Pinewood Derby

Clayton was super excited about making a car with his dad. This year they decided to cut their own wood for the car.

Marlee might not have been any help, but she sure is cute.

men at work

z

Let the races began…

Anthony, Aaron & Clayton

Clayton’s car with headlights & a spoiler:

Marlee & Anthony:

Clayton’s car did well.

Clayton & Johnny watching to see who gets first place overall:

Johnny won 1st overall, but Clayton got 1st for his age group. Way to go Clayton!

Johnny-1st, Clayton-2nd & Anthony-3rd place overall, but they all got 1st place for their age group.

Some of the scouts in our ward:

Jonathan & Laun cleaning up the track. Jonathan & Darlene are in a different ward then us, but we combine for pinewood derby & other events. Laun & Jonathan have the same callings- cub scout leader.

F(family) H(home) E(evening)

Tonight’s FHE was on gratitude…I think we all need to be better at having more gratitude. The boys really impressed me with their lists of what they were thankful for. Clayton had a great list and put that he was thankful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ because we have family, church, accountability, opportunity to get baptized, etc. Porter was thankful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ because they made the world and made it possible for us to invent stuff. He was thankful that Laun and I do fun things with him and teach him, and thankful that I am a good cook:)

 

 

I had to write Marlee’s for her. My favorite things that she was thankful for were: door on the ARC (Laun’s work) , Mac and Cheese with no fish, and her sister (she doesn’t even have a sister)-haha!

 

I am thankful for Laun…

 

…and apparently he is thankful for me too. He didn’t think he needed to write a list, he just grabbed my arm and wrote you. Although, he did end up writing a list and one of the things he was thankful for was that my hair will grow-haha! I guess he still doesn’t love my bangs.

 

We finally have a family motto. Laun came up with one tonight that we all agreed on: Get to Work!

a busy week...

Laun was gone to Tempe from Wednesday through Friday for a conference. The kiddos & I stayed busy while he was gone. I got all my homework done and had lots of fun time with the kids. Plus, the kids had no school on Friday & that was awesome for me…I got to sleep-in since I pulled a late night getting homework done. I took them to AJ’s Fine Foods to pick out desserts and we went to two movies (We Bought a Zoo & The Newer Chipmunk movie). We have some cheap movie theaters near our house & I love it because we can all go to the movie for about the price that one adult costs at most theaters.

I think Porter’s pick (the slice of cake) was my favorite.

At the movies: Porter looks surprised, Marlee was dancing (as usual), and Clayton was acting strange for the picture (as usual).

We were so excited to come home from the movies to see Laun & the kids always look forward to the treats he brings them.

Then the next morning on Saturday, I left for Phoenix to get a break. I really wanted Laun to go with me, but he reminded me that it meant the kids would have to go too, so I passed on that. It was nice to drive in the car without hearing the kids fight and just sing along to the blasting radio. I did some shopping at Last Chance (love shopping without kids) & then went to my parents house & hung out with my sister Rachel & her cute kiddos. Rachel made these amazing cream puffs & I can’t wait to make them for my family, so good. That evening I went to the temple with my parents & then out for dinner. On Sunday, I went over & visited my brother Ted & his family. Then I went to church with my parents & that night Rachel’s family came over for dinner.

I painted Lydia’s toes…she kept sticking up her feet to watch me, it was so cute. She stays stiller than Marlee. Lydia is calmer like her mom & I think Marlee is crazier like me:)

Benson is such a sweet & happy baby.

My dad bought an obo & has gotten pretty good. He inspires me with his dedication and motivation. He is good at working hard to learn new things, such as: obo playing, speaking Chinese, writing poems, etc. The idea of playing an instrument or learning how to speak another language exhausts me! I am thankful for him teaching me to work hard in order to acquire new skills…even though he did make me take typing lessons growing up. I realized since being a college student how thankful I was that he made sure I learned how to type.

I got home this morning & was excited to see my family.

before & after

My friend Sabra came over yesterday & gave Marlee & I haircuts…with bangs. I haven’t had bangs since I was like 8 years old or something like that. I was super bored and it was time for a change. Marlee & I think the new hairdos are fun & I am excited to start styling hair with bangs. Plus, I am super excited that my wrinkled forehead is covered up:) The boys on the other hand aren’t diggin’ the bangs so much.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Breakfast was pink french toast. There was hardly any room for the kids to eat since the table was still covered from last nights cookie mess.

Clayton got an early valentine this week from his “Biggest Crusher” (or so she says):

This love note cracks me up. When I asked Clayton who he thought it was from he spouted out about 5 different girls names. Let’s face it, the ladies love Clayton (I can’t say I blame them-he looks like his daddy). He told me that he hopes he is bald by the time he gets into high school, so that the girls will stop liking him. The best part of this love note is that his secret crush asks him to write back…how does one write back when they don’t know who to write back to?

Marlee was really into the holiday spirit-heart hair in all:

She is wearing rose earrings from my sister Laura.

Love this little lady:

Fondue Valentine’s dinner lives on…

The spread included: cheese & chocolate fondues with lots of goodies to dip: chicken, veggies, fruits, noodles, bread, pretzels, and mallows.

Laun’s combo-chicken, asparagus and mushroom dipped in cheese.

Porter loved the chocolate fondue, despite that odd face he is making.

Our kiddos love this tradition.

After dinner they had a smack down and wrestled each other all over the clean laundry. Maybe if I actually put away the laundry I wouldn’t have this problem.

Another tradition the kiddos love: homemade sugar cookies with their initials. I actually got this tradition from my Grandma Turley. Except her cookies were way better. She hand delivered massive heart shaped cookies every Valentine's with our whole name in perfect cursive on them. Maybe someday I will make my kids fancier cookies like my Grandma made. My kids always look forward to their personal cookies.