Spring Break

We had a great spring break. We didn't go anywhere special or make any particular plans but it was a great week nonetheless. Todd had to go into work for about an hour on Monday but other than that we had the entire family together the whole week.

Monday the kids and I did our grocery shopping. (Which I was reminded that I hate to shop with all three kids.)

Tuesday we went to watch "Monsters vs Aliens" at the movie theatre. It's a cute movie. We didn't see it in 3D and I'm so glad. I hate 3D movies. Why do you keep making them Disney?!

Wednesday we went to Frankie's Fun Park. Adam went to the batting cage while the girls and I went down the giant slides. Afterwards they went into the huge play area that puts the McDonald's Play Place to shame. Before leaving Todd played a couple of video games with the kids. During that time I chased after Molly. She kept insisting on playing Dance Dance Revolution with someone. He was less than thrilled.

Thursday we went to the swimming pool at the YMCA. Molly absolutely loved it. Now when I take her to the Y she asks to go swimming. I'm sure I'll have to do that again soon for her. Later that evening Adam had baseball practice.

Friday we went to the zoo and hiked along the river trail they have that leads into the gardens. We discussed some of the scouting requirements we were fulfilling at the same time : ) It was a beautiful day. Clarissa found some caterpillars. She tried to keep one. She even named it Rosa Bell because she had to leave it behind in the rose garden and asks when we can go back to visit it. She has a field trip to the zoo this Friday. I suppose she can try to find her then : /

Saturday was the fun Easter Activity with our church friends. And then I did some last minute Easter shopping with the girls. I just wasn't happy with the dress Clarissa had for the occasion. Easter is actually one of the few memories I have growing up and I loved having the special dresses with the gloves and bonnett, the whole bit.

Sunday the kids complained about having to go back to school and fussed until after 9pm. Adam wasn't asleep yet when I went to bed at 10pm. But overall, we had a really nice and relaxing time. We're counting down to summer already!

Easter Fun

As usual, our Primary Presidency organized a great morning of Easter Fun for the family. After a great lesson on the Resurrection they practiced the songs they would later sing at church on Easter morning. Then the fun began! There was an Easter Egg hunt. Only Molly had already gathered her allotted number of eggs before the hunt started and was eating her chocolates during the lesson. Adam played an egg toss game, which never ends nicely. There was also tricycle races, a sand table, and a playdoh table. Clarissa enjoyed playing on the porch swing and wandering around the huge yard searching for bugs. We had a fabulous time!

Clarissa Makes the Jump

Okay, so Clarissa keeps telling me how she wants to take swimming lessons and loves to swim.... yadda, yadda, yadda. I sign her up and watch her get all googling, giggling with Joe the instructor. (She's had this crush on him from last summer's lesson.) When I was signing her up to take the same level class for the third time I decided it was probably time to encourage some improvement in skills on her part. (She really enjoys playing the helpless girl part.) When it came time for her to jump into the pool I was picking her up and throwing her in. And I would tell the instructor to just go under the water with her. (Never showing any signs of stress or trauma.) Feeling guilty that I don't take the time and effort to help her improve as I do with Adam I decided it was time to go to the pool with her and work with her individually. We started jumping off the steps, moving up one at a time. Then jumping into the pool seated, then squatted from the side. Until she was able to jump in without a problem. She was perfect at her most recent lesson. (Even though Joe is not her instructor this time around.) Now I need to go back and work on going under the water by herself. I'm telling you, it is a tremendous amount of hard work to do this parenting thing right. No wonder I'm not very consistent. It's exhausting!

The Game Ball

At the end of every game there is a much coveted "game ball". It is a ball used during the game that is then awarded to one player that showed outstanding skill during that game. We have a wonderful coach that reminds the kids every single time that as much as he would love to give a ball to every single player, he is only given one ball and has to choose only one player. And of course every player is hoping most of all that he (or she) is chosen. Well, wouldn't you know it that Adam was awarded that very ball at tonight's game! He told us several times that it was one of the proudest moments of his life. He has been practicing so hard on his own and has tried to be a better player with each game. I love how this has improved his confidence in his ability. But I also love that it has increased his faith in prayer and obedience to the Lord. Way to go Adam!

