It was "crazy day" at junior high! Guess who really loves crazy day??? No inhibitions there.

On Saturday our ward had a kite flying activity. It was so fun! We brought picnics and there was even a "kite flying specialist" who brought all her cool kites and gave lessons! The little kids could even make kites if they didn't have one. The wind was not as strong as we needed it to be, but that just meant there was a lot of running going on! I was going to take a bunch of pictures, but my batteries went out almost right away. Here is a pic of Cheyenne running with her kite. Beth is in the background. She just enjoyed the running!

Kevin couldn't come to the kite flying activity because he had to go to the Utah Coalition Against Pornography conference. He had a booth there with his materials and other information. He said the turnout was really good and he felt like it was a good day. Also this week, he was a guest expert on a local radio station, X96. They play rock and modern music, but in the morning they do talk radio and call it, are you ready for this? Radio from Hell. Nice, huh? Kevin got to be on Radio from Hell! Bragging rights right there, I tell you. He did a great job. People called in with questions about pornography and Kevin got to answer those questions and he also got to provide a contrast with the rather crude opinions of the DJs. He was a voice of truth crying out in the darkness!! I thought it was wonderful.

Saturday night, Savannah and Sarah went up to SLC for YW Conference in the conference center. They went with the other girls and their leader because their mom didn't think she was quite up for it this time around. They had a great time, though. Sarah reported that there were a LOT of young women there! Savannah said, "Of course there were! It was young women conference!" Sarah laughed and said, "I know, but I thought it might be kind of like basketball games -- you know how no one goes to the women's ones!" Funny, huh? Good thing church events aren't like basketball games!

Bethany is doing a lot better sleeping downstairs. I think it is going to work! She, literally, is just thinking she is too big for her pants, lately. I know this because she keeps taking them off. The other day I got her dressed with a jumper over her shirt and pants because she likes to be "pretty." A little while later, she came through the kitchen without her pants. I said, "Beth! Where are your pants?" She said, "No pants! Dress!" So I said, "Where is your diaper?" She said, "Diaper gone-gone!" Then she continued on her way. Hmph. I guess she knows what she wants! She is so much fun! We got her some sandals that squeak when she walks. It still just cracks me up! I should make a movie for the blog.

Today we celebrated Easter at church since next Sunday will be General Conference. Savannah and I sang with the ward choir and all of Sacrament meeting was music. I love to sing with the ward choir. I just think it is fun! Before the ward choir, though, the primary children came up and sang a new primary song called, "I Know that my Savior Loves Me." They stole the show! I made the girls sing it again at home so I could record it. It's beautiful! Consider it my Easter gift to all of you! Happy Easter!

Guess what?? My camera's memory card did "show up!" Victory!

On Monday night, Megan and Mariah's orchestra had their performance. (Yay! No more Saturday morning drives to Highland!) They did absolutely great! I was so impressed that they learned to play in an orchestra and learned all their music. It was a great experience for them and we all enjoyed their concert! Here's a closeup of our talented violinists. The video that follows (at the end of this blog) is too small for you to see them, but you can get an idea of how they sounded!

Sarah has been crocheting up a storm at our house. She made a purse for herself and her friend really liked it, so she made another one for her friend. Well, then everyone wanted one! So, before I could talk to her about the cost of materials and price per hour, she told her admirers that she would make them a purse for a dollar. She came home from school with several crumpled dollar bills from girls (and one boy!) paying in advance. So, now she is in the purse making business! (She is charging a bit more since she and I had our economics "talk.") During the week, the weather was so good that she took her crocheting outside, and well, up a tree! Now that's celebrating spring right!

Saint Patrick's Day was this week, and after some initial scrambling, we did manage to find green for everyone to wear! I thought these two were especially festive and ready for the day!

We are getting ready for Easter, though! I found this Easter set just like the nativity sets we put out at Christmas and I love it! I got it at Oriental Trading of all places. It is getting a lot of play time!

On Friday, the kids decided to try their hand at making houses out of cards. I thought Mariah's head was going to explode from the frustration -- her temper certainly did. Sarah was the most successful. It must be all that crocheting!

We moved Bethany's toddler bed downstairs this weekend. We are not sure if we will keep it this way or not! Once she is asleep, she stays asleep all night and doesn't bother anyone. It's the falling asleep that is the trick. It is just hard to stay in bed when there are so many sisters around to play with or to bug or to ask to pick you up! We will see if it gets any better. In the meantime, she is pretty grumpy during the day! :(

On Saturday, Kevin and I got to go to the sealing of a family in our ward. They have five children and they were all sealed to them. It was absolutely wonderful! What a blessing going to the temple can be! We were so glad we could go there.

I can't remember what we did this week, because I didn't take any pictures. The memory card mysteriously disappeared from the camera and instead of going out to buy a new one (which I should have done), I just waited for it to show up. Such is my blissful confidence in life. I am thinking I had best give up on that plan of action, though, and actually go buy a new card.

