Ben was sick this week.  He woke up with a little cough Sunday morning and came into our room early Monday morning unable to breathe!  Which inevitably led to the wrapping-up-in-blankets and sitting-in-the-cold-on-the-porch trick.  Kevin got the humidifier set up and we made Ben a tent.  He could breathe fine with it, but he did need to sleep in it for the next three nights.  He ran a fever for 2 1/2 days, too.  Needless to say, he missed school.  In fact, he didn't go at all last week!  He even missed his Valentine party!  He is finally feeling better and (after much coaxing) he even came to church today.

Bethany had her school Valentine party on Wednesday.  They went on a field trip in the morning to see the play Peter Pan!  So it was all-day fun!  She is a good little student and does homework with me every night.  On Tuesday night, her school celebrated Chinese New Year and she and her dad went together!

Calianne and Cheyenne made elaborate Valentine boxes for their Valentine party.  They were so excited about it.  Then Calianne got sick Wednesday afternoon and missed school Thursday and Friday and missed the school party!  So sad!  Before she got sick, though, Cali and Chey played in basketball games on Monday and Wednesday and their dad coached!

Mariah had no game on Tuesday this week but played in games on Friday.  She played great.  Kevin and I went to watch her 7:00 game as part of our Friday night date (as we've been doing a lot lately)!  It was fun!  Next week is her last game!  She loves it so much and doesn't want it to end.

Megan worked Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday!  She also got to participate in a big FCCLA shindig at BYU during school hours on Thursday.  She had to recycle or repurpose items into a new item.  She took old jeans and old curtains (some of you may recognize these!) and made a skirt.  It turned out super cute and she even got a ribbon!

 

Sarah worked Monday, Friday, and Saturday.  She and the other Sterling Scholars from SHS got driven out to Westlake on Tuesday for their interviews.  Sarah had a great time.  Even though she didn't progress to the next round, she's had a great experience and it's been a fun ride!  We had a fun time helping her practice, too!  She also started her internship for this semester which is helping in a junior high math class.  She misses her kindergarteners!  But she gets to see Mariah every now and then and even graded one of her tests.  That's pretty cool.

I attended Life the Universe and Everything (LTUE) Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Provo.  It's a writing conference for Science Fiction and Fantasy writers.  We happen to have a pretty awesome sampling of authors in these genres in Utah.  Among the more prestigious of the panelists to whom I listened this week were:  Brandon Sanderson, Kevin Anderson, Shannon Hale, and Dan Wells.  It was so cool to get to know the people behind some of my favorite books!  They were all super-personable and fun.  But seriously, the amount of work that goes into being an author is mind-blowing and disheartening.  After three full days of classes I wonder, "Why was it I wanted to be an author in the first place?"  Which makes me laugh.  I don't think conferences are supposed to have that kind of effect on you!  Anyway, I did have a great time.

Shannon Hale doing the keynote.

Sarah found out this week that she is a semi-finalist for our region's Sterling Scholar winner!  That means she gets to go to the interviews!  Ok.  She's not really that excited to have to go get interviewed, but it is an honor.  Maybe mom and dad are more excited than she is!  She also got the news that she was accepted at Utah State.  There are a lot of great things happening in her life!

Sarah's Sterling Scholar Picture

Megan hates school and hates her life and wants to go live in a hole.  So, this week was much the same as others.  She made a super-cute, animated video in her Digital Media class about an evil mug of cocoa.  It was terrifically funny!  She also continues to knock herself out studying and getting straight A's and practicing for the upcoming track season.  We love her to bits and are so glad she doesn't live in a hole.

Mariah had an epic day this week!  She got to start in the Sophomore game, the JV game, AND the Varsity game all on the same day!  That probably won't ever happen again in her whole life.  She doesn't usually even play in the Varsity game, but the coach asked everyone to shoot on their own last Saturday.  When she asked who had actually done the practice, only five raised their hands.  To teach a lesson, she let those five start the Varsity game and sat all her usual starters!  She only played two minutes of the Varsity game but we were all there to cheer her on!  That was Tuesday, she had games again Friday.  In Friday's last game, they won in the last twenty seconds of the game when the ball was stolen and passed to Mariah for the winning lay-up!  Such good times!

Cheyenne and Calianne have been loving their basketball this week, too.  They only had two games and one practice this week but they loved all of it.  Cheyenne had to have four baby teeth pulled this week that were getting in the way of her orthodontist's grand plan.  None of the roots had dissolved, so they left gaping holes in their wake.  Ouch!  She stayed home from school but then joined her activity days group (including Calianne) to tour the temple and then rush over for an afternoon basketball game!  What a trooper!

Bethany had dance and piano and school and played with her sisters and Ben and her friends.  She also loves to talk to her teenage-sister's friends whenever any come to the house.  She is quite the social butterfly.  She went with Cali and Chey sledding on Saturday when we had a sunny day after all the snow fell this week!  She had fun with her sisters.

