Friday, February 28, 2014

Aebelskivers

What a nice mom I am! One of the kids needed something related to their ethnicity for a class event and I was nice enough to get up in the morning and make Aebelskivers for them to take. They are Danish pancake balls. You cook them in the funny little pan pictured below and serve them warm with powdered sugar and syrup. 
I wish we had a few more Danish and Swedish traditions. I wish I had more to pass on to my kids. I guess that's my job... to research and create traditions for our family. 
they are pretty tasty!

Throwback Thursday

Once Drill competition is over for the year, the cheerleaders put on a Mini-cheer camp for the elementary aged girls in Monticello. They meet every day after school to practice and learn cheers and a dance which is performed at the end of the week at a home basketball game. The girls in the camp are divided up according to grade and then 2-3 cheerleaders work with them all week. Hannah was with the oldest group of girls. 
The game this year was on Thursday and was declared Throwback Thursday. All the cheerleaders had to wear an old Monticello Cheer uniform. There are still quite a few of them floating around in town. It was fun to see them all and reminisce about which ones we remembered. The mini-cheer girls did a good job and it was fun to watch them perform their dances. The music was by decade. Lots of fun!
I enjoy watching Hannah perform as a cheerleader and dancer. It has been a lot of work for her but it has been good for her as well, she has learned to be dedicated and that she has to concentrate on her school work more!
Hannah-1st girl standing on the left as they lead their group of mini-cheer girls
Hannah in her cute 1970's cheer uniform. I liked it much more than some of the other options. 

Thursday, February 27, 2014

'My bone not broken'

James began complaining that I was hurting him when I picked him up and then for several days he had a red patch on the inner end of his left collarbone, it seemed swollen, and if it was touched he said it hurt.
He had fallen off one of the kitchen stools so I decided to take him to the clinic to have it looked at. Better safe than sorry.
The PA didn't think it was broken, he had full use of his arm but because of the lump and swelling, she suggested an X-ray.
We walked over to the hospital and again our friend LeaAnn took a couple of X-rays of his chest.
The verdict? Not broken. He may have just bruised it when he fell or in some other way. 
We kept the paper copy of his xray on the fridge for a while and every time he saw it he would declare, 'my bone not broken!'

Library

I think my little boys have a whole different idea, than I did as a child, of what a library is for! 
When we go there the only thing they want to do is play on the computers. The second favorite thing is the wooden puzzles in the children's section.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a comfy chair right next to the kid computers. I parked myself there with a few good books and we all had a lovely time at the county library!

Good things:
Small country library that still has old classics
A small country library that has lots of good LDS books
Small country library with a staff that knows you and will check books out to you even if you cannot find your library card!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Story time with grandma

Having grandparents who live in Georgia makes it hard to spend much time with them. We are always thankful when they come for a visit. At this time, they were in town to stay with Nate and Lori’s kids and it happened to be when Ford and Shiala were getting married. We borrowed the floors at Nate’s house to sleep on and our kids got to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Welch. Grandma always plays "Don't Eat Pete" with the kids and often will read to them, if they'll let her...
We are so lucky to have Grandma and Grandpa Welch!
Grandma is the center of attention...Clockwise starting at left: James, Grandma, Charles, Soren and Emma!

I love that they want to be read to and that they like Grandma to read to them when she's able to...
and it's a perfect book! Penguins!!

Good Things:
time with extended family
reasons to get together: weddings, baptisms etc
Books!

Our family grows again

Friday, February 15, was the wedding day of Michael Ford Welch and Shiala Noelle Steck. It was a simple ceremony at Shiala's ward building performed by her bishop. They didn't want to make a big deal of it, yet the room was almost filled with people who love them and came to support them making this commitment to each other.
We are so happy to have Shiala join our family. She is very sweet and we love her.
We wish them a lifetime of love and joy. We pray that they will love each other and put one another's happiness before their own. We pray that they will turn to each other rather than away from each other when those inevitable, difficult times come. We pray they will turn together to the Lord for the strength to keep moving forward together.

Mr. and Mrs. Ford Welch

caught us off guard....


that's a bit better!
Curtis, Kassie, Ford, Shiala, Candy(Shiala's mom)

Monday, February 17, 2014

Who's the cake boss?

