Coming Home

John and Natalie's official last day of their second mission in Canada is TODAY! Hooray! The last time we saw them was a couple of days before they got their call in the mail, almost two summers ago. I have a very tender place in my heart for these two who opened their mouths 35 plus years ago to my parents and shared with them the "great news", the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are countless lives that have been touched both past and present by their love and testimonies. Can't wait to see them again.

Junior Battle of the Books

Mary has been invited to join our school's junior battle of the books, a program created to prepare them for Battle of the Books, a competitive reading club at our school and region/state. Sarah has been running the program at our school with great success. The kids are reading lots of books each year and learning about sportsmanship, competition, and teamwork. Mary has already read one book and tested on it. It was a cute story I hadn't read before by Jon Scieszka. Now she is reading Sarah, Plain and Tall, which she is enjoying. I love her excitement and it's a fun motivation for reading new genres (we've been reading a lot of mysteries around here).

Yoga

Nicole is studying bodies and exercise this week at joy school. Nolan's mom sent me this picture of the kids doing yoga. I have to say, her form is much better than mine. Love it.

Dear Murphy

For family night tonight we wrote Murphy some letters. Cameron was a little bit particular about some faces he was drawing. He wanted help with his circles, but he got upset about exactly how big they were. Finally after several revisions he was pleased with this product. He spent some time coloring in the shoes. He is actually very good about staying within the lines, something Steve noticed when we were in Utah. He also was very methodical about how he laid out his green beans this evening in a "ladder" on his plate. Funny boy.

Face Cracks

Cameron asked me about the cracks on my face today...a.k.a. wrinkles. I do feel really old today. Even though I got a decent, albeit interrupted, amount of sleep last night I felt really sleepy through the morning, sacrament, primary, and on through dinner. The good news is that my kids were so good during sacrament today, or maybe I was too drowsy to notice. They are getting older as well, just without all the cracks. Maybe I need to go back to bangs?

From taking this selfie, I may have also learned that I have a lazy eye. Oh joy!

Saturday Chores and Final Mighty Mites

I love Saturdays. I love waking up and getting to work on a project. Aaron fixed the lights that had gotten somehow damaged in all the rain and I put the kids to wrok around the house. We didn't get a lot done, but enough so that the house feels a little more heavenly. Cameron really enjoyed trying this new blower Aaron got. At the end of the day was Noah and Mary's final Mighty Mites game. I stayed home and made some chilli for a friend. Mary told me she got two swishes when she got home and Noah got one. It's been such a wonderful experience for these mighty mites.

Show and Tell

In honor of the "love month", February, Noah's sharing (show-and-tell) project was to bring something that he loves to class. Instead of toys or games, Noah choose to bring Cameron and Nicole (so sweet). He prepared what he would say and I brought the kids to the class at the time I arranged with his teacher. Noah explained that Cameron and Nicole were special to him because they are fun. He also shared what they could do in front of the class. Lucky for us Sarah was the substitute in the class today, the 100th day of kindergarten. So she helped make sure the class was cheering instead of giggling as Cameron demonstrated his push-ups (which are hilarious cuz he's so little). She also complimented him on his strong muscles which made him beam and flex in front of everyone. Sarah then helped Nikki sing a song so she didn't feel left out. I love that Noah was so proud to show off his younger siblings and that the class was so kind to them. It made them feel so very special that it was hard to get them to leave. (Noah's thick hair is getting hard to manage it's getting so long. I actually tried to push down those bumps on the sides this morning.)