Enanitos Verdes

This is a group I like a lot. You'll need to pause the playlist songs before you can really enjoy it. (I thought you might like this one Dad.)

Adam's Field Trip

Kindergarten Khaos Update

I have to give some of you an update on the whole kindergarten mess that I've been experiencing this year. I went to my scrapbook night and met a new person. And it just so happened that her son had the same teacher last year as Clarissa has now. (Just a different school.) This woman couldn't even remember her name because she had always referred to her as Hitler and the classroom as a Nazi concentration camp. I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I was to hear her talk about the same issues I currently have. I almost began to cry. And after talking to some of the other parents in Clarissa's class now the teacher is referred to as a Diva. (So maybe she's getting a little better.) I'm still talking with the administrators to try and get this taken care of but now I'm able to do so with a little more confidence. Learning that I'm not just a crazy mom is so very comforting.

1st Time to Bat

I forgot that I had this video that I wanted to add to all of the baseball stuff so this is a bit out of order. Is there a way I can change the order of my entries? Anyhow, Adam played t-ball for a couple of years but this is the first time that he plays pitched ball. He has gotten better since this first game and he is working hard everyday. He is having such a great time and it is so much fun to watch him play.

Major Bell

Todd was promoted to Major today. I didn't know what to expect, since he's never been promoted before. I made arrangements for the kids and me to be there and I'm so glad that I did. It was a good thing to watch their dad be recognized for the work he does for the Army. Adam is usually giving him a hard time for being lazy; not doing any household chores and all. Adam even pinned his new rank on his barrett. I don't have those pictures yet but as soon as I get them I'll post them up. Adam took the picture posted now.

Edventure Field Trip

Clarissa's class went to the children's museum for a field trip. Here are some photos of the fun things we did while we were there.

Super Snacks

I will not be surprised if Clarissa grows up to be a great pastry chef someday. She loves her snacks! (That's what the t-shirt indicates. Aunt Kim coudn't resist buying it for her when she saw it in the store.) She comes up with some fun ideas and Molly loves being a part of it all.This is just a basic ice cream with magic shell syrup and sprinkles but sometimes the simplest ideas are the tastiest.

This was great! She likes to put the frosting on her own cinnamon rolls each Sunday. This week she wanted candy sprinkles and fruitloops added on top. She said it was very delicious.Molly definitely agrees and has told Clarissa that she will be her taste tester for every great snack idea she will ever have. I think it was only missing chocolate. (Most of Clarissa's snacks include chocolate.)

A Frenzy of Fun

We have some friends here that just joined the Army. Their dad has been in and out of the state for all the training he will be completing. He was graduating from one of his programs and mom had the opportunity to be with him for a formal and a graduation ceremony. But what would they do with their five children? Well, stay with us of course! We had so much fun. They came over Monday morning and stayed until Friday morning. The funniest part is that if Todd and I had started a family sooner, they could have all been ours biologically very easily. Their ages were 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11. There were two 5 year olds so Clarissa would have been a twin. But as it turned out, their five year old didn't make the school cut off date so he stayed home with Molly and me. I would totally do again in a heartbeat. Todd may not be so sure. Although he was very helpful. He started a bath assembly line and helped occupy Molly who would wander about getting into trouble when we were trying to settle down for bed. We even managed getting to baseball games and dance lessons. I felt so empowered! The only thing that would have made it easier would be a bigger house and an intercom system. Other than that, it was a great week!Play-doh was one of many great activities we did during the day as we waited for the big kids to come home from school.But since it was gorgeous the whole week, the new trampoline was the most popular activity. Molly loved having the boys over to jump with her and would cry when they felt like doing something else for awhile. Which basically meant it was time for me to jump with her : ) But yeah when it was time to go get Adam and Clarissa from the bus stop! They piled into the wagon each day and waited and watched for them to come out of the bus.

