A Public Service Announcement

For our ward party tomorrow night we're having a movie night. Everyone's suppose to submit a short home movie and we'll be watching all the funny things the families in the ward have done. It's complete with popcorn and awards given by the activities committee. We chose to do a movie from late February of 2005. We were still in Utah and Sarah Kate was almost 3. I thought it was so cute that I just had to put it on my blog. I hope you enjoy it. Kenny added the music and everything to make it feel more like a real movie. It shows us just how much Sarah Kate has grown up in the past 3 years.

Ben's Birthday Blogs

I was planning on writing one blog soon after Ben's birthday, but things kept coming up and I didn't get it done. So now one week later I'm finally finished with the story. The problem is it was so big it took 3 blogs to complete. So it might be beneficial to start at the beginning with is the third blog entitled Happy Birthday BenBen! Read up from there and you shouldn't get lost. Hopefully!

The Cake

Yes, there's more! After Chuck E Cheese's we came home and had cake. I've foolishly decided that making a special cake for my children every year would be a fun tradition. It wasn't a problem when there was one or two of them, but now there's four and three have birthdays really close. Oh well, I started it and now I have to keep it going (seceretly I really do kind of enjoy it.) So Sunday night I started decorating Ben's Spiderman cake (I couldn't find a Star Wars one) only to find out I didn't have enough frosting. Being Sunday I couldn't go get more so first thing Monday morning (after exercise and showering) I went to the store and got another frosting. This meant, like almost every other year, I was still frosting the cake minutes before the party. I'm vowing right here and now to do better with Sarah Kate's cake. We'll see. Anyway, I was pretty pleased with the finished product and Ben like it too which is really all that matters.

The kids were tired after Chuck E Cheese's, but really, who can pass up cake? We stuck 4 candles in Spiderman's eyes and sang Happy Birthday to Ben one last time. It took a number of blows to get all the candles out, but he never gave up. Once the candles were out, the kids got to eat it. Oh happy day!

If you look closely you'll see Ben's plate contains the entire head of Spiderman. He didn't want just a piece of his head. He wanted the whole thing. We figured it was his birthday, his cake, so he could do what he wanted. Kenny cut a nice oval out of the cake and plopped it on Ben's plate. He ended up only taking about 4 or 5 bites, but I sure it was cool to have the whole face anyway.

Gracie couldn't join the kids in the cake eating festivities, but she was sure cute sitting in her highchair watching.

Hannah decided to just devour the cake. Who needs a fork when you have hands and a big wide open mouth. Yum!

I realize Sarah Kate looks all nice and proper here. It's the only non-blurry picture of I have of Sarah Kate eating the cake. Trust me she went to town like the others and had silly faces to go with it.

Chuck E Cheese's

(Dallin, Jacob, Hannah Beth, Sarah Kate, and Ben.)

The kids in the tubes with our favorite family the Gulicks, minus little Hannah Gulick who didn't want to go up.

As a tradition we let the kids choose where they want to go for dinner on their birthday. Ben chose none other than the funfilled Chuck E Cheese. So when the Star Wars movie was over we called some friends and had them meet us at Chuck E Cheese for dinner. They were smart enough not to come for the actual dinner part only to play after we ate. As busy, hectic, loud, and crazy as Chuck E Cheese is I must admit if I were little it would be a cool place to go with your friends. The kids ran around nonstop until almost 8:00. What a day!

Sarah playing Air Hockey against Dallin. She won at the last minute. Boy was she pleased.





Knocked that mole to smithereens Ben! He had so much fun running for game to game. I don't think he had a favorite. He loved them all.

Hannah loved the little Merry Go Round. At one time I thought she might fall asleep on the horse.

Gracie showing a little smile. She enjoyed herself as well. All the lights and people gave her so much to look at.

Happy Birthday BenBen!

Well, my boy is now 4! I can't believe how quickly the kids are growing up. He's so excited to be 4. For the past 4 days or so he's been getting up every morning asking if today could be his birthday. It's amazing how long 4 days is to a little kid. I found it funny that his actual birthday was the only day he didn't ask if it could be his birthday. He happened to be the first one up and he came into our room where we sang him Happy Birthday. We sang 'Happy Birthday' spontaneously throughout the day. I think he enjoyed it.

