March 2017

Twin day at school - here's Hazel with one of her best friends, Aarna. Also, Hazel is loving her rollerblades. She hardly gets on her bike anymore. 

March 2 is Dr. Suess's birthday. All the kids got to wear their pajamas to school and spend most of the day reading. I came into both Hazel's and Jack's classrooms as a guest reader. 

We were happy to have Emily, Doug, and Isaac visit us from Chicago for a few days. The visit was mid-week, so mostly Doug worked from home and Emily joined me on my mom business, taking the kids to school and classes, walking the trail, playing with the kids in the yard. It was nice to spend time with my sister. 

I don't know how it got started, but my kids and Isaac had this constant gig of sticking their tongues out, pointing at their mouths, and saying "Aaah!" It was silly. All the kids loved having a baby in the house, especially Jack, who is a total Baby Whisperer. 

I took the kids up to the petting farm at Tilden Park in Berkeley. They let you feed the goats and cows if you bring your own celery or lettuce. Gemma and Jack loved it. Hazel was scared of the big cows. 

They found some turkeys on the loose and gave them a big chase.

Then we went for a hike to Jewel Lake, which was pretty underwhelming. The path was extremely muddy, and the lake wasn't very jewel-like, although it did have some turtles to watch.

It was a nice, clear day and the views on the drive were lovely.

I found this note on Jack's desk when I was working in his classroom. He wrote it just-because, and doesn't even know I saw it. He is so darling.

Jack and Hazel set out leprechaun traps the night before St. Patrick's Day, and set out some money as bait (some real, some play). They were amazed that the leprechauns 1- didn't get stuck in the traps, and 2- took the real money and left the fake stuff.

It was such an exciting morning that no one noticed my oldest child stealing away to the bathroom to set up another trick. I think it's just so hilarious and adorable how she can hold on to her belief in the real thing while she pulls stunts like this at the same time.

Later, the kids remembered to look in their secret hideout and found a Lego set treasure the leprechauns left for them.

KB and Hope had their baby on St. Patrick's Day. We weren't going to go down because we were all still fighting off coughs and runny noses from the winter, but KB texted something to the point that he wished his family could be there now, and we couldn't ignore that call for love. We headed down and all wore face masks, and I'm the only one who even held Luna, but we made sure KB felt our love and support, and we are going back soon, now that we're all healthy.

Hope has this cat named Tiffany with the biggest house I've ever seen. The kids loved meeting Tiffany, the most spoiled cat in the universe, and liked that they didn't have to wear their masks to play with the cat.

We interviewed several landscapers and found one we wanted to work with to remodel our backyard. This has been the view from our house:

We kept saying, "We want a soccer field, remember the soccer field, think of a soccer field." Basically, we wanted GRASS back there! Also, it wouldn't hurt to pull out some of the overgrown bushes that were turning the place into a jungle.

It made me to happy to hear the jackhammers, tearing up that massive patio!

They're still not done, but they're getting close. And the plans continue to roll forth. While we're at it, we're going to paint the house and redo the front yard as well. Might as well make it all how we want it. 

Todd flew into the little Livermore airport one night and asked if I wanted to bring the kids and some pizza. Hazel invited her friend Adriana, and they had a fun night. It's pretty awesome to watch your dad fly such a massive machine, and maybe even cooler to get to climb around in it and pretend to be a pilot yourself.

Jack's getting to be good friends with this nice boy Jonah, who lives down the street and is in his kindergarten class. We've started doing weekly playdates with him.

Hazel's class has been studying Shakespeare and did a scene from "A Midsummer's Night Dream." All of the kids had one line; Hazel's was one of Puck's. "Now with thine own fool's eyes peep." She was one of only two kids who memorized their line and didn't read it off the script during their performance. I was super proud of her, especially considering she is not a fan of performing in front of an audience.

February 2017

 We took an awesome vacation the first few days of February. My best girlfriends, Suzanne and Chrissy, and I planned a snow trip to Bear Valley. We rented this incredible-looking cabin, rounded up sleds and snow pants for everyone, planned meals and packed games, and were able to enjoy the excitement of anticipating the event for several weeks.

Sadly, one of Chrissy's little ones got hit hard by the stomach flu the day before our trip was supposed to start, so her family stayed behind. We were all so bummed to miss the Dix's. It still turned out to be a super get-away, though, and we will all just have to do it again next winter with the whole crew.

