Winter Highlights

 Gavin is still in his super hero phase and likes to ask before eating something if it'll make him "Flash?"  So, I made him a Flash Birthday Cake for his big 3, which he loved!

And...Yes, we went to church dressed like this:

We were running late and could only find one of each shoe and she only had these two shoes that fit.  Thankful it was at least a right and a left.  (We took the picture when we got home.)  With spring around the corner we decided she needed another pair of shoes and so with the arrival of some new fancy running shoes in bright orange, her favorite color, (correction, Jotham says they are bright pink) Hollie was determined to learn how to tie.  This is a picture of her first independent success!

Despite not making a single basket all season, Mark was pleased as could be just to be a member of a winning and undefeated team.   We're hoping he'll be more aggressive in Soccer or I'm not too sure how many more sport seasons I can sit through bored to death.    School has been getting challenging for Mark and I attended my first "needs improvement" parent teacher conference last month.  Hopefully we'll soon discover what motivates him.  Nothing, whether good or bad, really seems to phase him, he's just kind of a happy-go-lucky, kind of a kid.

After three months of his 3rd grade spotlight poster hanging on the fridge, I decided we could finally just take a picture and take it down.

Hannah turned 11 in February and didn't really have any big wants.  So I took her to the craft store where I knew she's find something to catch her eye.  We came home with a jewelry making kit, art pencils and a sketch pad.  We surprised her with a full length, free standing mirror for her bedroom. 

Here I am modeling my first pair of dangle earrings, originals by Hannah!

Hyrum and Hannah have been taking a ceramics class and have come home with several small pots.  When Jotham questioned Hannah at dinner about what she planned on storing in so many tiny pots, she responded, "peas?"  - so now we tease her when she brings home another pea pot.

 Jotham's been traveling a lot this winter, so when a neighbor boy asked Hyrum if they could ride horses one afternoon, Hyrum decided to try and saddle the horses himself.  Another successful milestone.  Although I think they spent more time catching, bridling and saddling than actually riding. 

Hyrum usually walks the 3/4 mile home from the bus stop, but whenever he thinks the weather is too cold he'll often stop by Darryl's, the appliance store on the corner, to call home for a ride and pick up free popcorn or whatever else they're promoting, last week he brought me a this lovely hot pad! Nice, just what I always wanted!

Hyrum also choreographed a dance with Hollie and got all the kids involved.  It was a pretty big production with costume changes, scenery, tickets, and refreshments.   They danced to "Let it Go" - full of cabarete lifts and special effects.  It was fun!  Maybe one day I'll get around to editing the footage and make a movie!

The end of February we decided to surprise Seth on his birthday,  everybody but Jordan was able to meet up in Bountiful for lunch.  It was so wonderful.  No kids (babies don't count) and no spouses, just siblings.  Not that spouses weren't invited, it just worked out that way.  It was amazing how small our family seemed when we returned to just the originals, kind of like going back to our roots.  We decided we needed to celebrate like this more often. We really missed Jordan, because that would have made it perfect.  Oh, I guess Mom and Dad's presence would have been nice as well.  I guess we can't have it all, but just as it was, it 

was pretty fantastic!

 I've been working on the kitchen, painting, adding molding and organizing the pantry.  As you can see, I've had some pretty great helpers. Visit thebensonbrickhouse to see more pictures of the kitchen progress.
 

 I lost my battery charger for the camera with all the kitchen mayhem, so I'm kind of short of pictures, but pretty much that's what we've been up to for the last few month.