Fragments of February

Blue and Gold Banquet:

Sean and Hayden both earned awards.  Hayden was over the moon to finally receive his Bobcat award!  Both boys decorated cakes contribute to the canned food auction, and they were pretty impressive cakes!  Way to go, boys! 

Ultrasound

Arthur and I went in together for my 20 week ultrasound appointment.  We got lots of great pictures of our little guy.  Here is one of our favorites.  I love his little hand up on his forehead and that you can see his eyes, nose and lips.  He already looks like a little Gariety.  So excited to meet him!  So "celebrate" we stopped at Costco to stock up and have lunch together.  With all these growing/hungry boys, I think Costco will be getting more and more of our business.

General Electric

This year Dallin had the opportunity to play the electric violin in an all-electric ensemble called General Electric.  It's fun to listen to them play jazz music on their colorful instruments.

Fancy Day

The kids dressed up on Fancy Day.  This was the Wednesday before Valentine's day and they all celebrated with class parties and valentines and fancy clothes.  I love that Sean went for a historic fancy look donning our Duke of Weaseltown costume.

La Cueva Invitational

Show Choir "Season" is in full swing.  We always have performances to get Dallin & Daphne to for their show choirs Five Star and Mike n Ikes.  This was their first performance.  Not all of the costumes were finished, and they only had completed 2 of their 5 songs!  They have come a LONG way since then, but this was still very fun to watch.  That's Dallin in the blue shirt with the mic.  He has the opening solo.  

  

Frozen Clothes

The weather this time of year is all over the place.  One day it was beautiful and the kids were outside jumping on the trampoline with the hose.  That night there was a freeze and the next morning Sean and Hayden found Bennett's frozen clothes outside.  

The Zoo

February was an awesome month for lots of days off!  We  had two days off for President's Day, and another two days off for parent teacher conferences the last week of February.  So on the day we didn't have conferences, we headed to the zoo, and brought along one of Daphne's friends, Kiki.   It was a gorgeous day and we all enjoyed being outside.  Watching the baby orangutan was my favorite thing of the day.  We also went for a ride on the zoo train because Bennett loves trains so much.  He was totally into it the first 10 minutes and then spent the last 10 minutes (which seemed much longer than the first 10 minutes) trying to jump off the train!  

Pagosa Ski Trip

February 11-15, 2016

Pagosa Springs, CO

Over President's Day weekend, we went up to Pagosa Springs for a ski weekend.  We met our friends, the Amsdens for the long weekend and rented a cabin together.  It was so fun to get the kids together again and especially for Sydney to learn how to ski with her dear friend Audrey.  The two of them rocked ski school together and were the cutest little ski bunnies on the hill.

Amy and I stayed at the cabin with Ethan, Bennett and Madison.  The boys played really well together and during nap time, the moms read or slept or a combination of both, and basically it was lovely.

While we were there, we celebrated Bennett's 3rd birthday!  He shows us he's 3 by holding down two of his fingers with his opposite hand.  :)  And for awhile, he was in denial and kept saying he was only 2!  He helped make his birthday cake and was constantly on the counter that day "looking" at his cake and sneaking finger-swipes of frosting.  For his birthday, he got a giant board book about trucks, which he asked me to read over and over.  He also got two new cars--Sally and McQueen, which he loves, and a McQueen and Mater t-shirt.  Can you see a theme in his interests, currently?  Basically anything with wheels!  

On the way home from church, we spotted a bald eagle perched on the ice of this lake.  We pulled over to the side of the road and watched until he flew away.

The cabin we rented had this amazing room downstairs with 4 built-in queen sized bunk beds!  8 of the 13 kids slept here.  

This is what cooking breakfast for 13 kids looks like.

What a super fun weekend!

January Quotes

Sydney's cute antlers project

The writing says:  "If I woke up with antlers I would . . .

Sydney:  craiy and cut them off.

Drinking sparking cider on New Year's Eve, Sydney said,  "This drink makes my tongue frizzle-y."

