The girls were playing orphanage last Sunday.  That is when they take out all the dolls we own (which is alot), dress them, and spread them all around the family room.  Blankets designate different rooms.  At bedtime, they change all the dolls into pajamas so that when they say, “Okay, it’s morning!”  Then they can change them all into clothes again.  Anyway, Beth wanted to change her clothes, too.  That’s when Sarah found this dress in Beth’s closet, which matched one of the doll dresses . . . and oh, a picture was begging to be taken!  Fun times!

Bethany has learned to open doors.  I know that she is rather a late bloomer in this regard, but it sure used to be nice at nap time!  So because of the mastery of this new skill, we get to see Bethany’s impish grin even more!  This is especially due to the fact that she thinks it is very funny to come back upstairs after she’s been put to bed – either for a nap or night.  We will be sitting quietly, ready to enjoy a bit of peace when out in the hallway we hear a burst.  What is it?  It’s Bethany giggling!  Again!!

Benjamin is acquiring new skills as well.  One of which is the ability to open cupboard doors and empty the cupboard of all its contents.

He thinks this is great fun.  He also likes to empty drawers, bookshelves, and laundry baskets.  It is serious business, too, because if you take him away from the work of his dastardly deed, oh how he screams until you put him back!  His very favorite thing in the whole world, though, is the vacuum.  He doesn’t just come in the room to watch it get vacuumed either.  No, no, no!  He heads straight to the vacuum and either holds onto the canister so that you can’t go very far, or gets in the way of the vacuum head so that you can’t vacuum at all!  Ben!  That is dangerous!  He doesn’t care.  He just wants to know what is making all that super noise. 

For the rest of us, life continued on as normal.  We had basketball games and music lessons.  The kids worked hard to avoid music practice and chores and I worked hard to get them to do both.  The kids moods swung from periods of monumental boredom to periods of hyper silliness.  Just like usual.

One thing fun, though, was that Grandpa Skinner stopped by on Wednesday night on his way back to Idaho!  He got to escape the cold down in St. George for a couple of weeks, but had to head back to Rexburg to shovel off his roof before it caved in.  It sure snows alot in Idaho!!  Anyway, it was sure fun to see him and visit and have dinner together.  Benjamin sat on his lap and tried to pull off his beard.  Fascinating!  Bethany sat next to him and said over and over, “This is my Grandpa!  Isn’t he cute?”  We had great fun with him and we hope he had great fun with us, too!

Look at that sophisticated violinist!  We got to hear Megan perform with the junior high orchestra this week.  She did fabulous -- even in spite of a bad case of nerves before we left!  They played four pieces and it really did sound nice.  I was really proud of her.  Like I said, the music was good, but I was more impressed with her guts and stick-to-it-iveness.  She’s been far out of her comfort zone in this orchestra two grade levels beyond her own, but she did it.  She’s decided to call it good enough and not go next semester, and I think that is fine.  I think she is really cool.

Well, more basketball this week.  We had games Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  There were some wins and some loses.  There were good times and there were bad times.  I don’t know if we were always happy, but we were always busy.  Does that count for something?  I’m sure it must . . .

We have also started our new computer schedule here at our house.  In the absence of mature self-discipline, I have given each child an account on the computer and blocked it for almost every hour of the day.  I have unblocked their account for only the agreed upon interval that is their computer time for the day.  When one child gets closed out, another child’s account becomes available.  Each child has their own password in order to keep siblings out.  Sounds cool, huh?  It is working pretty well.  I think Savannah has logged less computer time and the other girls have logged some more.  But they are pretty nice to each other and often share their computer time with a sister who asks (like Savannah!).

Friday was a pretty traumatic day for me and one I’d like to forget.  But for the sake of a complete record, I will relive it yet again and try not to cry this time.  I decided to clip the nails of our cockatiel, Cornflower.  I cut one of them too close and it wouldn’t stop bleeding.  I tried cornstarch and worrying and finally took him to a vet in Orem which specialized in birds.  She cauterized the nail and stopped the bleeding.  The bird was stressed, but the vet believed he would be fine, and so I believed he would be, too.  Unfortunately, such was not the case.  He never recovered and he died a few hours later.  How is it possible to hurt such a little life so irrevocably and do it so completely by mistake?  So I find myself all these years later again completely derailed by the death of a bird.  Are there bigger traumas in the world?  Absolutely.  Does it make me feel better?  I don’t know why not.  I feel really responsible for the suffering and death of this bird and for the suffering I have thus caused people I also love who loved the bird.  The people I love have only proved they love me more by their concern for me over their concern for their own loss.  I have been really touched by that.  Even Megan, who claimed the bird as her own, has been more anxious for me, than for herself.  I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such people! Now, I will continue to work on forgiving myself.

Well, Savannah has been cast in her school’s musical as Lady Rowena!  It is a small part, but Savannah is thrilled and we are thrilled for her to be able to participate.  She started 6:15am rehearsals this week.  Ugh, right?  Actually, it dulls her enthusiasm not one whit!  Anything to be able to sing and dance, I guess!  This is the play:

They will perform March 10-12 and 17-19.  Mark your calendars!  It should be fun!

