A couple of things have happened since last week. First of all, on Sunday we were all ready and in the car. The 3 older boys had already walked to church and made it on time to do their responsibilities. The rest of us were running late. Jeremy started up the van and pulled out of the driveway, and went forward a few feet, and then the van just quit. It wouldn't start again. Jeremy pulled it backwards with the truck a little ways, and then he and Michael pushed it while I drove it into the driveway. Ugh! And it was running so nicely! So on Monday after work we took it down to the shop. Jeremy finally got it to start, but it wouldn't respond to the accelerator. So we turned on the emergency lights and just coasted down the street and into the shop. They told us that last time they replaced the throttle motor, and that they couldn't find a whole throttle body. But this time they were able to find the whole thing. They got the part in yesterday morning, and it was fixed before 11:00. It's running great again. I do have to say that that Murphy guy is a menace. He seems to have moved in with all his cousins lately.
The other thing is that I went to that IEP meeting for Timmy on Monday. I was really nervous and didn't know what to say or what to expect, even though I've been to one before. They went over his progress. He's doing great! And then we talked about next school year. Jeremy wanted him to go into first grade next school year, but he's just not ready. I feel like it would be better for him to be where there is an aide who can help him if the classroom is getting to him. And he doesn't know all the kindergarten sight words, and his math isn't there yet either. Jeremy decided, though, that he just wants Timmy to be happy, and that it doesn't really matter so much where he's placed. The school had us come in for testing, and that also placed him in kindergarten. So I filled out the paperwork, and he will be doing kindergarten in Thatcher next school year. He got to see the playground yesterday and is all excited about that. I have my usual worries, but I feel like it was really good for him to have that extra school year where he's been. Maybe he could have done the regular kindergarten work, but I think that socially he's come a long way this year, and I think that's in large part due to the low stress situation in his classroom, where he gets to know other kids but there are only a few of them. Maybe that will give him enough of a leg up that next year he'll be OK with the larger class.
We had some friends come over for the first day of Conference. They live just down the street, and they have 2 boys who are just about Hyrum and Benji's ages. We've really enjoyed having some good friends who live so close. Anyway, Brother Jensen is a helicopter repairman, and he got called out just before the second session, but the other stayed. We had a barbecue. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of the people, but this is one thing we did during Conference. Brother Jensen was really loud during that first session. Ha ha! I have to admit it was kind of nice that he wasn't there for the second. XD Love them, though! I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
This one is Timmy's. He says its a portal.
This is Benji's
Timmy's
Bubby with my "wee beedoe" (water bottle) and a chocolate mustache
Timmy's
Timmy's
Jill's (undies - ha ha!)
Jill likes to tell me this. This time she wrote it. I appreciate it. :)
Between Sunday sessions we went for a walk at the track. I think we only made it around once because we brought extra monkeys, but it was good to get out.
Happy boy
Bubby and Jill. Jill kept going out on the field to dance and having me take a video. I should have taken a picture too. :)
Back at home
Bubby fell down at the track, so he got a band-aid.
Timmy's holiday calendar
It's not going to be Christmas next or Halloween or Valentine's Day. It's going to be Easter next. (Easter has a check mark on it.)
Joshua has been helping Jill learn to play some of his games. She likes that, and Henry likes to sit on her lap while she plays.
Happy boy
Sad boy
Another Pokemon walk - Jill asked me to take a picture of her under this sign that advertised a play.
So cute!
Jill's a photo bomber!
The Badger grandparents came to town, and we took them to dinner. The kiddos all wanted to go to China Taste, but I kept telling them (probably a number of times) that Grandpa doesn't like Chinese. He finally said, "Oh, lets just go to China Taste." So off we went. :) Grandpa did find something he liked, too. That's the nice thing about a buffet. :) (P.S. The China Taste in Globe is bigger and better.)
Henry liked the sugar biscuits
I think Jeremy got better pictures of this meal than I did, but I don't have access to them. Ha ha! Anyway, here are some people. :)
We parked right next to this truck, so we just had to take a picture
Look how big those wheels are!
Grandma and Grandpa
We used part of the tax return to pay off debt and grow our emergency fund, but we also got some new appliances: a dryer and a stove. Hooray! I'm still getting used to the oven. I am having a hard time with cookies, but everything else has come out good.
Henry thinks this is a great place to play. Uhhhhh.... No. Thank heavens we usually have clothes in it. But while I'm working at the washer he's pulling things out of the dryer and throwing them on the floor because he wants to get back inside.
Bubby and Henry
Jill put this note under our door one day when I was having some alone time and she was done with that.
Timmy wrote this. I bet you can read it just fine. :)
Jill made a tower. She and those other two there always want me to take a picture of everything!
