Baby Ella

Here's a photo of sweet baby Ella Elizabeth.

When I showed Ruby the photos of her new cousin,

she said, "MINE!"

Ruby will have to wait another couple of months to

meet "her baby," but we are so happy to see

these photos of Charles and Laura's baby,

and hope to see many more. :)

Thanks Carla!

The Call

Yesterday was a really big day! Greg's mission call came,
and just about the time he was opening it,
Charles and Laura were welcoming baby Ella to the world.
No pictures of Ella, yet, but here's the rundown on Greg's call.

Greg ready to open his mission call.

He was a little surprised to find out that he
will be serving in the Portugal, Lisbon Mission.
But I think he's getting used to the idea.

Greg will enter the Provo MTC on June 3rd.

CONGRATULATIONS

to Greg

and to

Charles, Laura, and Ella!!!

Guessing Game

This little guy is getting ready to go on a mission!

(me with Greg, Halloween 1990)
My youngest brother, Greg, has his papers in,
and his call is in the mail, on it's way to our parents' house.
With any luck, he'll know where he's going within the week.

My sister, Mindy,
has organized a little contest to see if anyone
can guess where Greg will go on his mission.
If you're interested in participating,
you can leave your guess here.

Just a word of warning, Jonah guessed "Earth,"
so you will have to be pretty specific to beat him.

The Feel Better Teddy

Our Maxwell is sick. He woke up very early Sunday morning

and was having a hard time breathing. He rested all day

Sunday, and then we took him to after hours,

where he was given a breathing treatment

and a couple of prescriptions.
At the pharmacy, he was given this little bear.

After taking the anti-inflammatory medicine,
Maxwell declared that it was "gross."
Bentley asked Maxwell if he wished that Bentley
was sick instead of himself.
Max said, "No, because then you'd have my bear."
Later, he told me that the Bear's name is
"Feel Better Teddy." (so says the tag on his ear)
Then, Maxwell told me that even though the bear says
he'll make you feel better, he really just sits
there and smiles at you.

Hopefully a good nights sleep and the medication
will REALLY help our Maxwell feel better.

Happy!

It's 41 degrees outside,

the sun is shining,

and the sheet of ice that has been our driveway

for the last month is melting!

Hurray!

And . . . John and I are going on a real date tonight!

The Gunny Bag

Yesterday at Joy School, the kids were introduced to

the Gunny Bag. The Gunny Bag likes to eat toys

and other things that aren't put back in their place.

After the first brief discussion about the Gunny Bag,

the kids were afraid to play with any toys.

They piled them all up in the corner of the room,

some of them sat on the larger toys, and the

rest stood in front of the large toys and and the pile of toys.

Eventually they relaxed a little, but they were very

quick to pick things up at the end of free play time.

Our Gunny Bag is an old pillowcase.

Jonah likes it so much that he played with it all afternoon,

and then slept with it last night.

(Jonah with the Gunny Bag - it's the green, white, and red thing)
Here's the official scoop on Gunny Bag:

Have prepared, in advance, (and likely for on-going
use in your own home) a large bag (mail bag, pillow slip, laundry bag, even
a large plastic bag) that "lives" in some out of the way place like a closet or
the attic. Sew a drawstring into the opening and draw or paint a face on the
bag in such a way that the bag's opening is the "mouth." Explain to the
children that Gunny Bag eats toys that are not in their proper place. Then he
returns to his cave. He comes back on Saturday w and coughs up the toys
and if they get put right away, they are safe. If he ever eats the same toy twice,
he never coughs it up. When he can't find anything to eat, he cries and cries.

It's funny to me that Jonah is so fond of the toy eating monster. :)

Open House

Today we went to the Draper Temple Open House.

