Valentine's Day, Micah's Birthday and life...

Last week we celebrated Micah's birthday with my side of the family. Hence I did not get the weekly update done. So this will probably be long—or if I can not remember much it may be short.

Monday I mostly remember Gwen had dance, and I had the kids do their Valentines for school. I also got stuff for Izak's class party I was in charge of the next day. For FHE we made Valentines for Taran and a lady in our ward. We anonymously put them on her door that night. The kids seemed to enjoy it. Tim put the Valentines on Taran's door the next day—he loved it.

Tuesday was Valentines Day and I still went to the temple. It wasn't very busy. We had the Valentines party right after lunch. At noon. They did an exchange then a mom did Minute To Win It. She did a great job and I did the prizes. Another mom brought cookies for them to decorate. Easy yet fun. I had a little less than an hour when I got home before I picked up Gwen from Luke's. Once I picked her up the day just got busier! Luckily we canceled piano for the day. Emily had planned a Space Mission with her friends. I had to get her and a couple of friends there but I was watching my niece and nephews so my brother and his wife could go to dinner with my parents. I was totally happy to help but had forgotten about Emily's thing so I had to take them with! They were great and it wasn't too far away. My mom appreciated the dinner and that my dad made the effort to go since he usually doesn't go anywhere very often. We had a pizza dinner, pink lemonade, Costco Red Velvet cake, bar sugar cookies (a fluke I hadn't meant to make) and ice cream. The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins. It was a fun night then Tim went and got Emily and her friends and I took Zane to his Jr Jazz game while Timo babysat. Emily's friends hung out and ate the rest of our pizza. That was fine, I kind of thought that might happen. Tim and I tried to watch a movie I gave him for Valentines Day but we kept getting interrupted! Owell.

Wednesday I watched June and then took Timo to his check up on his ankle. They gave him a fancy brace for his ankle. He has started to use it more and the boot less. That night we had New Beginnings Prep, the girls practiced skits and helped make decorations. We had them sign a large banner that said.” NOW is our time to SHINE” which goes with the theme Arise and Shine Forth. We also practiced launching the paper lanterns—we did 2 so the girls would know how it would work. They worked really well and everyone was excited to do it the next week! After YW a bunch of us went over to our friend's to wish her well before her mastectomy the next day. We all cried and hugged.

Thursday I had Luke here and he and Gwen played a bit outside since the weather was sunny. We have had a lot of unusual warm and sunny days. It has been a very pleasant February! Micah had Jr Jazz practice that night so it was a mild afternoon for me!

Friday I went Visiting Teaching that morning. I picked Emily up from school just before. She went to take a quiz (which the teacher decided not to do!) and then came home to get ready to go to Idaho. Tim's brother Erick and his wife Liz were in the musical Fiddler on the Roof. They had the parts Tevye and Golda. Tim's parents, his sister Amy and her daughter Maddie were going so they invited Emily to go with. My mom had called the night before and they are doing construction on her street and so they weren't going to be having any power Friday morning. She wondered if they could hang out until it was back on. This was a blessing to me because she said she could get Emily over to Amy's so I could visit teach. She also watched Gwen so I didn't need to take her with or find someone to take her. My mom ate lunch with us—my dad went back to bed and didn't get up until my mom got home. He said that the power was back on by then. BTW Emily had a great time. That night Tim and I went to visit our friend who had the mastectomy in the hospital. She looked pretty good considering major surgery. Izak was babysitting so we couldn't do much more! I was working on my craft room reorganization project. It isn't totally done but I got a lot done and the stuff I had moved to the Family Room while I worked I was able to get put back in an organized way by Saturday night.

Saturday we had no basketball or indoor soccer games so I asked Tim to let me get the stuff organized and put away. He consented and took care of the kids helped them get their chores done. He took Micah and couple of friends to Orange Leaf. No party this year but we let them do something fun with a couple of friends. We had a coupon and rewards so it was relatively inexpensive. One thing Tim has been working on over the past few weeks and he has put an antennae on our roof. We had the digital converter already but our antennae we had in the attic didn't get any reception. Now we are cable free! We really only watch sports and BYUtv so we didn't need to pay for cable. We don't get ESPN but Tim can visit his parents and see what he wants on ESPN. He got an amplifier he is going to add soon. By 9:30 PM I had all my stuff back in the craft room now I need to still work on it but I can get to my stuff better because half the room is organized and lots of stuff has been thrown out or sent to goodwill. Timo went down to the BYU Library and had Taran get some books for him to use for a report he his going to do in English. He brought Taran back with him—he was coming to celebrate Micah's birthday. We found out that night when he opened a letter that came to our house for him that he needs his passport within a month of receiving his call—so we made plans to get that rolling Monday and Tuesday.

Sunday we went to church and then went to my parents right after to celebrate Micah and Tate's birthdays. We brought some of the dinner and pies for dessert—Micah's choice. My mom tries to fix a special meal for family members' birthdays, we had already given Tate his presents but Micah got his from my family. He only wanted a watch or money. He got money which he used later to buy some new orange athletic shoes! I thought he was saving up for some big Lego set. Funny he wanted shoes! Tim is always surprised that our boys want athletic clothing or shoes for their birthdays. But in a family our size with our budget they understand the limitations of buying more than one pair of athletic shoes a year.

