Doctors Appointments

This week has been busy and full of ups and downs.  Anna had an appointment for a physical for school so she could do sports - while there we asked them to make a recommendation for someone she could see about her knees.  So on Friday she had an appointment with a sports medicine doctor who x-rayed her and and checked her and gave her some exercises and stretches that she can do to help.  The plan is to try those and see if they help and if it doesn't help enough, then we will get her in to see a physical therapist.  

David loves having his picture taken and he was parked on the window sill looking cute and telling me to take a picture - that is the whole reason for this pic - but he's cute!  

Tuesday was wonderful and stressful - Eileen was having a VERY rough day and was very stressed and anxious, so I went in and sat with her for awhile.  We had an appointment set up for her with a therapist on Thursday.  It seemed to go pretty well and she was feeling much better about life in general afterwards.  She will meet with him again and hopefully he will help her figure out what things make it worse and what things make it better and help her learn ways to manage the bad days.  

Tuesday we also got to have Claire and some of the kids stop by for lunch and playing on their way back to Washington.  It was so good to see them and have them over!  Dan came home from work early so he could see them and hang out with us, then he took Eileen out for a drive to chat and clear her head.  

Wednesday was a no school day which was fun - we had a nice quiet day around the house, and then in the evening, the girls had their youth activity.  They had a fun get-to-know the bishopbric activity which was a lot of fun - it was also a lot of fun being together with all the young women instead of divided into classes.  

Saturday, was Tiana's baby shower!  It was so fun to get to see her and chat with her and the other ladies there!  We had a great time!  

James has been having tooth problems - but we can't get a dentist to answer us and set up an appointment for him grrrr....  Poor kid is in pain and cranky because of it!  

Sunday was wonderful!  We had a great ward conference, and great meetings.  We finally found James' primary class link (it had gone to my junk mail) and David just loves his primary meeting and his teachers!  

In the afternoon, we went to the Tualatin Hills Nature Reserve and had fun walking around and chatting - we even got to see a deer walking around and crossing the path!  Anna found Big Foot (it was really just a tree that kinda looked like a big person) and we all had a great time! 

Friends and Family

 It's been a fun week!  On Monday after school, we took the kids to the home of a sister I minister to so that we could shovel her driveway.  We had a great time working together and she was sweet and shared some candy with the kids.  It was wonderful to be able to serve and we were grateful that the van made it down the hill and back up safely.  

James has been having so much fun making stuff with Dan - he and Dan made this robot together - and then Evelyn helped James paint it.  He's pretty excited about spending the special time with dad and about making such cool things!  

Friday, Dan and I had a date night!  John and Melissa came up and Adam got to hang out with his cousins while the adults went to Fogo de Chao for dinner.  We had a wonderful time together, as did the kids, then after, we had fun playing a game before finally bundling the kids off to bed WAY past their bed time!  

Saturday included lots of errands.  I took Eileen and Anna to go get the fabric for the skirts they want to make during our craft afternoon.  They are both pretty excited to make them and are excited about the fabric they found.  Then in the evening, I went for a girls night out with Sandi and her ex-sister in law Julianna - and Kai tagged along too!  We had a fun dinner and ice cream and walking around the cute little downtown area.  It was fun getting to know Julianna a bit better and it's always great to spend time with Sandi!  

Sunday we got to go to church at the building which was wonderful.  David had a little primary zoom meeting again - which he LOVES!  He and James used their clothing item coupons to get pj's - James got a dragon and David got a monkey.  They both look adorable in them - and we are having a hard time getting them to wear anything else now.  In the afternoon, I took the belated Valentine's cookies to the sisters I minister to and had a fun time chatting with Janet and seeing her new kitchen!  In the evening, we watched the Friend to Friend event that the church put on for kids and had fun.  Plus, the sisters stopped by when Dan told them that they could stop by for banana bread.  They both got some banana bread and a HUGE hug from David.  It was adorable! 

Snow and Ice

We've had a fun and rather crazy week!  It started out normal enough with me running errands to get ready for Valentine's Day - James needed his class valentines dropped off on Monday and picked up on Thursday for their celebration on Friday.  

The sister missionaries challenged us when  they came over for dinner to prayerfully find someone to serve and some way to serve them.  I thought I should take some Valentine treats to the sisters I minister to, so I made up cookie dough, then we decorated them Thursday evening.  The kids all had a fun time.  David would tell Dan what to do, then Dan would frost them and David would put a little pile of sprinkles somewhere on the cookie.  Eileen had fun using a tooth pick to make cool swirly patterns and all the kids had fun decorating and getting a little creative!  And of course, they liked eating them! 

