A spontaneous trip

The boys didn't have school on Friday ( a few weeks ago)... there were no baseball games on Saturday... one of my counselors was able to fill in for baptisms... I didn't have to conduct or do Sharing Time on Sunday... so we took the boys out of school early and drove to San Diego to visit Grandma and Grandpa Teuscher. What a fun time we had. Unlike most who go to San Diego to go to all the parks, generally we just go to Grandma's. A few of our highlights:

Going to Sea World (we hadn't been for five years)

( I realize after looking at all these pictures- you only see the back of the boys heads-I learned a good photo lesson- go on the opposite side from your kids!)

Eating VG's doughnuts ( we had some great Maple Bars for all you fans out there!)

Going to the beach (even though it was overcast and windy the kids still got wet)

Having mom cook for us

Eating fresh picked strawberries

Getting sticker shock at the price of CA gas

Why I pay my taxes...

Flipping through the mail this evening, after Brian had opened it I came across a baby card. Since anything besides bills and credit card applications hardly fill our mail box, I was excited to see who had sent us a baby card. ( I figure baby greetings are like wedding gifts, within a year is still acceptable!) I quickly opened it and I found myself shocked at the senders signature and laughed at the message. We were the lucky recipients of a card signed by none other than our govenor, Janet Napolitano, reminding us to make sure our child got their immunizations! Glad we are tax paying citizens, so all Arizonians can receive such a nice gift at the arrival of their newest additions. ( This really was quite ridiculous.....)

It's spring..

On Sunday we sang some fun spring songs in Singing time.... made me think of bulbs coming up, trees blossoming, finally the sun coming out and feeling that warmth on your face.. you know those days where you are so excited winter is finally over...

Then Monday I realized, yes it IS spring here too.
My petunias are dead.
The sprinklers come on everyday.
The A/C is ON.
The car thermometer read 95 when I picked up matthew at 11:30 am
Capri's don't cut it, I need the shorts.

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????