Summary of the Week

After a rainy spring break, we were happy to see some spring-like weather this week. This is our flowering cherry tree that we planted last spring. Someday we hope it will grow up to provide us some needed shade in our backyard. But for now, we are enjoying the blossoms it is producing despite it's little size.

The kids got back to school and they seem to be happy about it. Well, most of them are.

Lauren decided this week that she no longer wants to be a veternarian, but has switched her life focus to being a "book maker". Specifically, "coloring the pictures" and "writing the words". She was seen practicing her illustrating skills this week. And wrote many, many, many notes to various members of the family.

Bennett got his birthday book, Dinosailors, in the mail this week. His favorite part was when all the dinosailors start throwing up because they are so sick. It seemed like a fitting book to buy him since this was the winter of throwing up. But, in truth, it's a fun read with great illustrations.

The highlight of our week was Mike (Greg's brother) and Sherrilyn's sealing in the Portland Oregon Temple.

We felt very blessed to have our good friend, Codilynn, with us to be our traveling babysitter and, as it turned out, photographer for the day. She took the above photo for our family. Thanks Codi. We love you!

She also took this picture of our little family. It is the first picture of all of us at the temple where Greg and I were married so it is very special to us.

...and this one of me and Greg. If you look closely, you can see a small child running in the distance. Sort of ironic that it's Bennett.
It was really nice to visit with Greg's sisters, Melanie and Karen. I haven't seen Mel in three and a half years. So, it was especially nice to see her.

I had to reminisce about the last time we brought our all our troops to the temple which was for Karen's wedding. Lauren was 13 months and had the cutest, little piggy tails.

She has grown so much since then...

Greg rescued Bennett from falling in the reflection pool. Phew. Glad his reflexes are as good as ever.Parker and Lowden really enjoyed being there too!

They've come a long way at their good photo-making skills since Karen's wedding...Don't you think? They've got a little ways to go still. Most of these pictures had closed eyes, Bennett blurry from moving, and bunny ears. But, we are making progress.Getting a picture of Bennett and his cousin, Christian, was a fun challenge. They were cracking us up with their antics. I also just noticed they almost match which makes this picture extra cute.Afterwards, we went to Izzy's for a late lunch with the Hansen and Edgar families. Mike and I had to laugh when we saw this sign at Izzy's that says "Sugar Free Sugar Cookie". I mean, really, what exactly is in a sugar cookie that is sugar free?

We visited some more with family on Saturday and have been enjoying listening to General Conference this weekend.

Summary of Week

Last week was Spring Break, although it didn't feel like much of a break. The weather was crazy last week with icy rain for several days. One of those times when you actually wish you brought an umbrella even though in Oregon that is not kosher. It almost snowed one of the days which is very odd for March here. If we had known the only sunny day was going to be Monday, we would have gone to the zoo in Portland that day. But sadly, we planned it for Thursday and it wasn't in the cards that day due to the weather. But what can you do? Just try again for another day.

We did manage to make it to Brush-Fire to make tiles for Grandma Ludene's recent birthday. She wanted the kids to make them to go around her new tub. The older three kids enjoyed painting their tiles. Bennett had a difficult time being a "happy guy" and I had to finish his for him. When I got the camera out, Parker and Lauren said in a sour tone, "You're going to put this on your blog. Aren't you?" It's not a crime. I'm sure of it!

On Saturday, Greg somehow squeezed mowing the lawn between rain storms. I hadn't even realized the lawn was so high. The lawn speaks to Greg...but I don't hear it. I only hear the laundry and the dishes.


And here are a few more updates...

Bennett: The poor guy's finger was wrapped up all week. He learned to do a few things with his left hand for the week. He was happy to have playmates around to play with. They were very helpful with him too...most of the time... Well, when they weren't making him scream. Here he's showing off his good hand at the Pinewood Derby. I was grateful Greg was there since being one-handed hasn't slowed him down at all.

Lauren: She was a good helper this week. She cleaned her room really nice and got did some organizing for me. She also played with Bennett a lot and helped with him during baseball practices. She had a great time at Brush Fire. And, got to see her old friend from Kindergarten, Emilia, this last weekend. Lauren made a very Oregon tile for grandma with a boat on it with clouds and sun in the sky.


Parker: Parker became a Bear Scout this last week. He received his wolf badge and took second place in the Pinewood Derby. He had baseball practice this week and is enjoying it. There are quite a few boys from his school on his team and Lowden. For Grandma's tile, he made a grey shark with a blue background. It turned out nice. I'll take a picture of it and post it soon.


Lowden: Winning the Pinewood Derby was the highlight of his week. He did baseball practice too but was happy to have the break from his other activities. The tile he made for grandma was blue and white curvy stripes which were in honor of the ocean.

He got some new fish for his aquarium which he was VERY happy about! He now has two snails and 3 danios and 2 dalmatian mollys.

Greg and Meg: The Planets Aligned!!!

Greg and I haven't been on that many dates this year. In fact, it may have been only two since January 1st. Seems like whenever we have planned to go out, some issue will arise to thwart our plans...kids sick, kids throwing up, etc. So it was VERY nice to go out with Greg on a date last weekend and do some of our favorite things! We went to one of my favorite restaurants Beppe and Gianni's Trattoria. I had the halibut. It was so very yummy and I cleaned my entire plate. Greg had the spinach raviolis.


