OtterPops: The fun continues

Jocelyn and Nana

After all the company left we continued to stay at my parent’s house for General Conference weekend. Since we brought my mom back home, Jared stayed home to work and then paint the entry way before he met us Saturday evening with my mom’s new car. He also put up a chandelier in the front entry that I MUCH prefer over the old glass & brass number (complete with etched-in roses on each glass panel). I am so pleased with the update and excited for the potential of the entry way once we finish the painting.

Luke being patient with Jonas & Jocelyn's attention

Grandpa Kevin holding Emma

I realized after visiting my parent’s house that they must have a Carbon Monoxide leak in the house. That has to be the only logical explanation for the fact that I nap non-stop and sleep in when I visit them! They are so good to help watch over the kids (my dad and luke help them when they wander downstairs in the morning by putting a video on and getting them a bowl of cereal) and my mom does my sewing projects for me so I feel like I am being productive WHILE napping. Win-win situation, right? I appreciate them so much.

Most of the preschool kids with their bear masks on

Right when we returned from Spring Break I had to dive head first into teaching Lillian’s preschool for the week. It ended up being fine, because I always enjoy teaching and it is overall a good group of kids, but just made for a balancing act because I had to feed Emma and contain Jonas while trying to teach 3 days that week! I.e. Set the kids up with their art activity (quickly feed Emma on one side), set the kids up with their lunches (feed Emma on the other side), Start the kids on free play time, run Emma upstairs to put her down for her nap. However, I am done teaching for the year now and it has been so worth it having a great group of moms running the preschool for the past couple years.

Jared and girls during General Conference

Right before Easter we did a science experiment that my mom had recommended where you make a "naked egg" by leaving a raw egg in vinegar for several days so that the shell dissolves. It was pretty fun to see the yolk, etc. intact with just a thin membrane around it. The kids thought the naked egg was pretty cool but, of course, it broke really quickly when they decided to handle it for any amount of time. Well, I play "Last one up the stairs is a rotten egg!" with them when I keep asking them to go upstairs to get PJs on, etc. and they aren't going. It seems to get them moving up and quickly. Lately Lilly has been calling out "last one up is a naked egg!" which cracks me up every time and at dinner the other night they all had a helping of grapes. They decided they liked the taste of "naked grapes" better so they were all peeling the grapes and thought it was so fun eating "naked grapes" at the table.

Jonas also discovered the beauty of Legos when we were at my parent’s house for general conference. All the kids played with them non-stop and nana kindly let us borrow them when we came home. It’s been a fun distraction that they can all play with together.

I realized a couple weeks ago as I was walking through the house that in every high place (tops of bookshelves, dressers, fridge) was a weapon. Jonas is very much into weapons and having to learn the hard way that we don’t actually hit sisters with said weapons. His favorites lately are a knight sword, pirate sword, and his avengers action figures are still taken everywhere (but a bag full of them used to whack a sister doesn’t go over very well). Obviously, we need to try some other intervention since the weapons seem to be stored up high in every room until he asks for them and declares he’s ready to make good choices with the again…

Jonas is also very good at make-believe lately and we have to act out power rangers together (Samurai Power), or pretend to eat a meal he has made with the play food, etc. The other night he pretended to lose a tooth to which I told him he better put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy to bring him money. He acted it all out enthusiastically. The Tooth Fairy surprised him and he had a penny under his pillow in the morning. The girls were a little upset until I reminded them that a penny is 1/100^th of a dollar so they tried to be good sports after that.

Big news for Emma this month: She is rolling over both directions now, she started on her rice cereal (with much anticipation and excitement form her older siblings who all want turns to feed her), she is sitting up (kind of, not very long and with some assistance) and is very much interested in her toys and surroundings. She continues to be a joy and very loved by all.

Jocelyn went on a field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium yesterday and it was just a minor miracle she didn’t make herself sick with excitement (which she can and does at times). We bought a lunchable for the event since they were on sale and she was salivating over it for days. We heard about every detail of the impending trip over and over. I really wish I could have gone with her, but due to my laziness in bottle-training Emma, I couldn’t leave her with any friends without her starving and crying, even with rice cereal. Jocelyn at least got to partner with her friend Abby (and Abby’s mom) and she came home exhausted and thankfully napped it off. I failed to take a good picture of her by the bus or in the tshirts they decorated to all match on the field trip. Grr!

Brian and Katie in D.C.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my brother Brian is engaged. He is going to marry a girl named Katie Fisher in the Logan temple in September and we are very excited for them. We are hoping to meet her before the wedding but, due to her commitment to work in Alaska for the summer, this may not pan out. My older sisters met her since they flew them to D.C. for the weekend, and Nate & Tausha are close enough that they drove down to meet her before Brian proposed, but the rest of us have yet to get to know her. I have every confidence that she will be great, but would just like the chance to meet someone who will be part of our eternal family :)