Friday began the end of Portland civilization.  Well not really, but the ice and rain and snow started coming down and everything shut down, the roads are covered in ice and snow and no snow plows to be found, plus the ice rain kept coming down!   Dan got a fun little inflatable sled for the kids.  They loved it and had a blast on it, and then got upset when the bottom section stopped holding air very well, but they got a lot of fun out of it while it lasted!  

Our driveway and the gently sloping hill next to our house were perfect for the younger kids (and Eileen) who wanted to have fun, but not go too fast.  Anna was the only one to brave the steeper hill a block away.  

A lot of people in the area have had power outages.  Thankfully we still have power here.  Sandi and Jon and John and Melissa have both lost power.  We have offered our home, but getting up to us is a rather dangerous prospect.  Dan and I haven't dared drive since this began.  Hills and ice are not worth it.  

Saturday morning, Dan and David made up some yummy French Toast for breakfast!  The kids have been eating the leftovers for every meal since.  

By Saturday, we had actually gotten some snow and the whole neighborhood was out enjoying it!   Some really nice teenage kids from down the street shared sleds with our kids and Anna was excited to meet some kids her own age!  Eileen even finally came out and tried the sled, agreeing that the slope was gentle enough, but that once was enough.  :)  We got to meet and chat with some of the neighbors who were out with their kids and it was nice.  

James was trying to teach David how to zip up his jacket!  He was so sweet helping him get ready to go play outside! 

Dan smoked a brisket that was supposed to be for dinner on Saturday, but he miscalculated the time, so we had a nice big family lunch of brisket and potatoes and it was really yummy!!  

In the afternoon, the boys and I helped a neighbor lady shovel her drive way.  We worked hard and were well and tired out by the end of the day.  

Valentines Day was wonderful!   We started with a yummy breakfast of heart-shaped biscuits.  And of course, way too much candy.  Church was cancelled, but we were still able to do the sacrament, so we did some home church, having the Sacrament and talking about a Bible story.  We talked about Enoch and the people of Zion! 

After church, the youth had their meetings.  This week the primary was given permission to start doing zoom primary meetings.  So today was David's very first Sunbeam class!!  His teachers were wonderful and so sweet with him.  He just loved it!  He was the only one there this week, but he was so excited to go to Sunbeams and have his own church meeting like the big kids.  James' class hasn't started yet, but it will soon, and I'm so glad!   David looks a little somber in the picture, but he was chatting with them and singing along and responding to questions.  

The kids wanted to go and play outside in the snow more today, but last night they got more ice rain, so the snow wasn't really play-with-able - it was frozen solid!  I could stand on it and it wouldn't sink under my weight at all.  It was really neat to see the ice all over the plants though - I hope it doesn't hurt them, but so far they seem fine.  

End of the Semester and Stuff

This was the last week of the semester for the kids, so they spent a lot of time finishing up school work.  

I spent some time trying to convince Evelyn that although a C is not a bad enough grade to get her in trouble, that it is likewise nothing to be proud of...  

Dan and I got David a dresser last weekend, this week, we finally got around to getting it built.  David was so excited!  He and Dan worked to get them built.  David loved getting to help daddy!  He hammered and brought him things and helped carry stuff.

He felt so big and strong helping to carry the drawers.  

 The kids had school off on Friday for a grading day, but we mostly chilled around the house and went on short walks and played around.  In the afternoon, Dan called because his car had broken down on the side of the road on his way home from work, so I took David and went to go bring him some tools, and then take him to get a battery for the car so he could get the car home.  Then Saturday morning, he took the car to get it fixed.  At first it was looking like it was going to cost nearly a thousand dollars and take a long time.  The mechanic called us back a couple hours later to say that it was a different part than expected and would only cost a hundred dollars and was done.  We were very happy and feeling very blessed!  

James claimed his craft afternoon coupon for this weekend.  So Saturday afternoon, we went into my craft room and sat down with some hat looms and made some hats.  He made a had for himself and I made a doll hat.  We also listened to an audio book while we crafted.  We got to have some (mostly) one on one time and he made an awesome looking hat for himself and we had a lot of fun!  

We all selected goals to work on this month and James decided that he wanted to learn some of the cub scout stuff, so he and Dan have been doing lots of fun stuff.  He decided that he wanted to do something today, but since Dan had little warning and no ability to get supplies, the options were limited.  James was really mad at first that Dan wanted to teach him knot tying, then Dan convinced him that it could be cool to learn to lash stuff together, so they lashed 3 big poles together and James has been carrying it everywhere and draping his blanket over it and using it as a teepee or as a reading spot or anything he could think of.  

The kids had fun outside skating as usual and Evelyn and James met a kid who lives just down the street that they had a fun evening playing with.  He seems pretty close to James' age which is nice, but after James came in and threw a grand fit about not having a pet.....