Then the real fun began. Usually they don't play video games during the week. But once homework was completed, free play began. The little boys simply couldn't contain their excitement. They loved playing the video games on our big TV.

But like I said, homework needed to be finished first. They were so great at doing their work. Right after snack of course.

Spring Baseball

Adam asked to sign up for baseball this spring. I knew we were going to be busy because he already has music lessons, scouts, and chorus but Todd and I thought it would be good for him to be involved in some sort of team sport activity. And there are definitely some really great aspects with belonging to a team. It is also good for him to be involved since we are always the outsider coming into a new place. However, I had no idea just how intense it was going to be. I had to work the concession stand early in the season and will need to work as an announcer during the last game. There are two games and a practice during the week, sometimes conflicting with scouts. They drafted the kids based on a quick field assesment. And I hear there are playoffs at the end of the season. They are pretty hardcore around here. Most of the kids on the team were born here and their parents were born and raised here so we really have to work hard to be welcomed. To make it more difficult, the coach has practices for every Sunday. Because we honor the Sabbath day we can't make it to any of them so he has to work twice as hard during the week with me to make up for lost time. We used the story of Daniel refusing to eat the king's meat showing if you choose to do things God's way you can be successful at what you are working for. So please help us pray for Adam's success this season despite the obstacles he has to overcome. It has helped him to gain faith in the Lord and will make him a stronger player I'm sure.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Pre-game warm up time. Adam is really good at focusing on his job. It is his first year with the league so they have him in the outfield. Of course he hates that position because he just stands there and watches the infield play for most of the game. But he has a great attitude about it and has decided to be the best outfielder he can possibly be. He knows that his team mates can miss the ball on any play and that he needs to be there to back them up every single time. Adam's first game was a lot of fun and a great success. He has shown that he is able to work hard and play well. I know that this particular photo is capturing him with a strike but he does eventually make good contact with the ball.And he made it to first base. Way to go Adam!He continues to run around the bases with the help of his team mates. Running home for the score! Go Raptors!!

The Girls during Baseball Season

The girls really aren't all that excited about Adam's games. There is a really cool playground at the fields that is much more appealing. Clarissa is usually alright on her own but Molly of course still can't go unsupervised which is hard for me. I would rather be sitting in the bleachers watching Adam play. When Todd is able to go with us we usually take turns staying with her so we can at least watch some of what is going on.There is some music playing and Molly stops to do some dancing. (You can see the great playground there in the back.) This is still early in the game so she's happy as can be.This is what happens later and she's just tuckered out from all that playing.

Molly the Magnificent

Molly loves to go shopping. Unfortunately she is too much of a handful now that I don't take her out with me as often. Well, because she loves to shop and has her own ideas of what we need to look at and where we should go next. Until she calms down, she can pretend to glam it up and find some great deals.It was a lot of fun to put her hair up in piggy tails. But, they only stayed in for about 10 minutes. The hair bands were long gone. Why don't my girls like to have their hair fixed up all pretty? I guess I just have to wait until they are a bit older. "I no have it!" is what Molly tells me when I ask her to give me the pacifier. She knows that it is hard for us to understand her with that thing in her mouth and that I'd rather she not have it. So she got clever enough to say that it isn't around for me to take. I made her re-enact the moment for me just so I could a photo of her hiding it behind her back. What a goof!

Mega Playdate

Have you ever wondered what would happened to your house with 10 kids running amuck? Well, take a look at this fun mess. It was time to do our temple babysitting swap and I was hosting. Molly never enjoys sharing her toys but when it is all said and done, she really enjoyed having so many friends come and spend time with her. We love our friends here!