what to do when you're bored

The kids were out of school last Monday -- end of term.  Jacob was bored, so he talked me into taking him to the store so he could spend his hard earned money.  He bought this lego set and spent the afternoon putting it together.  Legos are ridiculously expensive, but it might have been worth it -- he was happy and content all afternoon!

rs service project

To celebrate the birthday of the Relief Society, I decided that we should do a service project, after all, that was how RS got started -- a group of women who wanted to serve.  So, my committee and I organized the materials to make items for families who experience infant loss.  We donated everything to a couple of local hospitals and gave a few items to Heidi to use when she does photography for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.  Above are the mom/baby bracelet sets that my friend Diane created -- we made 20 sets total (10 pink, 10 blue).

 My friend Angela was in charge of making knit hats.  The hats were adorned with buttons, flowers, or bows, and were in all different sizes.

 I was in charge of the blankets.  We made 10 in all.  I asked the sisters in the ward to donate fabric and a few did.  I just bought the rest.  The above two are my favorite (maybe because I picked the fabric) -- they are white minky on one side and soft flannel on the other.  The purple princess fairies and the blue monkeys were SOOOO very cute.

 And finally, my friend Melanie was in charge of creating these gorgeous keepsake boxes.  We made 11.  They are tall enough to keep hand and foot molds in as well as all of the other items a family might receive at the hospital -- such as a hat, bracelet, blanket, etc.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a huge turnout of sisters, but the ones who did come LOVED the service projects and had a fun time.  I was so excited about how much we were able to accomplish! In some small way, I felt like I was able to "give back" for the kindnesses shown me when Jordan and Cole were born.  I hope the items bring some bit of comfort to those who have to experience the loss of a baby.

saturday projects

Spring seems to be the season to get the home improvement projects ramped up again. Since Grandpa V. was here with the cement equipment, he and Mark decided to see what they could do about straightening our fence that was leaning over as a result of the December wind storm. They decided the easiest thing to do was dig around the posts, pull the fence post back into an upright position, prop it with rocks, and pour some additional cement into the holes. I think it worked! Now we just need to finish filling the holes with dirt and Mark will have to mend a bit of sprinkler funny pipe that got chopped in the process.

We decided to take out our "fireplace" since it didn't work very well and the starter switch was broken and irreplaceable. The mantel had a broken front piece as well that we just couldn't fix up to look good. So, we had the gas guys come and cut and cap the gas line last week. We hauled out the fireplace and mantel, fixed the hole in the sheetrock and painted. That was one of the easiest projects we've undertaken around here. We should have done it years ago!!

end of the basketball season

Our basketball season came to an end this week. And I took absolutely no pictures -- pretty sad. Sigh. Anyway, Jacob played his final game on Tuesday and lost. That made for a losing season -- they didn't even win one game! He wasn't happy about that, obviously. On the bright side, he had a fabulous game! He made two foul shots and a couple baskets as well as a couple steals. He has really learned a lot this year and improved. He loves basketball and I think he's old enough to try some basketball camps this spring/summer.

Ryan played his last game on Thursday and lost (they were in tournament). His team lost by quite a few and only had 6 players that night. On the bright side of that, Ryan had another excellent game. With only that many guys, he played basically the whole game. Near the end of the game he swished a 3-pointer!! Wa-hoo! He's always great on defense and he put some points on the board too. Unfortunately, we weren't able to attend the whole game. Since Ryan has been playing with most of the same kids for a few years now, it's really fun to see them progress and get better as a team.

We got the boys a new basketball hoop for the driveway at Christmas, but it was too cold to do the cement work involved to install it. The weather has been quite springy lately, so we talked Grandpa V. into coming up today to help us start the construction. He and Mark got he pole all cemented in (400 lbs) and when it's all dried we can try to figure out how to put the thing together! Wish us luck. The boys are so very excited to have a basketball hoop again!

that was a nail-biter

Ryan's basketball team ended up placing 3rd in the league as tournament play got underway last night. The team they played was ranked somewhere near the bottom. The game started and no one scored for the first 2 and half minutes. Finally, balls started to drop through hoops and we found ourselves 10 points behind. The refs were calling tons of travels and fouls. Some were legit calls, other were ridiculous. As the game wound down to a close we caught up and were neck and neck for the last 2 minutes. Finally, one of our guys drew a foul and made both shots -- we won by one point!! Wahoo!! Ryan had an awesome game! He's quite good on defense anyway, but he was stealing the ball left and right last night. He made a couple shots. He had a fast break layup and made the accompanying foul shot. It was a nerve-wracking game that ended up in our favor. YAY!!

student of the month

Jared brought home a certificate, bag of skittles, and an Arctic Circle free meal voucher to verify that he is indeed "Student of the Month" at his school.
Congratulations!

decision day

Mark hasn't been happy with his present employment. That's bad. He was offered a job in St. George (with the same company). That's good. It's at a lower level. That's bad. It's doing something a little different. That's good. We'll have to sell the house, quick. That's bad. We'll get to buy a new house. That's good. The kids don't want to move. That's bad. We've always wanted to live in St. George. That's good. He'll probably have to take a cut in pay. That's bad. We'll keep all our benefits. That's good. We don't know what to do. That's bad. We finally made a decision. That's good. It was really really really hard. That's bad. It's over. That's good. We're turning down the offer. Is that good or bad? I'm sad. That's bad. I'm working through it. That's good. Still don't know what to do. That's bad. We'll keep trying. That's good.

growing up

We picked up the drivers manual for Jared at the DMV a couple weeks ago. Last night we registered him for high school classes. Choosing classes was somewhat overwhelming. Do we encourage Honors classes in this area? What about AP classes in this area? What about electives? Do we do this class online? Is it a good idea to do concurrent enrollment in this class? And about a million other questions to consider when thinking long-term benefits/consequences. This is a whole new adventure for all of us. It's an amazing, scary, overwhelming, and exciting process.