Virtute.org

Zach is a good dad to play incredibly long games like Settlers of Catan with the kids after bedtime on the night after our trip to Vegas.

The next day we had members of my mom’s side of the family over.  One nice thing about living in Utah is that if you come from a big Mormon family that’s spread out all over the country, there are often opportunities for a gathering.  On this occasion we got to spend time with my cousin and her family who were visiting from Arizona as well as my aunt who was in town from Texas and some cousins who grew up in Tennessee, but now live in Utah as well.

Isaac stayed home sick from school the next day.  He helped entertain Thomas and his best buddy with a race track and a bunch of Hot Wheels.

Isaac and Charlotte were very excited about this idea. They put Plasma/wiggle cars on swings.

The kids thought it was really exciting to see Aunt Hedi’s car come home on a tow truck.  Heidi was considerably less excited about it.

Everyone should have a neighbor with a trampoline :)

I love having a little helper to unload the dishwasher:

Isaac and Charlotte were inspired by playing Mario Cart and decided to build their own racing machines.

Little girls can’t resist a bag full of dress-ups.

I told them to make a silly face.  Thomas said he was making a “naughty face” instead.

Isaac participated in the Hope of America program which was held at the Marriott Center. It’s a patriotic program preformed by 5th graders from some of the local school districts.

We sat together with our neighbors.

One of the preforming groups was this group of elderly ladies.  I think the age range was 52-94.  My neighbor and I kept giggling through the whole performance imagining our parents and grandparents participating in a dance group like this.  We tried to find the 94-year-old.  After guessing that she was the one in the back on the right, we were shocked to see her stay behind to do her own little dance number which ended with her doing the splits!

One of the last songs involved flashlights.  They made a pretty cool effect with them, but Isaac said that he and his classmates were mad about all the parents in the audience who were waving their cell phone lights.

Zach spent the week in San Diego for work and came back with little gifts for the children and a giant container of Nerds to share.

Thomas got a dinosaur that left jelly bean droppings.  He was pleased.  He said it looked like a doggy/kitty/rhinoceros/dinosaur.

Isaac got a propeller with a balloon attached to fly around.

Ila got multiple colors of hair chalk which she shared with her sisters.

Charlotte got a small kite and some breath mints and Nicole got a pink monkey and a children’s book about digital marketing.

This is Thomas eating his breakfast outside.  It has mostly been really nice here the last few weeks.

I thought it would be fun to take some pictures of the littlest kids with the big box of Nerds:

Nicole has this bad habit of chewing on the necks of her tops.  We’ve bought her necklaces and bracelets that are made to be chewed on which help some.  I’ve had to start throwing away her clothes when they develop holes in them and introduce her to chewing gum.

This is Thomas after a run-in with the beater from my mixer.

Charlotte had a bunch of friends over last Saturday.

They played “Truth or Dare” (I don’t know who taught them that game) and dared each other to do silly or adventurous things and to hug and kiss Isaac.  Luckily they’re all too young to really enjoy such things (at least I hope they are).

Nicole learned how to climb trees and LOVED it.  She was found climbing trees in different parts of the neighborhood the following week and has some scratches on her arms and legs from climbing.

Thomas eats his hot dog like corn on the cob and then asks for more Ketchup and yellow stuff on top.

Isaac’s class has done a lot of fun things this year.  On this particular day they had an “Elis Island day.”  The kids were each assigned to dress up like an immigrant and go through he naturalization process which included a basic test and oath of allegiance.  They had parents and grandparents come in and teach them about other cultures and share food with them as well as a variety of other activities.

This picture is blurry, but this is Charlotte’s favorite new trick to do while riding her bike:

I can’t bake without helpers.  This is right before I picked all the egg out of the bowl after Thomas smashed the egg and threw both the egg and the shell in the bowl.

Isaac finally learned to ride a bike.  Each time he has tried he had trouble and gave up. This time he stuck with it and gained enough confidence to stay upright.  He was so excited that he rode till bedtime and then every spare moment since.  He has raced through breakfast so that he had time to ride everyday before school and has hopped back on the bike as soon as he was home from school.

We babysat this sweet little baby on Wednesday.  My kids loved taking care of her so much I had to remind myself to be ok with not having another baby.

Ila and Thomas set up a little tea party together.  They are such good friends.

Nicole went to a birthday party at Air Sports in Provo.  She had a blast.

After she got home she helped her dad plant tomatoes and peppers:

Thomas and his best buddy.

Nicole spent the rest of the afternoon taking care of these things.  She gave them water to drink and sticks to eat.