After Beth struggled with an on and off fever and irritability for two days (or was it three?), I finally broke down and brought her to the doctor on Friday. Sho nuff! She had ear infection in both ears. Poor baby. :( She is starting to feel better now. Calianne had an ear infection the week before, too! Weird, huh? They're not even contagious!

We moved Beth into a toddler bed last week and she is doing great in it! She doesn't get out! It's so funny. Some babies climb out of cribs and Bethany won't even climb out of her toddler bed! She still lays in bed and calls for me when she wakes up -- even at nap time when it's the middle of the day and her bedroom is light! She is a great sleeper, though, and has been since I stopped nursing. We will give her credit for that now even if things change later . . .

One more thing on Bethany is she has started to play make believe with Cheyenne and Calianne. Yesterday she came through the kitchen with Chey and Cali following on their hands and knees. They were barking and Bethany was motioning them on with her hands calling, "'C'mon doggie! 'Mon!" SO CUTE! Also, she saw her Dad with Pringles the other day and she said, "Daddy! Daddy! Give some me!" Three words together!!

Speaking of making progress with language skills, some of my girls like to use the word "sort-of-ish." Sarah especially uses it a lot. It doesn't really bug me -- probably some cutesy trend from school. But, just to make sure we were clear on things, the other day I said to Sarah, "You do know that's not a word, don't you?" I guess it was a good thing I asked. "Really??" she asked in amazement. "Are you serious??" And then, "WHY NOT??" Funny, huh? We got around to cutting out her pajamas on Saturday. Progress!

I was brushing Calianne's hair this past week and thinking how easy it was to do since she didn't scream at me like the other kids do, when I noticed that she had her hand over her mouth. "Why do you have your hand over your mouth?" I asked her. She quickly took it off and said, "So I don't cry!" and then slapped her hand back over her mouth again! She is so funny. It was working! She had me fooled! But how can she be so happy about not crying? Her kindergarten teacher told me, "It is hard to be stern with such a cheery soul." That is sure the truth!

Kevin has been playing with our ward basketball team. They won the stake tournament last week and this week they played in the area tournament. They played two games on Saturday and lost the second -- so they are out. BUT Kevin played great! He said he hasn't played like that since he was a "young buck." I said that it was probably because his mom was there to watch him. He said, "Probably! It was just like old times!" Some of the other star players weren't able to make it to that game, so even Kevin's couldn't-miss-twenty points weren't enough to beat the other team. Still, it was fun.

I think I forgot to mention that I have been released from the Relief Society presidency? I don't know. Anyhoo, I have been called to be the Valiant 9 teacher in the primary. That's the nine and ten year olds. It is a class of five girls and one boy. It's the best! I am loving it.

I found the game "Careers" at DI this week, which is a game I used to really like when I was a kid. We played it tonight as a family. Mariah beat us all!

There have been complaints that photos of me never show up in this blog. So, to appease everyone here is a lovely picture of me that one of my daughters took. It also answers the question, "So, Katy, how're you doing?" Hee, hee.

So, this past Tuesday was Dr. Seuss's birthday. Did you know that? I would not have known that except that the school decided to celebrate by encouraging the students to dress up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character. If you are wondering if I stayed up late crafting creative costumes for all five of my elementary students, please refer to the picture above. However, my sixth grader made her own costume! Isn't she creative and oh, so cute?? I love it. This is Sarah as a Sneetch with a star upon thars.

The most exciting event for our family this week was that our new table we ordered custom made, got finished and delivered. We love it! It is seven feet long and has six foot long benches. We all fit at it! Yay! It feels a little bit like those funny movies of rich people where they have super long tables and the person at one end can't hear the person at the other . . . Nonetheless, it fits in our kitchen and we fit at it! Here is our kitchen with our old table:
Cute, huh? But little. Here is our new table:

The baby wasn't included.

We had some warm spring days this week, and then . . . IT SNOWED! It was still pretty warm, though and the kids were used to playing outside, so they all went out and made a snowman, or in this case, a snow-woman. Her name is Denice and she used up all the snow in our front yard. For the first time ever, our yard was the first yard to be snow free! Cheyenne and Calianne actually started the snowballs in the morning and made them almost as big as themselves! Sarah, Megan, Mariah, and their friends helped them finish when they got home from school in the afternoon.
Savannah, on the other hand, has been figuring out how to be a teenager. She was invited to a birthday party on Friday night where the girls went out to eat and to a movie and were absolutely silly and goofy all night. While there, she got herself some new sunglasses. What do you think?
She also told us that all the guys in her jogging class call her "Grilled Tuna" or just "Tuna" for short. She says it's because on the first day when they were introducing themselves, they were supposed to tell everyone their favorite food. She said hers was her dad's grilled tuna sandwiches. I love it. I think I'll start calling her "Tuna," too. Or maybe, "Batgirl?"

Kevin played on our ward's men's basketball team this weekend as they participated in the stake tournament. It was single elimination and they won all three of their games, including the game against the high school basketball coach and three of his players! They are the champions!! Go Kevin B.! He's still got it.