Taking our family anywhere is an adventure,
(btw - don't ask about church yesterday - that was a disaster)
but we made it through this one with minimal damage.
(we only lost Jonah once, and only for a minute or two)
Early this morning, we drove to a church in Draper,
where we watched a video about temples.
Then we rode a big bus up to the Temple.
As we walked through the Temple, the boys used their
brochures as maps, pointing out the rooms we were in.
After the tour, we went to the Stake Center next door,
where we ate cookies, and then boarded a bus
that took us back to our car.

The kids were really excited to go into the Temple,
but Jonah was the only one who listed the tour as his
favorite part of the trip.
Bentley liked the cookies at the end,
and both Ruby and Maxwell liked the bus.
(I think Ruby liked the bus because could say, "bus.")

I had hoped to get a photo of all the kids in front of the
Temple, but this one of Maxwell (taken from the bus) is the
only one that I got with one of the kids and the Temple in it.

Maybe once it warms up we'll go back
and let the kids walk around the Temple grounds,
(then I could get my photo)
or maybe we'll just point it out to them from the freeway
the next time we drive to Idaho. :)

April 8th

This photo was taken almost two years ago, on

Easter Sunday, April 8th, 2007. It gives me hope.

Our baby is due around April 8th,

and if this spring is like spring two years ago,

there is a chance that instead of mountains of snow,

we will be seeing grass, tulips, and daffodils

when the baby is born.

I'm glad we're not getting low temperature warnings

like this one in Indiana, but it IS cold, and it IS

snowy, and spring seems very far away.

It's so nice to be reminded of spring.

(and it's fun to see how small Jonah was)

Apple Pie(less) Anniversary

(I feel a little guilty about cropping the kids out of this picture, but it's the most recent one

that I have of the two of us together. Just don't show any of the kids.)

Today marks the 9th anniversary of our first date together.
Normally, we try to go on a date, or at least eat apple pie

(we ate apple pie on our first date). But today, thanks to our

new awareness of stupid trans fats, the closest we came

was eating apple slices with our dinner. Boooo.

The Marie Callendar's pies that we like so much are loaded with

the stuff, and I didn't have the time to make one from scratch.

Instead, we'll celebrate a day late,

and go on our date tomorrow night. (Thanks Elizabeth.)

In other news, the fudge mix that I bought at the store the

other day was surprisingly good. But I still think I might buy

some See's for our "anniversary" tomorrow. You don't think

See's has trans fat in them, do you? Never mind, if they

do have trans fat, I don't want to know.

The Food Chart

Two years ago, our family had the Good Boy Chart.

In November, we started another chart.

This time, instead of encouraging good behavior,

the chart's purpose is to encourage good eating habits at dinner.

Here's how it works.

If the kids try everything we're having at dinner,

without complaining, they earn one point.

If they eat everything they're given at dinner,

they earn a second point.
When they reach 55 points (and then 110 points), they get a prize,

which is basically anything they want (within reason).

(Ruby cheated, but she's still not winning.)

The first one to reach 55 points was Bentley.

He earned 2 points EVERY DAY.

For his prize, he chose to go to the Nickelcade.

He hit the jackpot on some game and won tons

of tickets, so he was able to get another prize with those.

One week later, Jonah was the second to reach 55 points.

He was adamant about going to Chili's for lunch.

He's only been there once before, but evidently it made

an impression. John took him to Target first, and tried to

tempt him with toys there, but Jonah insisted Chili's for lunch.

Ruby came in third place in the first round.

It took her exactly one week longer than Jonah.

She went to Shopko with her Dad and picked out a doll.

Maxwell was our last one to reach 55 points.
(He was also the main reason for the Food Chart.)

For his prize, Maxwell chose to go to Target,
where he picked out a super Power Rangers gun/sword/thingy.
(He didn't want his coat on in the picture so we could see his entire outfit.)

Two nights ago, Bentley reached the final goal of 110 points.
Tonight, he went to Target with John,
and he chose a telescope for his prize.

He's been wanting a telescope for a while, so hopefully that
will help with the sting he feels each night when he
is unable to earn any more points. He's finished!!!

