blue & gold

Tonight was our last Blue & Gold Banquet (and I'm ok with that). All the boys were asked to learn about Scouting in another country then make a cake to represent it. 

Carson chose the United Kingdom and learned some cool things. They don't have Tigers. They are called Beavers. Also, girls are included in scouting. This is their flag. 

Carson received 5 pins tonight as well. We're on the countdown with Cub Scouts. 

advancement

Mason advanced to a Star Scout tonight! I'm so proud of him. He also received merit badges for welding and chess. 

Mason looked so nice in his uniform. Carson also wore his uniform tonight and I had planned on taking a picture of them. Carson went home early with Brian and he was in bed by the time I got home. So it didn't happen. Maybe next time. 

college bound

This girl has been accepted into BYU!!!!! Wahoo!!! She's very excited. We all are.

Also, this week she was invited to join the NTHS (National Technical Honor Society) because of her grades in CNA. She's already a member of NEHS (National English Honor Society). She's such a smartie!!

Yay Karlee!!! We're so very proud of you!

Yay Karlee!!

Look who has a date for mopro!! He showed up at the end of seminary this morning. His name is Tyler, he's a Jr at Batavia, a non member, and they've been texting each other ALL day! Oh and he's cute too!!

Tyler gave her fish too!! She's in heaven. Their names are Roberto, Bugs, and Jean Valjean. We still need to buy fish food. I hope we don't kill them. Or our cat. 

a beautiful start

Another amazing sunrise this morning!! I love it when I'm paying attention enough to notice my view out the kitchen window. 

My plan was to stay home ALL day. I haven't had a weekday without kids that I didn't HAVE to be anywhere since the week before Thanksgiving. I was really looking forward to it. 

Then I got a call from Brian. He got in an accident on Main. Everybody is fine just the vehicles are sad. Brian didn't see the car coming and pulled out and hit her. Her car needed to be towed. I'm so grateful he's fine and the truck is still driveable. The process to get it repaired is no fun but whatcha gonna do? 

Brian needed a hug so I took lunch to him at his office. He's worth changing all my plans for. :)

Monday, Karlee slid on ice on a back road and hit a curb. See her wheel? She hit the curb hard enough it also broke her axle. We think she was driving much faster than she should have been. 

To make this even worse she did the same thing the week earlier!! Needless to say she has lost car privelidges for a time. I was thinking two weeks. Brian was thinking more like a month. We'll see how painful this will be for me since I'll be the driver. I hope we're finished spending month on cars for along time. 

On a good note, both Karlee and Carson were cast in plays they both auditioned for!! Karlee is in a one act play at school and she is the lead role! Carson is "Little Boy Blues" in the "Goose's Gavel". It's kind of a twist off of Judge Judy and Mother Goose nursery rhymes. A little silly, perfect for CJ!

Bailee and her friend Megan went to the open house for the Provo City Temple on Monday. I've heard many people say how beautiful it is inside. All the temple are beautiful! 

indian dance

Karlee is a member of an Indian club at school. Last night there was a talent/variety show at North that her club performed at. They did great!! I'm so proud of Karlee for trying something new, especially when she's the odd one out (aka ~ the one white girl). 

Valentine's Day

It's been a good Valentine's Day/weekend.

Saturday ended up being very busy though. The boys and I went to a play in St. Charles, The Hobbit. The cast was all youth. They did a great job! Carson will be auditioning for another play Tuesday. He loves being on stage. We cleaned part of the church then we were off to a basketball game for Karlee. We lost but she played a great game. Karlee hung out with friends the rest of the night. The boys stayed home while Brian and I went into the city to see a comedy show. The show was ok, but I really enjoyed spending time with Brian. I always look forward to our weekly date.

Today I attended the Woodridge Ward for their Ward conference. I enjoy my calling but I miss attending church with my family. I also missed Karlee making heart waffles for everyone this morning. She's so sweet. 

I was home before them so I prepared dinner...part of it. Earlier in the week I asked Brian if he'd mind grilling for us. I knew it would be cold but I didn't realize we'd get snow. He was a good sport and still grilled.

It's been a relaxing evening catching up on our DVR with Brian. We watched a conference talk for FHE, which we all enjoyed. I'm so grateful for our kids. Most of the time FHE is enjoyable. The kids are attentive and add their ideas and opinions. We have such smart kids. 

I spoke with Bailee earlier today. She received my package today and loved the fleece pants and socks. She's easy to please. She's driving to Utah tonight with a friend and planning on attending the open house of the Provo City Center Temple tomorrow. I'm sure she'll have a great time. 

service

Thursday I went on a field trip with two of the 4th grade classes to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. It was the first time we've been there. We were asked to sort potatoes into 5 lb bags. All the kids did a great job. We were there for over two hours.

