I got my act together and got Ben registered for kindergarten this week!  We went to the doctor where he got five shots, a clean bill of health, and a recommendation to go to the optometrist.  We also went to the County Offices and picked up his birth certificate.  Then all that was left was to actually visit the school and show them our paperwork.  He's now on the list and got a cool coloring book.  We also had joy school at our house this week and he finished his last day of sports class.  He received a plastic medal for that and wore it with pride all day.  I got out Cali and Cheyenne's old bikes this week and was pleased to find that they are the perfect size for Beth  and Ben!  Since Ben has rediscovered the joy of bike riding, we have officially lost him twice (that's since Thursday) and discover the fact when concerned church members from the other side of the neighborhood call to let us know, "Ben is all the way over by my house!"  It's pretty handy that he is recognized throughout the neighborhood--and everyone has our phone number.

If you see this boy, please call . . .

When Beth got home from school and found out that Ben was riding a bigger bike, she decided to give her riding-a-two-wheeler skills another try.  This time was the charm and she can now ride with everyone else in the neighborhood!  Her dad was home and gave her the last practice she needed.  We're so proud of her.  She's having a great time!

 

 

Cali and Cheyenne have done some bike riding this week, as well.  They are also busy taking their dad out to the softball field every chance they can get.  Cali even showed me the blister she had garnered from hitting practice!  They went on a field trip to the Natural History Museum and saw dinosaurs and such and had a great time.

Mariah started on a new basketball team this week--actually two new teams!  The high school players play in a spring league and because Mariah will be a high schooler next year, she and her other teammates from bantam get to be included!  So, Mariah played in one game Monday night, three games Thursday night, and had a bantam game on Saturday.  Too much?  Not for Mariah.  She also had track practice everyday after school and in time trials, ran a 6:11 mile.  You go girl!

Megan had a tennis lesson on Saturday this week and also had track practice everyday after school.  She keeps getting rides home from a certain boy named Josh!  So, when an invitation to Prom showed up at our door late one night this week, we weren't at all surprised to find it was his name wrapped up in the tootsie rolls left on the doorstep!

Sarah got a big group of friends together and hiked the Y last night.  She even drove the van and invited Megan and some of her friends along, too.  They had a great time!  Sarah also worked this week and played tennis and got a new phone since her last one broke!  It was pretty exciting.

We saw Savannah briefly last night.  She misses her roommate but is still hanging out aplenty with the other girls on her hall.  She is having a really hard time getting her research paper done which is past due in her English class.  She says it is because she is traumatized by the junior research paper she did in high school.  Who is she to fight against PTSD?

Kevin's been feeling really well lately and even ran nine miles yesterday morning!  It was nice for him to have a day off since he had to work last Saturday.  We like having him around!

I went to a writing workshop all last week and boy howdy was it fun!  It was in Orem from 9 to 3 so I was still able to come home and help the kids get to the places they needed to in the afternoons and do most of the things I do to help around the house.  While I was there, though, I learned the tricks to making a living as an author which in the mind of David Farland, our presenter, is the same as making it big.  According to Dave, you make millions or you make nothing.  But, he firmly believes that it is completely doable for anyone willing to put in the work required and do it right.  I learned a lot and really enjoyed sitting around believing I could make it for a whole week!  I suppose we will see how valuable his lessons are as time goes by.  For the here and now, I met some really fun people and am super glad that I did it!

Benjamin, of course, had the most different of a week because I went to the writing course.  Lucky for me and for him, he got to spend most of the week with his Grandma Gazdik!  He spent Wednesday with his friend, Brandt, and on Friday, Kevin stayed home from work and all of the kids had no school so they were all fine.  On Thursday, though, when I picked him up from Grandma Gazdik I got to see how Grandma had taught him how to catch a ball and how they worked on their letters and their numbers!  It sounded like they both had a great week.

Bethany still had ballet and jazz and we didn’t get as much homework and reading done as usual, so she had a bit more time with friends.  Her friend, Macie, came over on Saturday and I think that was the most fun she had all week!

Cali and Cheyenne had a good week although they had to wait for laundry on Thursday and were inconvenienced by that!  They had a steady stream of friends to fill their day on Friday, but on Saturday, a sudden dearth!  They were so bored!  I did remind them how lucky they were to be twins and that they did have each other, but it didn’t seem to do much good.  They are still enjoying the day they have Up With Kids and get to practice their parts in the musical.

