Updates

If you've never read my husband's blog, consider starting. And if your faithful followers, he's added a new post with updates on our family. http://kingofboise.blogspot.com/

Also I will be removing our photovideo for the Tituses, only because it makes me cry and laugh every time I check my blog and I can't see the keyboard. Love you Tituses.

A great day.

With the kids out of school, and the sun shining, we had a wonderful day at home today. The kids played outside ALL day. I got so much done, sanding, priming, and painting my dining room table and chairs (I'll post pictures on my craft blog when it's all finished).

Mike was able to get a full nights sleep and help me with my painting and other small projects around the house. We ended the day with dinner outside around the fire pit. The kids had the idea and we were happy to go with it. Mike worked with the boys on starting the fire and Caleigh and I got all the stuff out for hot dogs and s'mores. I was a little worried about Elliot, but she was happy and content to sit in her chair and have everything brought to her. What a great day. We hope to have many more like this one.

Parent/Teacher Conference.

Today was parent/teacher conference. I LOVE meeting with my children's teachers and discussing how school is going. Here's some of my favorite comments of the day.

Griffin- His teacher is Misses Weidacher. She is a character to look at. She tells the kids that she dresses in the dark and that is why her socks never match and her skirts never go with her t-shirts. This women is dedicated to teaching, and she has been one of my favorite teachers so far. Anyway...Griffin has caught up on his reading and is on grade level (yeah, we have been working so hard on this). He is also doing so well in speech, that he won't have to attend summer school. He is so glad, he really didn't want to go this year. He has found a love for writing and cracks his teacher up with his facial expressions while he writes.
Griffin took a major blow this past month loosing two good buddies, who have moved, but his teacher says he seems to be doing okay with it. Misses Weidacher says he talks about Boise and all of his family daily. She is as excited as we all are that he gets to visit Boise this summer.

Miles- His teacher is Mrs. Pankey and she has been such a good fit for Miles. Miles can display some OCD habits and she has a daughter with OCD. Mrs. Pankey had nothing but good things to say about Miles, he is "wicked" smart and a leader in the classroom. He is social and gets along with any one she puts him by. She says she often pairs him up with struggling students, knowing Miles will help them out, without telling them the answers. Miles is reading at a 7th grade reading level, and missed 8th grade level because of his speed. I am really proud of Miles, who for the last 3 years has been known as a "talker." It seems he's maturing enough to know when to focus and when to talk.

Caleigh- Her teacher is Mrs. Peck. Mrs. Peck has a rep at the school of being the "meanest teacher" but I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. Caleigh thinks she's great and that's all that matters.

Mrs. Pecks only complaint with Caleigh is she is too quiet. (I have to keep reminding myself "Caleigh is shy"...how did I end up with a shy child?) She said she would love it if Caleigh would jump up on her desk and yell or scream or something. Funny huh?
Caleigh is my biggest reader and she is doing awesome at a 6th grade reading level. She is good in Math (despite the fact she cries over her homework every night). And she is doing good socially. I'm so grateful Caleigh is doing okay socially, when I worry about her so much. She is so shy around big groups of people and can have big melt downs when she feels anxious.

I love checking in and getting one on one time with the women who see my children as much as I do.

Irish Soda Bread

After checking with two different stores for Irish Soda Bread I decided to make my own. The poor thing was too wet and too sticky. It looks nothing like the pictures and I followed the recipe exactly. Oh well, I've already sampled a corner and it taste wonderful, it just looks more like a pancake than a round loaf of bread.





Since tomorrow is a busy day for us, we are having our (new) traditional corned beef and cabbage. I have my dear friend Emily to thank for the preparation to this dish. It's pretty easy and it's Mike's absolute favorite.

Happy St. Patty's day.


Here's the recipe I used, next time I'll use less buttermilk.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Irish-Soda-Bread-II/Detail.aspx

Kidisms

Elliot has been in a punching mood lately, not mean punching, just playful punching. So she came to me today crying that Griffin had pushed her. When I asked Griff about it, he looked shocked. "No, I didn't push her. She hit me and then fell back. But mom she hit me really hard, so I'm gonna call it a "punch" cause it still really hurt."