I loved Hayden's New Year's resolutions

"My new year's resolutions is to finish the book of Mormon.  Next is to be more friendly to my sister Sydney.  I will use nicer words and not tease her.  Also help her with her homework.  Last of all to read a book to her evry night."
By Hayden Gariety

I was in another room, and overheard Bennett having this conversation with himself:

Bennett:  Hey Mom?  Can I play with you phone?

Bennett:   Well, no.

Bennett:  Why not?

Bennett:  Because it's not good.

(Can you tell we've had the exact conversation enough times that he's committed it to memory?  Although, my exact words are "It's not good for you.")

Sydney:  Mom? Why are we having another boy?

Me:  I don't know, honey, I don't get to choose what we have.  Heavenly Father chooses.

Sydney:  (tears filling her eyes) Well, that makes me feel like Heavenly Father loves boys more than girls!

So we had a little conversation about how Heavenly Father loves us the same, and some families get more girls and some families get more boys but it all evens out in the end.  She really wishes she was getting a little sister.

Bennett (in church):  We don't play with you phone in church.  Right, Mama?

Me:  RIGHT!  (I have told him that every single Sunday for the last year, and finally it sunk in!)

Later, not on a Sunday, Bennett:  We don't play with you phone in church.  BUT we can play with it at home! (handing me the phone to turn on the password. Oh boy.)

Hayden:  Mom!  I'm like totally rockin' on my cub scout stuff!

Me:  Bennett, do you need a diaper change?

Bennett:  Uh, no.  No I don't.

(He says it just like Lightning McQueen in his conversation with Sally when she asks him if "big city race cars ever just take a drive."  I'm telling you, this kid is already a natural at throwing movie quotes into daily conversation.  He was destined to come to our family!)

Me:  Bennett, there is a baby growing in my tummy right now!  He's gonna come out in the summer and you will have a new little brother.

Bennett:  There's a baby in you tummy?

Me:  Yes, there's a baby in my tummy.

Bennett:  Well get him out!  I want to see him!

Me:  He's not finished growing yet.  He has to grow for awhile in my tummy.  He will come out later.

Bennett:  But I want to see him!  I want him to play cars with me!

While watching Pride and Predjudice one night, Dallin observed that the title credits said the film was rated PG for some mild theatrical elements.  He said, "They should have just said the real reason it's PG is because it's too boring for kids."

Sydney (picking up this book off my nightstand): Hey, this looks like our piece of junk house, right Mom?

Clearly, I need to be more careful about how I speak about our home.  To be fair, I don't know if I've called our house a piece of junk.  But I've called a lot of stuff in our house a piece of junk.  This little comment just made me realize I need to speak with more gratitude about our home and the things that fill it.  

January Snippets

1. Arthur took the four oldest skiing up at Durango before they winter break ended.  They drove up to Farmington on a Thursday night and skied Friday.  The weather was great and they all had a glorious time!

2. One of my resolutions this year to declutter and organize our house.  I have been purging, purging, PURGING our belongings in preparation for adding another person to our home!  Since that person is a boy, I have been getting rid of all our girls clothes/shoes/accessories that no longer fit Sydney.  It was a little shocking to me how difficult that was.  I cried quite a lot as I packed up the darling shoes, the frills and ruffles, florals and sparkles.   

I've been getting rid of excess wherever I can, not only all the little girl clothes.  But trust me, no tears were shed as I got rid of these thrashed little boy pants:

Boy clothes are way easier to give up than girl clothes.

In January, I filled our trunk with donations several times and it felt GREAT!!  (And no, I didn't donate Bennett. He just wanted to be in the picture. ;0))

3. Journals and Juice

With our church meetings beginning at 1 pm this year, we have more time in the morning for this fun tradition.  It's not a weekly occurrence, but we squeeze it in when we can.  Daphne added cookies to our journals and juice, and truth be told, it's the only way to get the boys to participate.  Me and my girls enjoy journaling much more than the guys in our family.

