Another One Down, Another Sick Day

James woke up not feeling well with a mild temperature all day of 99.6 degrees.

He laid on the couch all day.

 

Grant continued to fever all day.

When his temperature would reach anything above 102 degrees, he received medicine.

I prefer IB profen and feels like it works longer and better than acetaminophen.

 

A bath always feels nice and hoped it would cool Grant off a bit.

He sure liked the bath, but his fever shot right back up afterwards.

So within the hour he was back asleep.

 

Because the boys were sick and Daddy had to work, we had church at home today.

Jaden and Hiram prepared and gave talks.

 

Noah prepared a talk and a lesson. 

 

Joyanne planned sharing time while I did Singing time.

With planning for church and having our own, it took 3 hours altogether.

Time well spent and enjoyed.

 

For being another sick day, it went pretty well.

James and Grant were both given blessings to help them recover swiftly.

I'm so grateful for our neighbors across the street who helped cover our callings at church and assisted in giving blessings to our kids.

 

This was one doozy of a sickness for Grant.

 



Children's Choir Performance

Poor Grant woke up this morning not feeling well at all.

After he tried to come to the table for breakfast, this is how I found him.

Sprawled out on the bathroom floor, moaning. 

Poor little guy! :(

 

So on the way to Brigham City to direct and perform with the Children's Choir, Grant threw up twice.

But afterwards, he felt much better and was eager to get out and play.

 

The choir did wonderful and they were excited to sing and welcome Santa to town.

They all got to sit on Santa's lap and enjoy hot chocolate.

The rest of the day was spent with Grant fevering off and on, while the kids did chores and played electronics.
On a happy note, Noah and Joyanne decorated the tree.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.

How lovely are your branches!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We visited family in Alpine and also went horse-back riding.

The kids loved riding the horses.  I did too!

Dinner was delicious, but the turkey wasn't ready when all the rest of the food was, so we ate without it.

After 3 more hours we ate our turkey with our pie.

The best part of Thanksgiving was spending it with family.

 

Interrupting Chicken

My boys love to play with cars and a car track is EXTRA bonus.

The kids had pajama day at school.

 

Jaden was able to dress up as a character from a book and tell about a book he read.

He chose the book "Interrupting Chicken".

Jaden made a pretty good-looking chicken!

I love watching my kids participate in school activities and do well.

 

I was surprised and happy when Noah and Jaden came home from school with a pie and 2 mini loaves of bread.

Noah won the bread for taking 3rd place for his 5th grade level in the "Turkey Trot" at school.

They ran around the school twice and the fastest 3 won a prize.

Jaden took 2nd place for his 2nd grade level and won a pie.

Hiram came in 4th place for his 4th grade level, and even though he didn't win anything, it was quite an accomplishment for him as he is the shortest person in his grade.

James just had fun running.

Monday Madness

Each year there always seems to be one day of the week that is completely swamped.

This year, it's Mondays.

From when I woke up until 7p.m. I was doing something for others.

I spent the morning cleaning, cooking, reading to Grant and James, reviewing piano, school workbooks, laundry and breathing (I guess that last one was for me).

 

I truly enjoy what I do.

I love sitting on the couch with Grant, reviewing the letters with him and reading to him about how Mouse loves cookies or Little Red Riding Hood got away from the Big Bad Wolf.

I love it when Grant leans his little head onto my arm and James snuggles up close to my side.

 

I spent the afternoon prepping for the Children's Choir I direct in Brigham City.

After retrieving the kids from school, we then went to the choir.

As much as I love directing the choir, I am looking forward to having Monday's free from the 20 minute drive in and the hour rehearsing, along with an hour of prepping for it.

Just 2 more Mondays and then it's our performance.

Anyone and everyone are welcome to attend.

 

Joyanne helped out a lot this evening with chores though she was compelled to.

She left a few things out today, so in the chore basket they went.

She got to do a chore for each item of hers that was left out.

Some of the other kids will be doing chores as well.

The chore basket helps them remember to put their things away and helps me get my house cleaner. ;)

Daddy and Noah have spent a lot of time watching football together, but tonight they are actually getting ready to watch "Once Upon a Time".