Benjamin had a cavity that got filled this week.  They said he did well!  yay!  He got a balloon so he was happy.  I babysat twice this week and he loved having extra friends around for that.  He put his train track all back together with some help from a friend.  I was impressed!  He also had his 100th day of school and made this cute hat!

Kevin left on Thursday for Arizona where he is being trained to teach the workshops he attended last year.  We won't see him until tonight and we can't wait to have him back!  He will probably be doing this four times a year from now on.  It's a great opportunity and we will continue to be happy each time he returns to us!

I worked seventeen paid hours this week!  All from home!  I'm so impressed I managed to fit so much in.  I won't usually work that many hours, but the first week of the month is always time-consuming in accounting.  I'm glad I could do it.

 

Last Sunday, we were treated to a scripture skit by our youngest four.  That is King Benjamin that you see up on that stool and families who set up their tents to listen to him gathered in front.  It was pretty awesome!

Sarah got to attend a banquet at UVU for Sterling Scholars on Thursday night.  Kevin and I got to go, too!  We had a lovely dinner and got to talk with the dean of the Education college (since that is what Sarah would like to study) and heard talks from UVU people.  It was fun to be treated special for the recognition that she received.  She is a pretty awesome girl!

Megan has started training for the track season.  She stays after school some days and on other days comes home and uses our treadmill.  She is enjoying that new addition to our home and has it going faster than I ever will!  She also worked Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday night she and Sarah went over to the high school to watch the final events in the Mr. Springville competition.  They had a great time cheering for the boys!

Mariah had games Tuesday and Friday.  I always say "games" because our school always has a JV game, then a Varsity game, and then a Sophomore game.  Mariah plays in the JV game and in the Sophomore game.  I got to watch her on Friday and she is playing great.  They won all their games that day.  We also got her some contacts to try out this week.  It's a new thing for her and she's not sure she likes it, yet, so we shall see!  Mariah also got the chance to sing with her school choir at a BYU men's basketball game on Thursday night.  Kevin went, too.  BYU won by 20 and they had a great time.

Cheyenne and Calianne played basketball games Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday with practice on Thursday.  They are loving playing so much and loving the time with their dad.  He is impressed with the progress they've made and they're all having a great time winning games!  Poor Cali had stomach flu on Saturday and Cheyenne had to entertain herself and go to the basketball game without her constant companion and friend!  We are all glad she is feeling better!

Bethany's school had "Walk for Wishes" this week which meant that they spent their recess time walking to earn pledges to buy books for kids in schools in Honduras.  Parents were invited on Friday, so Ben and I went and walked two laps around the school with her.  What a good program!

Benjamin is still enjoying school and asks me sometimes to spell words so he can write things down.  It gives me hope that he will one day figure this reading thing out!  He spent some time watching Curious George this week and one day as I came walking into the room I caught him yelling to George, "No!  No!  NO!"  At least he's got more sense than that monkey!  Ha ha! That's what I always want to yell at George, too!

We got lots and lots and lots of snow on Saturday.  Kevin went out with Cheyenne and Ben (Bethany was at a friend's house and Cali was sick!) and built a couple of snowmen!  They had some fun in the snow!

Anna and Erin came to see us on Monday of this week!  They came for dinner and stayed for FHE so they could tell us about their fantastic missions to Japan!  They even brought pictures that Kevin displayed on the TV for us.  We got to see Japan from its fields and farm country to its big cities.  What a great experience those two had and what a great experience for our family to have them come share their spirit and enthusiasm with us!  We love them!

Unfortunately, at the end of that night, I fell and twisted my ankle.  Ouch! So, Tuesday I spent all of the day sitting with my foot up.  I still managed to get a lot done at my computer and Ben was a big help before he left for school.  Kevin came home from work early and was able to pick up Bethany from school and watch all of Mariah's basketball games at the high school and bring us home some pizza between games!  Sarah took Bethany to dance lessons.  So the only driving I had to do Tuesday was to pick up from dance while dropping off the twins at piano.  I also picked them up from piano, but I did get a lot of help that day!

Wednesday my ankle was a lot better, though not 100%.  Sarah picked up Beth from school, but I did hobble over to Cali and Cheyenne's Springville rec basketball game against their most feared rival!  They did not win!  But they played great!  Cali and Chey both scored a lot and stole the ball and played great defense and Cheyenne's shot at the final buzzer swooshed in!  It was very exciting.  I'm glad I didn't miss it!  Afterward, I went over to the church where Sarah, Megan, and Mariah were practicing with the rest of the youth with the wards that meet in our building to learn the dance for the Cultural Celebration that we will be doing before the temple dedication.  So far, the dance is proving tricky and we are behind schedule!  We will all just keep praying and working hard.