4.  Just want to remember this cute little incident.  One day, I packed the kids lunches for them instead of making them do it themselves, as per our usual routine.  And on a whim, I quickly wrote a note on a paper towel for each of them.  I was taken back when both Sydney and Hayden came home and thanked me for the note in their lunches, and Sydney even saved hers and brought it back home for me.  Just made me realize I should try to let them know I love them in creative ways more often.  Their appreciation surprised me.

5.  January 28-30th.  Dallin and Daphne both made it into All-State Choir this year.  They took a bus down to Las Cruces along with over 20 of their choir peers from Eisenhower Middle School, and rehearsed Thursday and Friday.  Arthur and I and the four youngest drove down Friday night to be there for their performances on Saturday morning.  Daphne and these cute friends sang in the Elementary Choir which included 6th graders.  And Dallin sang in the Middle School choir which was grades 7-9.  They both had a great experience working with wonderful conductors and other kids who love music.  It was fun to hear how much they'd accomplished in those few days of rehearsal.

6.  We celebrated Arthur's birthday on Sunday, the 31st, (a few days late because of All-State Choir conflicts.)  Well, funnily enough, Bennett's birthday had been recorded wrong in the church records and the nursery had him on their list of birthday kids for that week.  He came home with a birthday crown and was thoroughly confused that the birthday cake was for Daddy and not him.  He kept insisting that it was his birthday, and he needed to blow out the candles.  So Arthur shared his birthday candles with Bennett, since, after all, it's really confusing to celebrate Dad's birthday when you think it's yours. 

House projects

Awhile ago Daphne mentioned that her room was making her depressed.  I looked around at the walls with things hung up all helter-skelter, mismatching blankets on the bed, and a big hole in the ceiling where we have had a perpetual leak since we moved in, and I also felt depressed.  Most of our house kind of looks like that--so far from the Pinterest version of our home that is in my brain.  

So I decided, it's time to start improving where we can.  This isn't our dream house.  We probably won't ever live in our dream house, but we can care for and beautify what we have so we don't feel depressed when we look at our house.

So I immediately got online and ordered some bedding and drapes.  They were a little different than I thought they would be, but they are cheery and they coordinate, so we're keeping them.

Next, I decided to do something I'd been meaning to for a long, long time, and that was painting the dressers white.  That project took way longer than I anticipated, (and as it turns out, Arthur and I have different opinions about painting wood furniture, so I only did one) but I think it is a big improvement!  I painted it white and put new knobs on it, and I LOVE it!  (I may just have to sneakily do the other one when Arthur is out of town so they match.)

Also, Arthur and I FINALLY finished this shelf I started last year.  I got stuck on the moulding that goes up near the top and Arthur had to help me reconstruct my shelf so it would fit properly.  Again, a project that took WAY longer than it should, but I love how it turned out, and it makes me excited to build more stuff with Arthur!

So here is our improvement for January:

After we finished, there were several days when Sydney would randomly say, "I'm just gonna go up and look at my room, Mom."  So much better!  And now my girls aren't feeling depressed when they look at their room.

Hayden's Baptism

January 2, 2016

Hayden's Baptism Day

Even though Hayden turned 8 in November, he had to wait all the way til January to get baptized because of when his birthday falls (last day of November) and the holidays.  He got baptized on the first Stake Baptism day after his birthday, but it just felt like a while.  He was so excited!  

There is always a beautiful spirit at baptisms, and when it's a baptism for one of your children, it's even more special.  Arthur baptized  and confirmed him, and Hayden asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost.  He also wanted our family to sing "The Miracle" and specifically wanted to be a part of it.  So after the baptism ordinance, we waited for him to get dressed and then he sang the first solo in that song.  It was really gratifying to play the piano and hear my family sing the chorus in 4 part harmony, Arthur on Bass, Dallin on Tenor, Sean on Alto and Daphne and Hayden on Soprano.  

We are so very grateful for all the friends who came to support him in his decision to be baptized.  Living so far from family really makes us appreciate friends who are like family to us.