Lots of music

Well this first picture is what happens when older siblings feel like providing blackmail photos for later - he has glittery eye shadow on too...

This has been a busy, but fun week.  Anna had Soccer tryouts, Eileen and Anna had band UIL and their bands both did really well!  I even got to go listen to Eileen's band playing.  Evie and James had piano lessons.  James had a class musical presentation that he had lines in.  It was really cute!  I had rehearsals for our upcoming concert on both Thursday and Saturday morning.  I went to work out after rehearsal on Saturday and - that was on top of the normal everyday life stuff.

We had an insane hail storm here - the sounds it made on our windows made us nervous about having broken windows - and I was sure our poor new van was going to be dinged up badly.  We had neighbors have their fences blown down and Sandi and Jon ended up with some bad hail damage - but thankfully, our van escaped any noticeable damage!!  Thank goodness for tender mercies!!

David loves going for walks outside - so since weather was mostly nice (during the day at least) we went on lots of walks and played in the back yard a bunch, but weather seems to be getting colder again, so he's not going to be happy about that!

Friday night, Dan took me out for a date - we drove 5 minutes to the Malt Shop so we could wait half an hour for milk shakes (they lost our order!) but they were sweet and gave us the bigger size for free.  And they were yummy and we had a fun time standing around and chatting!

My friend from Colorado has been making these gorgeous wreaths - and she sent me a couple - they finally arrived on Saturday, and we pulled them out and hung them up!!  The kids loved pulling them out and checking out everything about them. 

On Saturday, Dan and I ran down to Home Depot - we were looking at borders for our flower beds, but didn't decide on anything yet.  David found the riding lawn mowers and he loved them!  

We were sitting together for scriptures and prayers and David was teaching his siblings how to do baby shark by singing to them and moving their hands for them - it was adorable!! I tried to get a video of it - but as soon as I pulled out the camera, he had to come over to see it.  I turned the camera around and managed to still get him to sing to himself and I still think it's so cute!!  

On Saturday evening, we had friends over for a grown up's game night - we had a great time playing Code Names and eating yummy treats!  It's been fun getting to know Lia's family - and having friends in the neighborhood!

We had a great sabbath!  Our Sacrament meeting and combined meeting were wonderful!  We had a great turn out for ward choir - Suzie is doing such an amazing job at getting people to come!

Back to routine

This week has been getting back to routine after spring break.  I was sore still after working out with my mom last week - but it faded away in plenty of time for me to get sore again this week  :)  

David still wasn't feeling great and had a fever still on Monday, so I took him in to the doctors office just to make sure there wasn't anything that needed to be looked at- he's been particularly grumpy and that combined with the high fever made me worry a bit.  But it was nothing more than a virus, so we take care of him and wait for it to pass.  

This is the kids leading the music for family home evening. 

Dan's company had a big release this week - and since it was a software based release, it was mostly on his shoulders - so he has worked alot this week - including pulling an all-nighter at work on Tuesday evening.  Anna had a track meet on Tuesday too, but the poor kid didn't get home from that until nearly 11pm - so she was exhausted.  Eileen was willing to watch the kids so I could go to institute - but David was really cranky about going to bed and wouldn't let Eileen put him down - but he would let Evelyn.  

Wednesday, I ran down to Allen to stop at the Hobby Lobby for a skein of yarn that I needed to finish a baby blanket, then I met up with Dan for a quick lunch - but he's been rather crazy busy all week.  In the evening, we had Scouts, and Activity Days and Young Womens.  

Thursday evening I had rehearsal - it's been so much fun singing with this group - I'm looking forward to the upcoming concert - but I can't believe we are only a few weeks away!  

Friday morning, the elementary school was doing an awards ceremony for the UIL kids.  Evie was getting an award for getting 4th place in Spelling.  She did a great job!  Only 2 kids at her school placed at all and she was one of them!  David was a bit cranky by the end, but I could hardly blame him since we had to go straight there after dropping Eileen off and didn't get much breakfast first.  

