Matthew missed about half of the basketball tryouts because we left for Florida for Christmas. He was nervous he wouldn’t be able to make the team but he ended up getting put on the Junior Varsity team. He has been loving it. He has been getting better each week too. There team is 10-1 so they have had a good season. One of the games they were down by more than 15 points almost the whole game then they came back and won in triple overtime. He loved the excitement of the whole experience. The jersery’s are already made and the bigger the number the bigger the size of the jersey. His usual number he likes to be is 14 butthat jersey was to big so he had to settle for 11. He is very aware of his lack of height compared to almost everyone else on his team but he makes up with it with speed and effort. He is getting really good at darting around and stealing the ball from the other team.
They start each game with the National Anthem, which I love.
They announce the starting players so they get to run out and line up.
Emilee tried basketball again this year. She played on a team with her friend Stella. Stella’s dad was the coach for the team.
She has done a really good job. You can tell that a few things have clicked for her on how to play so she enjoys it more and her skills are getting better. It is fun to watch.
The girls are still young enough that some pretty cute mistakes or distractions happen during the games too. Sometimes they get confused and shoot at the wrong basket. Another time two girls that were guarding each other decided to take a break for a minute to play patty cake together.😂😂
It has been snowing almost weekly this winter. That is a lot more often that usual for us. Most of them have been less than an inch but some have been a couple inches. Several of them have been the really wet snow that is good for snowman building. We have played a lot in the snow but winter is always a time to get creative about what to do indoors.
Allison has her braces on and gets to go to the dentist a lot these days to have them checked. She found a fun toy in the treasure box after her last visit.
Allison also tried her hand out at the school National Geographic Geography Bee this year. She was the representative for her class. I was proud of her for trying it. The questions were pretty hard.
Its already mid March but I wanted to bid a formal farewell to February. I’m glad it’s over, good riddance. For being the shortest month of the year, February sure felt LONG. At least the last half of the month did. This winter has had a lot more snow then usual. I think it is safe to say we are past the snow part but I’ll ‘knock on wood’ as I type this. Usually we have 2-3 snow days each winter, this year we had seven, five of those were in February.🤦♀️😒 February is also ‘famous’ around here for having the most days off of school. So just for fun lets do a little math. There were twenty possible days to attend school this month. Twenty minus five snow days, one holiday, and three scheduled days off of school, takes it down to 11 days of school. Mingled among those 11 days of school, each of the kids was sick for 2-3 days at different times. This added five doctor visits to our month. Adding in the regular stuff we have going on and my work schedule that I over booked this month and I felt a little more stressed and discombobulated than I usually do.
It isn’t that I don’t like the kids being home, it was nice to have snow days and a little break from the school schedule but it is hard to keep a some what constructive environment going when it is repeatedly being canceled, postponed, and rescheduled. It felt like a constant state of unknown plans which drives me crazy. I also feel like the older I get the more I notice that I start to get a little stir crazy and have the winter blues by the time February comes around. I’m just ready for some sunshine, foliage, and fresh air. The kids show signs of needing to get out and stretch their legs and burn off energy too.
Dad is just going about his business while Emilee dresses him up.
I love pictures like this
Awards from Grandpa Jones
Mrs. Pahl’s student of the month
Emilee named our snow man- Mrs Snowman because it is a girl.
Emilee wanted to make a giant snow man on our 7th snow day.
We smoked the escape room with 20 minutes to spare.
This year our resident NFL team did really well. They ended up making it to the play-offs. They haven’t done that for 20 years or something like that. I don’t remember they exact statistic. This year they made it to the play-offs so Ryan took Matthew and went with a friend of his from high school. They got seats for the lower bowl on the 35 yard line. It was COLD! Like low 30’s with snow and wind. They had several layers of everything plus snow pants and boots. They stayed pretty warm except for their toes, but that didn’t stop them from having a great time. The Chiefs won too! They lost the next week, but they won the game they were at which made it even more fun.
Chiefs Play Off Game!
Chiefs Play Off game with dad.
Chiefs Play Off Game 2019
The girls have been taking gymnastics for a few years. A couple months ago we switched to a new gym and they had pictures recently. So I got a cute picture of each of my gymnasts.
Allison’s gymnastic picture
Emilee’s gymnastic pictures
The high school has a Saturday cheerleader camp every couple of months. Allison and her friend Carlee like to go together and dance it up together.
Cheer Camp
Cheer Camp
This is Emilee’s second year playing basketball. She has come a long way. Last year she wouldn’t run to the other end of the court. When the ball went to the other side of the court she would sit under the basket against the wall and wait until everyone came back. This year she runs the court. If she gets tired though she comes up into the bleachers and asks Ryan and I if she can be done. Matthew works on her dribbling with her during the week and she is getting better.
Emilee having a team huddle with her basketball team ‘The Bears’
Emi playing in her basketball game.
