Family togetherness and an iPad -- as long as you only have one!

Guess who's driving?  All on her own!  We actually went and finished all the rigamarole for her license about a month ago and she's been driving since then.  But her license finally came in the mail so I could take a picture of her with it and make the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!  I have to say that I LOVE having Savannah be able to drive.  I thought that I would enjoy having her run errands and take her sisters places, which she's done a little bit, but the biggest boon is just that she can take herself places!  It is awesome.  I love it!  I think she loves it, too . . .

Savannah also, of course, returned from her choir tour this week.  She came breezing back through our door Tuesday morning while we were getting ready for school.  "Savannah!!!"  We were all excited.  She had a terrific time.  She is still working on her edition of the Skinner Update . . .

Megan got a new shirt over the weekend and got to wear it to school.  Fun, huh?  After a brief hiatus where she was too old to love pink as her favorite color, it is now her favorite color once again.  She is a liberated woman!

Speaking of new shirts, Cheyenne has a long-sleeved, black and white striped shirt that she wears every Thursday because she has self-designated all Thursdays as "Zebra Day." Unfortunately (or fortunately rather), the weather is getting too warm for long-sleeved shirts. So, Cheyenne needed a new shirt. We made an iron-on with our computer and turned a shirt we already had into a new Zebra shirt for Cheyenne. It turned out pretty well! Now Calianne is telling me that Fridays are Cheetah days. . .

On Thursday night our Relief Society had a dinner for mothers and daughters.  Which meant that the Skinners had a table to themselves!  It was fun to have all my girls with me and it was fun for them to be invited and to be a part of the organization where their mom spends so much time.

On Saturday night, Megan and her friends decided to host a party for the rest of Megan's sisters (it's really just always girls' night around here)!  They went shopping for frappe and decorated the back yard with baby quilts and Christmas lights.  Then everyone needed to wear a crazy hat.  The hardest part was waiting until 8 o'clock when the festivities finally would begin!

We have new neighbors (again -- even though I loved my old neighbors!) and Ben's new favorite pasttime is to follow their cat which he calls, "Meow."  I am happy to report that the cat is extraordinarily patient and Ben has even gotten up the courage to pick up the cat and carry it around!  The poor cat!  But Ben is very happy!



I am happy that my front room often looks like this:

This week Megan has been finishing the Hunger Games trilogy and Mariah has been frantically reading straight through the first Hunger Games.  Who says movies can't inspire better readers?  Here Sarah is even rereading some of the Hunger Games, although she's been reading other stuff this week. 

We've been having some really nice weather -- days that even I would classify as warm!  It is so nice to walk outside and not have the air bite you.  I find myself still tensing up whenever I walk outside and then --- aww, relax.  It's nice out!  The kids have been outside alot.  Especially this guy:

This bike is propped against the tree, but it still gives him the illusion of riding it!  Considering Ben has been playing outside all week, I think it's impressive that he's only been brought back by the neighbors once.  Mostly, we keep good track of him and mostly he has been staying close to where his sisters are -- who he calls, "guys."  He runs after them calling, "Guys!  Guys!"  He likes to pull the wagon up and down the street and riding his little blue "car."  He has also discovered dirt.  He sits and plays in it, making piles and doing whatever it is little boys do with dirt.  I walked up next to him this week and said, "Playing in dirt again, Ben?  That's fun!"  Bethany who was playing nearby looked at me like I was crazy and said, "No it's not, Mom!"  That's my little girl!

Savannah left us this week.  *Sob!*  She left at 4:45 Thursday morning for her long-anticipated choir tour.  You know the one that she got the job for so she could pay for it herself!  She will be gone through Monday and will get back to the high school early Tuesday morning.  They went through Las Vegas and down to California.  She has promised to do a special edition Skinner Update when she gets back to let us know what all she did!  It will be worth waiting for  . . .  Meanwhile, we miss her and find ourselves with lots more computer time than we're used to.  :(

Sarah, Megan, and I went to the church to watch the YW broadcast on Saturday night.  It was REALLY good and it was fun to be there with my girls.  Although we missed Savannah.  :)

As you may, or may not know, taxes for corporations were due on March 15th -- Thursday -- of this past week.  Kevin now has two corporations which need to file and his accountant was slacking!  Luckily, she (by which I mean "I") got on the ball this week.  On Monday I finished up the financial statements, on Tuesday I filed federal and state for Growth Climate Therapy Services, on Wednesday I filed federal and state for Therapy Support Center, and on Thursday (since I was on a roll) I filed our income taxes -- federal and state. (Then on Thursday night we went to our caucus meeting!  It was a government-filled week.)  I am very, very, very, very happy to be done with the taxes.  Just think of all the fun things I can do now that those cumbersome jobs are done!!!

