A week in review....

Charlie finally received his blue ribbon. His school (Bryant Elementary) does a big read-a-thon every year and if you read SEVEN hours within a 10 day stretch you receive a blue ribbon. He was so gung ho about making his goal he actually read eight hours. After coming home from school with his ribbon he explained, "I thought it would go around my neck!" Oh well, better luck next time. (do you see the Kindle love)

We refer to this as Lucy's "post." She loves to stand on the chair when I'm working in the kitchen and scream. She'll stand for long periods of time and not get bored. I think this girl likes power.

We love popping popcorn with our air-popper. It's healthier and an exciting event for the kids to watch. Matthew and I were popping up a batch and after it was all finished I turned off the machine. Some lazy kernels waited a few seconds and then popped making us both jump in surprise. Matthew thought it was by far the FUNNIEST thing he had ever seen in his life. He laughed so hard at the funny "copcorn"!

And then it was finished.....

almost.....

Last Wednesday Seth's dissertation was due. In celebration, I planned a date night for that evening. That morning, he said he just needed to print it out and drop it off to his different committee members and would be home early. I gave him a call after I dropped this kids off with the babysitter and he was still battling with printing (word was randomly adding blank pages) so I headed up to campus. I arrived just as he had finished compiling all the binders. He said, "you want to take a walk." It was a beautiful spring day as we walked all over the medical/research campus searching for offices and mailboxes to deposit his dissertation in. It was very memorable...

He was relieved but there is still the defense to prepare for(ONE week away).

Happy Pi Day!

We celebrated Pi Day today and it went well until Charlie wanted an explanation of what Pi actually is. My answer of "You use it to find the area of a circle" was unimpressive so with a little help from Google we figured it out :)

" Pi is the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle"


The crust was PERFECT. It took less than a minute to make in the food processor....

The swimming family.

The kids and I took swimming lessons in January and February. While it was a big hassle getting us all ready to go on Saturday mornings, it was a lot of fun cheering each other on during lessons. I felt sorry for the bored parents on the sidelines:)

There were only four adults in the "adult" class so we got lots of individualized attention. We started with the basics where I learned I've been kicking wrong all along. I'm still not great but I am on my way....triathlon? Anytime my kids would whine I would say, "you have to learn now or you'll have to learn when your 27!" Charlie and Matthew both made great progress but I think I'll stick with lessons that are closer together (everyday for two weeks) instead of spread out over months.

YWs

Back in the fall I was called as the First Counselor in our wards Young Womens Program. I was surprised because we are moving soon but grateful I have a few months with these girls. I was previously the Activity Days leader so it was fun to reacquaint with some of the girls. Young Womens had a huge effect on my life so hopefully I can be a good facilitator and the spirit can teach these girls!! Really, I love their liveliness and excitement for life.

This was New Beginnings....It was on the eve of Valentine's day so we played up the heart theme. "Personal Progress: Put your heart into it"

Two of our girls had birthdays close together and since we only have four girls we took the time to celebrate! Happy Birthday Aubrey and Jenna!

A GIANT Ladybug...

Lucy is now Thirteen months. She received this massive ladybug beanbag from our neighbors for her birthday. She LOVES it. I often find her relaxing on her beanbag.

This is our diaper and wipe basket and another favorite Lucy hang out. Take notice of the cute little curl on the bottom of her hair.

Just as I was remarking about how lucky we had been this winter season in regards to no illnesses, Lucy spiked a fever. I have never seen 104.2 on a thermometer and hope to never see it again. Thankfully the Ibuprofen and Tylenol worked. Now the fever is gone but the never ending runny nose has returned. All and all, we still have been very blessed. Knock on wood;0

Fancy Smancy Michigan Stadium!

The schools were out last week for "mid-winter break." It was really lame! It was too cold to do much and our lovely little home seems to be shrinking, needless to say it was a LONG week. Thankfully, we were able to tour Michigan Stadium as part of the Graduate Student Families Assoc. There was only about 15 of us so we got to see a lot.

Side Note: Seth is in the home stretch of his dissertation (hallelujah)

The school added new luxury boxes last year to the stadium. They sell for 55,000 dollars a year (that does include sixteen enclosed seats and a kitchenette but you do have to sign a three year contract). Obviously there is no way we are going to be watching a game from one of them so it was fun to see the fuss.

The view of downtown Ann Arbor

little kitchenette

View of the field

Press Box

The infamous "M" sign that will be coming down this summer and getting replaced with larger one.

This confirms my suspicions that this girl has NO fear!! Her favorite part was walking along the floor to sealing windows.

The locker room with an adjoining x-ray room.

This is at the beginning of the tunnel out to the field. Unfortunately because of the snow and freezing temperatures we couldn't actually go out on the field.

So, this tour and Mario Kart sums up our mid-winter break. Hopefully spring break holds more promise.