Thursday our new WII came in the mail.  New for us but used off of ebay!  Chey, Cali, Beth, and Ben all got $25 WalMart giftcards from our neighbor for Christmas.  They've all been asking when I was going to take them so they could SPEND it!  Meanwhile, at school, Cali and Chey's teacher lets them play Just Dance when their work is done for the day and they come home to tell me all about their exploits.  I got to wondering if they put their cards together, if they could get their own Just Dance.  Ha, ha.  The game costs between $20-$50 but the WII itself costs $300!  So, I talked them into giving me their cards for groceries, and I'd pay the $99.99 for a WII off of ebay that came with two controllers and eight games, three of which were all different versions of Just Dance.  Love it!  And so do they!  We've had some amazing dance-offs in our back room!  Beth and Ben can totally rock it and don't get me started on when Megan and Mariah get going!  What moves!  Anyway, it's been a fun addition to the household and they played on it most of Thursday night.

Friday, Springville High School played against Mapleton--our arch rivals!  Kevin and I went over to watch the JV game, which we lost, but Mariah played great!  Then Kevin and Sarah stayed and watched the Varsity game where they had a heartbreaking 2 point loss!  I came and joined the crowd once again for the Sophomore game at 7:00.  They lost again!  Mariah again played fantastic, though!  We had four players out because of injury and Mapleton better watch out for our rematch . . .

Saturday the kids and I all went to see Pan at the cheap theatre.  It was fun and we managed to eat through a jumbo popcorn and its refill.  We think Ben ate most of it and he was definitely the one asking me to get another refill!  Funny guy!  That evening Cali and Chey had a Bantam basketball game at the high school and I went over to watch.  They did great and both scored!  After dinner, Kevin and I went to the adult session of Stake Conference.  We got smoothies afterward and came home to find the twins playing Monopoly with Sarah and Jacob, and Beth and Ben playing Just Dance with Megan and Mariah.  Megan managed to extract a promise from her dad that he would give it a try at some later date.  I'm pretty sure she's not giving up on that!

Also this week, our neighbor for whom we did the twelve days of Christmas, brought over hand-knitted gifts to thank us!  The olders of us got scarves and the four youngest got hats and my kids have been wearing them in and out of the house all week.  They just love them!

Some are more goofy with them than others!

This was the last week of the kids' first semester.  They're half-way done! We tried to get a little excitement going in our house over this milestone but we mostly got grunts and blank stares.  I suppose they are too weighed down by the months still in front of them!

Sarah and Megan both finished their first semester with flying colors!  In preparation for the upcoming semester, Megan convinced Sarah to drop her Sociology class and take Drawing with her instead!  They are both excited for that, at least.  They both worked a few days this week and had the most fun when they worked together and went to Chick-Fil-A afterwards to celebrate the end of their shift!  They always have a good time together.

Mariah played in basketball games on Tuesday and did terrific, as usual!  I took all four of her younger siblings to watch her on Tuesday night at the high school counting on someone letting us in for a discount.  The VP who used to be in our ward, saw me at the ticket counter and let us in for FREE!  Yay!  It was a night to watch big sister play!  On Friday, we had no school, so Mariah took advantage of the extra time and convinced me to take her to the DMV for her learner's permit.  She passed the written exam!  She's ready for the roads!

Cheyenne's big news of the week is that she got the dubious honor of being the second person in our family to get braces on her teeth!  She's been a bit anxious about it before and after, but now seems to be adjusting well and is coming to terms with her new teeth routine and her new look!  Calianne was a bit jealous that Cheyenne got to miss school, but I think is, overall, glad to let Cheyenne be the twin who gets this experience!

Bethany and Benjamin are both still enjoying school.  They play with friends afterschool, sometimes with Beth's friends, sometimes with Ben's, and sometimes separately with their own friends!  I think it's great all that they are learning and becoming and how much they love each other.

Sarah had her last day interning in the special needs Kindergarten class this week.  She loved those sweet little kids and they loved her!  She made them each a rubber band bracelet in farewell and they made her a crown and a giant thank-you card.  It was a sweet experience for her.  She also worked a few days this week and worked hard writing the essays for her Sterling Scholar application when she was home.  She did manage to squeeze in some play, too, and planned a game night at our house Saturday night with girls and boys.  Megan was one of them!  They had a great time!

Megan worked a couple of days this week, too and went to a friend's house Friday night to watch a movie.  She had a test four out of five days this week and spent copious amounts of time studying, but also managed to finish the trilogy she and I found and love: Shadow and Bone.  I still need to read the second book!  She's a reader that girl!

Mariah had games three days this week!  She loved it especially since every practice day would be followed by a game day so their coaches couldn't run them until they dropped at any of the practices this week!  Mariah continues to play great and I was at the game Saturday when she swished a 3-pointer just for me!