Monday was Micah's birthday. He wanted breakfast burritos for breakfast and juices. He was going snowshoeing with the scouts so I got up early and got him a special sandwich at the deli at Walmart. Tim took him and Izak it was an 11yr old/Webelos outdoor activity. I had planned to go the first 2 times but it got postponed because of no snow. Sunday we got some so it was perfect! Except a little windy! I had to do some things for Micah's birthday and I also took Taran to get his passport photos done and shopping for some missionary clothing since I had a Kohl's 30% off and they had their dress shirts and dress pants on sale. I needed him to try them on. He is so busy he just doesn't have a lot of time to do that right now and I know if we don't work on it here and there we'll miss some good deals we could have had! After Taran, Gwen and I ran around I brought him home. Meanwhile Timo had gone to Mc Donald's with his quorum and then played ping pong. Emily was traveling home. Gwen finally found a friend to play with. Gwen did help me wrap Micah's presents. When Micah got home from snowshoeing he wanted to open his presents. Normally our kids open them first thing but since snowshoeing was rather 'early' we just postponed it. He called Emily to make sure it was okay with her to do it. She was a good sport and let him open them. Taran got him a BYU soccer ball he loved. We got him the new Jimmer DVD, money and a Broncos Division Champ shirt and a Broncos' beanie with a bill. Actually he just got the picture of them since I forgot to order them early enough to get here by his birthday! Lame, I know. I had warned him so he was prepared. Later Taran worked on a recording he and his friends are doing to audition for an acoustic concert at BYU. Micah wanted Panda Express for dinner so that's what we had and Tim went and got it for us—he's a gem! Then he wanted Pecan Pie that night for his actual birthday! (He had banana cream and keylime at my parents) There was enough leftover of the other pies I had made so we had lots of choices! For FHE we watched old videos of him as a baby and toddler and shared what we like about him and he filled out his likes and we guessed. It was a fun evening.

Tuesday I took Taran early to go to the Utah County office where they send out the passport stuff. Unfortunately online they don't tell you have to pay with a check, cashiers check or money order--it says you can pay with a credit card. Well, that is ONLY at the regional offices that actually process the Passport! So we went by Taran's apartment and dropped off his stuff since the bank didn't open until 9 AM. I don't usually carry my checkbook around to lose:/ Then we went back and I dropped Taran off and he turned it all in. Over $200 when you add the expedition fee and the overnight shipping fee! But if he doesn't get it in time he may not get his VISA approved in time and it will delay his MTC arrival date 6 weeks! So I dropped him off at work and went to the Provo Temple from there. It was nice for a change of pace. I went to Costco after in Orem and called Tim to let him know I was nearby-- he took me out to lunch! It was fun to see him and have a little date! I got back in time to unload the car and get Gwen. The kids had piano that afternoon. Zane had scouts too. Izak took around his birthday party invitations--yep another birthday 2 weeks from Micah's! (We go in spurts 2 October a day apart, 2 in November 5 days apart, February and then 2 in March 4 days apart and then another in April! My birthday is the only one by itself!) Zane had his last basketball game and I had actually woke up at 4:30 AM and debated going to the temple right then but thought I'll go back to sleep but I didn't! So I was ready for bed after dinner! Tim tried to video it but I don't think he did much--he hates that! Zane had a great season and I think he learned a lot and had fun! Timo had his last Jr Jazz game and was bummed his team lost and Tim let him play the last minute but no sooner. The doctor said a MONTH at least! Timo wasn't too happy he didn't get to come back. They consoled themselves at McDonalds!

Wednesday when I woke up I couldn't move, my lower back was in terrible pain. I knew it was partially caused by my 'monthly visitor' which brings really bad cramps. I felt them like labor. I think it just triggered my back into spasms. After 2 Aleve, the heat pad, hot shower and blessing I was able to do some errands later that day. I had misread how many shirts Taran needed and decided to go back and get some more at Kohl's. We were having New Beginnings that night so I had to go then or miss using the 30% off. My mom met us at Kohl's she was looking at athletic shoes but ended up not getting anything. She took us to lunch. Two days in a row! I am spoiled! Then Gwen and I hurried back to get home before the kids. Her friend Sophie came by just after we got home so she left to play with her. Timo had his 2nd Physical Therapy (PT) appointment that afternoon. I got to finish my book Midnight in Austenland. I really enjoyed it. His appointment is an hour. Then I took him to work then picked up Emily and took her to basketball practice. It was her last one. Tim brought her home and I picked up Timo from work. We had New Beginnings that night so I needed to be a little early. The ladies did a great job on the decorations--I should have taken pictures! Theme for the night was Now is our time to SHINE. Lots of yellow and lanterns! We had the girls each hold a battery operated candle for part of it and we had a skit that talked about how they can shine. The youth camp leaders did a skit too introducing the theme Modern Girls Vintage Values for our stake camp. The girls introduced how they can shine through Personal Progress, Honor Bee, Sports, Temple Trips...The bishop closed with remarks and then I shared why we were doing the paper lanterns, the symbolism and then how to light them. It was going to be awesome EXCEPT the wind made it not so! So only a few got off and the rest burned out before the air got hot enough to lift them. Crazy wind! We had refreshments after that so at least they could console themselves with yummy food:) Owell, we may try again in the fall at Evening in Excellence! It was late by the time we had it all cleaned up.