We showed up at our glamorous cabin in the late afternoon. The area is closed off to cars in the winter, so we parked at the rental office and were given snowmobile rides up to the place. There were massive amounts of snow everywhere! Apparently, there had been a snowstorm the week before that brought in 15 feet of new snow. Crazy. It was a winter wonderland.

This is the snow pile that fell off the roof. 

We unpacked, made dinner, and were in the middle of putting kids to bed when we heard a loud crash. Dan went to investigate, and discovered the outer windowpane to mine and Todd's bedroom had cracked. There was a huge, heavy overhang of snow and ice coming off the roof just outside that window, and thick, 6 foot icicles. When we turned on the heater, it started to melt it, and it was slowly sliding down the roof of the cabin. The pressure from it all broke the outer window pane, and there were cracks in the walls where it looked like it was going to cave in. We wouldn't let the kids in the room, and Todd was throwing all our clothes and things out into the hall when the ice slid down more, and there was this enormous noise as the inner windowpane shattered and glass flew everywhere! It was freaky. The kids were screaming, the moms were scared, and Gemma and Ezra were sleeping through it all. We moved the kids downstairs to sing hymns with them and try to calm them down, while we waited for the property managers to assess the damage and decide whether or not it was safe for us to stay in the cabin overnight. Meanwhile, Todd cranked up the heat and was pounding on the roof of the cabin, trying to clear all the ice off before the wall caved in. Well, down it all came, creating this giant force that partially blew in the exterior door in the downstairs room where we were with the kids - after having told them this was the safest place in the cabin, they all watched the door half blow in, right in front of their very eyes. There was mass panic! We packed everything up, woke up the babies, and took a 10:00 snowmobile ride in the dark to another cabin. Best quote of the night was Jack, saying, "I feel like we're being kidnapped," as we rode blindly to our new destination.

Our replacement cabin was less fancy, for sure, and took a long time to heat up. That first night was pretty cold. But it turned out to be good, as it had a massive sledding hill right outside that we took full advantage of, and the property managers footed the bill for an extra day with our snowmobile rentals, so we had them to play with essentially the entire remainder of the trip. It was quite a dramatic beginning to our fun weekend in the snow! Happily, everything else was delightful and drama-less.

We played lots of games, made crazy candy creations, made slime, read books, watched a movie, and ate good food. And that's just inside! We spent plenty of time outdoors as well, mostly sledding, but also snowman-building, snowmobile riding, snowball throwing, and snow-fort building. Time seemed to pass in slow motion; every time we'd check the time, it would feel weird, like it should have been hours later than it was. We were just in this magical bubble of fun. Everyone got along with each other. Nova and Hazel furiously journaled all the details of the trip while commiserating about the angst of being the oldest child. Gemma and Griffon played cats and dogs and made each other laugh constantly. Jack bonded with baby Ezra and loved catering to him. Dan and Suzanne and Todd and I played games late into the night, and laughed so hard we cried. It was so, so beautiful in Bear Valley. We are going to have to come back again!

Jack was the best at sledding. He could make it farther down the hill than anyone else. The only time I saw him biff it early was the trip he took when I was videotaping him, of course.

It's so bittersweet looking at this picture. Chrissy's supposed to be in that space on the right!

These guys are our "California cousins." I feel like they are family. Griffon sent me a Valentine in the mail a few days after we got home, with a note saying he likes my happy laugh. Melt my heart!

Nova and Hazel went out in the snow together a lot without any adults. They were just playing in the area right outside the cabin. One of those times, they both fell into a hole at the base of a tree. They were in over their heads. They prayed to know what to do, and Hazel gave Nova a boost to help her climb out. Nova wasn't strong enough to pull Hazel out, so she went back to the cabin to get her mom to help. These little ladies are so smart and so spiritual and I'm so impressed with the people they are growing into.

Anyway, it was sad when it was time to go home. The whole thing was awesome, even the crazy adventure that first night. We might have to make an annual tradition out of Bear Valley. . . 

In other news, I'm getting better at homemade pizza. Todd brought a pizza stone into our marriage, and we are just now learning some new tricks with it, like to let it preheat with the oven up to 500, then transfer the pizza onto it with parchment paper. It's making our crust so deliciosso. 