Henry was playing with Benji and Michael one evening, and they did this to him. I thought he'd be upset about it, but he just walked around like normal, except that he couldn't bend one leg because the sword was in there. Somebody took pity on him and took it out, but he got mad. He wanted that sword back in there.
Jill's artwork on MS Paint. That program never ceases to be a popular one around here.
So cute, but getting so big! He is a tummy sleeper sometimes. He especially likes to do the stink bug when he's on his tummy.
Timmy made "duckorations" for Easter.
He made this at school. You can't tell here, but one of his front teeth is growing back in. Remember that he lost all four of his top front ones really quickly? Well, the one that's coming back is actually one to the side of the 2 front teeth.
Jeremy said that we needed to visit the other grandma too. Ha ha! We don't dare stay overnight there, but we can do this! It was about time anyway. We went the Friday before Easter after school, and just stayed for a few hours. It was nice. Grandma boiled 6 eggs for each kiddo except Henry, and all but Joshua and Henry dyed some. (Henry's really too little, and Joshua didn't wanna. Teenagers! Pfff!)
Benji
Michael
Jill and Timmy
Jill
Henry found something else fun to do. :)
Timmy
Jill
On the way to Grandma's Bubby threw up on himself. It was just a bit, and we didn't even notice until we got there. How did we not know? Seems like he'd have said something. Anyway, when we got there we cleaned up his seat and gave him a bath, and I washed out his clothes in the sink and then left them outside to dry in the sun. His underwear was fine, so he wore just that for a while. (It's actually Timmy's underwear. He likes to wear Timmy's underwear when he can't find any of his own, and Timmy likes to grab Bubby's pants to wear instead of looking for his own. I guess it balances out. Ha ha!) So when his clothes dried he got all dressed again, and then about a half hour later he pooped his pants. Argh! So I stole his pants and underwear and put him in one of Henry's diapers because that's all I had. I don't know what to do with him. He is very consistent going #1 in the potty. But every time he poops he does it in his underwear. I don't know what to do. I've tried bribes, and it doesn't work. I feel like he's such a mind game anyway, I just need to find the right words to tell him so he'll go poop in the potty, or at least tell me when he needs to poop so I can take him. And the thing is, he doesn't even poop every day. He poops every other day or a day longer, so I don't feel like we even have much opportunity to practice. Maybe we need to get some prunes... XD
Grandma and Hyrum
Bubby
Henry found a rocking horse and was so happy.
We had a picnic for dinner: hamburgers and hot dogs from the grill, and Grandma had balloons too.
Timmy found the Legos, of course.
Somebody was using white glue one evening, and they left it out when they were done. Next thing I knew Joshua had left this on the table. Ha ha! At least dried white glue is fun to scrape off.
It was a few days until Easter, and we didn't really have money for an Easter dress, and I didn't have a sewing machine. (It has passed the point of no return. Something was so wrong with it that it would have cost more to fix it than to buy a refurbished one, so I just let it go. Jeremy offered to get me one that Walmart had on sale right before Henry was born, but I wanted a fancier one, and now I regret it. A working sewing machine would come in handy, ya know, even if it couldn't sew jeans.) I did have fabric and a pattern, though. I bought this fabric for Jill's first Easter and made us matching skirts. I had a lot left over. The only thing I had to buy for it was bias tape, ribbon, and a zipper. It worked out nice. I'm quite pleased with it. :) I'm also kind of pleased with myself. Often, when I was sewing at my sewing machine I'd think of the ladies all throughout history who never had a sewing machine, and I wondered what it was like to sew a whole dress without one. Well, I decided I'd give it a go. I didn't really know if I could get it done in time for Easter, but I knew I could do it. Well, I did get it done in time. It actually wasn't any harder than sewing with a machine. It just took longer, and I had to mark all the seams before sewing. It turned out quite nice. I made it size 8 so it would fit her longer, and it turned out a little big in the neck. I made some tucks in the neck at the tops of the sleeves after I took this picture, so now the sleeves are a little more puffy. And I still have my skirt that matches, though it's a bit faded after all these years, so we can be matchy-matchy, and that's so fun.
We had Stake Conference on Easter. When we got home I made everyone clean up a bit before Papa brought the Easter baskets down.
We got all the kiddos a little stuffed animal. Bubby has been telling me for months that he needs a Mickey Mouse, so that's what he got. He was so happy!
Benji got a whale.
Timmy got a little emoji pillow.
Harry got a duck
Michael got a white bunny.
Jill got a pink one.
Hyrum got a soft lop-eared one. He likes soft things, even though he's old. ;)
And speaking of Hyrum being old, do you realize that he'll be old enough to go on a mission NEXT YEAR?!! I'm not ready. I'll probably never be ready, right, Mama? But it's neat watching him be more ready in different ways. I'm proud of that boy.
Joshua got a shark.
Everyone got a chocolate bunny. It was Russell Stover. It was yummy. I still wish I'd asked for turtles instead, though, because those are my favorite!
