Grocery Stores

I'm sure the grocery stores you frequent are the same as ours- often running a promo such as by 10 items and get 'x' dollars off your bill. The other day I was in Fry's, as they have a pretty good deal running now so I bought my 20 items and then questioned the cashier as she mentioned the total to me, as it seemed a little more than I thought my items would be. She looked at me and said, "honey, you only bought 18 items..." Although my mind does sometimes head towards the absent- minded-mom- of - four-kids end of the spectrum, I CAN count to 20.

I did have three of the kids with me, plus one of the boys friends...but I was sure I had done my math. Her tone of voice was one of " Can't you do the math, lady...you've got all these boys with you...get it together.. you are wasting my time..." I calmly counted out the items to show her I was right, which I was- glad I got my college degree so I can count to 20 at the grocery store! Love those grocery store moments!!

Cleaning House

The other night I was blogsurfing,( is there a word for that- I'm not generally up on the latest tech words) and I ran across a quote having to do with house cleaning which I really related to. But now that I want to quote it- I can't find it. So i googled as close to the prase as I could remember. And came up with the following:

A spotless house is a sign of a misspent life. – Anonymous

Dull women have immaculate homes. – Anonymous

Have you ever taken anything out of the clothes basket because it had become, relatively, the cleaner thing? – Katherine Whitehorn

I am thankful for a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home. I am thankful for the piles of laundry and ironing because it means my loved ones are nearby. - Nancie J. Carmody

Now I am all for trying to keep my house clean- but I could spend all day, everyday doing that, and frankly at times I just don't want to spend all day doing it. So I did find a bit of solace in the above quotes. And laughed because adding this fourth child into our family has found me early in the morning searching for the cleanest of the dirty shirts or pants for the boys to wear to school. And yes, at times I do tell myself that one day I am going to want to find misplaced and hidden toys because it means my boys are here, not grown up and off on thier own

MARCH

So.... a few happenings in the month of March:

PINEWOOD DERBY

This was our first year- 11 more straight years of racing for this family!



The Green Goblin ready for his first run down the track.



Brian the score keeper. We are glad he got his MBA so he can manipulate some serious Excel spreadsheets on pinewood derby racing ( and NCAA brackets).




The finish line. The great thing about pinewood derby in our Ward is the Stake sets up everything, we just get to come, race, and be done.

THE EASTER PAGEANT

Every Easter, the Easter Pageant is performedon the grounds of the Mesa Temple. It recounts significant events from the Saviors life. This is the largest annual Easter pageant in the world. We took a picnic dinner and enjoyed the mild weathered evening.







The Mesa Arizona Temple. Andrew needed a little walk before the performance started so he and I enjoyed the grounds of the Temple. The setting sun made the walls glow.





EASTER

We got a double dose of fun this Easter as Andrew's birthday coincided with Easter. I love to watch the boys dye eggs- we start out with stark white egss- soon they have all progressed to vibrant shades of color- 15 minutes later they are all some variation of green-brown- orange. It isn't good enough to just make them one color, they have to be multi colored. After a dip in each cup each egg pretty much resembles every other one in the box.

We enjoyed a basketball cake and basketball decorations for the birthday festivities. The only item wanted for his birthday was a tie. I guess he feels a little left out on Sunday.

I finally got some decent pictures of Zachary smiling. The two bottom teeth have come through and the tops are trying desperately to make it out- poor kid hasn't been the happiest in the evenings. Nothing a little extra dosing of Tylenol doesn't cure though!

Andrew in his birthday attire.

These are his toes at age 4. The toes are a little crooked and the scars are minimal. I need to get a pictures of his hands at some point. Interestingly enough, one of the girls in his preschool class was born with complete syndactly as well. The likely hood of meeting someone else is quite rare. Three years ago I was in a Nursery and Grace was playing near me and I noticed the scars on her hands right away. I knew immediately she had been born with syndactly as well. Pretty cool ( at least to us!)

Family Home Evening

Monday night in our church has been designated as "Family Home Evening" It is a night dedicated to spending with our families. We have always done pretty good at holding family home evening, but since Dec/Jan we have really stepped up our committment to making them really fun evenings. Tonight Matthew was in charge of the activity- which was a family soccer game- parents against kids- kids won 4-1. Brian was in charge of dessert, which was fondue. Notice the chocolate under Andrew's armpits- it was a good choice on his part to take off the shirt! I couldn't believe how covered in chocolate he was when we were finished ( actually I can believe it)

Sherman update

As our Chi Square child he is the only one in four to suck fingers, thumb or fist- whatever he can shove in his mouth. The two middle fingers seem to be the digits-du-jour.



