And then it was March!

Here are some of our everyday activities over the past few weeks.  The weather is getting warmer so we can do more outside.  Hooray!

The older four kids and I went to the Provo City Center Temple open house one evening.  I'd had stake conferences there when I was in college (at the Provo Tabernacle) so it was neat to see the inside of it as a temple.  I was a little nervous about taking my little guys on my own, but no one laid down on the ground or licked anything so it was a successful trip.

Everyone's been enjoying the new couch at my parents.  Here the girls are reading to the boys on it.  For some reason Grant and John both have sippy cups.

Emma was reading "No David!" which everyone loves.

More book reading.  Emma is learning a lot of new words and can ask for "more" or to go outside.  She can say shoe and something close to coat.  She wants to go outside a lot.  And I don't blame her.

Anna, Grant and John put on a play about Thing 2 and Thing 1 from Cat in the Hat.

Guess who Grant and John were.

Matthew built a Lego Technic set he got for his birthday.

Grant and John like playing with the moving parts, always with appropriate reverence.

The kids had lots of fun playing in this large box (notice it figured prominently in the Cat in the Hat play above).  I looked down and saw them all in the box and said, "Oh, it's some of my favorite things in a box!"  Matthew replied, "Books and shoes?"  I think I'm sensing a little pre-tween attitude in that one.  :)

John was leading family night singing time.  We play the music through the TV (via Chromecast) which is why its on behind him.  He was a good chorister.

Matthew made some bread from scratch using a recipe from this book.  I helped him but he did the majority of the work.  The bread turned out great and was very popular.  Maybe I need to put him on bread duty.

New haircut.

See his before picture just above this.

For dinner on Saturday night I took the kids to the store and let them pick out some things for dinner. I read about someone doing this as an annual family tradition but have never done that before except on road trips.  Anna picked rice and yogurt and a treat.  Matthew picked some things to make hamburgers.  Grant and John both got chicken nuggets and a chocolate bunny (I let them pick a treat too).  John tried to eat his bunny before we left the store.

Once we got home Matthew ate a bunch of cheesy puffs he had picked out and half his first burger (he told me to cook two patties) and then said he felt sick and went to lie down.  I think we learned some valuable lessons on our crazy dinner night.  We don't operate like this normally.  And maybe we won't do this again.  

Grant took one bite of his chocolate bunny and then told me it was "horrible" and that he didn't like it or want to see it again.  Us adults nibbled it until it was gone.  The next day Grant wanted to know where his bunny was and when he could eat it.  I showed him this picture to jog his memory (about the **horribleness) and he just laughed and said he wanted his bunny now.  Sorry.  That bunny's long gone.  He also told me later that he had a stomach ache and that he had to listen to his stomach to make it better and that his stomach wanted dino nuggets and pancakes with berries.  Since I didn't meet his stomach's demands he said he would have to go to bed with a tummy ache.  Poor Grant.  And no chocolate bunny to boot.  He also asks me every morning if we can have bacon for breakfast. I try to limit it to once a week.

**These were Lindt brand chocolate bunnies - good quality chocolate.

And we are counting down the weeks until Emma can go to the nursery at church.  She does pretty good in sacrament meeting (at 9am for us this year).  She does OK the second hour and marginal the third hour.  I'm getting tired of chasing her around the building.  I think she will like nursery.  As will I.  She is just over 16 months.

And here's the latest progress on our house.  Second story framing is up. Moving along.  Now we are told the house won't be done until "late June."  Hmmm  They keep blaming the rain.  And it has been raining there a lot which is good - they need it.

It's making the hills green.  This is near our development.  The hillsides turn green in the spring with the rains and get brown again in the drier times of year.  The oaks stay dark green and look stark against the golden brown hills in the fall.  Pretty.  I'm glad they are getting rain, but would also like our house to be completed.  At least its moving along now.