February Catch up (musicals and b-days)

I noticed while uploading Bella's b-day pictures that we missed a few February events. 

Bella had her Kindergarten musical. They did the same program Xandy did in kindergarten but it was just as cute this time around.  Bella was upset she didn't get a speaking part but she spent the first half of the year too terrified to talk in class so the music teacher had know idea she was interested in a speaking part.  I explained that if she wants to get speaking parts she needs to participate in class.

Jared had a B-day in February also.  We had 4- Layer Dessert which is his request every year. For about 9 weeks of every year I can tease him and call him an old man.  Then I quickly catch up so I can't tease him anymore.  I still have about 5 good weeks of teasing left this year.

My darling Bella turns 6

Bella turned 6 on Saturday!  I can hardly believe it.  She's grown up so much this past year.  Just in the past month she's made great improvements in her reading ability. She doing excellent in her piano lessons.  She has made a lot of friends this year.  I'm so proud of her in so many ways.

A couple of weeks ago she was spotlighted in primary.  They asked some of the other kids and teachers what they liked about her.   The replies were written on the back of this picture.  Its a great keepsake for the kids.

Things we like about Bella:

She is sweet

She is thoughtful

She is friendly & nice

She is reverent

She is beautiful

She loves her scriptures

She is a good friend

She is gorgeous

I love her

She is a good sister

She is a good classmate

She is kind

We Love You Bella!!!

Bella is having a party in a couple of weeks but we still wanted to make her actual B-day special.  However, due to stake conference and other events Saturday was pretty busy.  We had ordered a Bobby's cake but realized when we woke up that by the time we could pick it up at noon, we wouldn't all be home together again until 10pm.  We decided to save the cake for Sunday, and instead let her pick whatever she wanted for breakfast.  So off she went with Dad to pick out some donuts.  We are having a pool party at the YMCA so she only got a pair of new jeans and Twinkle Toe shoes (which are not cheap- thank goodness for a Buy One Get One 1/2 off and a mom who needed new running shoes) from us. 

On Sunday we had chicken legs, carrot sticks, and fresh pineapple for dinner- her favorites.  Her cake ended up being the best B-day cake I've ever had.  A layer of Sandy Dandy(strawberries, pecans, and hard chocolate) concrete followed by fudge and crunchies, then strawberry cheesecake concrete frosted with a whipping cream.  Yum Yum!!
Today I took donuts and chocolate milk into her class for her B-day snack and Jacob and I ate lunch with her.  She really knows how to extend her B-days.  Jacob wants to know if its his turn yet.  Not for quite some time yet little buddy.

Grandma's 80th

Last week-end we made a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania and back. Grandma had turned 80 earlier in the week and a party was planned for Saturday. I had been thinking a lot about her and as insane as the trip sounded we decided to go. We packed up the family and drove 11 hours on Friday to get there and then 11 hours back home on Sunday so Jared could work on Monday.  It was really fun and great to see a lot of family.  Turns out that an 11 hour drive isn't so bad when Jared and I had a lot of things to discuss and decide on since the project here is coming to a close.   The kids were wonderful.  Seriously, I don't know how our parents did it without DVD players in the car.  As long as I kept the movies coming, they were content.

Me, Grandma, Aunt Faye, and Uncle Bob

Grandma and me

Mother and son

Jared, Terra, Elizabeth, and Robert (we always love a chance to get together with my cousin and her husband.  We have so much fun with them.  They are expecting their first in August!!)

Cindy and Shari

Bella and Mima

Aunt Faye, me, and Bella

Delinda and Scott

Aunt Kathy and Maria

Katy, Emma, and Xandy (I can't believe how much Emma grew up since we saw them last.  It scares me since she is only two years older than Katy.  My baby cousin went from little girl to young women over night)

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob

Xandy and Pop Pop at Grandma's house

Mima and Katy

I got to go for a refreshing mountain run on Saturday.  I pushed myself hard to run a few miles up the mountain road, promising myself the ease of the return downhill.  Overall it was beautiful and refreshing.  The lingering snow on the ground added to the overall effect.   But, it turns out I forgot to take into account the wind.  I was running straight into strong winds on the way back down.  I did not pack enough cold weather running clothes so I was pretty frozen by the time I got back.  Its hard to think gloves and hat when its 70 degrees when you're packing.  Despite the cold and wind, the kids had fun running and exploring outside.  My Dad owns the land next to Grandma's so there was lots of room for them to run and play.  I'm told Uncle Martin was even nice enough to take them to look at the horses while I was running.  A horse farm is adjacent to the family land and as we were leaving I realized I hadn't taken them to see the horses but they assured me they had gotten to see them anyway.