Theses two are cutting the nets/bags for everyone to use. We ended up bagging 11,000 lbs of potatoes! Enough for over 9,100 meals. Very satisfying.

This is Trevor, Joseph, AJ and CJ.

Two of their four second grade classes went together.

On the way home they played with their gloves. We all had fun!

almost Valentines Day

Brian had a dozen beautiful roses delivered today. Such a nice surprise!! It's going to be Valentines all weekend!

Tomorrow Brian and I are going into the city for a comedy show. It's going to be bitterly cold. I hope we can find parking close to the venue. Then Sunday, when it's actually Valentines, we'll be attending different Wards. I have a Ward conference to attend. So we'll have to snuggle all evening together.

Carson had his Valentines party this afternoon. I still struggle that we can't attend if we want. :( Carson made his Valentines box with a shirt box. I love it!! When I asked Carson about Valentines for his class he said we wanted to give mechanical pencils. So we did and his friends loved them! Btw - we used the same hearts for 2nd grade and gave Valentine pencils instead. Nothing wrong with reusing ideas.

McKinzie became room parent by default a couple weeks ago. This was her first party to plan. She was a little overwhelmed at times. I kept reminding her they're 6! No worries! By the smile on Adam's face I'd say it was a success! 

The shirt he's wearing I sent to him. It says, "my ❤️ belongs 2 mommy". I crossed out mommy and wrote Nonnie! It's hard to see in the picture but it's real! I sent Retta a small ladybug purse and candy, for both of course.

Adam made this cute bookmark at his party too. McKinzie has such cute ideas! 

In the package to the kids I sent McKinzie this hand towel I made for her. It turned out great. Probably the best one I've made. Practice, practice, practice. 

happenings

This past week has been so nice! I haven't worked in the office all week!! I was able to run every day, 5K. Tuesday I went to the temple then met Brian for lunch. It's been forever since we've been able to do that. 

I've stayed busy squaring triangle squares for my project I've been working on. There's been A LOT of cutting. Wednesday evening Brian and I had a quiet evening while all the kids were at church. Carson doesn't go every week and last Wednesday Karlee didn't check to see if he was there. She ended up leaving him at church. Luckily our Bishop and his son played basketball with him while they waited for Karlee to return. They ended up not getting home till 9:30. Super late for a school night. 

Wednesday afternoon I made cookies so the kids would have warm cookies when they got home from school. They acted like I've never made cookies for them. They loved them! I think they miss me not being home as well. 

Since I usually share sunrises I thought I'd share the sunset from Thursday night. Have I mentioned how much I love my view? 

Friday the hitting range just down the road from us was covered with geese. Imagine a space three or four times as large covered with geese. They were everywhere. It was impressive!

Friday evening I started an embroidery project. I'll show the finished project probably next week. I love it!! 

Friday night Mason went on a camp out with the Scouts. Karlee met with her Indian Club to learn the rest of the dance for the school talent show. (I can't wait to watch it. It's been fun to watch her practice.) Brian and I had planned on our usual date night. Then there was CJ... He ended up going with Karlee because in his words, "You and Dad need a date to get away from us kids. I'll go with Karlee then someone will have a good night." Silly boy! He ended up having fun with Karlee. He has fun with whatever he does.

Here's Mason after his camp out. His favorite part was falling off the sled and being dragged through the mud then having the sled run him over. He had mud everywhere! Not sure how they were sledding when we don't have any snow. Leave it to boys to play in the mud. 

Today's been a rather quiet day. I'm not feeling to well. I've tried to do a little sewing then I'd start feeling too bad so I'd go sit next to Brian and rest. I have a head cold/sinus pressure with lots of sneezing. I hope I feel well enough to attend church tomorrow. I'm helping out in Primary. 

beautiful day

I loved the sunrise this morning. I kept going out on the deck to take pictures because it kept getting better and better. At one point Carson told me not to go out anymore. He needed my help with his lunch. 

Today has been a very full day. I ran 3 miles this morning, which I love being able to run again. I then checked in with Louis. Brian mentioned that I wouldn't be needed anymore. I was a little frustrated that he didn't talk to me Friday. Oh well. I called and he wants to offer me a permanent part time job. I told him I'm interested but I had a feeling it would be a challenge to get it approved. For now I have my afternoons free. It's kind of nice. 

After working at the school I ran to Walmart and Sams. When Carson got home we went out to play a little basketball. The driveway is completely dry and it was 40 degrees today. So nice! Now I'm busy cutting squares for my newest project. I've walked almost 19,000 steps today to give you an idea of how busy I've been. 

Since I'm not working at all tomorrow I'm going to the temple. I haven't been during the day since November. I need to go whenever I have the chance. I'm excited!!