Love SEPs

We had Ethan's SEP last night (like a parent/teacher conference but with the student there too). It was great, not just because Ethan is doing really well and his teacher loves him, but because it gets him excited for the rest of the school year. He loves to read and his teacher really talked about what a good reader he is and really praised him. So when he came home last night all he wanted to do was read and read. It's so fun to see what the influence of a good teacher on a student can be. We are really excited for all he has accomplished and for what a good kid he is!

It Just Got To Me!

Our pantry has been getting more and more messy for the past month and it finally got to me this morning. We had the central vac guy here installing it and he was lying on our kitchen floor next to the pantry door and I just had to cringe. It was such a mess. So when he left I loaded Courtney into the van and we drove to Target to get some organizing stuff I had researched on the internet (I had to do something while the guy was installing the vacuum).

I bought a bunch of containers for flours, legumes, cereal, etc. and some baskets to get things together more. And then I took about 45 minutes cleaning and organizing it all. I need to make another trip to exchange some containers that ended up being too big and get some smaller ones, but for the most part it's all finished. I am actually really surprised by how much more space we have. I am sure that getting rid of boxes and putting things into containers that stack nicely helped a lot, but I feel so accomplished now.

Here is the before:



Here's after:

Forward Thinking

I was once told that I think too far in advance and I don't focus on today. For example: When I was in junior high I was already stressing about colleges...and I could go on and on. Well, it appears that I have passed that on to Courtney.

We were running errands today when I noticed that she was silently crying in the backseat. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I'm just so sad for when Ethan goes off to college. Do you think I'll ever see him again but I will really miss my brother." I calmed her down and told her not to worry about it for another 11 years and then we'll deal with it, but that Ethan will come home every time he needs his laundry done. ;)

She seemed okay with that.

The Candy is GONE!

I am one of those mean moms who figures that if their children haven't eaten their Halloween/Christmas/Valentines/Easter/Birthday-Party-Gift-Bag/other occasion candy by the time it is a week old, then it should be thrown away. It is now one week after Valentine's Day, so the candy was thrown out this morning and the best part of it is...my kids never notice! They eat as much as they can the first day and then it just sits on the counter and they nibble on it once-in-a-while but not much. So when it is gone, they don't seem to notice. I love it!

Central Vac

We are getting a central vac tomorrow afternoon and I am SO excited! When we built our house we had it plumbed for a central vac system but we didn't have one installed. We have been using a Dirt Devil vacuum I bought new when we were in Vegas and it hasn't worked right for a long time. In August it quit and I had to buy a new brush roller and some belts for it. I had to borrow my parents vacuum each week because all the neighbors have central vacs and so I couldn't borrow theirs. It took 2 months for them to come and the belt only lasted 2 months. We replaced the belt and it lasted another 2 months. Last week Bryan was helping Courtney vacuum and it broke again so we decided that we wanted to get a central vac. We talked to our neighbor yesterday, who sells them, and he got us a really good deal and is having it installed tomorrow! I know what I'm going to be doing all afternoon tomorrow. ;) I'll tell you how it works.

It Exploded!

I am not exaggerating. This morning I was doing my hair and I was turned to get a brush from the drawer when I heard a loud pop/bang noise and I turned to see a small flame coming out of my hairdryer coupled with a burning smell. The dryer then quit working. Ugh! Luckily, I had dried my hair for a few minutes so I won't look too horrible but I wish this had happened on a day other than Sunday when I am conducting Relief Society. I guess I am going to the store tomorrow morning to buy a blow dryer. It's going to be a hat day tomorrow. ;)

It's Snow...No! It's Frost

This is the argument Ethan and Courtney have been having this morning. It rained .48 of an inch last night and when we woke up there was a lot of wet stuff on the ground and white stuff on the lawn. Courtney insists that it is snow, but Ethan insists that it is just frost. It's still raining but Courtney got on her cold weather stuff and went outside to play in the "snow." She wanted Ethan to join her but he isn't going to play in the "frost." Funny kids!

Ethan's Valentine's Party

I'm the room mom for Ethan's class so I spent the last few weeks organizing his Valentine's party. I didn't want to do the same thing that we have done for the past two years so I called some moms to help out and give ideas. We came up with having 4 stations that they would rotate around. Ethan helped me choose a craft (an airplane made from a piece of gum, two mints and a smartie) which was really cute. Then we had two stations where moms brought games, one craft station and another station where a mom read stories to the kids. We rotated every 10 minutes and it worked out great! Then I had made some cookies for the kids that we gave them and a treat box I put together. It went smoothly and was lots of fun. The kids especially liked the craft!

Ethan was great to take Courtney with him to all his stations and when we were finished and I was packing up to leave, Ethan asked if he could keep Courtney with him at school. "I can easily handle taking care of a 4 year old, Mom!" But, alas, she couldn't stay. But she'll have her own party next year!