At his 4 mos check up he was tipping the scales at 17 pounds. The doctor asked me how he was tolerating solid foods. Solid foods??? I had completely forgotten that you could start solids at 4 mos. Chalk another point for the mothers amnesia column( That column seems to be growing exponentially in my book)


So tonight we started rice cereal... he ate it like a champ. Unfortunately that means the pounds will continue to pack on and my back will be forever sore.

Zachary has been delighting us with smiles and squeals- but of course like most 4 mos olds you can harly catch those moments on film.

HHHOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLL!!!!!

We went to Phoenix Coyotes Hockey game the other night- Brian, Brandon and Matthew were able to sit on the bench during warm-ups. Brian said the sounds of the skates and the slaps of the pucks were pretty incredible. I thought the goalie doing the splits was pretty incredible too!
When the Coyotes score, everyone in the arena begins howling- quite a sound! Unfortunately we only got to howl once, as we lost 2-1.

The Glendale Arena is right across the street from Uof Phoenix Stadium( where the Super Bowl was played) We walked around before the game, they were still remants of the Super Bowl scattered throughout the parking lot. With the amount of tents, baricades and porta-potties we saw it had to have been quite a spectacle.

It gets worse...

While I was working on Primary stuff this morning before church and Brandon and Matthew were bathing, Maisy- the pony who became black, got a new paint job- this time with nail polish.

You would think I would learn- I guess I'm still a little slow on the uptake. At least Brandon and Matthew who were bathing in our bathroom started screaming about it after the first three strokes of polish.....

Can I put a barricade in front of my door????

Student of the Month

The town of Queen Creek, where the boys school is located, honors one student from each of the schools that are located within the city boundaries every month. Brandon received Student of the Month for his school, Benjamin Franklin Charter School this last month. He was presented his award at the Town Council Meeting this past Wednesday evening. We are proud of him and his desire to learn, and to be a good example to those he associates with. Here is the link to his picture: http://www.queencreek.org/index.aspx?page=15&recordid=14&photoid=560&orderid=2

Mrs. Youngs his teacher is the woman on the right. Queen Creek was once a total farming community, which is quite quickly being consumed by the suburban sprawl. Many of the council members, minus the mayor ( in the suit), were dressed as many in the town wish the roots would stay.

Some have asked how we feel about Charter Schools- we love them!!

Oh, Andrew

This post is for Natalie, and all those who have Andrew's in their lives. ( Natalie has an Andrew that mirrors our Andrew, want to read about him, he's quite a character too!!)This afternoon as Brian was at baseball tryouts with Brandon and Matthew I took a few minutes to pick up the downstairs, Zachary was sleeping his requisite 20 minutes, and I THOUGHT Andrew was palying with Legos. Think again mom!! As I walked up the stairs to make sure his shoes were on, I thought the upstairs smelled a little different, nice, but different. I looked for Andrew with the Legos, no Andrew. No Andrew with the imaginext, or in his room. That ment he must be in my bathroom. And it was quiet. I found him with a spotted pony in one hand, and my mascara in the other. He told me he was painting his pony to look like Brandon's( which is all black) and giving his pony a bath.

A bath it turns out in a whole bottle of Peony body splash( hence the nice smell upstairs)and baby powder. And "paint" curtosy of my mascara. Don't we just love them!!

Andrew wanted to take pictures of the Imaginext base they made. I love the old Imaginext series, and highly recommend it to any one looking for something to keep boys occupied. We have amassed quite a collection, thanks to eBay, and it can keep the boys thoroughly occupied on those long Sunday mornings. I love it because they play together, and use their imaginations.

Playing Uno with Andrew

Tues and Thursday mornings before he leaves for Preschool Andrew likes to play games with me while I am nursing. ( Actually better said, I have Andrew play a game with me so I can keep an eye on him and make sure he isn't getting into anything) Our favorite games are Blokus, Matching Penguins and Uno. If I am not watching him when he deals out the cards this is what HIS hand looks like: Wild +4, Wild +4, Wild+4, Draw Two, Draw Two, Skip and Skip. He has learned really quickly which cards are to his benefit!