In the evening, Dan and I went to the temple and did some sealings, then we met up with people from Dan's work - they wanted to do a going-away party for one of the ladies there.  We all went to a Karaoke Bar - Sandi and I had fun singing together and I gave the lady leaving her baby blanket (now on to the next one) but Dan and I were tired and while I love singing, we would both rather be home.  So we headed home.  :)

Saturday included some cleaning, working out with Mom and Sandi, enjoying the beautiful weather, a birthday party for the younger kids and grocery shopping for next week.  We had a good time together, and slowly but surely, Dan is recovering from his all-nighter.  :)

Today was wonderful.  Church was wonderful - the primary kids sang a beautiful musical number and they did a great job!  The talks and lessons were so great and I chatted a bit with some of the ladies in the ward about getting their daughters into MCO with Eileen next year.   Choir turned out well - we had a decent showing and they sounded great - even though I dropped a new song on them for Ward Conference in a couple weeks!  Our ministering brother stopped by to visit today - it was really nice to have one coming again!  He was a really nice guy - his family is new to our ward and his wife came to choir today!

Spring Break

Well it may be hard to tell from this picture, but the kids are on spring break this week.  Eileen and Anna really enjoyed their time in Colorado - They loved getting to see family and going on walks with Grandpa.  They loved getting to see old friends.  I couldn't get them to send me any pictures though (despite frequent reminders) But Grandpa sent me this one! 

Here in Texas though - we had a drizzly cloudy first couple days, but by Wednesday afternoon, it was clearing up and becoming a beautiful day!

Evie and James have been having a lot of fun crocheting.  They have used up a bunch of my leftover yarn, lost half my crochet hooks and made a TON of oddly shaped little crocheted bits that are all over the house, but they had fun and kept quiet enough to let me sleep in a bit!  :)  This is Evie's pig that she made up all by herself.  She then moved on to making a doll - I need to take a picture of it - she's pretty cute - now she wants to make clothes for the doll.

Thursday, we took a couple of Evie's friends down to the zoo.  It was my first time driving the new van in traffic and busy parking - the zoo was packed!  It wasn't too bad!  I didn't hit anyone!  The kids had a great time at the zoo and had fun looking at the animals and riding the carousel and then on the way home we stopped for some treats.  They all had a great time and It was a lot of fun!

Friday the girls were home - but they had been up since early to catch their flight, so they went to bed pretty early - Aaron really wanted to watch Newsies during his hour up, so he and I watched it together - he really seemed to like it!  

Saturday morning, Dan had to take the van in - there had been a recall on some parts, so we had to have it checked - it ended up being fine.  He took David with him to hang out while they were checking it.  I went down and met up with mom for a session with her personal trainer - it was fun - and great to spend some time with her - but I am SO SORE today!  :)   In the afternoon, after David's nap, we ran by the library so Aaron and Evie could change out books, and then we went to the park.  Even the kids who grumbled a bit about going seemed to have a great time - we went to a different park than we usually go to which made the younger kids happy.  David loved going down all the slides.  Even Koopa came and had a (mostly) good time.  It was a beautiful day and fun to all be together!

Church today was wonderful!  The choir sang today and they did a wonderful job!  The talks and lessons were great!!  This past week I helped a lady in the ward by taking care of her cat while they were out of town.  The cat was a real sweetie - she was a bit shy at first, but by the end, she would come up to me and let me pet her.  They were really kind and gave us some yummy bakery bread as a thank you!  We had a great afternoon, playing games, crafting together, making music, and listening to some conference talks.  (and a bit of a nap and some ministering)  All-in all, it was a wonderful Sabbath day!

David has had a fever since Saturday evening, and as a result, he's been cranky (he's usually very sweet) he couldn't make up his mind - he would ask for one thing and then change his mind the next second - but spent most of the time after his nap wanting to play the piano (and getting mad when anyone else tried to play) and wanting to play Anna's trumpet and singing.  He's already such a musical kid!!

A week with the Jones'

We've had a pretty typical week.  Monday was full of laundry and grocery shopping and school and such.  Tuesday was a school day and piano lessons and institute.  Wednesday was our ward's February Feast party night.  We brought some yummy potato salad and had fun chatting with friends and eating pizza.  We really have a great ward and we all had a fun time.  Evie invited a friend from school to come with us and Dan was excited because it meant that we got to use our van to carry our whole family and one additional person!  :)

Thursday evening, was the elementary school open house and art show.  We got to see the kids class rooms and a bunch of their work, and some of their art work.  We made all the kids come to support each other - I think Eileen and Anna were less than thrilled, but they dealt with it.  After, I headed down to choir practice.  We had sectionals this week - it was a great chance to dig into the notes and get things nailed down.  It was a lot of fun!  James gave himself a hair cut - it's interesting.... and needs to be fixed... 