Mariah went to the dentist this week (I know!  Why this week?) and had no cavities.  Yay!  She also continued track practice everyday afterschool this week and had a Choir concert on Wednesday night.  I couldn’t go as it was the only day that our workshop had an evening component, but Grandma Gazdik said she enjoyed the concert very much! 

Megan put in her application at Reams Saturday!  Hopefully that will turn into a good thing!  She also was able to resume running at track practices this week and had many fun times, cooling off in the creek after one practice and running to the white spot on the mountain at another.  On Thursday she went with a guy friend of hers (and his youth group) to the temple to do baptisms.  Friday she went with a group of friends to watch a movie at someone’s house.

Sarah was my “on-call” driver this week and helped me out.  I couldn’t have done it without her.  She still got to work three times this week and even played in a tennis tournament this weekend made up of the kids in her tennis group.  On Saturday night she took the van and filled it with boys and girlfriends and they went bowling in Orem.  It sounded like they had a great time!

Savannah’s roommate sustained a serious injury to her knee during Rugby practice and now has to move to the first floor.  Savannah’s made friends with all the girls on her hall so she is suffering a dilemma trying to decide if she should move to the first floor with Johana or stay on her third-floor hall!  They sure do all have a good time together.

Kevin was the keynote speaker in a conference on Saturday and went to be a guest-teacher at a priesthood meeting in a BYU ward today.  On Wednesday evening he started two new group classes that will run for several weeks.  The poor guy is being run ragged at work and when he gets home he gets asked by Cali and Chey to practice their softball and by Megan and Beth to have help with their Chinese.  Then he’s off to practice with Mariah’s basketball team.  He’s played a few games with our church men’s basketball team, but unfortunately (fortunately?) they lost by one point on Saturday and are done for the year.  Prayers for him that he will continue to operate as our household Superman are definitely in order!

This is the only picture I took this week and it is a picture of our live game of Hungry Hippos that we played Tuesday night for Young Men/Young Women!

Mariah's school play opened this week!  She played the chorus role of the farmer's wife in The Music Man.  She actually got a one-line song solo--which she did great on!  It was super fun to see her on stage and the whole group did a great job.  My mom came from Las Vegas to see it and stayed until Friday morning.  Kevin, Sarah, Bethany, my mom, and I saw the play on Thursday night.  On Saturday night Kevin and I went again as did Megan, Savannah, Cali, Chey, and Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik.  It was fun to see how they had already improved!  They'll perform once more on Monday night and then it will all be just a memory.  I think it's been a great experience for her.

Cali and Cheyenne are all dressed up in that picture because they just barely returned from a fancy birthday party in time to go to the play.  Their friend invited a group of girls to her house in their fanciest dresses to get their hair and nails done and go see the movie Cinderella.  They had a ball and looked gorgeous enough for one, too!

 

 My mom and I had a great time while she was here in addition to Mariah's play, which, of course, was the highlight.  We visited and talked everyday and she was patient with all the chores and childrearing I needed to do inbetween.  On Wednesday, Grandma took Ben out to McDonald's for his birthday and then to WalMart to pick out his present.  He picked out Transformers--no surprise there--and was so thrilled!

 

That night we got to go see The Lamb of God, a large orchestral and choral performance, which we took the Young Women to see and I had extra tickets so my mom came, too!  On Thursday, Mom and I went out for lunch and then strolled through Springville's art museum which Mom has driven past but never before had a chance to go see!  I'm so glad she could come.  It was so great to have her tender presence in our home.  I just love that gal!

Sarah and Megan both got their bridges smashed this week at school and both of them held over 200 lbs!  Hooray!  Hooray for Grandpa Jim's help, too!

Also this weekend was Sarah's much-anticipated turn with one of the programmed baby dolls for her child development class!  A lot of people had told her how much they hadn't liked it so by the time Sarah's turn came, her excitement had dimmed.  I think she actually did enjoy it, though--probably more than she will admit.  You want to give Sarah a grade on how well she takes care of a baby doll?  Um, yes!  Sign her up!  Bethany thought it was a great assignment, too, and carried her doll around on Saturday so she could burp her baby and change its diaper with Sarah, too.  I think, though, that Sarah is looking forward to turning the baby in and getting a full night's sleep again!  I knew she was getting a bit of a real look at the experience when she said, "I feel so confined, like I can't go anywhere!"  Um, yes.

The last big thing this week was that Mariah got to go to her first church dance!  She and Megan went together and impressively, had a great time!

It was a great week!

