Randoms...

- So today I took Eva to the Pediatrician for her kindergarten physical. I decided to have them go separately because it's a little chaotic taking both at the same time and I really wanted to make it fun and have some one on one time. Eva was so cute and talkative the whole drive there. She's such a chatter box when you get her one on one. She told Dr. Wilcox all about the things she likes to do. She did awesome with shots and left with a smile. She's still lingering just under 35 pounds like she has for the last year and is about 20th percentile for height and weight. She is starting to write really well and loves to draw and color. She writes her name on EVERYTHING! She LOVES to sing and dance can usually be caught in the middle of one or the other at any given moment just like her sister. They are such a great duo. She had to tell Mia all about what to expect when it's her turn to go to the doctor on friday. :)

Eva

- Mia and Eva are into talking about getting married right now. Today Eva said "first the boy and girl have to dance and then they get married". Obviously they have been watching too many disney movies. Last night Eva said "Mom, I don't know who to marry." I told her she had lots of time to decide. and not to worry about it to much yet. That then started a whole conversation about what kind of person they should marry. "Someone nice, of course" Mia said. Followed by "Like a boy that can cook dinner for the kids when I can't." Good quality :) "We should only marry someone who's going to be a good daddy... like our daddy." Then Eva said "Yeah, our dads a good dad!" I just love our conversations.

Mia

- Maxwell has been busy with a competitive soccer league for the past few weeks which he absolutely LOVES!! That boy has more energy then he knows what to do with so soccer has been great. He plays 3 times a week for 2 hours and it's still not enough. The other day he looked at Casey after practice and said "Dad, I want to play soccer at BYU when I grow up, like you." Casey of course had a smile from ear to ear hearing that. Although, neither of us want him to feel like he has to or that we'll be disappointed if he doesn't.

He had his patriotic program at school last week. It was so fun hearing all the first graders singing songs that I sang at that age, I love it. It brought tears to my eyes as they recognized all the men in the audience who have served our country as the children sang "God bless the U.S.A." and waved their little flags.

Maxwell just finished the 100 book club at his school, we are so proud of him and the great student he is. He earned a t-shirt and a free pass to Seven Peaks water park.

Maxwell with his teacher Mrs. Hulme after the patriotic program. We absolutely LOVE Mrs. Hulme. She has been the perfect teacher for Maxwell.

- Kylynne is our little munchkin girl. She wants to go outside everyday and has at least one fit a day because she wants to go out and push the stroller or ride her bike. (oh how I miss CA for this reason) On Sunday she went out in the snow for 30 minutes and wouldn't come in until she was absolutely frozen. She is such a sassy little girl but on the flip side as sweet as can be. She doesn't have a problem standing her ground with her 3 older siblings.

Kylynne loves to "swim", as she calls it. We call it taking a bath, but she does get her fair share of swimming in too!

One of my favorite things she says when she's a little uneasy about something or feels unsure she'll say to us, "I gochyou" as she holds tight to us.

- I have been struggling lately with my patience and find that when I'm tired, which feels like most days, my patience is even less. I was talking to my wonderful neighbor yesterday who has raised 8 boys and she gave me some good advise and referred me to a book called "scream free parenting" So, I ordered it on amazon today and am looking forward to reading it. It teaches parents how to let their children have freedom to make choices knowing ahead of time what the consequence is going to be. Letting them make the choice and taking the blame off of you as a parent and helping them understand that they chose the consequence when they chose to disobey. So, we'll see. I could use all the help I can get.

I want my children to make choices based on morals and doing it because they understand that its the right thing rather than just based on threats or fear. Every parents goal, I'm sure.

- Casey just spent all of his free time for the last couple of weeks digging a 15 foot hole in the ground next to our house to access the broken sewage pipe that caused the two floods in our basement right before and right after Christmas. We got two different quotes, one for $8,000 and one for $6,000 to do the dig and repair the pipe. Well, not having the money to pay for it, he said he was going to do it himself. At first I was a little worried about him doing it but later figured why not... doing all the work himself saved us a lot of money. The actual pipe repair itself only cost us $189, what a difference. We had help from our awesome neighbors and our brother in law. I am so blessed to be married to such an amazing man who isn't afraid of hard work and blesses us daily with his love. I am one lucky girl!

Starting the dig. Maxwell enjoyed helping too, for a little while

This was after the pipe was repaired and the fill dirt was packed around it, right before they started to fill the hole. The picture doesn't do justice to how deep it actually is.

Almost finished filling it back in... and so tired. What a man!!