On a funny side note: My grandma saves everything.  There is absolutely no way to describe the amount of things in her house.  You have to see it to understand it.  She worked at a library for years and when they were pulling books from circulation, she would bring them home.  There are literally thousands and thousands of books in her basement.  There is barely room to walk from one end to the other.  We used to go to Grandma's a lot while we were in Cleveland, but since the move this is only the second time we've been back.  Jacob doesn't remember it at all, and Bella was even too young to remember much.  We were the first people to arrive (Grandma was even still at Aunt Karen's house in Philly), after I let us in, Bella looked around the house.  "Have we ever been here before?" she asked.  Xandy replied "Of course we have, lots of times".  Then she added in an excited voice "There's even a whole library in the basement, come on I'll show you".  I had to laugh.  I'm afraid of the basement and apparently,children think its pretty cool.

Random musings

I love to see Bella snuggling her Dad.  For the most part she tends not to want much to do with him.   Lately though I've seen an increasing number of moments like this....

It warms my heart.

And, despite the risk of being lynched and losing friends again this year,  I have to post pics of the kids on Super Bowl Sunday.  Yes, I do realize I am from Cleveland and this is a sin some consider second only to Blasphemy, but I do have western Pennsylvania roots.  Since there was no compelling reason to cheer for Green Bay (and since I'm more than a little annoyed at the whole state of Wisconsin and their sports teams this past year), I did what any loving granddaughter would do and wore the colors of the team by Grandparents were loyal to. My husband had other ideas. Since he hates Rothelsberger with an intense passion, he was cheering for Greenbay. Since I can not pass up an opportunity to annoy him, he came home from an after church meeting to find this

It was actually harder than I thought to create these outfits.  Apparently yellow is not a color the kids and I wear very often.  We had to do a lot of sharing to find outfits for everyone.  Jared has apparently learned to ignore our teasings.  Besides a slight roll of his eyes he did not humor us with any other reaction.

Icecream and Science

Icecream and Science are two of my favorite things!

 Katy combined them into a science fair project this year.  She researched what ingredients five different frozen desserts were made of.  After comparing the differences she picked which she thought would melt fastest and which would melt slowest.  Turns out maybe Frozen Custard isn't the best choice on a hot St. Louis day as it only lost to Frozen Yogurt for title of fastest melting.  But, who are we kidding?  Nothing tastes quite as good as a Bobby's concrete so I doubt the results will change our frozen dessert eating habits.  And by the way, not that we have a countdown or anything, but Bobby's reopens a week from today!! (Porters, Lindsays- I'm sure we'll see you there)  Oh, and in case you were wondering, icecream took the longest to melt with Sorbet and Sherbert falling in the middle.

Running Buddy

Kristie Carmitchel and I ran 13 miles last weekend.  I had been sick for over a week previous and never would've run that one my own.  Realistically, I probably would've taken the whole day off.  But, she motivated me to get out and take advantage of the nice day. We parked her car at HorseShoe Lake State Park and headed towards my house.  Even though it made it above freezing, it was the first day it began to thaw so the trails were not clear yet.  It was a strange snowy/ice mix  covering the trails.  We persevered though and ran all the way home which ended up being a slight uphill incline most of the way.  Despite stepping into a freezing puddle about a mile from home which quickly dropped my body temperature, we made it back.  Surprisingly, the next day I felt better than I had in two weeks.  Maybe I froze the sick germs right out of me.

Its sad that we are most likely both moving within the next few months.  Its been great having someone that motivates me and vice versa.

Big Boys and Bikes

It hard to believe that Jacob was only about 7 months when I took him on the house hunting trip to St. Louis.  Where has the time gone? 

He was not too sure about his big boy bike until we went to Tot Skate.  The YMCA has a roller skating rink and during special school week hours little kids can go skating OR bring their bikes and bike around the rink.  We met a bunch of Jacob friends there last month.  I tried to take this bike but he cried and insisted on taking the tricycle cause it wasn't as scary or challenging.  The problem was his two closest friends are not only older (one by 6 months, one by 18 months) than him but were using bigger bikes which gave them much greater speed.  He got annoyed with pedaling as fast as he could and still being left behind.  During the warm spell last week he insisted I get his big bike down so he could practice! He's getting pretty good. Next step: get Bella riding without the training wheels!