Quarantine

We have been in quarantine for a few weeks now and are trying to do some good things with our time together. There has been plenty of fighting and screen time but overall we are doing pretty good. We have a little schedule we try to follow. The kids are earning stickers. When they get 15 they get to pick a homemade treat, a treat Dad brings home from the store, or a late night with Mom and Dad. They usually pick the late night. 

We celebrated St. Patricks Day just after school was canceled. I had some fun things planned for my preschool class so we just did them together. Susie did her own decorations and hung them up for us to enjoy. 

We've made play dough and decorated our drive with sidewalk chalk. The kids are doing pretty well with homework (this week is Spring Break- hurray!) They have some packet work and some online work. We've done puzzles and science experiments. We've tried out GoNoodle on YouTube and jumped on the trampoline a lot. We started a Smile Brigade in our neighborhood with emjois and jokes taped on people's doors. I ordered the Millennium Falcon for Paul for Valentines Day from AliExpress and when it got here the boys loved watching him build it! 

We are staying at home and trying to stay safe. I am hoping Paul doesn't catch something at work and bring it home. I have been grateful for prayer and faith and the joy the gospel brings me as we're going through unprecedented times! 

Susie Turns 9

Susie turned 9! What a big kid, I can't believe it. I realized just before her birthday that half of her life at home is up and it crushed me a little bit. I love having her in our home so much! 

We made fun plans for her birthday and it was the best day ever! She got a haircut the day before her birthday and loves her new bangs. She unwrapped a matching dress in the morning and went to school. I picked her up for a lunch date a Kneaders and we went and bought donuts for her class to take back to school.

After school I took Susie and her two besties to the skating center and we skated and played arcade games. They had so much fun!

At home we had her requested dinner, chicken alfredo and a peanut butter chocolate cake that was heaven. We had some family join us for dinner. Jessi and Kai, and Kimbol and Aspen. She got an avocado pin from Aunt Livy (it's an avocado! thanks!) a tie die kit, a few books, and world puzzle. 

Susie is such a big help at home. She does her chores without complaining, including cleaning her bathroom, which she's pretty good at. She helps with her brothers a lot too. She practices the piano every morning, although sometimes we have tears when it's too hard. She's a good player though. She absolutely loves to read and spends any spare minute she can with a book. She set a goal to read the Book of Mormon this year and she's doing great. She loves to play outside as much as she can. Her favorite thing is staying up with mom and dad to play games like Cover Your Assets (she always beats us) or watch a movie (her favorite is Dolphin Tale or Princess Diaries). 

Clark turns 4

I got ready to post about Susanna's birthday and realized I didn't put anything up for Clark's birthday in January! Clark turned 4 and we had some fun on his birthday. We call him Clark the shark so his birthday requests were spot on. He wanted a sharpedo cake (sharpedo is a Pokemon) and he wanted to go see the sharks at the aquarium. So that's what we did! 

Clark has a lot of spunk. He expresses all his emotions to the extreme. He loves to be fierce and when he's happy he jumps up and down with excitement. He can write his name well and loves playing with friends at preschool although I think a few of the little girls are scared of him haha. It's Clark and Timothy at home together every day while the big kids are at school and sometimes Clark plays too rough but they play together too. Clark loves reading stories together and building with legos. 

Valentines Day and February fun

 It was fun to celebrate Valentines Day and try to spread the love. Me and a friend in the neighborhood started a tradition a few years ago to pass out "valentines" to women in the neighborhood. This year we did a love potion and it was so fun.

Paul and I always do the 14 days of love. I took a picture of a few I did. For me Paul gave back rubs, free time, bathrooms cleaned, a movie etc :) 

We had a cute little preschool party with Clark and his friends. I got to help with a party in Susie's class too and stopped by to see Braden at lunch. Susie made a dolphin valentine box and we bought a mailbox for Braden. We had a family dinner on Valentines day and invited a few guests. 

We had a fun game night at our house with some friends. We played the Newlywed Game again, it's our favorite. It always provides some good laughs. 

We try to do a family date once a month and this month we went to the Treehouse museum. 

We took a trip to Cedar City to spend some time with family there. Mom just had foot surgery and had to take some time off work so she asked if we would keep her company. It was a fun little trip. We even found an adult stroller to borrow and took her for a walk. Walks are her love language.