to lose. She liked having Natalie do her, she liked the "freaky" look. And a picture of sweet Peter dozing off as I held him this evening.