Can you upgrade on hits to punches based on how much they hurt?



Another time...

Elliot was dawdling getting dressed. And after the third time of asking her to get her to clothes on she finally started. And while she got dressed, in her sweetest voice she said, "Sorry Mom for being a rockstar."

Apparently this is what she was playing that was keeping her so busy.

Farewell Titus Family

We have been so blessed with great friends here in NH and one of our best friends are moving. Jeff and Emily and their 3 boys, Ethan, Michael, and Christopher leave for Virginia today. They will be there for 4 months, then off to Moscow, Russia.

Emily and I hit it off right away and my kids have loved the Titus boys. Emily and Jeff are Golden people, with the biggest hearts. I don't know anyone that they have met that won't miss them terribly. Emily goes out of her way to make everyone she meets feels special and loved. We owe them so much and hope our paths will cross many, many times in the future.

So it's with bittersweet feelings we bid them farewell. We are so excited for their upcoming adventures in Russia. We just wish they didn't have to move to have them.

We love you guys and God be with you till we meet again!

Grandpa Tom's Visit

Grandpa Tom hopped on a plane to visit us this past weekend. Of course, the kids were beside themselves when I told them he was coming. They loved swimming in the pool at his hotel and spending time with him; they especially loved his stories.

Mike and I were so grateful that he was willing to make such a quick, last minute trip. The reason for his visit was to ordain Mike a High Priest on Sunday. Mike was called to serve as 2nd counselor in our Bishopric, and so he needed to be made a High Priest. Mike can now say his father has ordained him to every office of the priesthood. Thanks Tom for being here for Mike's special day.

Woo hoo Grandpa Tom is here. (Really this is Elliot hamming it up for G. Tom. She is being exercise girl, couldn't you tell?)
G. Tom and the boys played cards for 1-2 hours on Sunday. A mothers dream, could you come back every Sunday G. Tom?
Eating at Johnson's, our favorite local restaurant.
Before we could let him leave, we added G. Tom to our families growth chart. Now the boys can really try to live up to Grandpa.

Busy?

I haven't had a chance to post in a while, I guess we've been busy. Over the last month we've had a few haps. Lets see if I can remember most of them.
-last week the kids had winter break (who thought of winter break? the weather was awful) We stayed busy half of the week with our friends the Huntings. We also did a fun rainbow craft (check out my craft blog "partners in crafts" to the right(It might take a few days for me to post it). We didn't get to go to any museums like we planned, but did squeeze in some shopping. Elliot ended up getting sick one of the days and is still battling a cold.

-Two Sundays ago we said farewell to the beloved Elder Brown, a Missionary that has been in our ward for the last 9 months, we really got to know him, and he was Elliot's first crush. His mission had to end sometime, so we threw a farewell bash at our house in his honor. It was very fun to have our house full, it made me miss home.

-Mike has reached his goal weight and is keeping it off, by keeping up with his exercise and good eating habits. He has allowed ice cream and some sweets back into his diet. Hood "under the stars" ice cream is now a staple in our freezer. Which means I won't be reaching my goal weight anytime this month.-I am finishing up my winter shopping frenzy. For the past 3 months I have been on the hunt for good deals, for next years winter clothes. Luckily we live close (45 minutes) away from a great outlet mall and I have been scoring some major deals! It 's hard to keep 4 growing kids in clothes that fit, without breaking the bank, so I've adopted this early shopping routine.

-the kids continue to make me smile everyday.
Griffin ask for cereal this morning..."Mom, can I have some snap, crackle, and boom"

Elliot is battling a cold this week and has been extra snuggly. Mike and I love her crackly sick voice and hope she feels better soon, but keeps her cute new voice. Today she came up to me and asked, "Mom can you wipe my cute little nose?" So darn cute.

Cant wait to see what March holds.