Anyway, let me do a quick recap of the days events. We woke up to a beautiful morning. It was Presidents Day so Kenny and Sarah Kate were both home. Kenny went to basketball at the church at 7:00 and I got the kids ready and then went to the church for exercise class at 8:30. The kids had a blast playing in the gym with Daddy while I took advantage of the wonderful weather and went for a walk with the other exerciser's. When we got home at 10:00 it was 64 degrees outside. We were so pleased Ben's birthday was going to be such a warm day.

We got showered and ready for the day, gave the kids some lunch, and then put them down for an early nap. (OK, I tried to put them down for a nap, but Grandma and Grandpa called on the webcam for the first time so I got the Ben and Sarah up and then after that neither one of them could sleep. They were too excited for the party that was coming.) While they were 'pretending' to sleep Kenny went and got the last present and I finished the cake. We then got Sarah Kate up to help decorate and wrap presents. At around 1:30 we were set.

Before we knew it Ben and Hannah were awake and we were opening presents. Ben got a lot of cool things. He got Barricade (the Transformer) from Hannah. This is want he wanted most of all. He had been asking about it non stop for about a week. Grace gave him a Spiderman punching bag to help him with Tae Kwon Do. Sarah chose a pair of dart guns. She chose it all by herself and was so happy when Ben loved it.

Shooting Mommy.

Hannah liked shooting herself.

Mommy and Daddy gave Ben the last of the Star Wars movies. He was very excited and had really been looking forward to getting it. I guess it's a good thing we got it. We also got him a bike. We were especially happy with the warm weather because we knew Ben was getting the bike, however, as soon as he started unwrapping presents it started to rain and it rained and rained. So as much as he liked the bike he could only ride it around the house a little. Never fear he was able to watch his Star Wars movie instead. He was pleased.

The Surprise Ice Storm Of the Century!

The kids enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.

I'm a little late getting to this story, but I wanted to write about it anyway. Our weather has been incredibly mild this winter. While they are enjoying feet of snow at home, we have been enjoying 40+ degree weather with a dab of coolness every now and then. Proceeding this past Tuesday we've had very nice February weather. On Saturday the 9th it got up near 60 and had been in the 50's most of the week before. It's been wonderful, but Tuesday sent us a change.

Gracie enjoyed her walk in the sun as well.

It had gotten colder over night with temperatures in the 20's and had a hard time bouncing back. The meteorologists were all predicting rain. The temperature on the ground never rose above freezing so the rain turned into freezing rain. It happened very quickly. No one expected it. I went to get Sarah Kate at the bus stop and when I left the house our car was just wet from rain, when I got to the bus stop, maybe 1/8 of a block away, all the cars were iced. I happened that quickly.

When I got home from the bus stop at 3:30 I called Kenny and told him he may want to leave early because it had started icing at the house. He stayed about 15 minutes or so and then headed out. (It's key to this story that you know that because there was only a threat of mild rain, Kenny had ridden his motorcycle to work.) I turned on the news at 4:00 and found out they had closed the freeway due to freezing on the bridges. I called him at work, but he had already left. I called his cell phone a few times, but he couldn't answer because he was on the bike. He called me around 4:45 and told me he had driven down the shoulder for a ways, but that traffic was really, really slow and that he would be late getting home. I informed him that the freeway had been closed and he may want to try driving down the shoulder some more.

So, to make a long story not quite as long, he gathered about 8 other motorcyclist and created a motorcycle gang that drove down the shoulder. By the time they got to the police they were down to just 3 (the others didn't want to brave it.) The policeman asked where they came from and Kenny told them just up the road. He told them that they had made it that far and that he wasn't going to stop them, but that they should stay together. They help out with 4 or 5 accidents on their drive and Kenny said the bridges were pure ice. He had to use his feet as skies to keep from falling over.