Thursday I woke up with more pain up my back but not as intense I could move a little. I had Tim use the massager on me after the heat pad and I took the Aleve earlier than Wednesday. Thank heavens it worked faster so I was able to drive to the preschool field trip to Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur movie and museum visit! Gwen cut herself some bangs, I was not happy. If you look close you can see her in the Dinosaur Museum pics--her friend said that her bangs looked like a boy. I caught her in her room doing it so I trimmed them best I could! I got to know a couple of moms that I see coming and going so that was nice and the kids had a blast. I have to admit I fell asleep in the movie for a little bit! It was interesting but I was so tired. Luke came over after and they were tired and watched the rest of Kung Fu Panda 2 that they had started the week before. I made the kids play with each other because we had had too much fighting. I took Emily to the temple that afternoon. Izak and Zane went to the BYU women's last home basketball game that night with Teresa--they had a ton of fun and came home with lots of spiffs. Emily was suppose to go but didn't get done in time from the temple. That night Micah had basketball practice. After Tim picked him up he took Emily and her friend to their guy friends' Jr Jazz game. Then Tim took his dad back his Nook that he had fixed something on it for him. Then picked up the girls. He listened to BYU play Gonzaga, not a good shooting night!

Friday my back was sore but MUCH better. Gwen and I had June over later. We went to my friend who had surgery the week before and was now home. I took her a note and some DVDS. She answered the door and was looking pretty good all things considered! I had tried to find the Healthy Choice Fudge Bars they sell at Costco that have fiber but they didn't have them at our Walmart. We walked back and June was pretty tired by then I got her to sleep. Anna came just as the boys got home from school. They like seeing June. I took Emily to her volunteering at the Ashford Alzheimer's place. She walked home because I had to take Izak to his last indoor soccer game. I made Gwen and Zane come with since no one was home to watch them--they were at friends. Izak played well and scored but I don't think I got it on video even though I tried--I don't always notice where he is in the camera! Meanwhile Emily had her game at 5 PM and Tim barely got home in time to take her. They won so they had another game the next day. Timo went to a friend's to watch the NBA All Star Stuff. I was so exhausted I didn't do much and actually slept a bit after dinner. We had the kids work on their chores. Izak and Emily ended up gone with friends which made Micah mad and totally robbed. Not fun.

Saturday morning I had our Stake Womens Conference. We had a great opening speaker, RoseAnn Gunther. She does tons of humanitarian stuff. She shared some amazing stories with us then we did humanitarian stuff! I helped tie 2 quilts using the International Stitch. They had yummy croissant chicken salad sandwiches for lunch for us too. After that was over (around 1 PM) I ran to get a thank you for Emily's coach. Her game was at 1 PM--they lost. After I dropped that off at the game I ran to Walmart to get Timo some special pens for his Chemistry Periodic Table Shrinky Dink! Don't ask-- it cost me $20 for those pens! Then I ran to Costco and got my friend those Fudge bars. I just remember how my digestive process slowed down because of the pain meds and she shared that she knew what I meant! Bless her! I got home in time to get ready to leave with Tim for our date. Taran gave him tickets to the last BYU Men's Home game. It was at 4 PM. We had a blast but I got a little emotional when I first got there because the players had pink high tops and the cheerleaders had pink ribbons and pink pom poms and some of the students had pink head sweatbands and wristbands in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness! Thinking of my friends who have gone through it and my friend now made it tender. We saw Taran's roommate on the JUMBOTRON and Taran was next to him, that was fun! We didn't see Taran up close which I was bummed about but that's okay. Emily and Timo were going to be gone at 6:30 PM so I don't think Tim wanted to hang around. I forgot to mention how blasted cold the wind was and it was super strong even with the sun shining it was harsh and it didn't let up. Emily is on our stake dance committee this year so she helped set up. Then she came home and dressed and went back to the dance, she had a lot of fun. Timo's friends don't go to stake dances esp. now that they can date. He was watching the All Star stuff at a friend's. We were all happy to hear that Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz won the Slam Dunk competition! Cool. Sometime during the day Timo got asked to the next girl's choice dance Spring Fling. Pretty fun! She is the younger sister of one of his friends. She just turned 16 on Halloween. She is a darling girl! He'll have a lot of fun.

Today was church and the YW sang it was so amazing! The talks were great as well. And all the meetings. Tim was busy hometeaching since he didn't have bishopric meetings today. He did have ward choir and then stake choir after church. It's all good. Yeah, now I am caught up!

Have a great week! I am in charge of our Personal Progress Night Wednesday so I will probably not do anything fun for Leap Day! owell! We have only one Jr Jazz game left--Micah's Saturday. But we have a few kids starting swimming lessons this week. That should be quite entertaining--sarcasm ;p