D: Daughters

D is for daughters. When asked how many kids we have, Matt and I sometimes reply with a borrowed joke, "Five. And they are all boys except four." I have two older sisters as well, but grew up in the middle of four brothers and Matt has three brothers, no sisters. I don't think either of us really imagined when we started our family that in no time at all we would have a houseful of girls. And I also don't think that either of us could have guessed how much we would love our houseful of girls. The responsibility of raising these girls is overwhelming at times. Especially now as they get older and new challenges come their way. I certainly don't feel adequate. But I am so grateful for the trust that Heavenly Father has placed in me to be a mother to four of his choice daughters. They truly are a blessing in our lives.

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
But the truth is plain to see
She was sent to rescue me
I see who I want to be
In my daughter's eyes

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Nicole is our tomboy. Born with 2 inches of thick, white hair and a very intense energy she was quickly dubbed "The White Tornado" by her Grandpa Bryan. She loves all things outdoors but her passion is and always has been horses, horses and more horses. She is in Young Women's now and last week we went to the General Young Women's Broadcast for the first time. It was wonderful! She was less than enthused about going, especially when she learned that she needed to wear a skirt. But she came around by the end of the broadcast. And when I informed her that it's a tradition to go for cheesecake afterwards, she really got on board! It was a testament to her personality that on the way to cheesecake, in our dresses, she talked me into stopping at the farm store "just to look at saddles for a minute".

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Corinne is our sweet and sensitive girl. And she is ALL girl. She loves pink and ribbons and clothes and talking! Matt says she is a "little Nancy". I'll take that compliment, thank you! She has a great sense of humor and a real talent for story telling. At school recently her teacher had all of the kids write a story. They turned in their rough drafts and then had to revise, revise, revise. Except Corinne. Her rough draft was accepted as her final draft. She has a very creative mind and knows just how to get it down on paper!

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Paige is our little adventurer. She lives for summer vacation and spends every second of it outside wandering the pasture, climbing trees, collecting bugs and getting a great tan! She's a very analytical mind--our little engineer. She thinks things through carefully and only when she's certain that she has something figured out will she proceed. She's our most independent, but also the first to miss me if I'm not home. She was blessed with her Grandma Pat's beautiful eyes, but everything else about her is uniquely Paige!

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Claire is our happy little "life of the party". There is nothing undeserving of her enthusiasm. And her energy is nearly limitless. I say nearly because she does have to sleep sometimes. But when she is awake, she has one speed! She also seems convinced that she is just as capable of doing anything that her older siblings--and even her parents--can do. Life is just so exciting to her and the smallest things make her happy. Last week I was cooking dinner and she said, "What you making, Mom?" I said, "Rice." And her reply: "OH YAY!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!"
These beautiful girls, who are growing up to be such beautiful young women, are EVERYTHING to me. And I am thankful everyday that they are ours!

C: Conference & Concerts

C is for Conference. I LOVE Conference weekend! Who doesn't?? A lovely, relaxing weekend with family. Listening to talks from our prophet and general authorities. It's just a very uplifting two days. I think my favorite talks were yesterday afternoon. Elder Richard G. Scott gave an absolutely beautiful talk about the wonderful blessing of being married. And then Lynn G. Robbins (I think?) gave a talk about parenting. His timing was PERFECT! Just before he spoke we had total nirvana going on in the house. The older kids were playing a game while listening to conference on the radio. I was across the room helping the younger kids with puzzles and Matt had sequestered himself in his den with a radio and his fly tying supplies. All of a sudden all hell broke loose. It was like a switch flipped! The kids started fighting and crying and wrecking and so naturally I started fighting and crying and wrecking. Then as I pause for a breath I hear Elder Robbins in the background say something to the effect of "when the kids are frustrating you, what is the proper response...?" It was enough to stop me in my tracks. So I decided to cut my losses and walk away. I grabbed a bucket of candy (absolutely a shameless bribe!) and the main culprits and went downstairs to the TV where I was able to listen to the rest of that marvelous talk in which I was taught that being blessed with less than perfect children is God's way of enrolling me in Parenting 505. And "I need these children as much as they need me." It hit home big time, let me tell you!

C is also for Concerts! Spring is here (sort of) which means Spring Orchestra Concerts. Nicole had hers on Wednesday last week and it was really fun. She's been playing violin for 4 years now and she's really enjoying it.

She performed a solo in this concert and did a great job. Her class decided to add some actions to her "up and down song", Gavotte:

And here is a video of part of one of the songs performed by the whole orchestra:

P.S. "C" can also stand for uConn. I picked them to go to the championship game. So thanks to their win the other night my bracket is not a complete bust yet, but more importantly I am ten points ahead of Matt and that's what really matters, right? Although I will be cheering for Butler tonight!

