Permits, Pigtails, and Pillowcases

Life has been busy, and there hasn't been much time to photographically document it all.
There is so much going on that my calendar boxes don't seem big enough to hold all the tasks for each day.
We are winding down with school subjects. I'm at the point where I've marked, with sticky notes, how much is left of each subject and how many weeks we have until we are finished, except with Math. I prefer to keep that going. And we are trying to decide what the girls are doing for next year.
I've been researching and making notes of what to get for the summer and next year.

Meg's new pastime is squeezing into small cubbyholes around the house and hiding herself inside pillow cases. She likes to try and roam the house inside a pillowcase or pretend she is in a gunny sack race.

I made her a new blanket. She likes to make sure her feet are covered by her blanket when I rock her, but she is getting so tall that this just is almost impossible now. Her blanket was getting holes in it, so I whipped up a new one a week ago. It's not fancy, but boy is it soft and cuddly and big! I even used some of the minky from her old blanket in her new one.

 Here she is collapsed on a pile of Legos we were sifting through. We were trying to put bigger parts in one bin, smaller parts in a another, and minifigs in yet another container.

I put her in pigtails for the first time. And this is the first time I have not had to curl pigtails with a curling iron.

Myles is getting his pinewood derby car ready. He is trying to do a 1920's race car style this year.
He also started speech to fix his "s" sound. Last Monday was his first appointment. Although he had is doubts and wasn't looking forward to going, he ended up loving it. He has been anxiously looking forward to the next appointment and diligently working on the homework his speech therapist gave him.
Oh, he found a nest with eggs under our trampoline. Chris was mowing the lawn, which had grown quite long, and ran over the nest. Myles was so distraught that the parents had not returned by the next day and the little birds (eggs) were not going to survive. We used the opportunity to do some research online and talk about how things like this happen in nature. As sad as it is, it does happen. My little guy has such a tender heart.

 We've had some beautiful weather this past week. Myles, Elsa, and Meg spent quite a few days out on the trampoline with the sprinkler going. Lots of squeals of delight could be heard.

 Aeva decided to sew Thursday evening. She made a Popsicle and some type of Japanese food (onigiri) from felt. They are very anime looking. When she had finished them she had the food items talking to each other in Japanese. It was quite entertaining.

Rhaevyn had her date with Chris yesterday. They went to the Korean Market again, and she came home with some loot: mochi, Korean potato chips, Pepero (cookie stick), Korean vanilla wafers, and a soda drink (soda + milk), which our home teacher (who served his mission in Korea) recommended. She even bought Myles some Korean Ramen. He didn't get to each much of it because his mouth was on fire! She decided to try Aeva's favorite Japanese Crepe place on her date as well. She was pretty excited that she could understand quite a bit of Korean that was being spoken at the market.

Oh, Chris and I  surprised her with her very own Korean Book of Mormon.

The first Saturday of May she has her first orchestra stint.

This is Myles's meal: Spicy Kimchi Ramen with his new bowl that Chris got him.

 

Aeva and Elsa got haircuts on Tuesday. Sorry, no picture yet, but they look super cute.

Yesterday I decided it was chalk and bubble time :)
Myles drew me a picture of the sunset and an island. 

The girls have their permits!!! That was a fun trek to the DOL for all of us . I didn't really know what I was doing, so I couldn't help the girls much. It is so different from when I got my permit, and even different then when I got my license here in Washington. The day after getting her permit, Rhaevyn was learning to drive a manual transmission. She made it as far as some of the streets in our neighborhood. Aeva is having a tough time because she is so short. Her left leg can't quite reach to push the clutch in all the way. I took them both over to drive in the school parking lot, and I let Rhaevyn drive the suburban through her violin teacher's neighborhood. I seriously have a greater appreciation for my mother teaching me. I always loved how patient she was, but having the shoe on the other foot is eye opening. Rhaevyn and I were both laughing at one point because I blurted out "Oh my gosh! Is this what it was like when I was learning to drive???!!!!"
The girls started their driver's ed class. I'll admit, after the parent meeting that Chris and I attended, I was ready to just drive them around forever. The stark truth of how many teen drivers die a year in car accidents was a rude awakening. My brain knows it's not realistic,  but my heart was willing to be a chauffeur for them for a long time to come.
Lastly, I have to giggle at these pictures. I teach the 14 and 15 year old Sunday School class at church. Although I have my Sundays, they usually are a really great group to teach. I think most of the time they teach me more than I teach them, and they often surprise me with their questions and their answers. I have one student that is a gentle giant. At the end of class I make it a point to hug all the girls and shake hands with all the boys and let them know how much I appreciate their participation and how I love having them in class. This one boy never shakes my hand. He always puts one arm around my shoulder. We took a picture together today because I am always reminded of my shortness when he does this. In the first picture he was bending down a bit, but in the second one he straightened up to his full height.