Friday was the kids last day of school before spring break!  I babysat a couple kids in the ward for a friend, and we had a fun time playing and jumping on the trampoline - David was sad to see them go.  :(  In the evening, we picked up a babysitter for the younger kids, then took Eileen and Anna down to my parents house to get ready for their trip to Colorado with Grandma.  Then Dan and I headed down to the temple for a session.  We grabbed some dinner to go on the way home so we could get our babysitter home at a reasonable hour. 

Saturday was a unusually relaxed day.  I got to sleep in some, then we spent the morning enjoying the gorgeous weather.  The kids washed the cars, David and I walked up and down the sidewalk.  After David's nap, we went to Costco.  Dan finally got his TV that he's been wanting for 5 or more years now.  He's very excited!  :)  We had a yummy dinner together and we watched a video about the new Temple opening in Rome Italy.  Then Dan and I enjoyed the new TV by watching a movie together. 

I've been trying to make the girls send pictures of their trip - but most of what I got today was pictures out the window of the plane.  Eileen was excited to be able to see the plane's shadow.  So i sent her a picture of my shadow.   He sure is a cute shadow! 

Church today was wonderful - there were some wonderful talks given and a great lesson in Relief Society.  We had a pretty good turn out for choir and Dan made yummy lemon bars for a treat.  The girls were supposed to spend today at church in the Sable Ward and with friends from Aurora - but I can't seem to get them to send me pictures of much.... 

In the evening, we had some friends over for dinner and chatting - we had a fun time together getting to know them a bit better! 

Track and Family Fun

Monday was a momentous day - our old van finally died.  In fact, it died multiple times on the way home from school pick ups - thankfully they happened on small empty roads, so it wasn't a big deal and we didn't have far to go, so we still made it home.  That night while I folded laundry, Dan spent his evening getting us a new huge van.  We have upgraded to a 12-seat van and the plan is to have this last for the next 10 years or so until we can downgrade.  The kids have all been super excited to have a new van where they can spread out and not sit next to each other.  

Anna had a home track meet after school on Tuesday, so we bundled up and headed out to the field to watch her run.  She did great and got a PR in her mile time again - she's almost under 7 minutes for her mile!  We then booked it to piano lessons for Evie and James.  I had institute in the evening, but ended up having to leave early because I had taken the car, but hadn't left Dan the only key for the van, so he couldn't go pick Anna up from her track meet.  Her phone had died so we had no way to contact her and figure out how things were going, so I headed over only to find out that there was still a half hour left to go in the meet.  Oh well - I just wish I'd brought a warmer jacket!!  

Wednesday was the usual with Young Women's in the evening.  Thursday was much the same with me having choir in the evening.  After choir, I had a good time chatting with Jenny - it helped me figure out what options we might have for Eileen if we have her sing with the choir next school year. 

Friday we got to go to the Melissa Middle school play - they did Mary Poppins.  A bunch of the kids friends from our ward were in it.  They all did a great job and the kids all had a lot of fun - David even did a really good job even though he was up way past his bedtime! 

Saturday was busy, but fun!  Dan took the older girls and went to the temple - they met up with Grandpa Cox and did baptisms and then went to lunch after.  I took the younger kids and went to a baby shower (our ward is raining babies!)  I just barely finished up the blanket for her the night before!  We all had a great time!  In the afternoon, Dan went to go get a second key for the van so we don't have a repeat of Tuesday where I strand him with out a key....  Then Dan took the kids to the library so I could make dinner in peace and quiet and with out cute little boy help! 

Church today was wonderful - we really had a great Gospel Doctrine lesson on the Sermon on the Mount - it's amazing how much there still is to learn from it!  After church, we had choir, but we didn't have much of a turnout.  :(  Maybe because it's fast Sunday.  Before choir started - I found David sitting on a chair reading a book - it was so cute!  He is so full of personality!