It's been a busy week, but fun!  I had to change Megan's tennis time since track has started.  She and her friend already paid for 5 weeks, so it wasn't like we could just quit.  Still, it has been hard for Megan to be in three sports at once and for me to have to drive to the Spanish Fork tennis courts for not just two classes twice a week, but three classes twice a week.  Grrr.  I do not like craziness.  Thank goodness for carpooling!  It worked out just fine, actually.  Beth and Ben even had a nice time when we had to wait for Chey and Cali during one of their classes.  We went across the bridge and threw rocks in the stream and just generally had a good time enjoying the warm weather!

Savannah worked Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday this week and had her last ACT prep class Saturday morning.  She is going to be very happy to have her Saturday mornings back!  She feels like she learned a lot, though, so that is good!

Sarah enjoyed tennis this week as well as rereading Harry Potter.  She also had her first driving lesson with Dad this week and she drove us to and from church today!  She is doing great.  She and Savannah and Mariah also went to a thrift store/food kitchen in Spanish Fork on Tuesday to help out as their church activity.  They really enjoyed that.

Megan had track practice everyday after school, basketball practice on Tuesday and Friday, and tennis on Monday and Thursday.  Crazy right?  She seemed to enjoy all of it, though.  She is a pretty sporty girl.  On Wednesday she had her violin lesson, too.  I guess it's better than being bored!

Mariah had basketball on Tuesday and Friday.  She also has choir before school on Tuesdays and student council before school on Fridays.  She and I had the great "fun" of going to Maturation together at the school on Friday.  Regardless of the subject matter, it was great fun to be with Mariah at school anyway!

Cheyenne had tennis Tuesday and Wednesday and piano lessons before school on Thursday.  She has a sore throat today that is making her very sad.

Calianne also had tennis on Tuesday and Wednesday and piano lessons before school on Thursday.  We watched Wild Hearts Can't be Broken on Saturday night and Cali went to bed in tears.  Even if she didn't die, she could have, and so she should not have tried to dive a horse while she was blind!  It was too scary for tender-hearted Calianne!

Bethany had ballet on Tuesday and preschool on Wednesday and Friday.  On Thursday she and Ben got to go to Grandma's house again.  Grandma has been sick the last couple of weeks and they have missed her fiercely!  They were so excited to go to her house again.  When I came to get them, they had fallen asleep in her lap while reading books.  It was so sweet!

Benjamin got mad at me this week and said, "Mom Skinner!"  It was so funny.  He has bitten Bethany a few times this week.  It is a new thing.  I think it surprised him how much it hurt Beth and how much trouble he got in.  Hopefully he can control himself.  I know he wants to.  Whenever he brings Beth to tears, he turns to me in desperation and says, "I said sorry, Mommy!  I said sorry!" -- even before he actually does say sorry.  We'll get it all figured out eventually I am sure.

On Saturday, Kevin's March leagues finished up.  Both of his teams had two games a piece!  Megan had games at noon and 2.  Mariah's team had games at 3 and 5.  Kevin was there almost all day!  Poor guy.  Actually, I think he had a pretty good time.  He really enjoys coaching his girls.  Megan and Mariah both had fun, too.  They have both really learned a lot from playing in this league where the competition is significantly more fierce.  It's fun to see them improve so much!

On Saturday night, we tried a new way to curl hair that Megan had found on the internet.  It involved twisting the long hair up into a headband.  Bethany asked if she looked like a princess.  We said, "Yes!  An Indian princess!"  She was delighted and insisted that she needed a feather.  She was Tiger Lily for the rest of the night.  She does make a lovely Indian princess. . .

Look what I made!!  Yes, that is a St. Patrick's Day apple pie.  I used green food coloring in my canned apple pie filling.  Aren't I just so clever?  I'm still just so pleased with myself, as you can see.  It was really yummy to eat, too!  Even Calianne liked it.  !!!  Success in the kitchen!

This week Sarah, Megan, Cheyenne, and Calianne had tennis on Monday and Tuesday since the courts would be closed the rest of the week.  They really like these groups and have been having lots of fun with them.

Track started for Megan this week.  She missed Monday and Tuesday because of tennis, but went on Wednesday and Thursday and then ran on her own on Friday!  She is really excited about track.  It will be fun to see her race.