And the wheel keeps turning so this little hamster keeps running :)

Two Birthdays and a Leak

We celebrated two birthdays this week and discovered a leak in our kitchen.
To say the least, it has not been dull around these parts.

Last Tuesday I noticed a slight lump in our floor near the dishwasher. Wednesday it felt bigger. Thursday I called a friend, who had had a dishwasher leak, and got her opinion. When Chris got home that day from work he took the dishwasher out and discovered that, indeed, our dishwasher had been leaking. Phone calls ensued: insurance company, our friends the Barnes (they had experience with this issue), and a gentleman in our ward at church who is in construction.
The word was sent out to all the kids, as we were on the phone with the insurance company, that everyone was to stop what they were doing and offer a prayer that either the insurance company would cover this, and that if they didn't that everything would work out.
We had a pretty good inkling going into the phone call that the homeowner's insurance was not going to cover this, but we could hope. Although we were not surprised to find that they wouldn't, we were still somewhat disappointed.
My faith was fading, and I just prayed that with the little faith I had everything would work out because, darn-it, we still don't have a money tree.

 

 The Barnes lent us tools to take up the linoleum and sub-flooring.
The gentleman we know from church called us at 10pm and gave us some hope that this was an easy fix based on our initial findings when we tore up the floor.
Chris spent Friday at home drying things out and taking up the floor. Then the construction guy showed up with some new sub-flooring and paper barrier. He installed all of that for us and we didn't pay a cent!
Saturday, we had a wedding and reception to go to, as well as helping another gentleman cut some wood for the trundle. In between all that, Chris painted everything involved with mold primer.

Monday, after work, the construction guy lent Chris a trowel to put the glue down for the linoleum. The dishwasher parts came in yesterday to fix the dishwasher.............so no more leak! 

We decided to put in a tray underneath the dishwasher just in case the dishwasher every leaks again.

And voila!!! Today it's all back together. It's not perfect but it's as close to it as it can be for just over $100. We had a lot of tender mercies, and I know that Heavenly Father is truly aware of us and our situations. Big sigh! While it seemed fun at first to all be in the kitchen washing, rinsing, and drying dishes I won't lie...........I'm so thankful to have my dishwasher up and running again!

 

 

Sunday was Rhaevyn's birthday. My oldest baby is now 17! Eeeeek!
She wanted a cheesecake this year.

 We didn't sing "Happy Birthday" to her. Instead we sang "Sixteen Going On Seventeen". Then we watched The Sound of Music.

 Rhaevyn was showered with some pretty great presents.
Oma gave her a cute little key chain. Just in time too.............she is getting her permit this week!

 
Thursday was Elsa's 7th birthday. Poor girls; she was so sick.
She felt a bit gypped since this was the night the dishwasher leak catastrophe occurred. Rhaevyn had her orchestra practice as well, so she didn't get much of a "happy birthday" with her dessert and candles. She did her best to be a trooper though.

 

 Chris got her stainless steel teacups since she has broken her last two tea cups on accident. Now, no fear of breaking them :)

She wanted apple pie, but we opted for apple turnovers. Everyone got to make their own.

 I gave her a pedicure. She got to soak her feet in my special bath powder. Then I scrubbed her feet twice with special foot scrubs. She got a foot massage with minty lotion, and I painted her toes with red sparkly polish. She said it was the best birthday ever!

 Relaxing while she got her toes painted.

 Elsa was showered with some pretty wonderful gifts too:chopsticks, headbands, her very own brush, and Goldiblox!

 

 

Tuesday, per her birthday wish, we all went out to Red Robin for her birthday. Oma was so gracious to make sure we all got to do this. All the kids were so thrilled that we got celebrate with Elsa and that it wasn't just her and Chris going for her free birthday burger.

Here are my two little girls dancing away to 50's music.

 

 

 Chris is forever taking funny pictures of the kids. We found Miss Elsa asleep quite a few times this past week like this. Both she and Meg have been pretty sick.