Our stake changed the ward boundaries this month, merging our five wards into four. It gave us a few more kids and teens, and a lot more faithful empty-nesters. Our ward has been small and hard to staff since before we moved in 2.5 years ago, so these seem like they will be really helpful changes. We had a primary social to help everyone get to know each other. My kids are excited that their buddies Alyse and Grace Woodland are back in our ward. (They moved out of the old boundaries last summer, but have been pulled back in.) 

Todd and I had an awesome date night this month. I made an incredible discovery - that we can get extreme-o discount tickets to fine art performances at the Bankhead Theater here, using Todd's military ID. Our first taste of this was a delightful concert by the Chieftains, an hour and a half of brilliant music, with ditties by bagpipes and Irish dancers to boot. It was a blast! 

Hazel decided that she wasn't ready to commit to pierced ears yet, but that she'd like to give clip-on earrings a go. As a reward for a goal chart she'd completed, she and I went on a date to Claire's and picked out her first few pairs. She laid her outfit out the night before. Yes, folks, this look is premeditated and is reflective of Hazel's excitement for a special occasion.

We got the exciting news that our old friends Jill and Mitch Dabo would be in the Bay Area over the long weekend visiting Mitch's family, and they wanted to get together with us and Jon and Amy Naseath. These are good, dear friends who date back to mine and Todd's earliest times in California. We were not only in the same ward, but also the same apartment complex, and all hung out together a lot, along with a good handful of other young couples in the ward. We made some deep friendships with this group - now referred to as the Heritage Oaks Dinner Group - and it was such a fun, fun reunion to have the Dabos and Naseaths and our combined 12 kids all together for an evening. We had dinner and talked and made plans to see each other again soon.

We have had a ton of rain this winter. I think the drought is over! Instead, now we have worried a little bit about flooding. Our culdesac filled up one evening, but for the most part, we have been quite safe and comfortable here at home.

Book club has been fizzling a little bit lately, and I had this brilliant idea to recreate my ladies nights. I found a perfect cohort in my friend Katie George, and together we have instigated Game Club. How fun is that?! We gathered up a select group who all came over to my house last week to play games all evening long. We had snacks and laughed a ton and were so loud we kept my kids up (and boy, were they cranky the next day!). Here's how you know it was truly a hit: we ended the night with a Bonner Family Classic - the Hunter and the Deer. Here's how you play. Two people are blindfolded, and must stay in contact with the table (or a couch has worked in the past). The hunter is trying to catch the deer. The deer is trying to not get caught. It's funny to watch, and exciting to he the hunter, and freaky to be the deer. It's so much fun!

And here's how you know Katie was the perfect person to start Game Club with: she texted me a week later, saying she couldn't stand to wait three more weeks to play more games, and we rounded up a few more friends and had another game night at her house the next night! I'm loving it.

Hazel and I went to KB and Hope's baby shower in Santa Cruz last weekend. She's due March 13th, so our newest cousin could make her appearance very soon! We're excited to meet little Luna Louise.

January 2017

My kids, especially Gemma, have been obsessed with Cosmic Kids Yoga lately. It's so funny to hear them saying "namaste" and copying the moves as they follow along with the online videos. 

We added Gemma to the chore rotation and started giving her an allowance. She LOVES helping with the dishes.

Jack turned six on January 4th. We were still out of school that week, so we were able to make it a really fun day. We had a handful of Jack's buddies over in the morning for a science party. Check out the science beaker cake we made together:

The party was really fun, because it was just a small, cute group of kindergarteners, and we spent the whole time doing science experiments. We built catapults out of popsicle sticks, made our own slime, and watched brain balls absorb water and grow, and then bounce all over the sidewalk.

Jack's been having fun with his presents, especially the snap circuit set. He spent a lot of the break working on those, and I'm sad he hasn't had as much free time since school started back up to play with that more.

This smart little guy is finally getting old/mature enough to enjoy books at his reading level. It took a while for his abilities and his interests to meet up. It's fun to watch him reading early chapter books. He's been blowing through the first Boxcar Children book this week, and is happy to chat all about it.

