Happy 8th Birthday Claire!

Claire had a very low key birthday this year.  We wanted to make a much bigger deal of her baptism than her birthday.  She was so excited that Grandma Farmer was here to visit.  It was also such a beautiful day that we got to eat outside.  She was treated to a shopping trip with grandma where she got some new clothes.  She also got a new mermaid barbie, and some clothes from mom and dad.  Her birthday usually falls on spring break, but she was thrilled that it was on a school day this year.  She requested doughnuts for her class.  She had a great day, and is looking forward to her baptism in 2 days!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The kids were thrilled to see that once again that "tricky leprechaun" found it's way to our house.  This year he left his favorite cereal Lucky Charms and a whole bunch of his gold.  He also turned our milk green and our toilet water green.  The kids enjoyed their disgusting looking green breakfast of pancakes and eggs.  We hope you had a Happy St. Patrick's day!!

Disney on Ice

I have been going every March to Disney on Ice with Claire for the past 4 years.  It started when the had the Princesses on Ice come, and we loved it so much that we go every year.  I have tried to get Chad to go, but he usually can't make it, or doesn't want to go.  This year it was Toy Story 3 on ice, and I wanted everyone to go.  We had a lot of fun.  We loaded up the car (a little full) with our good friend Anjie and her daughter McKinlee, and headed to Utah.  Our first stop was IKEA.  We had brought lunch so we sat in the IKEA parking lot and ate.  I was pretty sure we didn't need that much stuff and could just fit it in the car.  That was not the case.  After checking out, and spending some time tying it on top of the car we were off back to Salt Lake.  We made it to the arena just in time.  Grant had been telling me for weeks that he "did not want to go to Disney on Ice."  I don't really think he knew what to expect.  As soon as the lights went down and Mickey and Minnie came out he was hooked.  Ava was asleep at the beginning, but it didn't take her long to enjoy the show either.  The kids had a great time, and loved their Buzz hats that their dad bought them.  It was geared a little more to boys so Claire was a little bummed with the choice of souvenirs, so we opted to go to Wal-Mart that week and get her a new coloring book. 

After the show we walked to the Salt Lake Temple and visited the grounds for a little while.  It was nice to be able to go there and talk with Claire since her baptism is right around the corner.  We left Salt Lake ready for a great dinner at Red Robin only to find every restaurant around packed.  Apparently it was prom and Red Robin or Applebees is the place to go.  We ended up finding this little 50's type diner in Ogden.  The kids loved it, and got to play a pinball machine for free.  We were all exhausted by the time we left, and needless to say the car was much quieter on the way home.

Little Miss Ava Jean

Can I just say isn't she so cute!!  Ava has been so much fun lately.  She will carry a baby anywhere, and obviously loves to have pretties in her hair.  She loves to be with the kids, and is so good about playing outside by herself.  We love you Miss Ava!!

Bengal Cheer Camp

 Ava with her friend Abby. 

I can honestly say that I don't really want my daughter to be a cheerleader, but when she saw the flier for this cheer camp, she begged me to let her do it.  So, we did!!  It was only 1 evening, and the next day they cheered at a ISU girls basketball game.  We wanted to go to the game because the girls are doing so great.  We had a lot of fun watching the game, and watching Claire.  She did a great job on their little dance, and their cheers.  She had a lot of fun, and I am sure will want to do it again next year.

The best part of the whole game was right after half time.  They were giving away free Jimmy John sandwiches, so I grabbed enough for everyone on my way back to my seat after getting Claire.  I love their sandwiches, and these were freebies so it wasn't like you could ask for something on it.  They all came with mayo, lettuce, meat and tomato.  I gave one to everyone, and sat down.  That was a mistake!!  The kids freaked out because of the vegetables.  Even after scraping most of that off, they wouldn't eat them.  Chad had a lot of sandwiches to eat!  After all the drama, I look over at Ava.  She is thoroughly enjoying herself vegetables and all.  I told the other kids they should learn from their sister, but they still didn't want their sandwiches.  Next time I will just get enough for Ava, Chad and I.

Grant's First Day of School

I know it seems strange to be posting about first day's of school in March, but that is when Grant started going to Lincoln.  We decided to have him tested back in December to see if he qualified for their Early Intervention Program.  After MANY appointments and extra tests, the decided that he qualified for early intervention because of his speech.  It was actually a very frustrating process because it wasn't going as fast as I thought it should, and then kept telling me that they wanted to test him to see if he was developmentally delayed.  I knew that he wasn't, but there was no way out of the tests, so we went with it.  I was happy to hear at his IEP meeting that he wasn't in that category, and qualified just for speech.  I think I was more nervous about his first day than he was.  He walked right down the hall to his classroom, and let me leave.  The testing never went so well when I left the room so I didn't think that school would be a different story.  When I picked him up on the first day he was so happy, and couldn't wait to go again.  He goes every Wednesday and Friday afternoon.  The following week he started riding the bus.  They pick him up at our front door and drop him off there as well.  It is so nice especially with my crazy schedule and he LOVES riding the bus.  I am so happy that he is getting the help he needs, and hopefully more confidence in himself.