We had a very lovely, spring-like week.

The kids got to spend a lot of time outdoors!  And since we haven't had rain for awhile, there wasn't even the usual spring mud problem.  (Since it is rain/snowing right now, I guess we will deal with that this upcoming week!)

We had no school on Friday because it was the end of the quarter.  We didn't do anything special, though.  The kids played with friends and read books and enjoyed being able to do whatever they wanted.  The twins in particular enjoyed the day, though, since they invited over a friend from school who is not in our neighborhood, Karlee, who brought her little sister and they all played from 2:00, then asked for a late night, and stayed until 9:00pm!  Such ecstatic fun!

Saturday was St. Patrick's day!  Most of us wore green, but the day probably would have gone by mostly uncelebrated if not for Megan who spent a large part of her day making us some St. Patrick's day cookies!

  Isn't she awesome?

In return, I spent a good part of my day Saturday sewing a pretty top for her to wear to orchestra concerts.  I actually bought it for her to sew, but it turned out that I really wanted to do it.  :)  I get that way sometimes.  We're going to put ruffles on it, too, though, and she wants to do that part, so we will see how that improvisation on our part goes! 

Hiya!!!

Yes, that is a black eye that Ben is sporting.  He split his eyebrow open again about a centimeter above where he got stitches a few months back.  This time we sealed it shut with super glue.  It wasn't as deep as last time.  He pulled a chair down on himself.  Nice, huh?  Needless to say, it hasn't slowed him down any.

In fact, he is Mr. Tough Guy around here.  Like in this picture . . .

Yes, that is Cheyenne in the wagon.  He pulled her all around the block!  He also likes to ride in the wagon, as does Beth, but apparently doing the pulling has great appeal, as well.

On Monday Savannah and Sarah went to see the high school play, The Curious Savage.  They said it was great fun!

On Wednesday Kevin and I went to temple night.

On Thursday Kevin and I took Bethany with us and we went to a wedding reception.  Bethany thought it was vastly exciting.  She got to be alone with mom and dad, she got to ride in Dad's car, she got to be out at night, she got to see the magical reception with the pretty bride, and then she even got a cookie and got to keep the clear plastic plate.  She talked nonstop the whole time.  She made it a very memorable reception.  :)

On Friday we had a YW tournament basketball game.  Kevin, as highcouncilman, was in on the meetings where the stake sports director said, "We just don't have enough interest to have a YW basketball team."  To which you may imagine Kevin's response.  So, we won again on Friday!  They played really, really, really well.  Everyone said, "Good job, coach!" to me (Kevin can't be coach because he's a man and it's a YW team and all) and I just shrugged and said, "I didn't do anything!"  The funny thing is that out of all the girls on the team, Kevin had coached all of them except two on city league teams.  Who was really responsible for how well those girls played, hmmmmm?  It was very fun for Kevin to watch.  Savannah played, too!  Three Skinners on one team!

On Saturday, I worked on Kevin's books all day (blah) except for about two hours when I took the girls to the pool.  I'm going to do a triathlon in June (have I mentioned this?) so I am trying to learn how to swim a long distance.  Cheyenne and Calianne and Bethany were out of their minds with excitement!  Oh, to swim again!!  Megan wanted to go, as well, and we convinced Sarah to come, too.  Mariah was hanging out with her new friends who moved next door at the mall.  (Wow!  She's sophisticated, huh?)  Savannah was working.  Everyone who came had a great time!

Saturday night, the YW played basketball again.  We played at 6:00 and won again!  Go team!  That meant we got to play in the Championship Game at 7:30.  Rah, rah!  Sadly, we finally met our match -- or rather we were finally quite outmatched and we lost.  Still, that put us in second place for our region.  Pretty impressive for a stake with no interest, huh?