February is always an odd month. Its short anyways and there is usually teacher conferences and President’s Day which are no school days. Then there is usually snow days. So far this month thanks to ice storms we have had FOUR snow days and its only half way through the month. Nothing makes the kids quite as excited as a surprise day off of school. We try to get in some fun activities and of course lots of playing in the snow.
Snow day facials
Matthew and Carson built a snow fort.
Emilee and Jovee built a snowman.
Allison and Leah went sledding with Ross and Lauren.
Emilee and Jovee working on their snowman.
Allison was Ms. Coovert’s class Student of the Month. She gets a special certificate and a coupon for a free ice cream at Culver’s. She was very excited and Ryan and I were very proud of her. One of her besties Hailey was PE Student of the Month with her.
Allison was the Student of the Month
Student of the Month with Hailey
More pictures from our Winter.
Allison decided to use her bean bag as her pillow.
Emilee’s 100th day of school celebration
The 6th Graders went on a ski field trip.
I thought this was a cute picture so I just stuck it in here. 🙂
Allison begins planning her Valentine’s Day box several months before it is time to make it. In fact about the time Halloween ends that is the next project she starts thinking about. Last year it was a giant robot covered in aluminum foil and then colored in different colors representing slime. This year she had a very unique idea as well. My parents were visiting so she recruited my dad to help her draw it and then she painted it… pictures are worth a thousand words so I’ll let you see for yourself. She is a pretty darn good artist.
Allison was in her second pine wood derby this year. Ryan was helping her make it and was spending time making sure the weight was good. After a while she looked at Ryan and said, “I don’t care if it is fast, I just want it to look good. I can handle it from here.” She did just that too. She painted it all white and then put yellow circles all over it and then drew different emoji faces on each circle. It was pretty stinkin’ cute. Her car wasn’t the fastest but it won the ribbon for Best In Show.
Allison’s Girl Scout Troop
Allison watching the races.
Emilee was in her first derby this year. She did a great job helping her dad form it and put the weights on. Then she painted it all by herself. She had fun watching the races with the other girls in her troop. They are all a cute little bunch.
When I was visiting DeAnna we went and saw my grandparents one of the evenings we were there. We spent a couple hours visiting with them and my Aunt Mary. My Grandma’s short term memory is not very good sometimes but she was really good while we were there. I asked her to play the piano for me which she did. I wanted to ask her to play her trumpet too but didn’t want to wear her out. She decided to do it on her own which was awesome. She is absolutely amazing on both instruments. She has played them both all around the world throughout her life. She taught me piano lessons for a little bit when I was younger. I remember I was practicing one of my songs once and she was listening in the kitchen. I hit a wrong note and she told me the wrong note I had played, the correct note I needed to play, and the correct fingering so I could play it smoother. From the kitchen!
My grandpa always has a silly poem or rhyme to tell, or a song to repeat. He read us one while we were there from an Irish song book that he thought was clever.
I had a really nice evening with them. I enjoy seeing other extended family but I was glad to get to spend some time with just them. They are wonderful people.
NOTE: The process for loading videos has changed. I am trying to figure it out but haven’t quite got it yet. Each video should be different but I think instead it is showing all six videos over and over. So…there are six different videos listed here even though it just shows one. Click on the upper left hand corner and it will let you select what video you want to watch.
We had some Southwest Airlines credit that was going to expire so I used it to go see my sister DeAnna in Utah. I left Kansas and the sub zero temperatures from the polar vortex that was blowing through and had a very uneventful flight (best kind of flight to have) to Utah, which had nice 50’s temperatures when I arrived.
DeAnna had baby number six, and boy number five on December 10th, so I got to meet my newest nephew for the first time when I got there. Joseph is a sweet little baby. He is so chill, he didn’t fuss very much at all but has almost a constant string of grunts. I loved snuggling him as much as I could. In the few days I was there you could tell his eye sight got better and he was getting better at controlling his hands. I think 8-10 weeks old for babies is a really fun exciting time. They start becoming a little more adjusted to life and start trying to figure things out and you see their personalities more. They had his baby blessing the Sunday I was there so it was nice to see that. I think it is the first one I have been to for my nieces and nephews. I loved getting my fill of new baby Joseph snuggles.
I loved seeing my other 4 nephews and 1 niece as well. They have all grown up a lot since I saw them last. Tyler is still as smart as a whip and can build some pretty amazing things with Lego’s. He was great at getting all of his jobs and things done so he could have the rest of the time to play. I got two hugs from him while I was there that made me happy too.
Hannah let me use her room, which I appreciated very much. She is a sweet little girl and does a great job at helping watch out for her brothers. For scriptures one night we read a conference talk and I was very impressed with her reading skills. We drew and colored a picture together one night that was a lot of fun.
Michael and I read some books together. He wanted to cheer up his brother Peter, so he picked out all his favorite books when we read. I thought it was very sweet. He almost always had a snack in his hands and most of the time was very willing to share. He colored several pictures for me to bring home.
