February 26, 2023
Monday being a holiday started out with me painting our new door and door frame in our master bedroom that goes to the bathroom while Kassie and the kids went to the Children's museum up in SLC. I finished listening to Dracula while doing the work and successfully installed a new door knob on Addie's door (with a lock) that she bought with her own money. She is pretty excited about locking her brothers out. Kassie and I were both sick with colds and remarkably none of the kids really seemed to get it. I've been seeing a chiropractor since I often get "tweaks in my neck" and that has been pretty good this week. I am hoping to implement some exercises so my body isn't totally ruined by 8 hours of computer sitting each day for years on end.
 |
| SLC Children's Museum |
We had a ton of snow this week and that included a "school from home" day (aka "snow day") for the kids which they loved. They were in heaven. Hinckley spent nearly the whole day at his friend's house playing in the tall burms created by snow plows. The kids also had fun making little "sledding hill" mounds in our backyard and sliding down those on their sleds. It is wonderful to get so much snow, despite it being quite a lot of work to shovel. We are grateful. Kassie and I were able to go to the temple on Saturday at last after being thwarted the last few times we've tried to go. We both appreciated the changes made in the Endowment experience and felt it was really helpful overall.
 |
| The "sledding hill" in the front |
 |
| The "sledding hill" in the back |
 |
| Addie's first ice skating lesson (she is in the pink at the back) |
Some other news this week - Greyson may have broken his arm. When at his Ninja Class at the Lehi Rec Center he said he fell off a ladder which Kassie estimated to be about 6 feet tall. He was pretty upset that the pads didn't "work" like he thought they would when he landed and that he was so hurt. He is also sad that he can't really play in the snow. On Monday we'll get the bone doctor to check it out and get a final verdict on how serious it is as the 4 doctors who saw the x-ray on Saturday weren't super confident about whether it was broken or not. Addie had "books and buddies" at school this week and Kassie went in and read with her which they both enjoyed. Addie has been really enjoying the "Little House on the Prairie" books and is always chattering about what Laura, Mary, and the others are up to. I think Hinckley secretly is interested but when pressed he looked disgusted, "Nobody important even dies in there." Which may or may not be true! He is rereading Harry Potter and is on Book 6 already. We watched The Phantom of the Opera with Hinckley on Friday night and he seemed to stick with it most of the time. Addie wanted to listen to the music the next day while cleaning her room, we let her stay up for the first 30 min or so of the movie which she loved...but then she said she was afraid the Phantom was waiting outside the bathroom to get her. So I'm glad we didn't let her watch the whole thing! haha.
 |
| Injured boy with a sling |
Lastly, I've been reading a book called "Anti Diet" and have decided I'm no longer following any special kind of eating. I like Almond Milk, Tofu, and other plant-based foods that have become staples in our home over the last 10 years, but I want to get away from any sense of "good or bad" foods and rather have a peaceful relationship with the food I eat. We'll see how that goes.
February 19, 2023
We had a happy Valentines day this week followed closely by Kassie's birthday. There was a lot of sweets and delicious food involved throughout the week an it culminated with the kids having a blast with Nana and Grandpa and the Kay kids on Saturday in Provo. Addie threw up in the night earlier this week and she missed some more school including her Valentines day party which was the second year in a row, poor girl. Later in the week we all went ice skating which was a growing experience for all of us. Addie likes it so much we decided to sign her up for some lessons that start soon.
 |
| Ready for the ice |
 |
| Post skating pic |
 |
| 35 years! |
Greyson got really used to having infinite candy available at all times of the day. It's been rough scaling back on that. On one of the days Addie was home from school they decided to push the boundaries and cut their own hair. Addie hardly did much but Greyson's was such that he needed a good buzzing afterward. The scissors had to go on vacation for a week which was rough on everyone.