Wild Boys!

Remembering simpler times.

Here are my kids on the first day of school on September 5, 2012.

As my kids get older, their lives get busier with more activities.

 

But my kids are still kids, and, today, they drove me pretty crazy.

They (meaning the boys) were running all around the house, shouting, yelling and overall having fun, but it didn't make for a very peaceful Sunday.

No matter how many times I urged them to be quiet and even set them in time-out, they still were hyper and kept it up.

It must be the fact that they feel a bit cooped up in the house.

I hope I make it through this winter.

Football

We've been enjoying watching football the last few nights.

We don't usually watch football, but when you're tired at night and you just wanna lay down and watch something decent, football's pretty entertaining.

Saturday's a special day.

It's the day we get ready for Sunday.

We cleaned our home pretty good this morning.

The kids got right on top of their chores and in no time, the house was clean.

Except the kitchen floor; that took a while to clean.

 

It's nice to have a clean home for the Sabbath day. :)

Weekend!

My cute little one, after dinner, just enjoying his time.

Glad it's a weekend!

 

The kids had the day off of school, so it was nice and kicked back.

Being a Kid

Cute boys had fun dressing up in their "Buzz Lightyear" clothes and having their own little battle.

They sure are entertaining to watch.

Gotta love the boys with all their wild energy where they just want to tackle each other, run around and yell like a wild animal. :)

 

Growing up is hard to do.

Responsibilities weigh in on us as we grow.

With the responsibilities come the blessings though.

BUT . . .  tonight, I wish I were a kid again.

Scouts and Mutual

Gotta love this night.

We had pack meeting tonight and Daddy and Joyanne went to mutual.

The boys loved the pack meeting, especially because there was treats.

It was nice to FINALLY have the boys back in scouts.

It's been a LONG 3 months without it.

 

Daddy and Joyanne helped pack boxes at the food pantry.

They enjoyed serving.

 

Two of my boys are being a challenge.

One of my sons is on "house arrest".

As he said today, in other words, he's grounded.

He gets no priviledges: no treats, no friends, no electronics, to bed early.

 

I ended up placing my other son on "house arrest" tonight after multiple melt-downs.

 

I hope and pray these kids will learn to obey their parents.

Mighty Reading Hero

Jaden was "Mighty Reading Hero" in his play for his 2nd Grade today.

He did so awesome as he raced on stage like a real superhero.

He said his lines so well and sang the songs so sweetly with great animation.

He was so excited to perform and has been singing their songs for weeks now.

We all have been looking forward to this play.

I sure love this kid of mine!



Family Literacy Night

Mondays have become insanely busy and crazy.

Right after picking the kids up from school, we drive to Brigham City where I teach a Children's Choir.

The kids are all participating in the choir.

They had a Family Literacy Night at 6p.m. so we rushed home from choir for a quick dinner, and then back to the school it was.

The kids sang some cute songs that went along with a book the school has been encouraging us to read as a family: "The Trumpet of the Swan".

We came home and read our chapter of the book and sent the kids off to bed.

 

During the week life seems so busy with homework, piano practicing, chores and reading.

But they are all good things to be improving our skills.

 

Sunday Sadness

Aaaahhh! My boys drove me bonkers ALL morning.

They were constantly bickering and squabbling about everything.

So, in hopes that church would uplift their spirits and help them be better, I looked forward to taking them.

Alas, it was not my lucky day.

The boys were a little challenging in Sacrament Meeting.

Daddy had to work today, but we made it through without him.

 

Because the boys weren't singing the closing hymn in church and to create a more loving atmosphere, Joyanne played and the boys sang "Love at Home".

Joyanne planned a great family home evening on integrity using her Young Women's book.

Family Home Evening brings a great spirit to our family and unites us closer together.

Saturday Chores and Fun

Saturday morning is chore time!

We spent the morning cleaning, organizing and sorting through all our toy boxes.

The kids were not very happy at first, but it was nice to get some deep cleaning done.

