January 27, 2013

This week has been SO busy.  I think this winter we are actually experiencing a true "Cache Valley Winter" as all the locals like to boast about.  Very very cold, very dark, and no sunshine or blue sky.  Sometimes it can get a little old, and I know we are all craving some sunshine.  But we are doing our best to make the most of the winter with lots of bball, swimming, games at night and life! 

Monday we had the day off and were lucky enough to have Nicki and her kids come to play for the day.  We had so much fun; playing games, painting, dolls, tea party, shooting, sledding, and just being together.  Nicki even helped me prime a wall to get me motivated on my recent "update Rhyse's room" project. It was so fun to spend time with them and enjoy their energy, fun, and friendship.  Thanks so much for making the trip.  We all wanted to take the day off the next day from school and do it again!

 After our cold snap broke we spent a lot of time getting rid of the packed ice that was everywhere.  THe 30 degree weather felt balmy to us.  Of course, nature always has a sense of humor, so today we had a blizzard.  The kids had a great time enjoying the warmer weather and all the new wet snow.  They even tried out our igloo maker and began to build one for the first time.  Tali created her own winter spa. 

 

Rhyse's room is now painted yellow.  It has been a long process and though not in it's completion, we are all happy that she can now sleep in her own bedroom!  She tends to scream out at night, and wander around end up in our bed with her foot in my back come morning.  Since her room had a chair rail, and I seem to be morally against chair rail, Lani and I removed it a while back.  It has taken some time to repair and refinish the wall (but I think I'm improving) and then completely prime and paint the room.  Since I'm trying to do this on the cheap, I decided to just mix a couple of leftover paint cans that I have from previous projects.  Capri and I grabbed a big bucket a stick and pretended we were making a witches brew as we added a little of one paint to another and mixed until we got things right.  I was pretty nervous being the paint snob that I am, but I'm totally happy with the color.  It is a mild yellow, subtle, but warm enough. I should be able to do lots with it.  I put up a shelf we had for her to hang her favorite dress ups (that is all she wears about 95% of the time) on and need to install a cheap full length mirror I got a long time ago.    We have some other projects up our sleeve to personalize it even more (probably a macrame sunburst and a subway tile poster and a large print, etc...)  I have had a fun time planning it all with Rhyse and seeing her excitement with each new step.  

 

 Talia and Megan doing a American Girl spa. 

 Sledding didn't last very long in the sub zero temperatures, and encroaching evening, but the kids were super tough and had a great time.  One funny thing was that we broke almost all the sleds during this trip.  We are thinking it must have been because the frigid temperatures made the plastic unusually brittle. 

Other events this week:  Pepper decided it was too cold to do her potty business outside, we spend a lot of time worrying about our poor chickens out in the bitter cold, Craig spent incredible hours doing bball related things (his new calling is a stake sports guy, plus he's helping with Breck's practice). 

Lani and I got to shop for his first "real" swim suit.  They are called jammers and are basically spandex.  We he came out in a couple of pair the sales attendant had given him to try I was a little surprised.  I questioned them, telling them that surely these were too small for him.  One average sized man looked at me and said, "he's wearing a 26, and I wear a size 28, so there is no way that is too small!"  We bought the suit and I tried to not think about what he would look like a suit that small.  When I laid the suit on the counter to purchase it, I had a distinct thought that I had not bought something that small for Landen in a long time!  Anyway, Landen is thrilled and came home with rave reviews about how awesome his suit is and how much fast it made him.  

Breck and Tal played in church last week.  They played He Lives.  It was beautiful and I really felt like a dream I have is beginning to come true.  It is exciting to watch my children improve and be able to play music together.  Breck's piano skills have improved dramatically.  This particular accompaniment is very difficult.  Her ability to follow, and count and stay with Talia was really wonderful.  It is exciting to watch.  In fact, today she also played the hymn for a stake fireside last minute.  It was a hard hymn and she had only a few minutes to practice.  I was really proud of her for her efforts.  Talia is learning to have such beautiful loose vibrato and has come so far in her ability to really take a piece and tell a story with it. 

Craig sang in a quartet today at church.  It was so fun to hear them, and their blend.  Breck was commenting afterwards about how they almost sounded like a "butchershop quartet." 

Capriel has spent much of the last half of the week sick with a virus.  I hate to see her sick.  She played a couple of great bball games, even though she was coughing so hard she had to throw up during the first game.  She is great at slapping the ball away.  She likes to steal it and dribble down, but often seems to forget that there is that basket thing  way up there.  She is working on a little book and has been having such fun writing and reading more each day. 

Tali got a couple of breakaways and baskets at her game.  Landen spends hours at all of the bball events shooting and working on ball handling.