Last, but not least, the trundle is done! We may add handles to the front, but for now we are happy, and it's so much easier then pulling the mattress itself out from under the bed.  

 

I am now ready for a week that is slightly less exciting :) 

Easter and Quilt

Our Easter festivities started off with making bunnies out of toilet paper tubes and filling them with chocolates. Elsa delivered hers to her primary teacher from last year, Sister Carson, (who is now Myles' teacher). Unfortunately, she didn't hear the knock on the door or the doorbell ring. She sent Elsa an Easter card through email, and thanked her in person at church, which made up for Elsa's disappointment of not getting to actually hand her the treat when we dropped it off. I made some for my visiting teaching sisters. They were super fun to make!

 Myles made his with buck teeth, hence his pose in this picture.

 This is Elsa's bunny.

Saturday we dyed Easter eggs and made deviled eggs, which we have not done in some time. I'm usually for celebrating Easter without the whole Easter Bunny thing, but decided to change it up a bit this year. The kids had lots of fun, and I loved seeing how different all the eggs turned out.

Sunday morning we each took turns reading in the New Testament of Christ's last week and discussed, briefly, the Jewish Passover. It made "Easter" a bit more peaceful and meaningful, and I couldn't help but be reminded, as we discussed the resurrection, of the words in Elder Wirthlin's general conference address:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come. No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."

 Sunday evening we watched Ben-Hur at Christopher's request, and Elsa helped me get her quilt on the frame and tie it. I loved that she wanted to be a part of the quilt project. It was a great bonding experience. It actually turned out to be a busy evening with several sisters dropping off quilts.

 

Monday morning came, and I was up extra early to get school work done with the kids  so I would be ready for the quilt drop off. My heart was so full that day, and I thought about President Eyring's words from the Women's broadcast Saturday evening.

I'll share my facebook post:  

 Today, as I fold and attach cards to quilts for the second donation, I'm reflecting on the past year. I cannot believe that it has been almost one year since Project Mother of an Angel Baby was created. I remember the feeling, so vividly, of being prompted to start this project and feeling so inadequate; feeling like this was so much bigger than something that I could do. And it was. This is nothing I have done alone. I was reminded this past weekend that when the Lord calls you to go and serve he prepares the way before you, and the Lord puts helpers all around you. I have witnessed this. This project would be nothing without all the sweet earthly angels that the Lord has placed all around me who have put forth so much time, effort, and love into making beautiful quilts for mothers who have lost their sweet little ones. Sweet helpers who have spread the word about this project, helped with the logo and tags, and donated material, ribbon, and contributed in so many other ways towards this project. I am so thankful to my Heavenly father and so humbled by those who encourage and help this project along. My heart is so full.

 

 Monday afternoon I took two friends with me to Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital. Both of these lovely ladies lost their sweet angels around the same time I did and have both been so helpful in making quilts for Project Mother of an Angel Baby.

The Chaplain that we met with was so sweet and couldn't thank us enough. She told us that she had spent most of the morning with a couple who had just lost their baby and the heartache they were feeling. Now she was going to have a quilt to give to this grieving mother. It could have been any other day that we went, but I know it was not a coincidence that it was that day we decided to make the delivery. 

On the way back to the car we were discussing the next donation date, and I was commenting how I had been thinking of not doing this anymore. I always feel so stressed about making sure I have enough quilts and feel that I have to come up with so many on my own to make a donation a success because there are so many mother's that suffer this kind of loss. Although Sunday night I had had four people, who dropped off quilts, comment about the next donation date I was feeling doubtful.  My friend, Caressa, remarked that there doesn't have to be 30 quilts to make it a success, or even 15 for that matter. Even if I had had only one quilt to donate that day, on Monday, it would have been enough because that one sweet mother whose heart was breaking would have received that one quilt. So, we move forward with the next donation set for August.

And I'll end with a few random pictures from the past two weeks:

 Aeva's new Lucky Cat, solar operated and waves to me every time I go into their room.

 Myles and Elsa enjoyed the nice warm weather with a ride in the wagon.

 Nope, she doesn't need glasses. She just so badly wants to wear them and is constantly sneaking Elsa's. So, we decided to take a pair of Elsa's old glasses, pop out the lenses, and let her have at them.

 We've enjoyed a wonderful conference weekend, although poor Miss Meg has croup, and we are hoping she feels better soon. Onward and upward!