Maxwell really liked getting a prize, so he's been more motivated
lately to eat his dinner. Ruby and Jonah are starting to lose
interest, so maybe Maxwell will come from behind to take
second place in our little eating adventure.

Chocolate Craving

(Ruby outside in the snow today; instead of a random chocolate picture)
When Ruby and I went grocery shopping this morning,

we were craving chocolate. At least I was; although she likes it,too.

The Christmas candy is gone, and See's doesn't have a

drive-through window (that would be really nice).

For the last week, I've been craving some serious chocolate.

Here's what we came home with:

Dark Chocolate Dreams Peanut Butter,

Fudge Mix,

and 2 boxes of Cocoa Squares (brownie type) mix.

Hopefully these things will help get me through until

I can get to the mall and buy some real chocolate.

Or until I go to the doctor on Friday, step on the scale,

and lose my appetite for a while. :)

I could claim that I'm eating chocolate for my baby

(see this article), but really it's for me.

A happy baby is simply a perk of a chocolate addiction.

(Hey - Ruby is happy - it worked with her.)

2 down, 50 to go

We took these four wild children to church today,
and for the most part, the results were as expected.
We go to church at 12:30 this year,
and that makes for ornery kids and worn out parents.
Today, Bentley surprised and was very good.
Maxwell was all over the place in Sacrament Meeting,
but calmed down for Primary.
Jonah refused to sit with the Sunbeams,
and hid in the curtains for most of the hour.
I attended nursery today, so I got to see first
hand what Ruby was like for all three hours of church.
Conclusion: she is a handful.

On the bright side, 3 of the 4 are now in bed,
and next year we'll be back to 9:00 church.
(of course, we'll have FIVE wild kids then . . . )

Worker Bee

At least one of the kids wants to help their Dad shovel snow.

If only she understood that he wants the snow
OFF of the driveway, and not back ON it.

ENOUGH!

It started snowing just after noon yesterday,

and as far as I can tell, it hasn't stopped.

The poor camp chairs that I forgot to put away
are straining under all the snow.

Our garbage can showcases the recent snowfall.

And here's the view from our front door.
The pile at the end of the walk is about Bentley's height.

The kids are pretty excited about all the snow,
but not enough to actually go out and play in it.
I'm don't push them too hard;
it takes soooo long to get them ready,
and then they play for five minutes,
come inside, and leave wet boots, socks,
coats, and gloves all over the house.
It's just easier for all of us to stay inside.

A Sunbeam!

Jonah said goodbye to nursery, and hello to

the big kid primary, his brothers, and the Sunbeam class.
Heaven help them (the primary).
It sounds like everything went well today,
but with the three boys in the same room,
anything can happen.

Jonah seemed to like primary, and even gave the
scripture and prayer in opening exercises.

Meanwhile, Ruby successfully went to Nursery
without Jonah or her beloved friend, Elise.
Bentley and Maxwell are in the CTR 8 and CTR 6 classes.
Maxwell reported that his teacher only had to ask him
to sit down one time, and Bentley claims to have been
good the entire time. Some days I might be skeptical,
but from what I saw during opening exercises,
he really was on his best behavior. Thank goodness.

Tomorrow we get back to school and work.
And although I'm not looking forward to early mornings again,
I am grateful that we have a "normal" to get back to.
Tonight our thoughts and prayers are with our friends,
Janice and Lorin, and their sweet Cassidy.
We love her and hope she gets well soon.

Proving a Point (I hope)

Back when I was deciding whether or not to find out

at our 20 week ultrasound if this baby is a boy

or a girl, I mentioned to someone that even if I know

the baby's gender, I still won't know what he or she

looks like until they are born.

That person laughed at me.

They claimed that ALL of my babies look the same.
I beg to differ.

Here's my proof:

(Bentley, Maxwell,
Jonah, Ruby)