The Gospel of Christ, It is Dyn-o-mite!

(Natasha) Our stake put on a roadshow. Each ward put on their own little play in the roadshow. We had three different sets and they all corresponded with one story. The story was a girl who was having doubts about the gospel and then she has a dream and there are three stories inside it. The three little dreams are Mormon Idol, mermaids, and boxers. Kaiti and I were both part of the mermaids and we had a riot!It was really fun and we got to change really popular songs into fun gospel songs.  It was so fun and it really brought us closer as a ward and we just had a great time!

Can't Stop Dancin'!

It's always fun when dance competition season kicks off! After all the months are hard work and MANY dance classes, I love to see the girls perform! Natasha attended Utah Dance Fest in Logan with her two teams and performed so well. I love watching my girl strut her stuff! Here she is getting ready to perform:

It's Not Easy Being Green...

What could be cuter than these two little leprechauns in their matching skirts?? I've always loved the color green and thought St. Patrick's Day was sort of a lame-o holiday. But, this year, Fynn was SO concerned about being appropriately dressed in the correct color that I made a special effort to buy her a St. Paddy's Day shirt and partnered it with whatever else was green I could think of. Looking back, I should have put her in her green polka-dot socks to complete the ensemble! Oh well...a mother does what she can, right? (Oh, and the "angel hair" leftover from her braids the day before seemed just right for my little lass!)

I Got A Puzzle In My Head...

This is what happens when a little girl gets obsessed with building puzzles and her mom gets a new lens. Such a simple pleasure for us both...

Love Is A Many Splendored Thing

Another Valentine's Day. With My Love. He gifted me the sweetest hand-written card (*sigh*). We ate. We laughed. We cuddled. XOXO, my Sweetie...

Hey Soul Sister...I Don't Wanna Miss A Single Thing You Do Tonight

Fynn loves to be kept busy. She's very good at entertaining herself, too, but she adores going everywhere that Mommy does and being my little pink vanilla girl shadow (you see, we both love to shop, getting our nails done, anything pink and vanilla everything!).

Fynn's Kindergarten check-up is all smiles (uh, before the 6 shots, that is! Ouch!)

She is SO excited for Kindergarten, but loves every day at pre-school until then!

Come Sail Away With Me...

I love that Shayne will spend time playing with our kids. I spend most of my time taking care of their needs and everything involved in running our house and don't often take the time to actually get on the floor and play! But, their dad is really good at carving out time to be with his kids.
One of their favorite activities that began a couple of years ago is playing "MISSION". Natasha helps the other kids draw various "stations" on paper mimicking the control station on a ship. They climb into our big tub and Shayne gives each of the kids their command post. They embark on great adventures together with each one responsible for fighting the foe with their separate weapons. I think it's pretty darn cool. And they have a blast spending hours lost in their imaginations...

Darling, Can't You Hear Me, S.O.S

One of the things that drives Natasha nuts about her mother is my ability and habit to procrastinate. She's the kind of girl who, when given a project, wants to complete it RIGHT NOW! We often don't see eye-to-eye on the timetable in which to complete said projects. This assignment fell into that category.

Natasha was asked to build a 3-D model of a cell's inner components. I had overheard her discussing it in carpool a couple of times, but hadn't really focused too carefully on what her plan was. At the end of a frustrating week for me when many of her siblings were sick and Shayne was out of town for several days, Tash informed me that her cell cookie assignment was due first thing the next morning. And, oh, it had to be big and she needed lots of different candies and, uh, sorry it is Sunday afternoon! I was not very happy with this revelation. I do take part of the blame, however, as she said she had indeed tried to tell me of the project in carpool and I should have let her do the assignment when I first heard mention of it (see above!)

After a little thought, I got out the tub of decorating sprinkles and what-nots and told her she could use whatever she could find in the house to create said project as I was not going to make a trip to WalMart on Sunday. Should I have been surprised when she made a huge sugar cookie (from scratch!) and painstakingly decorated it using tweezers to place each sprinkle or shaved corner of a candy just so?? After many incredible projects, this girl never ceases to amaze me with what she can creatively churn out!

With You Right Here, I'm A Rocketeer!

I'm still working on gaining a testimony of the scouting program. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great for some boys who love the activities, have a willing dad and crazy-good ward program. But, in general, my two years of serving in Cub Scouts and having had one for the last few years, has taught me that Scouts is often a lot of work for not a lot of reward. Nonetheless, we support and encourage Connor to attend and achieve his scout distinctions.

In that vein, we tackled the Highland 5th Ward Rocket Derby. I handed Shayne a block of soft wood and said, 'You're supposed to make a rocket out of it. Good luck with that.' He proceeded to pull a 'say what?' face and use all his fancy woodworking tools to try and craft the perfect rocket with Connor (and all the while I'm wondering what the little boys who don't have tools are supposed to do?). Shayne finished the crafting of the rocket and left Connor to finish the paint job (his is the blue and green one lovingly painted by himself).
Unfortunately, Shayne had to miss the big rocket derby because he was out of town. We were anxious to have Connor experience a more rewarding derby than the last time we did this with him and a car. And, much to my elation, his rocket came in second in his heat and he was thrilled! Another scout milestone checked off the list!

They Call Me Quiet Girl But I'm A Riot Yeah

We promised Natasha that if she got all As on her report card, we would reward her with a trip to her favorite restaurant: The Cheesecake Factory (that girl adores a good piece of cheesecake!). We were thrilled when she presented us with her certificate earned for making the honor roll! So proud of you, Tash--we knew you could do it! (Of course, when has she ever NOT been a great student??)

I took her for a Saturday lunch then spent an hour shopping for some new clothes and accessories for her to wear to school. Pretty good reward for a few worksheets and reports...ahem, or maybe a LOT of those!

Rise and Shout, The Cougars Are Out! They're On Their Way To Fame & Glory!

I wouldn't say we are a huge sporty family. But we do love our alma mater and thought it would be fun to take the kids to a BYU basketball game. Natasha enjoyed it, but not sure the boys thought it was all that great! It was fun to see the senior players get their awards and see some of Jimmer Fredette's last playing on the BYU court.