Afterwards, we went to REI. Greg has this wild idea that he is going to hook up with a friend of his and his brother for a trek in the Indian Himalayas. So, he really wanted to look at zero degree sleeping bags. He tried them each out very carefully. How could I not take a picture?!

Then, we went to The Sweet Life, one of our favorite places for dessert. I chose the delicious Key Lime Tart. Greg chose a Raspberry Crunch Bar. YUMM!!!

And, to end our date. We stopped by a Redbox and rented a movie, Elizabeth the Golden Age, for a dollar. Love that!

Quick Quote

Part of Lauren's prayer from tonight, "Thank you for dad. He's so nice. Thank you for Lowden. He's so smart. Thank you for mom. She's so careful. Thank you for Parker. He's so playful. Thank you for Bennett. He's so cute. And thank you for me. I really appreciate it!"

Wolf Badge and Pinewood Derby Glory

Parker received his Wolf Badge and five arrow points this week. We were both very proud. I would love a picture of this but had to settle for a video of it since I left the camera on video mode not camera mode.

I mentioned recently how Greg had worked hard with Lowden and Parker on their Pinewood Derby cards. Well, their hard work paid off this week. Lowden won first place overall and Parker won second place. (Parker said on the way home that Lowden would no longer be a cub scout next year so he wouldn't have to race against him next year. Parker had won the derby the year before, so don't feel too bad for him.)

Here is some exclusive footage of Lowden's winning race. His car is the black one with the red flames with "C-YA" on the back fender. You can see it was a very close race...

And here is exclusive footage of Parker's valiant second place finish. It was a photo finish but the judges confirmed his car won. His car is the green one with "PK Express" written on the sides of it, aluminum foil windows, and "PK-1" on the back fender.

The boys received trophies and didn't look happy about it at all....

Greg was beaming afterwards. Nothing makes a dad quite as happy as a Pinewood Derby win.

Summary of the Week

This is a summary for a little more than a weeks events but I wanted to get it all done in one post.

Lowden started baseball practice on a Little League Philadelphia Phillies team. His coach is determined that the boys will pay attention and they have to run if they don't catch a certain number of balls. I asked Lowden how practice went the other day and he said "I had to run 20 times" with a big smile on his face. I'm glad he is so happy about it because I think he will be running a lot for the next few months since he also just signed up for track. He and Greg have been working on his pinewood derby car in preparation for next week's derby event.

Parker turned 9 in the last week! He says he had a great birthday. His favorite part was "all the money" he received and says he is saving for Duck season tickets.

He also started baseball and is on the same team as Lowden this year. Yeah for us parents and a little economy in the face of soaring gas prices!

Grandpa and Grandma took him to dinner at Red Robin for his birthday. This is a tradition they are doing with all their grandkids that my kids really enjoy.

He also got movie tickets for his birthday and chose to see "Horton Hears a Who". He laughed through the whole movie. Lauren paid her own way and paid for popcorn for him, so he very nicely let her come too. Lowden chose to save his money...something about Duck football tickets.

After the movie, I took him to the bookstore for our family birthday tradition. We always buy our kids a book for their birthday. He chose the newest Magic Tree House book "Dark Day in the Deep Sea".

Nothing screams blog opportunity like walking into Barnes and Noble and discovering a bunch of Star Wars folks standing around in the children’s section of the store. It was SO nice of the 501st Legion to come to the bookstore for his birthday, don't you think?

Parker is also working on his derby car with dad. He won first place last year...so we will see if he will smoke the competition again this year.

Lauren had a special musical theatre class show at her dance studio. She did a really good job and had a lot of fun doing it. I had a lot of fun watching her and reminiscing about my old dance days!

"I won't grow up" from Peter Pan.

"Bushel and a Peck" from Alice in Wonderland

She had fun at a friend's birthday party at a local pool. She wasn't feeling super hot towards the end of the week but is feeling better now.

Bennett turned 4 in the last week! Wow can't believe our baby is that old now!

Happy Birthday Song to Bennett!

Sadly, on Easter Sunday, he got his finger pinched at church by a classroom door and spent some time at the doctor's office. He now has a splint of his hand because it is so swollen and needs to be straightened till it heals. Poor guy!

The Kids got the movie Enchanted from us for Easter. Hilariously, they have gotten several of the songs stuck in their heads, it's funny to hear, even our boys, singing "I've Been Dreaming of a True Loves Kiss" around the house.

Margaret has been taking a Photoshop Elements class she's really been enjoying and running everyone to their weekly activities.

Greg, as I mentioned above, has been "helping" the boys with their Pinewood Derby Cars. He's also been working very hard.

Super Boy

Bennett got this costume for his birthday! It has a fan in the back that makes blow up muscles. He's been enjoying it as you can watch in the video below.

Checklist for a Family Birthday Party

1. Birthday Boys

2. Pizza

3. Cousins, Aunt, Uncle, and New Cousins-To-Be.

4. Games (this is the new motion simulator game)

5. Grandparents

6. Candles

7. Homemade Cupcakes

8. Ice Cream

9. The Birthday Song

10. Jackpot Winners

11. Presents

12. Something for the Younger Kids To Do

13. Something for the Bigger Kids to Do (Laser Tag).

Here is Lowden, Parker, Lauren, Olivia, and Morgan showing off their official laser tag membership cards. Dad and Martin played too. Apparently, it was a LOT of fun. They all came out sweating with big smiles on their faces. They were the Red team and they won twice.

Yeah for birthdays and parties and family!