Cali and Chey played in their first Springville Rec games this week on Monday and Wednesday.  They have a good little team and their dad again as coach.  They won both games and played great.  They also resumed piano lessons this week and are doing really well there, too.  They had mixed feelings about going back to school.  I think they accept it as a necessary evil and made the best of it.

Bethany was excited to go back to school!  She got to see her teachers again and her friends.  They mixed the kids up differently between the red and blue classes because the teachers decided that all the talkers were in one class and needed to be spread out!  Beth's class is much quieter now and she likes that.  She also got to go back to dance class this week and she loved that!

Benjamin was also excited to go back to school!  He definitely missed it, which is good since he wasn't sure he liked it before!  His friends have been a little scarce after school, but his sisters have been good to include him in their play.  Today he got into bed with me this morning as I tried to sleep in,  He insisted the night had been "too long" and then proceeded to ask me for a "live animal" like his sisters had gotten for their birthdays.  He wanted one, too.  I asked him what he wanted and he came up with a monkey, a bear, or a dolphin, before I decided maybe I ought to give him some more realistic options.  Fortunately for me, he is now sold on the idea of getting a pet snail when spring comes again!  This will be much easier than the tube he said he could put around the tree in my bedroom to keep his monkey.

Kevin is busy with basketball games both as coach and as spectator.  He has gone for runs on our treadmill and is working on a new website he's hoping to launch in February.

I worked some more hours for my little accounting job.  I also wrote some articles and launched my new blog "On Parenting" at parentingsunshine.blogspot.com.  Now I just need to get about 50,000 followers!  That doesn't even sound possible . . . but ya gotta start somewhere, right?

We had a nice week staying home from school and sleeping late.  Kevin had to work Monday and Tuesday, but joined us in our relaxing from Wednesday on!  It was really great!

On Monday, I took the four youngest to Toys R Us to use the gift cards they got from their grandma and grandpa Skinner.  That was the very longest they could possibly wait!  They had great fun picking out presents and played with them the rest of the day!

On Tuesday, the big present Kevin and I got for ourselves arrived!  We are now the proud owners of a fold-up, also folds-into-a-walking-desk treadmill!  I can walk and write at the same time and Kevin can do his running and walking without having to leave home.  Also, our kids are excited!  Bethany and Ben are especially enamored of it!

Kevin had a captivated audience.

Ben sings while he walks.  It's pretty cute!

On Wednesday, we made a family trip to Barnes and Noble!  Grandma and Grandpa Elton got the kids gift cards to use there.  We had so much fun!  So many books! So little time!  We worked so hard we took ourselves out to lunch at Sonic afterward with money from Grandma Mary!  We had to get back home before 1:00 because Cali, Chey, and Kevin had basketball practice then.  Sarah and Megan worked later and Mariah had basketball practice later, too.  Busy days, fun times!

Thursday was New Year's Eve!  And lucky us, the BYU Women's basketball team had a home game!  We all went (although Dad took Megan and Mariah back early since Meg had to work and Mariah had to go to basketball practice) and we even brought a couple of the twins' friends with us, too!  Since we never made it to a game last year, Ben was a much better spectator than he was when last we had come (when he was three!).  He danced during all the timeouts with his sisters and they even got featured on the jumbotron!  BYU played great and won!  It was fun.

The Chicken Dance after third quarter!

I decided they needed their picture taken with Jimmer Fredette!

That night, our friends, the Groslands, came over for our traditional Christmas Eve night of games, visiting, and snacking until midnight!  The kids always run in the snow in their bare feet at midnight, but this year we added a new twist and took the whole gang for a double loop around Brookside Drive (with our shoes on)!  We love those people!  It is always so fun!

Friday was my birthday!  Sooo, I slept in late and then my husband took me to see Star Wars VII!  We even got jumbo popcorn and some lemonade.  Yum!  Afterwards, we went to The Bombay House for an early dinner.  I even got a Mango Lassi!  Double Yum!  That night we all watched The Maze Runner in our family room.  It was a fun, fun day!  Happy Birthday to me!  That night I remembered to open my presents.  My mom made me a cute bag and Savannah sent me a t-shirt, too!

I can totally do the selfie thing!

Saturday we went sledding with Aunt Sanae and cousin Julia who were here dropping off cousins Anna and Erin just back from their missions and starting their semester at BYU!  Poor Julia doesn't get snow in California so she talked all of us into sledding!  We were glad that she did!  The kids (and Kevin!) all really liked it, but Ben especially ran back up EVERY time and let exactly .03 seconds elapse before he jumped back on the sled and went down again.  Wow!  He must enjoy that! Good thing we had a California girl teach us not to take our snow for granted!  We had a fun day.

That night Sarah, Megan, and Mariah cheered on Cali and Chey and Dad in their bantam basketball game.  They won again!  It was a great week!