B: Bountiful Baskets

At the risk of sounding like a sales pitch, today's post is all about the wonderfulness that is Bountiful Baskets. I first heard of this a year ago from a Tucson friend who LOVED it. Then several months ago I heard that it was in my area. But it wasn't until my sis-in-law got me motivated a few weeks ago that I really got serious. Today was my second basket and so far, so great!! Every Monday I go online, order my basket and pay my $15. Then on Saturday morning I take a 2 minute drive to the Middle School and pick up my basket of produce. 6 veggies and 6 fruits and it's a surprise every time. It's like Christmas morning every Saturday!! Here is today's basket:

Thanks to last weeks basket we had spinach omelets and grapefruit for breakfast a couple of times, sweet potatoes and asparagus for dinners, green salad, cantaloupe and plenty of apples and carrots for snack time. I even learned how to cut and eat a mango! Are you getting my point here?? I LOVE this!! It's a great deal and it means my family is eating stuff that they should, because it's already here in my kitchen! So thank you, Anneke for the great idea. I love my beautiful, bountiful, basket.

And because it's late--B is also for Bedtime. Good night!!

A: April Fools

April Fools? Why yes, yes we are! Especially today. I am a fool for April! It was beautiful today and we did our best to soak up as much vitamin D as possible. We went to a friends house and planted grass in our Easter Baskets so our eggs will have a soft place to lay come Easter Eve. We also went to the park, TWICE, and for dinner had a picnic at the reservoir while the fishers fished. A great day!

Okay...so it didn't go completely without a hitch. It is April Fools Day after all!

We were victims of a nasty prank by our "good friends". Actually they really are GREAT friends but they have us looking over our shoulders this time of year because this is not the first time (more like the fifth year in a row!) that we've been in their crosshairs on April 1st! When I came home from one of our many outings today, THIS was the view pulling into my driveway.

Apparently they think we're rednecks and they wanted to help us with our look! (No Wellsville comments, y'all!) We got them back though, we PAINTED their goats. (And they think we're rednecks. Heh heh!) I turned Nicole and Spencer loose with the paint and glitter with instructions to label them after our dear friends. So here is the final makeover of Dan and Jodie.

A Patriot and an Artist

The second graders put on a President's Day program at school last month. Paige sang all of the songs and did a great job on her part: "They built guardposts and blocked roads leading out of Boston."

Here she is, all smiles, with her class on the stage.
After the program with her friend, Skylee.
Last Thursday, Nicole attended the Young Writers and Artists Fest at USU. An activity for Middle School students from all over the valley, selected by their teachers based on projects that they entered. Claire and I went along for some of the workshops, and Matt joined us for lunch.

Here is Nicole in one of the workshops learning how to make a sketch book.
Here is her entry. She made this in her after-school art class and gave it to Matt for Christmas. It was a fun surprise!

Spelling Bee

Nervous...N-E-R-V-O-U-S...Nervous. Yes, that is how I felt watching Corinne approach the microphone in the first round of the Wellsville Elementary Spelling Bee. But it was unnecessary because my cool-as-a-cucumber girl rattled off h-e-s-i-t-a-t-e with no hesitation! Then she proceeded to spell her way through five rounds until in round six they found her achilles heel with c-o-e-r-c-e. Darn that "coerce" and it's crazy "s" sound! I am so proud of her. She did so great and didn't seem nervous at all. AND she finished 3rd place!! She got a bronze medal and a certificate and I've granted her the title of my "queen spelling bee" forever!

Here is a sampling of round 5 as she spells "whistle". The 3 kids on the right are all that are left in the competition besides her.

Big smile for a job well done! We L-O-V-E you, Rinnie!

Two-Wheelin'

Yay for Spencer! With this gorgeous "winter" weather we've been having this week, Matt got the kids bikes out, including taking the training wheels off of Spencer's bike. Within minutes he was doing tricks, jumps, racing his sisters...well, maybe not all of that, but he was riding without falling down and having a great time!

In other news, on Friday Matt and I went out and Nicole and Corinne babysat. We told them they could have a movie night. What we meant was, "You can get your pajamas on and watch a DVD." What they heard, "Make a big mess in all of your closets!" So after we left they all got dressed in their finest to go to the movies. CRAZY! I have to nag and beg and yell to get them dressed on Sunday mornings, and this, they do for fun?

Here is Spencer in a hand-me-down suit that he hasn't grown into yet. I don't know who tied the tie, but I love it!

Here is Spencer with his date. Paige is wearing an original "Disney" (night)gown, turned inside-out for a dramatic flair.

And here is Claire, walking the red carpet with her matching clutch bear and blanky.