Update...

I don't have any pictures, sorry, but heres an update on our happs.

-Griffin and Miles started baseball. After the first practice Griffin announced with a smile on his face, "I feel like the worst player ever." And has since committed to practicing with his Dad or Me everyday. Both seem to be having a good time and we look forward to the first game.

-Caleigh will start softball tomorrow (first practice) and since I signed her up with out her consent, we hope she just makes it out to the field. She can be pretty stubborn.

-Elliot has new "friends" they are imaginary. They drive a pink car and apparently don't mind being yelled at. I'm glad, because I am the one she usually yells at.

-We have started the wonderful process of moving. The house we rent is being sold and we are lucky to have a house right around the corner waiting for us. Our dear friends, the Tituses, moved out this March and will be renting to us for the next few years. They are headed to Russia and won't be needing it. Thank goodness for Awesome friends.

-Mike is finishing up his semester and has the last few weeks to look forward too. Lots of long nights and lots of reading with projects due.

-The kids are on spring break this week and have been the best helpers with moving. They load up their rolling suitcases and unload them several times a day. They are looking forward to moving into the new house. It already feels like home.

-I heard the best prayer this past week in primary. Given by a 5 or 6 year old named Kari. Her prayer probably lasted 5 minutes , and made more sense to me than most prayers given in Sacrament meeting. I was in tears by the end and will always think of her as an amazing little spirit.

toothless Griffin

Griffin finally pulled out his two front teeth. They have been wiggling around in his head for quite a while now. So after a few tears and several tries he finally got those teeth out. He looks pretty funny and sound pretty cute. I'm sure his speech therapist is frustrated since they are working on the "th" sound. They'll just have to concentrate on the "J" sound instead.

I'm proud of Griffin and of the toothfairy, who finally decided to visit our house. She got pretty creative hiding the money in the bathroom one time, but I think she has some faithful followers in our house again.

Good Job Griff, can't wait to see how the new pearly whites look.

One at a time...

Okay, I had to do these one at a time, but finally I was not screamed at by my computer. I'm sure my children will hate the fact I posted so many "puffy-eyed" photos of them, but I just love that morning surprise. Thanks Easter bunny, next time will you bring less candy. We don't like too much sugar in our house. (well, we LIKE it, but we don't need it.)





Griffin did do the Easter egg hunt with us, I just haven't made his collage yet. Whoops!

Bad Request?

I keep trying to upload my Easter Collages, and I keep getting a pop-up message, saying "Bad request" I feel like I'm being yelled at, "BAD blogger, bad blogger" But I don't know what's wrong. Maybe blogger is now editing my post..."this is a bad post, you should try again." Oh well, I'll keep trying. In the mean time. We had a wonderful Easter watching conference, hunting Easter eggs, and even fitting in some family photos (Thanks again Mary, I owe you 1 Sunday nap). We ended the day with a yummy meal with friends. What a great day.

Boise here we come.

We are so excited that after two years, we finally get to visit Boise. I booked our tickets this week and July 20th me and the kids will be touching down in Idaho. Yippy! (balloons, streamers, etc.) Mike will have to join us a little later, but The kids and I are going to live it up as much as we can with Family, friends, shopping, eating... The kids ask daily, when are we going to Boise? We. Just. Can't. Wait.

Happy Easter-photo shoot.

I laugh every time I type "photo shoot" like I'm some fancy-shmanzy photographer. Yup, me and my point-and-shoot Cannon, commin at ya. Oh, and don't forget my mad Picasa skills. Ha, ha, ha.

Anyway, I do have a favorite spot to do our Easter photos. Last year is was warm, but there were HUGE ants. This year, thankfully no ants, but it was cold. Brrrr Oh well, it's still fun to get a shot of the kids. Elliot was our most uncooperative participant. It really was too cold, when will I learn? I even resorted to saying "potty words" to try and make her smile (she is in that potty words are funny stage). Normally this is discouraged, but I was desperate. If you look carefully you can tell the one where she is saying "poop." So funny.



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Where do you belong?

Griffin, Elliot and I were killing time while we waited for the twins to be done with piano lessons. We stopped at a discount store, where they sell random things. We walked up and down all the aisles. One of the aisles we walked down was filled with outdoors sculptures. Things like bears, fishing men, wolves, you get the picture. Really not my style, but Griffin loved it.

He said, "Mom, this reminds me of the cabin. Pause... I belong at the cabin, I just love it. Mom, where do you belong?" I didn't really put much thought in my reply since I was shopping and I tend to get tunnel vision when shopping. (But, looking back I would stick with my answer, taking in account all my family is close by.) "I belong at the beach." Then Griffin spotted the nautical aisle filled with seashells and boats... "Okay Mom, here's your aisle." said with a giggle.

I just love my Griffin. He's so insightful and sensitive to people. He is discovering things he likes about himself and loves spending time reading, drawing, and doing sports. He read a new book to me yesterday while I painted. He is so kind and I look forward to watching him grow up.

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.