 |
| Valentine's Candy stash |
On Saturday the kids went to the jump park and hiking among other fun things with Nana and Grandpa and Kay cousins as mentioned. They had so much fun! I went to my first "Strenuous Saturday" events which is a monthly activity with other men in the Utah chapter of the group. One activity was a sort of capture the flag like event and my cheap/free sunglasses where broken when I was taken down by a guy! It reminded me a bit of being pummeled by Trent or Mike Ellis in the olden times. We went up to a cabin East of Heber and did a variety of fun challenges in the very deep snow. It was beautiful up there, nothing quite like the Heber-side of Timp when it is entirely covered in snow.
 |
| Greyson, Hinckley, and Logan hiking |
 |
| Greg with some Strenuous men |
 |
| Grandparent day finale |
February 11, 2023
I had a happy birthday this week! Thank you for the calls and messages. Greyson and Kassie brought me a tasty chocolate Roxberry smoothie at lunch time and we had the regular tofu breakfast burritos and eclair cake at dinner time. It was fun to see Trent and Millie for a bit before they returned to IN and M&D before they went to Canada. I'm very grateful for this last year of life as I feel like I developed in many important ways. It has been a really great year.
 |
| Birthday eclair cake celebrating 34 years |
 |
| Glue card from Greyson, Note from Addie |
In other news, Hinckley had a fun time at his Ninja class. He won the “hanging challenge” which was really excited about (all the kids hang from various bars until there is a last kid hanging). As we drove home he made a few comments about how one area he struggles with is the psychology of the sport which I thought was very perceptive. He seems to be cluing in that he has lots of capability but often falls short of it because of his attitude or fears. I've finished reading
Good Inside which Lucy gave me for Christmas and am now listening to it as a review. I think it is the best parenting book I've read and it has really helped me view myself and my kids in a more Christlike light. One quote in there I love is "Anxiety is the inability to tolerate discomfort. It's the experience of not wanting to be in your body , the idea that you should be feeling differently in that specific moment." I've been working with Hinckley and the other kids (and myself) in learning to be more reliant in leaning into tolerating discomfort more regularly.
Greyson and Addie had a pretty good week as well doing their various activities. Greyson continues to tie ropes around the house and Addie is excited to have finished another
Little House on the Prairie book. She's really been enjoying those. Greyson enjoyed a few gatherings Kassie attended with women in the area including a "galantines brunch" which sounded like a fun time. The kids are counting down the days to valentines!
February 5, 2023We began the week finishing off some sickness and by mid week everyone was back in school. Addie had some hard moments returning after being out with sickness a lot. She gets pretty anxious. Hopefully we have that as figured out as needed for now as it can be exasperating sometimes. She and I had a fun date on Saturday going to eat pizza and then watching "The Bad Guys" in her room. It is her favorite movie and since I'd never seen it she was eager to watch for "my 8th time!" She fell asleep a few times. I think a dark room with a tummy full of pizza and arm in arm with my daughter is one of the best moments of the year so far.
 |
| Pizza girl |
For the first time in three years I took the kids to the Saturday Home Depot craft day and they loved it. They were all much better with the hammer and paints then they were last time! It makes a difference. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by as my last memories doing these outings was basically creating the entire craft for Hinckley and Addie and then watching them paint their hands and everything else in the process. Pretty wild. Hinckley and Kassie went to see the Peking Chinese Acrobats at UVU and had lots of things to tell us about. It sounded like an incredible performance with spinning plates, tight-rope walking/rolling, roller skating in circles with people holding on to other people's head just with their feet, and more.
 |
| Home Depot February Crafting |
 |
| Ready to see the Peking Acrobats |
Lately Greyson has been really into tying knots with yarn. So in addition to his "glue art" (dumping glue over a bunch of items and then sticking other items to it to make his "craft") he has enjoyed tying random objects to stationary items using yarn. He loves to be busy with his hands haha. On Saturday we had the Matthews over (friends from BYU days) who we enjoy seeing about once a month. The kids were out playing night games in the cold and having a blast and it was hard to pull them back in. It is so great when they can all decide to try new activities and not mope around chanting "I'm bored".
 |
| Greyson string tying inventions |
 |
| Dinner with the Matthews |
Comments
Post a Comment