Papa got a Dove dark bunny.
Then Jeremy and I hid eggs for the kiddos to find. It was lots of fun, and we felt so creative. Ha ha! There were 2 eggs that were found days later. After we were out of eggs with candy they handed all the eggs back, and then we put some coins in them and hid them again.
I'm not sure what that is on Timmy's face...
They all look so serious, don't they? Ha ha!
"Open it!"
Waiting to find more eggs
Jeremy has a weight vest that he likes to wear when he goes walking. This particular day, when he took it off, he set it on the floor, and then Henry found it. He tried so hard to pick it up because he wanted it on, but it was too heavy. He was so, so sad. So Jeremy took all the weights out and put it on him. That made him so happy! He ran all over the house in it and then fell asleep.
I think I have one like this from last Easter. Lemme find it...
Well, it's similar anyway. I also have one from last year with Papa holding all the buckets.
Harry got an apple.
Jeremy and I went by Aaron's class on a Pokemon walk one night, and Aaron was busy for a moment, so Jeremy found a place to sit.
So angelic
One day we were watching Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and we remembered that the accountant is named Henry, and the sock monkey really wants to hug him. Well, our Henry actually owns a sock monkey. ;) So we found it for him and he held it and watched for a few minutes.
One day Bubby found my Bundt pan and started talking in it like this. It looks so funny! You need to try it!
Timmy had to join in the fun.
A few minutes later Henry did too.
Henry is such a lucky guy. He was so many people who love him and like to play with him.
This was last Saturday. I was determined to get the clothes folded. I hadn't gotten anything folded in a few weeks, and it was piling up bad, and I was tired of searching for socks every morning. I also decided I was not going to fold it all myself. That does such bad things to my feet. So I dumped it all on the table, and then I sorted it into baskets, and the four older guys put their own away. I don't think Joshua folded his first, but I'm trying to not care. It felt really good to get that all done! And I put away some clothes that were too small for different people and had been waiting to be put in boxes. I had a whole basket of those just sitting there for like 8 months.
We went shopping at Thriftee of Saturday. We had very limited experience with Thriftee. Walmart is easier because food and whatever else is all there in one store, and it's closer. But this particular day we went and got stuff at Walmart and then went to Thriftee. We had all but the two oldest kiddos with us. I like Thriftee because it's small and reminds me of Lin's, our favorite grocery store in Cedar City. Jill likes to ask me to take pictures of her next to different things at the store. This time it was flowers.
The next day was the day our van died again. We walked to the church, and we were very late, so we just hung out in the nursery and turned on the speakers to listen. Jill found some chalk and wrote the third Article of Faith. Her Primary teacher is so great! She's helping them learn them all, and then she's going to have a party for them when they all learn every one. Jill has passed off the first 3 now. Hooray for her!
Also that day we had 9 kids in nursery. That is a lot for us! I felt like I was running the whole time! But since we had all of them there I decided to take some pictures for Mother's Day. This little guy is new. His name is Liam, and he's autistic.
This is Lilly. She's the Primary President's granddaughter. She's not there every time, and I'm not even sure she's in our ward, but I was happy to sit and hold her that day. :)
This is my buddy Eric. He's silly. The first day he came to nursery he was just not sure if he was happy to be there where he didn't know anyone. I sat down with him and we played blocks. They all have little pictures on them, like G for grapes and stuff. We took turns saying, "Do you eat this?" and giggling when it wasn't food. He's happy to come now. :)
This is Gavin. He's is a fun guy. He and Jojo are good buddies, and they both like to scream.
This is Everett. He has a hard time being happy about being left in nursery lately, but he eventually comes around. I couldn't get him to smile, though.
This is Jojo. He's likes Brother Burk, and he makes the best bird sound I ever heard. You say, "What does a bird say, and he makes a dove coo. So cool!
This is Everlee. Her family has a sad story. Her dad is a Lambson from St. Johns, and her mom sang with me in Women's Chorale at EAC. Her dad cheated on her mom and left her. Now the kids take turns with mom and dad on weekends, and it's poopy. Everlee is a sweet girly, though, and she loves the babies so much! Hyrum and Jojo's dad home teacher her family.
Timmy stuffed something in his cheek and told me to take a picture. He thought it was so funny.
Jeremy and I were walking home after dropping off the van to be fixed again, and we came across Michael and his fellow scouts. His leader, Brother Martin, and gotten out his golf cart and taken them to Hawaiian Snow for Snow Cones. Michael got out and walked home with us. The Snow Cone made his mouth all green.
This guy keeps getting himself stuck where he can't get out/down and getting so sad about it. This is in Jill, Timmy, and Bubby's room. He has also learned to climb on Jill's top bunk, and then he cries because he can't get down. They all survive the climbing stage, and it's amazing that they do!