We were hating Daylight Savings Time this morning, though.  Ugh.  Arizona is looking better and better.

Where we learn that to children, everything is a climbing toy!

Monday night Mariah had a patriotic program at school presented by the whole 5th grade.
 

She did great and we felt very patriotic afterward.  We love that girl!  She did great and sang with great enthusiasm!

Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik came back from their southern retreats this past weekend after being gone for nearly two whole months!!  We sure missed them and we are glad they are back!  They brought some tiny nailpolish pens and the girls had fun doing fancy nails.  Here are Megan's ladybugs.  I am so impressed!

On Tuesday I got to go to YW with Savannah, Sarah, and Megan and talk about accounting as a career possibility along with a massage therapist, a librarian, and an artist.  It was fun to talk about my degree and to remember all the ways it has benefitted me in the past 17 years.  My daughters even learned a little about their mother!

On Friday, Kevin gave a presentation for UAMFT (Utah Association of Marriage and Family Therapists) in Logan on the campus at USU.  It was about using technology to enhance therapy.  I went with him.  He did a great job.  What a stellar presenter he has become! 

We made our trip to Logan a getaway.  Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik watched the kids ("Hey!  Welcome back!  Will you watch our kids?")  and Kevin and I stayed at the Anniversary Inn in Logan.  We had a great time on USU campus, going out to eat, sleeping in late, and coming back home about 2:00 on Saturday.  It was really nice.

On Saturday, Megan and Sarah played in our stake's YW basketball team in the regional tournament.  They won!  They'll play again this coming week and Savannah might even play with them.  Next year, when Mariah is a Beehive . . . Well, we will almost be able to field a whole team with just Skinners.  Crazy, right?  But FUN!

We had a really fun visit from the Gazdiks this week!

That would be the second generation Gazdiks. Aunt Sanae came from their new home in California with Anna, Erin, Jordan, and Julia to visit Kayla at BYU. They left dad Mike, at home.  I actually can't claim credit for this picture (I stole it from Anna's facebook page!  Thanks, Anna!)  It was so fun to have them around for a little while  They are such a fun, happy family!

They even came to Kevin, Sarah, and Megan's last basketball game.  They were great cheerers!  I was impressed.  Megan and Sarah were pumped up and so motivated.  They played great!  They didn't win, though.  It was the best team in the league, afterall.  They ended with a 3-7 season and improved as they went along!  It was fun to watch them and all they can do!

In other news, Ben continues to want to go outside ALL the time.  When the weather first turned cold (yes, back in November), Ben simply took our space heater outside, faced it toward the front yard, and turned it on.  I'm not sure if he's noticed that it didn't work, but he continues to try to convince each of us to bring him outside whenever he can.  He has convinced Sarah a few times this week and Sarah brought her camera.  He is a cute little imp and does reward whoever takes him outside with plenty of joyous smiles.

Mariah seems to not notice that it is cold outside, either.  But then, she's got to get in her 500 shots a day there on our crooked hoop on the back road.

My big project for the week was to move Megan into Sarah and Savannah's room, the bunkbeds into the twins room, the queen bed into Mariah's room, and Bethany up into Benjamin's room.  That's a lot of shuffling around!  The twins are VERY happy.  Mariah after much distress, has decided she is "in paradise."  Bethany and Benjamin are happy, too.  That just leaves my three teenage girls who now share a room.  How will they do?  Time will tell.  The dust (and clothes and bottle collections and books and knick knacks) are still settling.  I am hopeful that they will dandify that room right up.  This is how I made the beds fit:

Wheat buckets!  The dresser is still there.  It is now underneath Megan's bed!  When (if?) they get the room all organized, I will post a new picture so you can be impressed instead of horrified.  :)

Mariah has been going early to school twice a week to sing in the school's choir.  They had a performance on Thursday and they all sang so sweetly.  Mariah just loves to sing and it is so fun to see her spiritedness!