On Wednesday, Sarah's choir concert was a series of talent performances from small groups in the choir.  Sarah didn't want to sing solo or duet or any other small group, so she opted for a piano solo.  She played Jessica's Theme from Man from Snowy River and she did awesome!  We were all so proud of her.  I was especially proud of her because their teacher while at first making participation mandatory, later changed it to optional, and Sarah still decided she wanted to be a part of it.  That's a scary thing, but afterwards feels so good!  Sarah is smart like that.

On Thursday, they had a clinic to get vaccinations at a local school.  So I took the opportunity to take Mariah who will be starting Junior High next year and needs shots, and Bethany who will be starting kindergarten next year (yes!  My little Bethany!) and also needs shots.  We got them all done and then I got Bethany registered for kindergarten since that was the same day.  Beth was very excited to get her shots.  She asked, "So does everyone who gets shots get to paint?"  Huh?  This confused me until I figured out that she was looking forward to kindergarten because she heard she gets to paint and she knew she had to get shots to go to kindergarten.  She is so cute!  She was very, very brave and did not cry and I know it hurt!  Of course, she thought she could go to kindergarten the next day.  That is always so hard to explain to your prospective kindergarteners!  Anyway, Mariah and Beth have had matching sore shoulders for the last few days.

No school on Friday!!  Early Friday morning, Sarah and I headed to the DMV to see if we could get her learner's permit.  She passed the test on the second try!  Kevin took her out driving for the first time on Saturday.  We are ready for driver's ed starting April 8th!

Later on Friday, I drove Megan, Mariah, Cheyenne, Calianne, and CC's friend Karlee to the roller skating rink.  They won free tickets from their recent school read-a-thon.  They got to skate for over two hours and I only had to pay $1 each for skate rental.  What a deal!  They were very slow at first and I hear they fell down a LOT, but they got the hang of it.  It's fun to go to the roller rink!

On Saturday morning, Mariah had an 8am basketball game which they won and she played with Megan in Megan's 10am basketball game.  They lost that one but they put up a very good fight and learned a lot about
breaking a press.  I was proud of them.

We've had really nice weather again this week.  Kevin got the trailer and cleared out the branches that had fallen into our yard this winter.  Ben was his eager helper grabbing the extra rake and doing everything he saw his dad do.  It was super cute!  Later, I got the bike trailer put back together and I took Ben on a bike ride.  We had fun together, too!

Bethany probably would have come, but she was playing with her friend, Macie all day!


Saturday evening Sarah and Megan went to the church dance.  Sarah thought it was great.  Megan did not.  She didn't really feel well, though.  And dances are like that sometimes.

I hope you all had a happy St. Pat's Day!

On Monday of this week, Kevin made the switch to his new office.  He will be the clinical director for a office that is opening in Lindon and will be specifically helping the wives of men with pornography addictions.  He was sad to leave his Springville office with his 5 minute commute and lunches at home with his wife and two preschoolers.  It was very nice.  I will miss all that, too!  Hopefully this new business opportunity will turn out to be well worth it!  His new office is very chic, if that counts for anything.  Savannah had to work Monday evening, but the rest of us helped him move things from his old office into his new.  Whenever we're all involved, we make it tons of fun, so we didn't mind.  Plus, we love our dad like crazy!

I taught preschool on Monday and Wednesday mornings this week.  We did "Hey Diddle Diddle!"  It was great fun.  The kids have all finished learning their capitals and are starting on their lowercase.  They are also doing great on their phoneme awareness.  Impressive right?  Even more impressive that I can even use the word phoneme and know what it means!

The twins had tennis on Tuesday and Saturday and Sarah and Megan had tennis on Wednesday and Saturday.  Kevin and I went to the temple on Wednesday night, so Savannah drove them to the courts.  We were so grateful for her help!  What a great skill driving is -- even better than tennis!

On Thursday of this week, Savannah got to watch her bridge break!  Even though she is in Chemistry this year, she was offered extra credit for building a bridge that could withstand at least 200 lbs.  She started working on it a couple of weeks ago with Grandpa Jim.  They spent many an afternoon/evening making it as nice as they could with the balsa wood and glue they had been provided.  Grandpa came to the high school to watch the big moment.  Drum roll please . . . 850 lbs!  Nice job, right?  Yay for extra credit and helpful grandpas!