Courtney's Trophy

At Courtney's dance class they have sticker cards they fill up. Each time they go to class they get a sticker; if the are good during class they get a sticker; and if they practice at home and get a note from a parents they get another sticker. After they fill up 5 sticker charts (I think) they get a trophy. Courtney has been working so hard to get her trophy and she finally got it on Monday!! She was thrilled and can't wait to earn another one.

Home Depot

On the 1st Saturday of each month Home Depot has a free craft for kids where they get to build something. I have known about this for a while but we have been so busy on Saturdays that we haven't had a chance to go. Yesterday Bryan went snowboarding with the Priests so I needed something to keep the kids busy that they would love.

We went to Home Depot at 9 a.m. and there was already a crowd. But the kids had a great time and LOVED making their projects. Courtney got to hammer the nails and do the glue and Ethan practically did his entire project on his own. It was great. They got aprons to keep and a pin to put on it. They can't wait for next month!

Here are some photos:

Love is in the Air!

February is pretty hilarious around our house. Last year, Ethan's 1st grade teacher had them write love notes all the time to their family. He really got into it and we had a different message on our pillow each night.

This year, he is just doing it on his own. He made love notes last night for Courtney, Bryan and me. His only break down was when he couldn't figure out how to cut out a "good heart" from the pink paper (he is his own worst critic). Once he mastered that, it was all fun and games. And it has now rubbed off on Courtney. She made a love note and taped it to Ethan's bedroom door this morning. It's been fun to watch them.

But...I figured something out. Experts say that you express your love to others in the same manner in which you would like love expressed to you. So I decided to try it with Ethan. He was having a rough morning and wasn't cooperating very well (translation: he got mouthy with me). So while he was grumping around his bedroom (and yes, "grumping" is a word in our house), I made him a little heart valentine and wrote how much I love him on it. Then I hid it among his piano books. He came out of his room, all upset that he had to practice. I left him alone while he worked on his first book and then when he switched to the other book there was a long pause. I finally peeked in and he was sitting at the piano, the valentine in his hand and a huge smile on his face. He saw me and ran to give me a big hug and then had a great morning (meaning he practiced with a smile and loved it). Ummm...there might be something to this.

Courtney also has had a wedding proposal already this month. So love is in the air in preschool too. There's a little boy in our neighborhood who we carpool with. He's cute and a fun kid. I picked them up from preschool yesterday and he ran to the car and said, "Courtney, you won! I'm going to marry you!" Courtney's face lit up and she said, "Great!" He then said, "I did eenie-meanie-miney-mo (or however you spell it) between you, Belle and McKindry and you won!" Courtney said, "Great!" Then they talked about what they would be having for lunch.

Ahh, don't you just love February?!

Grandpa and Grandma Pack!!

For the last few days we have had Grandma and Grandpa Pack visiting with us. They flew in to Las Vegas on Friday afternoon, rented a car and drove to our house in Ivins. The kids were really excited so we let them stay up late and Ethan figured out how to text and was texting Grandma every few minutes with an update on where they were. It was fun to see how excited the kids were.

On Saturday morning, Grandma and I went to the temple for an early morning session while Bryan went to EFY with our youth and Grandpa took Ethan and Courtney to breakfast. When we got home and the kids played for a while, we loaded up lunches and drove to Snow Canyon for a hike. It was pretty cold but we had a great time hiking the petrified sand dunes.

Then we loaded back in the car and came back home to warm up and take naps. When Bryan got home, he, Ethan and Grandpa went to basketball practice. Then we had dinner and played at home.

Sunday we went to Church. It was our ward conference so Bryan didn't have early meetings which was good because we stayed up way too late and all of us slept in! We spent the afternoon playing games and having fun. Then at 6 p.m. Courtney got to have Grandma and Grandpa all to herself while Ethan, Bryan and I went to a Stake Baptism Fireside. It was for all the kids in the stake turning 8 years old this year. They explained about what would happen on his baptismal day. They even let everyone walk through the font so the kids could get a feel of how it would be that day. It was great for Ethan and he has been so excited!

Bryan then ran to a youth fireside while I went home and got the kids in bed.

Monday morning Grandpa drove back to Las Vegas for meetings, Ethan went to school, Courtney went to preschool and Bryan went to work. So Grandma and I went shopping!! We picked Courtney up after preschool, went to lunch, did more shopping then went home to nap.

And today, Tuesday, we dropped Grandma off at the shuttle station so she could get back to Las Vegas and meet Grandpa for their flight home. We had fun having them here and the kids are sat to see them go, but we'll see them again in June at Ethan's baptism!!

Thanks for coming!