Lastly, we can't end the update without letting you all know that Savannah took her driving road test this week and . . . passed!  She got an 82%.  We're going to make her keep retaking it until it's 100%.  Heh, heh.  Just kidding.  Now we just have to go up to the DMV and get her actual license . . . and add her to our insurance . . . yikes!  Nonetheless, it won't be long now and she'll be roaming those roads on her own!  Go, Savannah!

Sixteen candles . . . make a lovely light

Our oldest child turned sixteen years old this week! What a beautiful girl she is and we're so pleased with the young woman she is turning out to be!  For fun, she went with Annette and Miranda on Saturday out to lunch and to their favorite haunt, the Antique Mall -- which suits the three of them just perfectly!  On Monday night, we had one of her favorite dinners and opened some presents.  One of which recalled her younger days (wasn't that just yesterday?) and brought lots of laughs . . .

You should hear the song it plays!  It is not a PowerPuff Girl song.
It is very funny!

 We also got her some clothes and a leather-bound journal and I made her this lunch bag with her favorite personal Chinese character on it.  She was amazed I could do such a thing -- which made it totally worth it.  It was a fun night.

Mariah and I had our last basketball game this week, and we would just like to personally thank you for all your prayers in our behalf, because . . . WE WON!!  Not only did we win, but it was 20 to 8.  We couldn't even press in the last four minutes!  We hardly knew what to do with ourselves.  After the game, the team all mobbed each other in a huge team hug and jumped up and down chanting "We won!  We won!  We won!"  I don't know.  It kind of made all those losses worth it.  It made the win all the more sweet!  Mariah played a great game as always and scored six points. 

As for me, it's been an interesting experiment to be a basketball coach in a league that keeps score.  I'm really glad I did it.  It's given me a new experience and a new skill to pursue in a life that is sometimes limited in those types of opportunities.  It was a challenge.  I loved it and wished I was better at it.  Isn't it funny how we really don't like to do things we're bad at, but the only way to have things we're good at (and thus have lots of options of things we like to do) is to do the things we're bad at over and over?  God is tricky that way.  Humility built in to the skill -- if we just remember the beginning days -- and if we ever do get any better!  Anyway, Go Team!  It's been a great ride!

I have so many pictures this week, it is blowing my mind!

We also had Valentine's Day this week.  Kevin gave me roses.  He is so sweet.  Calianne (my holiday girl) has had her Valentines written for a whole week beforehand.  It would have been even sooner, but I talked her out of it a couple of times.  Cali and Chey had a great time at their school parties and came home with loads of candy.  Mariah's class got to go see the musical, "The Secret Garden" (one of my favorites!) over at UVU.  They had a great time, too.  I'm thinking junior high and high school Valentine days are not nearly so much fun.

Although, I did braid Megan's hair into a heart for her!
That's kind of fun!

And I shaped our dinner hamburgers in the shape of a heart.
Sarah even took a picture, so it must have been fun, too!
We had cheesecake afterward.

On Friday, we packed up the van and took the whole family down to Las Vegas to see some shows and do some gambling!  Ha, ha!  As if!  We did something way better in Las Vegas because my family lives there!  On the way down, we got to stop at my sister's in Cedar City and she even made us a yummy dinner!  After we literally tore the cousins apart, we made it all the way to LV and to Grandma and Grandpa's house!  Yay!  More hugging and joy! 

Saturday morning, my dad filled a life-long dream for Sarah and took her shooting out in the desert with Kevin, Megan, and Mariah. 

 After lunch, we did go see a show in a casino near the strip -- it just happened to be free and starring my niece and nephew, Samantha and Jack Elton as they competed in their high school improv group. It was great fun. We also got to meet our new little niece while we were there, Hannah Pauline Rich. She is adorable.

After that, we all descended upon a park in Las Vegas. My brother Pete's family came and my sister Amy's family and my sister Diane's family and, of course, Grandma and Grandpa. It was great fun.
 

On Sunday, we went to church in Pete's ward and then we had a wonderful dinner back at Grandma and Grandpa's.

On Monday we had to head back home, but it was a great trip.  The kids all like their cousins so much and I am so grateful for those family friendships that they have for added strength in a dog eat dog world.  Thank you, my brothers and sisters, for having great kids -- and lots of them!  We love you guys.  :)