When we went up to Utah Valley for Ford and Shiala's wedding, we stayed at Nate and Lori's house. On that Sunday, Ashley and Hannah decided to bake and decorate a cake. They baked the cake and made their own fondant and created all their own decorations for it. I was quite amazed at what they created and enjoyed watching them work together. I'm always happy to see my children interact with and get along with their cousins. Good job, girls!
Hannah and Ashley hard at work getting that fondant just right...

adding, pinching and smoothing....

Their creation....I think it's lovely. Better than I could do...

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Basketball Clinics

I like the way the Jr. Jazz program is set up for the younger kids. They go every Saturday morning for an hour and the first half is spent in drills learning different skills for basketball playing. Then the second half they play a scrimmage against another grade.
This year Soren improved quite a bit in his ball handling skills and shooting. He also improved in the 'paying attention' skill, although there were still plenty of times he was standing on the court playing with his wristband or talking to a friend and had absolutely no idea where the ball was. I love watching little kids play sports. We adults think they should be as intense and crazy about sports as adults are but they are just kids and their attention span isn't very long. Some of us never get that intensity even as adults.
I hope that Soren will continue to participate in sports for fun and exercise and not because anyone else wants him to or pushes him to do so. That goes for all my kids.
Soren working on sideways movements.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Baptized

It was a lovely winter morning for Soren's baptism. The meeting was short and sweet and he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when he was baptized by his dad. He was also confirmed and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by his dad.
It was a very different baptism for us because the only family member who could make it was Grandma B. In the past we have had lots of family attend and felt like we needed to have some sort of gathering and refreshments afterward.  Not having to plan anything freed us up to focus on the ordinance and less on fluff. Of course we would have loved to have family here but we know that baptism is about a person and Heavenly Father and a covenant, and that the only people who had to be there this day were Soren and Curtis. (And a couple of priesthood witnesses.)
I hope Soren remembers this special day all of his life and strives to keep his end of the covenant. I know The Lord will keep his end of it and bless Soren as he does.
Good Things:
We got snow!
FaceTime with family who is far away.
Soren had a wonderful report at parent/teacher conferences

Saturday, February 08, 2014

Penguin Love

Lately James has had a love of all things penguin. He has a snow-globe with penguins in it. He has a couple of small penguins and a penguin finger-puppet. He likes to watch Pengu and read penguin books. Our little library only has a couple of those, so we check them out over and over again.
James and "Big Penguin"
Yesterday there was a knock at the door and I opened it to see a couple of kids that Curtis has worked with in the weight room holding a large stuffed penguin. They said it was for James. I guess somehow the topic of James' obsession had come up and they had decided to give him the stuffed animal they had at home.
James was shy when they tried to hand it to him, but he has clung to it ever since then. He says he now has a penguin family. A big dad, a middle-sized mom, and a little baby penguin. Funny boy!

Good things:
Kind people who are willing to give
A sweet littlest boy who makes life soooo interesting
Library and Netflix to feed his obsession

Our favorite park

When I say, "Let's go to the park." there is only one park that even comes to mind. That would be the park by the baseball fields and the hospital. It has the best playground equipment and most accessible for little people.
Often my girls will take the boys there without me going along. I appreciate when they choose to spend that time with their brothers, doing something the boys love. I especially appreciate it, because as I grow older I find that I enjoy it less. I would rather stay home and read. Or some such thing.
One of the beauties of a large family is that there are older kids to pick up when Mom can't do it. I don't have to always be the one to entertain. In fact, I suspect I'm the least entertaining person in the house.

We are anxiously waiting for warmer spring weather so we can go to the park again. Winter is long....
James loves to slide

James on the little kid slide, watched over by Sadie


Sadie, Charles and Soren at the monkey bars.

Friday, February 07, 2014

An Opportunity...

On Monday I received an interesting phone call.

I was offered a job at the dental office. 

I thought they were calling about my upcoming appointment so when she said 'Would you like to work at the dentist's office?' I was unprepared to hear that. I said, 'What?'

