Good times--Brent was ordained a Deacon last Sunday--he was SO excited, and has been so self-motivated lately!--even gotten a great start w/ Duty to God. It was so great having Mom and Dad AND Dad &Kathy, AND Nate's family all here on Sunday. Our ward had a "Daddy Daughter" activity Saturday night, so TWO grandpas AND a Dad got to go with our 4 girls---is it any surprise they won "2011 DADDY DAUGHTER CHAMPIONSHIP"!!??! The boys tried to shoo me off since my dad would be there (I think they thought I was a partypooper!), until I mentioned I had been planning on taking them bowling or to the $ movie! They lit right up at that, so 2 grandmas and I went COSMIC bowling with the boys, and I was nice enough to come in last for everyone :). Support always means a lot. We also enjoyed having Mom and Dad around for a few days as well, going out for dinner, having FHE, sharing treats, playing games, and just enjoying good company (and lots of help!). They are so pleasant and positive.
We had meant to use this great weathered Saturday yesterday to cut our sod off of the side yard where we have our new garden area planned, but Brian's cold went from bad to bronchitis, so we tossed that idea. The little girls did help me Friday to drive the truck over the lawn (ohmy!), and unload another whole load of dirt around the house (to prevent our spring flooding). The weather has been PERFECT fall this week, though we got plenty chilly (with FLAKES in the mountains!) while Mom and Dad were in town. Saturday early morning, I took Brent and Maddie to do baptisms (for Brent's first time) while I did some initiatories. Since it was such a great day, I decided to take the children over to the free (w/ a canned good) hayride at a local nursery and get some pumpkins (their $1.50 was the cheapest price I'd seen). Another mom and children joined us, and besides Anne deciding RIGHT as we got to the pumpkin patch that she had to go potty (and DID), and the selection of pumpkins being a little thin, it was so sunny and, as always, a thrill to ride on hay in a tractor-pulled trailer. It really IS one of my favorite October activities :).
We got back just in time for our Roadshow dress rehearsal, and that night, enjoyed a night full of performances, as our stake put on an 8 Ward Roadshow in our 2 buildings with stages. I played piano, and Brian and 3 children were in the cast. Brent watched Lucy and Anne (who intended to sing, but ended up melting down before our 6PM show). He tried watching our first performance w/ the girls, but they didn't really allow it, so we dropped them off at home for an early bed en route to our second location. I grumbled a bit at the (3) Friday night practices that robbed us of our date nights, but with so much good help, our ward had a good and hilarious showing (seminary spoof of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), and as I told Brian that night, First--it was so enjoyable to be able to relax and enjoy the evening while the babies slept, and Second--I just LOVE how a little cultural entertainment fills your soul. He thought that was a pretty generous description of the evening, but besides having wards pull out High School Musical #'s or the Muppets song, the other counselor in the bishopric put on a FINE Bar J Wranglers yodeling # in our entree act, and the emcee for the night just made my day w/ Neil Diamond and John Denver singalongs, and was (as always) a HIT w/ his guitar--Kenny Loggins, Michael Bublee, and singing the blues. It was just good fun, and our hometeacher took us out for ice cream after, where we joined another family of stars from our ward. Participating reminded me of why they probably don't push the roadshows as much anymore, but also of why they were such a fun tradition.
In other news, Spencer's class has been studying the moon and stars, so we got to go the school one night (of course, the busiest night--after YW in Excellence), to look through high powered telescopes at the moon and Jupiter!
He's beginning to take off in his reading, as is Emily on a whole new level--she is whipping through Shannon Hale's books and the Mysterious Benedict Society's like they're Junie B. Jones (which is what Spencer is finally whipping through!). She is SO dramatic about how awful it is when she finishes and doesn't have ANYthing to read, because NOTHING could be as good as the book she just read, and what will she do while one is on hold, or until we find the next one??!! Maddie and I try convincing her and showing her there are actually many great books out there, even if they're not all your favorite, but she is SURE she'll find them way too boring or "old-fashioned" w/ "not enough adventure" (her words!). She was actually nearly in tears at dinner the other night, because we were all so chaotic and taking forever to get to prayers, and she hated that running into her reading time! Spencer also started a real karate class this month--at a real dojo and everything. He is rather enthusiastic (once he gets over the initial shock), and I tried to hide my tears at the first class where they're ENCOURAGING my darling baby to be TOUGH! Since he is a real ninja and all, it's nice for him to feel more official in his knowledge.
Anne and Lucy continue to be a force of nature: going through an entire bag of caramels in 20 minutes, falling out of the pickup truck (fortunately, while on grass), stealing everyone's shoes and jewelry, and especially makeup, becoming great fans of Dad's electric toothbrush, making a mountain of all of the off-season clothes that were in a basket to go downstairs, ALONG w/ all the baby blankets AND all of Lucy's pajama drawer, answering the phone all too often, tearing apart library books, and the normal flooding bathroom during baths, and jumping hilariously on anything they can reach. They keep us all busy. Last week at church, Lucy walked herself (the wrong way) to nursery, and I had to find her after we got started (I figured one of the older children was taking her). Before church, Lucy and Anne were out in the halls (while I was in the library or something), one YW picked up Lucy to return her, and while she screamed, Anne declared, "Lucy not coming to church ANY MORE--she stay in the van next time!" She also loves to go sit w/ Becky during church (the RS president I served w/), and when Becky wasn't there last week, she proceeded to go and sit with the only other Becky she knew in the ward--a mom my age w/ 4 children, sitting alone while her husband sings in Mormon Tabernacle Choir! What a help! Anne came back after a little while, and since I never looked back, I didn't even realize what had happened until later! Lucy is starting to explode her vocabulary as she repeats EVERYthing we say, and she is HILARIOUS w/ all of her expressions--esp. raised eyebrows, lifting her shoulders, and bringing her hands to her chin/mouth, and looks of unmatched excitement--it's like she took a class on baby response. I tried to get a few shots, but she is a QUICK mover!
We found out after an ear infection last week, that she's our first child allergic to penicillin! She is such a little nurturer in nursery--and helps the crying children sometimes better than the teachers do--always walking up to them w/ soft little words and patting. I love these fun ages, and even with their craziness, there are amazing moments when Anne gets her tights and shoes on ALL by herself the FIRST time I ask, or decides to set the whole table on her own, or when she AND Lucy pick up a game or crayons after playing. They keep me excited about the little things. So fun fall here, and despite little setbacks like bronchitis and ear infections, fewer legal clients, car troubles, dryer malfunctions, and internet going out, our blessings STILL end up outweighing our trials, esp. since the blessings keep growing and our trials eventually get worked out. Love to you all!-The Duncan's
No comments:
Post a Comment