We had another week of basketball.  No one had fun, though.  Mariah was mad after her game because she only made three baskets and in the first game she made seven, so therefore she is a bad player.  Megan was mad because they lost so therefore she is a bad player.  Sarah was okay, but please don’t talk to her about it because that would mean that she is a bad player, too!  Ah well, they all are looking forward to their games next week.  Go figure!  Bethany wishes she had a game next week, too! 

Mostly, I’ve been working on deep-cleaning my kitchen this week.  “Detailing” ya see.  I took the fan apart and cleaned it (really, fans in kitchens are NOT a good idea, can I just tell you?), then I cleaned all the walls and the things on the walls, and then I scrubbed all the outsides of the cupboards and oiled them.  Everything really needed it.  I have to tell you, though.  It’s not that I don’t look at it and see that it needs to be done, it’s just that there just has not been time.  Projects have to wait their turn around here.  Nonetheless, it makes me happy to see them clean.  :)

There was no school on Friday so the older girls went to see Tangled at the movie theatre.  They paid their own way.  It was very cool!  While they were there, I took the chance to take the twins and Bethany (and Ben by default) to McDonald’s.  They have been asking me lately with sad faces, “Mom, when are we going to go to McDonald’s again????”  What can I say?  When you are six years old, McDonald’s is at the top of the fun list (and the yum list too, apparently).  Anyway, it was a fun day all the way around.

I did forget to mention last week, that Cheyenne lost another tooth!

Her first tooth lost on the top!  She is growing up.  Fortunately, she is not growing up so much that she can’t still play with her little sister.  Is that a fancy tea party or what?

Such cute helpers I have at my house, don’t you think?

It can be exhausting, though!

Tell me about it!  It’s been one of those weeks at our house.  Although with Christmas behind us and school back in, I feel like I’m starting to get my feet back under me, again.  One can always hope!

We had our first basketball games on Monday.  Mariah’s team played at 4 and Megan played at 6.  How nice to have a break for dinner, right?  Mariah did great – dribbling, shooting (7 baskets!), defense.  At one point my team even used a pick to get past the halfcourt line.  That was the coolest thing ever. We played Wednesday, too.  In fact, my whole team did so well, I started to feel kind of bad . . . But, I decided it’s not my fault that they are so good.  I have six fourth graders and only three third graders and that extra year of playing just makes a big difference.  I think we’ll have a fun season! 

Megan did really awesome at her game, too.  In fact, the game was pretty slow until Megan got in – then everything got exciting! And I am not just saying that because I’m really only interested in watching my own daughters play.  (Well, part of that is kind of true . . .)  She stole the ball, she raced down the court for fast-break layups, she went to the line to shoot foul shots, she went from defense at the top of the key to rebounding under the basket – the girl was EVERYWHERE! 

Sarah had a game Wednesday and I wasn’t there (see paragraph 2).  Their team lost, but I have it on good authority that Sarah did really well, scoring 5 of their 11 points – one of those shots was a jumper from 15 feet out!  Such fun!

The other excitement this week came from Savannah auditioning for the school musical, “Once Upon a Mattress.”  Savannah has been taking voice lessons this fall, but her teacher took the month of December off because she had a new baby.  So, for some extra preparation, we slipped in two lessons before the audition – one last week and one on Tuesday this week.  Savannah’s piano lessons got switched to Tuesday, too, this week by chance.  Oh, and did I mention that Tuesday was the day that all the kids who were auditioning stayed after school to learn the dance they needed to perform for the Wednesday audition?  Yeah, by the end of the day Tuesday, poor Savannah was frazzled from all the activity and the stress.  Understandable.  She pulled it together for her audition on Wednesday.  She was the first to audition (nice to end the stress early!).  Thursday during school the results were posted and Savannah made callbacks which were on Friday.  Last word is that she’s in and she gets to participate, although she doesn’t know about speaking parts, yet.  She is so excited!  She’s been on cloud nine all weekend.  Yay!  It is going to be great fun for her.

We all went to an office party for Kevin’s work on Friday.  It was at the enormous house of one of Kevin’s coworkers.  We ate lots of pizza, decided no on the very steep sled-hill, and played with the kids.  I started teaching Sarah, Megan, and Mariah how to play pool, which made me wonder where I had learned how to play?  I have memories of playing pool but not of being a beginner and just learning.  All is blankness . . .  I do remember why I hate foosball, though.  Everyone else had great, laughing fun playing that, too.  :)

Well, after all the fun and excitement of Christmas, Megan had a complete meltdown and declared that she could no longer ever sleep in a pink room.  Enough was enough was enough!  Hmmmm.  Must be that turning twelve thing.  So we put the house in a state of emergency redecorating for the week and made Megan and Mariah’s room the priority.  Since M&M live in that room, we decided to decorate in M&Ms.  Aren’t we clever?

