Light Dancing

After an evening of light dinner and conversation, Andy headed up the dancing. He even convinced his daddy to dance with his mommy.

Human Vacuum

Sweet Nicholas spilled chex mix in the entry. While I was getting the vacuum, the older two joined in to clean up. When they were finished with their snack, there were hardly any crumbs remaining.

Super Smash

Andy is very careful to be a good boy everyday, so that when Austin gets home they can play "Smash." Nick has joined in the excitement and fun. Please note Nick's hands correctly holding the wii-mote. His left pointer finger presses the "Z" button the entire time he moves the joystick with his thumb. Funny thing is, no one taught him how to hold those things. Video game skills must be due to male imprinting.

Our "New" Piano

A woman in our ward gave us her piano. We can hardly walk by without playing it a tiny bit. Meg joins in with whomever is playing at the moment, and she and Austin play the same songs. Nick and Maisie take turns on my lap. Andy sticks to the real incentive -- he has to practice piano in order to play Wii.

A New Technique

It is quite rountine for Nick to spill his drink at every meal. I came up with a perfect solution -- he sucks up his spillage with a straw. This way the mess is cleaned up, and his portion of drink is not wasted. (He is eating carrots, apples, oranges, chicken nuggets, and a bagel with cream cheese. Nice dinner, eh?)




Yesterday it occurred to me that I spend quite a large portion of my time cleaning up messes. I am quite simply a maid -- most times I'm even merry. We had four major spills at feedings, and although the older children are responsible to clean up the mess they make, I still have to inspect and wash all the towels they used in the process. Truth is, I'm sure I will never be a complete victor of messes. Moral: a mess free day is never going to be one of my expectations.

Our Baby

Today I finally have a due date for our baby -- June 25th. All measurements and estimates point to a happy, healthy baby. I was hoping to pehaps sneek a small peek at the baby's gender, but that didn't happen. Here are a few of my favorie pics from today's visit. Maisie says we should name our baby "Jezala."

Maisie -- Our Sunbeam

Today was Maisie's first day of primary as a sunbeam. She marched herself and scriptures to her chair, looked to see where Andy was seated, then sat reverently waiting for primary to begin.





After church she performed her regular chore -- emptying the silverware. While I worked beside her, Maisie seemed more efficient looked a lot older, perhaps because she reached a major milestone today. Maisie is my little sunbeam.

Ringing In the New Year

Last night we stayed up until midnight (OK 8:45 pm) eating sorbets -- the kids were tickled.


Austin also finished the bench he's been working on for the past month. We plan on putting baskets in the cubbies (or maybe the cubbies could be the new "time out zone") and shoes in the baskets. Here is the bench as a work in progress and finished. Like I said before, Austin has mad bench-dog skills.