Savannah went to Divine Comedy with the girls on her hall last night and had a great time.  Her computer programming class is really challenging her, but she is hanging in there!

Sarah worked Monday and Wednesday this week.  She started a new tennis group that just meets on Fridays and she seems to like it.  She took all of her sisters to the movie theatre Friday night so they could watch Into the Woods.  Savannah even met up with them with all her friends from her hall.  Isn't that fun?

Megan had track practice all week but had to take it easy toward the end of the week because of pain in her calf.  She thought she was better Saturday and unfortunately went on a run with her dad.  Now she is in pain again!  Hopefully she will recover before her first meet on Tuesday.

Mariah went to rehearsals all week until five o'clock and then had an all-day rehearsal on Saturday.  She had basketball practice, too, this week a couple of times and played in a game which they won easily Saturday night.

Cheyenne and Calianne had a bit more time to play with friends and read this week, although they still had a rehearsal for their play and piano lessons.  I also took them to the dentist.  No cavities!  Yay!  On Saturday they had a piano recital.  Sarah played, too, and Mariah would have played but she was at the aforementioned all-day rehearsal.  They all did a great job and are fun to listen to!  They're getting really good at the piano.

Bethany had ballet and jazz this week and I remembered BOTH (although it was a close one with the ballet class)!  She also had Dr. Seuss day at school and she dressed up as Thing 2.  Sarah's wig made it simple!

Benjamin started a "Tiny Tots" sports class down at city rec.  They did some soccer and some basketball and some gymnastics and even played with a parachute.  He seems to like it!  Today after the first hour of church he ran out to the creek instead of going to primary.  I rounded him back up, but he is a go-er!

On Wednesday night this week, I found a free concert at BYU that would satisfy both Mariah and Megan's requirement to watch a live performance for their choir and orchestra classes respectively.  It was BYU's Baroque Ensemble and I didn't stop smiling from the moment they started until the final note!  Wow!  What fun to have an excuse to go to a concert like that, again.

My mom arrived yesterday afternoon and will be with us for a week!  She'll be here for Mariah's opening night on Thursday next week.  That'll be another great performance!  Lucky me!

This week, Benjamin had Joy School at our house!  His mom taught about feelings and about being honest.  We finger painted different emotions on paper plates and colored pictures about the boy who cried wolf!  He finished his challenge to not play on the ipad for a whole week and he picked out some new Magformers for his prize!  On Saturday, he spent the whole day helping his Dad help a family in our ward move to a new house.  He pretty much loves helping and being with the boys.

Bethany and I continue to read together and play piano together everyday.  She went to ballet this week, but I forgot about jazz!  Can you believe it?  Bethany cried and cried . . . and cried!  She asked me about it just as the class was ending.  She remembered!  Wednesday was a half day of school and I think it threw me off.  She is a forgiving soul and still loves me, but I had better remember next week!

Cali and Cheyenne had their last game of basketball this week.  They played Monday and Wednesday and won both times.  In the last game, they both scored.  It was pretty exciting!  They got to go with their team on Saturday to the BYU Women's basketball game.  They had tons of fun there, too!  It's been a good experience for them.

Mariah also had her last basketball game this week for Springville Rec.  She played on Tuesday and Thursday.  On Tuesday, the Mia Maid class came to cheer them on and that was fun for everybody.  On Thursday, Mariah had play rehearsal until 5:00 and her game started at 4:30.  I picked her up from the school and brought her straight to the game.  She got there at half-time and I got to watch her do some great drives, make amazing passes, and shoot a three-pointer.  She is a rock star!  Oh, and did I mention that they were first place in the league?  They all got Champion t-shirts--even their good-looking coach!

Megan had track practice all week and had to listen to her mom bug her about getting a job.  She and Mariah played in a church basketball game again on Saturday and had fun doing that.  She also dragged Mariah out for a 5-mile run Saturday.  They're amazing!

Sarah always comes home happy after tennis but this week especially, Sarah came home on a huge high!  She's just so good and she is having so much fun!  She also worked three days this week and she usually enjoys that a lot, too.  On Saturday night she went to see her school's play and she brought Megan, Mariah, Cali, and Chey with her, too.  She even paid for all of them!  They all had a great time.  I love that they love being together.

Savannah called a couple times this week to moan about the terrible cold that had taken over her life.  She had a miserable week.  By Saturday, though, when she stopped by after playing Dungeons and Dragons with some friends in Springville, she was feeling a lot better.  Yay!