Jack's favorite colors right now are orange, red, green, and purple. His favorite animal is still a tiger. He loved Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and The Sound of Music, and also listed Hoodwinked and Tangled as favorite movies. His favorite books are the Mercy Watson series, but he's also been reading a lot of A to Z mysteries the last few weeks. He listed all his birthday party guests as his best friends: Alyse Woodland, Juno Leek, Stacie Haupt, and Jonah Wilmoth. 

Jack's been serious about doing the monkey bars lately, and has gotten really good at them. He loves cheese pizza, muffins, and chocolate. He wants to be a scientist when he grows up - the kind that works with "potions." His favorite places to go are Alaska and Mexico - we've had some sweet family vacations this year, and the kids all really loved it! 

He is a really good reader, and he loves to play the piano. He likes to snuggle, he is totally analytical, and he is sensitive. He keeps wishing for snow for Christmas, with wishbones and penny fountains, and probably with his birthday candles, too. 

We went down to Spencer Dix's baptism in Sunnyvale on January 7th. He and Nova and their families are now being referred to as the California cousins. I love friends that are like family. 

Gemma turned four on January 14th. We had her two besties, Clara and Gracie, over to play the day while the big kids were at school. We decorated cookies and had a dance party and played with slime. 

She got princess dolls, bird wings, and dancing ribbons for her presents from us. This little lady is so packed with personality, and it was really fun for me this year to find some unique gifts I knew she'd love. She'd played with the ribbons at dance class and disappeared into an imaginary world twirling around with them, and I wanted to see her do that again and again. And the bird wings came because she said to me multiple times over the last few months that she really wished she could be a bird.

Gemma requested for her cake, peppermint brownies with frosting. It was yum! She loved crushing the candy canes.

We went swimming at an indoor pool in Newark on her birthday. She keeps talking about it, so I think it was a hit. It had water slides and a lazy river and was pretty fun. 

I've taken to asking Gemma what her favorite color is almost every day, because she keeps changing her answer. On her birthday it was bright pink and bright orange and turquoise and white. She said her favorite animals were giraffe, tiger, cat, dog, and dolphin. This makes me giggle to read a couple weeks later. Funny girl. She loves dolls, and in the car she always asks to listen to the Frozen book on CD. She loves to have books read to her. One of the regulars lately is "Whales, the Gentle Giant." Again and again. She loves to listen to the Frozen soundtrack, and for FHE song she always wants to sing Book of Mormon Stories. Her best friends are Gracie Woodland and Clara Haupt. 

Outside, Gemma likes to jump on the trampoline and ride "the white bike," her two-wheeler, which she can ride nonstop for 10 minutes or more, but can't start independently yet. She likes to sleep with her favorite stuffed animal, Cute Cute Otto, an otter we got her in Alaska. She said when she grows up she wants to be Mulan. Her favorite foods are pizza, graham crackers, and rice. She said her favorite place to go is "Exico." She always asks if we can go back there again someday. 

Gemma is funny, so cute, and curious. Also, stubborn. 

I asked if she had one wish, what would it be: "I would wish for cookies." 

What makes her laugh? Tickles. 

What are you afraid of? Monsters and crocodiles

What do you love to learn about ? "Making cookies." 

What do you like to do with your family? Play "Troll Chase." Todd stomps around, pretending to be a troll, looking for kids to eat for dinner. He chases them around the house, catches them and lets them escape. It's their favorite thing to do when he comes home from work. 

I signed all the kids up for a tumbling class. Jack and Hazel are together, and Gemma's class is in the morning while the big kids are at school. They're all loving it. They get really sweaty and really happy, so we're going to stick with it for a while. 

Jack was given the student of the month award for responsibility. Mrs. Allen wrote in her letter to him how pleased she was that he always pushed himself to try his hardest and learn new things (even when the rest of the class was learning things he already knew). I'm pleased that he's giving a full effort at school and has such a happy, sweet attitude when he's there.

Hazel was invited to her friend Kaitlyn's birthday party. While she was there, Todd and I took Gemma and Jack to Elephant and Piggie Day at the library. It was cute! We love their books.

The kids' school has a Diversity Week each year and has some really fabulous assemblies. They had an African drummer come, and he also put on an evening performance for the families. It was cool.

I noticed Gemma's been making a lot of faces when I take her picture lately.

My Christmas present is taken care of: a gallery wall of frames down the hallway. It makes me happy.