Megan and Mariah worked on it all week.  They moved everything to the middle of the room and cleaned the walls, stripped the wallpaper border, taped the edges, and when Mom gave the go-ahead, even did the painting.  The room is no longer pink.  In fact, quite the opposite.  I gave Megan complete freedom to pick her own color.  She chose dark, chocolate brown.  When you walk into the room, you feel like you are inside an M&M.  It’s very brown and shiny!

I did contribute.  For instance, I fixed the paint job when Meg and Mariah were “done.”  I also made the above fleece blankets by sewing the M in the middle of each.  Then the girls clipped the edges and tied one color to the other so that they are double thickness.  I think they are awesome!

We are still brainstorming for a new border to go along the top of the walls – something not too labor intensive, please!  I have searched the internet for a premade M&M candy border.  Excuse me but, WHY DON’T THEY MAKE THOSE??????  If anyone has some ideas, send them our way!

As you know, this week was also the week of New Year’s Eve!!  We were going to go to Idaho but decided against it because of snowstorms and extreme COLD.  We missed seeing Grandpa Skinner, but we were glad that our friends the Grosland’s could come over and party with us again!

We were loud and raucous and stayed up until midnight playing games and eating food.  It was great fun.

The next day I was a year older. !!!  That’s what happens.  Kevin took me to the movies (Harry Potter) and out for lunch and while we were gone the kids cleaned the whole house.  Now THAT is a great birthday present!

It’s been a great year.  We hope you all had a great year, too!

Christmas morning!  The girls came and woke us up at 7:26 a.m.  We told them 7:30, so that was pretty good.  Here is everyone in the kitchen waiting to go see their presents from Santa!

Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came over to watch all the excitement, too.  It’s a good thing they got here fast!  Kevin recorded all the unwrapping from Santa on a video, but I’m not going to include it here.  You’ll have to use your imaginations.  Everyone seemed really happy with their presents.  Either we did really well this year or else we have sweet girls who are grateful for whatever the efforts of their parents.  Maybe both!  Among a few other things, Savannah got some clothes and Avatar season 2, Sarah got a tennis racquet and a recorded book (Goose Girl!), Megan got a new scooter, Mariah got a Tangled Barbie and a CTR ring, the twins got some games and a cardboard playhouse that they can decorate with markers, Beth got a bouncy pony, and Ben got a truck.  Santa is so nice!!

After all that, Kevin made us some French toast, sausage, and orange juice.  Thus rejuvenated, we headed back to the Christmas tree to open presents from each other.  It was a really fun morning.

 

These are the dolls that I made for the little girls.  Cheyenne and Calianne made us calendars at school!

Just gotta tell ya, that the pajamas Sarah is wearing, she sewed last week!  Remember the fabric we bought because she was bored way last spring?  Yep.  She got her done!  Cute, huh?

Everybody’s cute!!!

Later that day, we had a nice ham dinner back at our house.  We also played a lot of games, as everyone got a new one for Christmas.  It was a wonderful, lazy day and at the end of it Cheyenne and Calianne informed me that now we had to wait the very most days for next Christmas to come!  Well, they are right about that.

The week of Christmas started with another concert for Mariah.  This time we got to see her sing with the Brookside after-school choir.  She looked lovely . . .

and she sang with drama and gusto!  It was great fun.  She sure loves to sing! We celebrated Kevin’s birthday on Monday because he was so, so busy on Tuesday.  We had fried chicken and mashed potatoes and cheesecake for desert.  We even opened presents afterward and gathered for a great family picture.  We really love that man!

On Tuesday, school was cancelled due to all the snow.  The girls thought that was terrific!

 

On Wednesday morning, we woke up to this:

Our little Megan FINALLY (in her impatient opinion) turned twelve years old.  She was so excited!  We had a party for her that night, but I forgot my camera.  (Dang it!)  She got some boots and a very cool hat that she wore around for three days straight.  She also got her own set of scriptures.  At her request, on the front they simply say, “Meg.”  She also got a new dress, but she received that present early because last Sunday, she had absolutely nothing to wear!  (So she told me, anyway. . .)  We had a fun time celebrating her birthday and are very glad that she is twelve.  She is so glad to be with her sisters and friends in the Young Women program and I know she will do great!

On Thursday, I had to finish Christmas presents, so I had Sarah and Savannah make pizza for dinner.  Aren’t they cool?

Savannah and Sarah were so good that Santa Claus came to see them later that night!!!  (Look!  You can see Meg in her hat!)  Ho!  Ho!  Ho!

     

Friday was finally Christmas Eve!  We had candlelight dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik’s house as is traditional.

Everyone performed a song for us on the piano or violin.  Dad read the Christmas story and after much arguing on who had to dress up as what, the girls even acted out the Nativity with Ben as baby Jesus.

Afterward, the girls opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa and modeled their new clothes.

Then we went home and sent everyone to bed.

They all went, too – except for Bethany who at two years-old doesn’t quite grasp the Santa Claus concept and was content to stay up late watching Dora.  She was Santa’s elf!