The weather FINALLY got warmer this week.  I don't even have energy to holler -- just let out a sigh and be grateful that spring really might come again!  So, I fixed Beth's and Ben's bikes and we took to the sidewalks!  Beth is trying to learn to ride a two-wheeler so I held onto her waist while she rode up and down the street all the while yelling, "I'm doing it!!  I'm riding a bike!!"  Yes, little miss, you are not quite there, yet, but hopefully you will be soon!  :)

On Tuesday Mariah had her district-wide science fair to attend.  She had to stay there for a couple of hours with about one hundred and fifty 5th and 6th graders.  There they were judged again by four separate judges.  No parents allowed!  Mariah says it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.  She got to sit next to her classmates who also earned the privilege of attending and they had fun talking between judges.  In the end, she wasn't one of those chosen to move to the next level, but I think it was a fun experience for her, nonetheless.  I think she did great!

Tuesday was also the first day of tennis for the twins.  We signed them up for some group lessons at the indoor courts in Spanish Fork.  It just happened to be right across the street from the science fair!  I got to watch the last bit of their workout and that coach had them playing better in his hour with them than we had after a whole summer of work!  I am a happy mom!


Wednesday was Sarah and Megan's first day of their tennis group.  We also talked a couple of their friends into taking the class with them.  They had a great time and had really positive things to say about their coach and what they had learned.  Awesome!  Their friends and their friends' parents were happy, too.

Thursday was Megan's last basketball game with the Springville city rec team that Kevin has been coaching.   Unfortunately, Kevin couldn't be there!  He needed to attend a recertification class in Salt Lake City in order to keep his Therapy Supervisor license.  So, I coached instead.  I was very nervous.  I did not want to lose for him!  Anyway, they did win 23-21!  It was very scary but it ended up alright.  There was also a bit of a surprise at the end as the city rec superviosr came up to the team and told them that their team had been chosen for the sportsmanship award that season.  Yay team!  They all got t-shirts and magnets and an invitation to a party with the Utah Jazz.  That was about when Kevin came rushing in after his drive back from Salt Lake.  He got to tell the team how great they were and be in the pictures!  It was fun.

Friday afterschool, the twins performed in the Brookside 1st to 3rd grade choir.  They all sang GREAT!  The twins seemed to have a bit more fun hitting each other "accidentally" while doing hand movements than actually singing . . . but, they were still really cute!  It was fun to watch them and I'm glad they did it!

Friday night I got to play in the women's regional church basketball tournament.  We put a team together for our stake.  That was our first game -- and we lost.  :(  So, we won't play anymore.  It was pretty fun but I am not that good so I did not play much.  I like playing better without scoreboards and without refs when we are all just playing for fun and no one cares if I mess up or don't score -- oh, and when there are no subs sitting out.  :)

Saturday morning Megan had her first Bantam club basketball team.  Kevin wanted her to have a chance to play on a club team so her put one together of her age group for the March season.  They did not even have a chance to have a practice before their first game Saturday morning, but they won -- and won by a lot!  Go team!

Savannah also had her ACT prep class Saturday morning.  She piled up all her books this week for a visual representation of how much work she does for school.  It was pretty impressive!  We are glad that she works so hard and accomplishes so much!

Then, the twins had tennis again and then Sarah and Megan had tennis again and then we drove everyone (except Sarah and Megan who were still at tennis) up to Orem for a Piano Soiree where the students of our piano teacher played their pieces while the rest of us ate ice cream.  Fun, right? 

Kevin got Savannah from BYU on his way.  Mariah went first because after she was done, Dad needed to drive her to her club basketball game at 2 o'clock.  They lost.  :(  Busy day, though, right?

Also, during this week I went to the fabric store.  Beth was at preschool so it was just Benjamin and me.  He was a pretty good sport, though, and found ways to keep himself entertained -- like climbing onto the fabric racks and saying, "Hey Mom!  Whatcha doin?" in order to get my attention.  He was so funny.