Meanwhile I was at home very nervous. I hadn't heard from him since 4:45 and it was now around 6:30. I knew it was still raining and icing, but I didn't know where he was. I only hoped that some nice person had let him sit in their car. Around 6:45 I heard his bike outside. I ran downstairs and opened the garage to this. . .

YES! The white you see is all ice!

Boy was I surprised. I was happy to have him home and I just had to grab the camera. He looked amazing. He was literally covered in ice from head to toe. His bike was so frozen that he couldn't push the button to turn it off. It was quite the sight. He said it was a lot of fun. He enjoys helping people and being able to deal with unusual circumstances. I was just glad he made it home safe and rather quickly. We found out the next day that a friend of ours that works at the Pentagon didn't get home until after 11:00. How crazy! Kenny was very glad he had his bike and didn't have to be out until 11:00.

Here's a picture with the visor down. Look at how shiny it is from the ice.

A Blue and Purple Belt

The kids had their Tae Kwon Do tests last Friday. The school has decided to change the way testing is done in order to free up their Saturdays. Instead of having the option of testing each month they have now gone to testing every other month. This means every kid tests at the same time. Sarah Kate tested with the Green, Purple, Light Blue, and Blue belts. I counted over 55 kids. It took forever and I'm sure was a fire harassed, all those kids and parents crammed in there. I wonder if they'll keep it that way or change it back.

Anywho!!! The kids did really well with their forms and their board breaking. BenBen got to do the 8 basic moves for his form (it consists of 6 blocks and 2 punches) and he broke the board with his elbow. He got it on his first try and immediately said, "That was easy!" I think it took him by surprise. It's been fun to see them progress in karate. Ben's doing well and by the end of the year he should be a Little Ninja Black Belt. (Little Ninja's are the kids under 5.)

Ben Breaking His Board With His Elbow!

As I said earlier, Sarah Kate's test was packed solid. Kenny and I figured it would be crowded and so decided that only one of us would go and the other would stay home with the little kids. I got the honor of going and I'm really glad we didn't take the kids. It took me 10 minutes to get in the building and the test itself took over an hour and a half. Sarah Kate did very well though and did her form spotlessly. She had to break her board with a back kick. It was challenging because you have to stand backwards and kick. It's hard to see where the board is. It took her a few times (she's afraid of the board which doesn't help) and then she got a little help from Master Lee who's wonderful with kids. After he came to help it only took her about 5 tries before she broke it with a wonderful kick. It was very powerful, I know I was holding the board. I have video of it that I want to add, but can't seem to get it to work. I'll keep trying so check back later to see if it's up.

Sarah With Her Green and Now Purple Belt.

The kids did great and they love having test day's. It's so neat to get new belts. Ben was sooooo happy to get rid of the yucky purple belt and trade for a cool blue one. Sarah on the other hand was thrilled to get the purple one.

Ben Showing Off His Blue Belt and His Muscles!

The Please Police

I've decided recently that I've been getting lenient with the kids manners. The most noticeable change has been with the number of times 'please' and 'thank you' is said, or should I say not said. Because of this, last week I decided that I was going to help them get back in the habit of saying please and thank you. The kids have been doing rather well with it. Even Hannah, who still isn't talking, has caught on and is using her signs more often. I was however, quite surprised with who took to the whole activity the most. BenBen! Over the past week I have bestowed upon him the nickname of 'the please police'. Both he and Sarah Kate think it's fun to catch me when I don't use please and thank you, (yeah right, like that ever happens) but Ben has gone above and beyond with my missed pleases. Almost everytime I ask him to do something he will say, "Mom, did you forget something," and if I'm too busy or not paying attention he will stand there and say, "P P P P P P P P P P P P P " until I catch on and say please. He literally will not move until I ask again with my please. You know a lot like what I require of him. Sadly catching on to what he's doing can take awhile. The poor boy has gotten in trouble a few times because I was so busy with dinner, a screaming kid, or something else to figure out why he wasn't doing what he was asked. The whole activity has been very successful and I must say that I'll take the annoying P's and the fact that my kids enjoy pointing out my faults if it helps them become polite again. And they enjoy it.