After one short semester at BYU I decided what I really wanted to do was be a dental assistant. I remember as a child using my mom's tiniest crochet hooks to play dentist with my sisters and friends. I think it's something I've always liked and been interested in. I suspect it's because I spent quite a bit of time in the dentist's chair!

So I left BYU and enrolled in a dental assisting school. And I loved it. I worked as a dental assistant, full and then part time, for about 8 years, until Ford was born. At that point I had too much to do at home and Curtis and I decided it was time for me to focus on raising our children. 

I think I always thought that someday I might choose to go back, after the kids were in school or whatever. But the kids kept coming and it's now been 20 years since I last worked in a dental office.
When we first moved here and Curtis only had a part time job I toyed with the idea of going to their office to see if they had any part-time openings. Then I found I was pregnant with James and Curtis got a full-time job so that idea was put on the back burner.

A few months ago I again toyed with the idea but decided to focus on offering pedicures instead. So that's what I've been working toward. So the phone call hit me from out of the blue.

I wanted to say yes. I thought back to my working days and how much I liked dentistry. It hit me that that was one of the only times I've felt confident in myself and in my skills. I have learned to feel confident in my mothering and am so thankful that I find fulfillment and satisfaction in what I do at home, but in most other areas of life I feel like a little kid still and feel completely inadequate.

I told them I appreciated their thinking of me and that in three years I would love the opportunity to work in their office, but that for now, I still need to be home with my little boys. In three years they will all be in school during the day and at that point I can contemplate whether I want to pursue returning to dentistry or not. They told me they would keep my name on their list if other openings come up in the next few years. She said there are changes there quite often.

It was bittersweet. I felt happy to have been considered. And I felt sad that I had to say, "Not now." But I am thankful for the last 20 years that have taught me the importance of a mother being in the home with the children, especially when they are small. No one cares for my kids as much as I do and no one has the responsibility to raise them except Curtis and I. We have made a lot of sacrifices over the years for me to stay home. But we have never regretted that choice. When I contemplate looking back over my life at the end of it, I know I will have no regrets about staying at home with my kids. I will not be sad that I didn't spend more time working out of the home. I will be grateful for the time I had with my kids and the memories we created. I hope they will be thankful for that as well.

I hope that the opportunity for a part-time position comes knocking again. In about 3 years.

Update: I learned yesterday(2/9/14) that my good friend, Elizabeth, was hired for the job. She will be wonderful and I feel like it will be a real blessing for them. Hope I get to work with her someday. 

Thursday, February 06, 2014

Cheerleader fun...

Just a post to document the joys of being on the drill/cheer team 2013-14. This was Hannah's first year as a cheerleader and there was a lot of early mornings and cold football games and hours put into practicing the dances for Drill competition. She got to be a flyer in the stunts since she is on the short/light side. As a mom, that was a bit scary to watch. I think it was for her as well, at least the first few times, if her face was any indication. Thankfully, she was caught every time.
I hope you have some great memories Hannah and that this is something you'll look back at later and be glad you had this opportunity.


attempting to stay warm at a football game...

Hard to hear her when her mouth is hiding in the scarf and blanket...

Cheering at State Volleyball...

Um, trying to remember the moves?

High kick on the way....

Look at that straight leg!! Way to go! and that toe over your head.

Watching the team and chewing her lip. Maybe they didn't get lunch?

more lip chewing. Good chapstick?

The first football game of the season. (the only one I went to and took pictures at..)
Hannah is second from the left.

Crisp moves....



Boy watching from the sidelines....Just kidding....

Hannah dropping into the catch. She is more trusting than I am.

We have a fairly large group of cheerleaders for a school our size. (1A)

following are some of Sadie's shots...

Hey! Hannah!

Sweet.

I whip my hair......

Why? I don't wanna do that one.......



Well, Hello!

We're all for Monticello!







What's that, Mr. Bimbo?

Oh, you like being a cheerleader?

Hhmmm

Good Things:
Being a student in a small school allows for lots of different experiences being involved in lots of sports and activities.
a local radio station to broadcast games so I can enjoy the game in the warmth of my home.
Drill is over for the year. Only a bit more cheering.....