Our house surely needed it.

 

Joyanne had a friend from Vernal come and visit her.

Her friend just had surgery yesterday at Primary Children's Hospital on her knee.

They had lots of fun playing games, watching t.v. and playing Minecraft.

Fun times!

 

Just a random picture below of the crazy, fun times we have at our house during dinner time.

First Snow of the Year

Seems late to me to be having our first snow of the year.

But when I opened my door this morning, it was a wintry wonderland to behold.

All day the snow fell, leaving the roads quite a mess.

There was a 7-car accident on the freeway, which Daddy helped out with.

It was pretty crazy driving.

 

The kids were excited to come home and have hot chocolate for their after-school snack.

Then it was boots, gloves, scarves and coats on to run out and enjoy the piles of snow.

The kids shoveled, rolled in and jumped on the tramp in the snow.

For a first snow day, it was quite a success. :)



Fun Day Off

Daddy was wonderful to give me a great day off.

I went to get an order for my contacts and did some shopping in Ogden.

Then it was haircut time.

I have been dying for a haircut for a while now.

 

I like Jinnifer Goodwin's hair. (She's Snow White in the show "Once Upon a Time".

So I got a haircut similar to hers.

At first I wasn't sure I liked it, but it's growing on me. 

 

Daddy took me on a date to eat out at Café Rio in Logan; where we also checked out some of the shopping there.

The kids stayed home under Joyanne's watchful care and they watched "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" or something like that.

So all in all it was a fun day!

HAPPY DAYS!!!

 



Mutual and Lost Molars

After visiting the Senior Center and singing some songs, the Young Men and Young Women were in treat for some ice cream.

Joyanne LOVES the dessert part of mutual.

 

Daddy is now a Young Men's leader, and he, too, enjoys the desserts along with all the other Young Men. 

 

Joyanne came home and pulled out a molar that was loose.

Crazy pirate we have here! 

Brigham Fine Arts Center

In Brigham City, there's a Fine Arts Center that runs all kinds of programs.

I teach a Children's Choir there.

 

Tonight they had a Family Fun Night.

We sang some Thanksgiving songs, watched a Thanksgiving Puppet Theatre and made cute little turkeys out of pine cones and other crafty do-dads.

We had fun spending time together as a family. :)

Pictures posted tomorrow.

Young Women in Excellence

My beautiful Princess!

Joyanne participated in Young Women in Excellence.

I still can't believe how grown up my daughter is becoming.

She gave a profound talk on Divine Nature.

She sure has a talent for putting together good speeches, essays and talks. 

She is so talented with music and so many other things.

I love the Young Woman Joyanne is becoming.

Basketball

We are so loving this gorgeous weather.

A kind neighbor gave us their basketball hoop.

So guess what we did nearly ALL day.

The boys really got into it and had so much fun. 

Our neighbors across the street came over and we all played a game of ball with a full court.

It's great now that we have hoops on each end of the circle. 

Hiram said, "Now Mom, if I'm bad, just send me outside to play basketball."

Such a cute kid.

I'm excited to sign my kids up for basketball here soon.

At the Park in November

The weather was beautiful.

After reading a story about someone having a picnic at the park, James asked if we could go have a picnic at the park.

The boys loved the swings, in particular, and were there most of the time.

 

The weather is unseasonably warm for being the beginning of November.

Joyanne is hoping for snow soon.

The cooler, fall weather is enjoyable.

Rent or Buy

This beautiful home is for rent or buy.

We've had a lot of people come look at our home today.

We would so like to see it sell, but time is running out for us.

We can't hold on to it and pay a mortgage for it and rent for the house we are in forever.

So we are putting it up for rent.

We hope in the next month, we can get someone to rent or buy it.

If you know anyone interested in a steal of a deal, they should check out this home in Rigby (Grant), Idaho.

We are asking $195,000 to sell or $1400 a month for rent.

Beautiful 6 bedroom home with 3 bathrooms, 2 family rooms, a living room, large kitchen, 2 car garage, all sitting on a 1 acre lot.

Like I said, a steal of a deal.