Nathan knows what he likes and doesn’t like. He is pretty good at explaining it to you too. I loved his drawing and explanations of why every detail was the way it was. He has a great imagination. He also loves to pose with his food for pictures and if you weren’t in the mood to take a picture, he was good at convincing you to do it anyway.
Peter and I were on a good road to being friends, he would give me a big sweet smile and come sit next to me. The poor little guy got sick shortly after I got there though and then no one would do but mom or dad. I get that though. He would let me wipe his nose without protest before I left though.
We spent most of the time doing things around the house, especially once kiddo’s started getting sick. It was nice to visit and chat. I got to do a little organizing too. John and DeAnna have many talents but organizing is not one of them. I love it though so I don’t mind going through a few closets and drawers one bit while I am there and organizing stuff. We went to lunch and got our nails done and did a little shopping. We stopped at Kneaders Bakery a few times too and sampled many of their desserts. We still have many to go. We watched movies, played games, and talked some more. We talked about having another sister’s trip soon with Sherri, a cruise would be awesome!
It was a nice trip. I enjoyed getting to spend time with all of them and be an in house aunt and sister for a few days. I wish I could live closer to her. I always learn something about being a better mom when I am with DeAnna. She is so patient and consistent and kind with her family. She takes everything in stride and does an amazing job taking care of her them. Her and John are a good pair.
There was a snow storm the night before I left and they had school canceled for the first time ever the next day. Instead of getting to play and enjoy it thought Peter had RSV and an ear infection, Joseph was coming down with RSV, and Michael, Hannah and Tyler all had sore throats. 😢 I didn’t feel like a very helpful sister by leaving. I have been praying that they will all get better quickly.
We went to the Jordan River Temple together.
Joseph in his blessing outfit.
Heading to church.
We spent an evening with my Grandma and Grandpa Jones. They played the piano, trumpet and read us stories.
Sweet little Joseph.
One of Nathan’s many poses with his dinner.
Despite the snow storm, flights were still only 30 minutes delayed.
Our Stake President spoke in church a few Sunday’s ago about different titles of the Savior and Satan. He focused mostly on the titles of Satan as an Accuser and the Savior as our Advocate. It was a really good message. Ryan and I both talked with the kids about how we should be advocates for each other in our lives, and not accusers. This has been on my mind a lot and I have been trying to catch myself when I am being an accuser and change to advocate. Not always easy.
A few days after his talk the kids went back to school from a three day weekend and I found myself looking around the house and saw mess after mess that they had been told to clean up, and other jobs they had done but not well. I started thinking about how it was time to have yet another lecture on doing what you’re asked, doing things well, blah, blah blah. As I was mulling over what to say and how to do it as an advocate not an accuser I had the thought to make a jeopardy game.
It didn’t take very long at all to get ready. It took about 20 minutes to make up categories and then five questions for each one. After dinner I set it up and we had the kids play. I was the game show host, dad was the score keeper and played the Jeopardy theme music when we needed it. The kids were a little unsure at first, but after a few questions they started to get into it. Allison was the most enthusiastic, she loved it and gave really good answers. They were so thorough we started giving her a time limit for answers. Matthew was s little bit of a stinker at first because he was having a hard time beating the girls to the buzzer but by the end they were all participating. It was a little surprising the answers they got right or wrong. I need to give Emilee a little more credit and responsibility. She is a little to good at playing the ‘I don’t know how’ or ‘I need help’ card. According to all her answers though she is quite aware of what she is supposed to do.
The final winner was Allison followed by Emilee and then Matthew. They were all on pretty even playing fields which is hard to get most of the time. Allison loved that she legitimately beat Matthew at something. She wants to play Jeopardy every week. I don’t know about every week but it is something I think we will do again on occasion. It is really easy to fit the categories to whatever we want to talk about. It was a fun family activity, we had lots of good, non-confrontational conversations, and had a few expectations clarified or explained.
For example, all of our kids are aware of what the “Golden Rule” is but a little fuzzy on its application and meaning. I remember not quite getting that when I was younger. I remember pondering it many times trying to figure out what I was missing. It might be helpful if it had a second line about treating others the way you want to be treated, regardless of how they are treating you.
Ryan and I learned we need to give the kids more credit as far as what they are capable of around the house. We also need to be more consistent in holding them accountable for what they are asked to do more and remind them less. They are good smart kids.
As a side note, to make it interesting we let the kids have a say in the prize for the winner before we played. The majority vote was for money. The winner got $5 and the other two got $1. When we gave Emilee her dollar she was a little sad. I asked her what was wrong and she said, “I don’t really like dollars, all I do is lose them.” Haha! I thought it was pretty funny. Allison can’t have more than a dollar without it burning a hole in her pocket so she wanted to go to the dollar store the next day and found many things to add to her slimes. Emilee was happy to trade her dollar for a coloring book before she lost it.
Favorite Category- I should know this by now.
Allison is the winner!
Matthew needs to review how to correctly make the ‘loser’ sign.
