the latest on Daniel

Daniel just "unofficially" finished a year of kindergarten with Lincoln. He wasn't actually enrolled in kindergarten last year, since he didn't turn 5 until January, but he sat in on all of Lincoln's lessons and by the end of the year was performing very well in every subject. Lincoln's teacher tested him for us and agreed that it would be best if he skips kindergarten and starts 1st grade with Lincoln in the Fall. He's really excited to be a first grader and get his very own shipment of school materials when school starts.


Daniel loves to read; he's always reading labels and signs and feels very proud to sit down and read books to Jack and Stella. He even has a go at a page of Harry Potter now and then. We've been reading the Harry Potter books at bedtime and are just a couple of chapters shy of finishing the 4th book. Daniel loves nothing more than pretending he's part of the story. I can get him to do just about anything (folding laundry, cleaning the bathroom, etc.) if I can weave it into a Harry Potter plot.

He's taking summer swimming lessons through the city rec department. On the first day of lessons, he woke up at 6:30, put on his bathing suit, and came to try to drag us out of bed and get to class (which didn't start until 10:30). The next 4 hours dragged by for him, but he was probably the happiest kid there when it was time to get into the water. He loves every minute of class.

Here's looking at you, kid

Hanging out with Stella-Wella-Wacka-Bella-Boxing-Blue (his nickname for her)

at Canyonlands National Park in May

the latest on Lincoln

Lincoln just finished up a great year of homeschool kindergarten. We did it with the help of Utah Virtual Academy-- a charter school that provides curriculum and support to homeschool families.  He did well in both math and reading, but math is his favorite subject.

We celebrated the end of the school year by having a mom and Lincoln date to The Quarry, our local rock climbing gym. His favorite part was rappelling back down after he'd climbed about 15 feet, and then doing it all over again. He's already planning on going back to celebrate the first day of first grade.

He's spending his summer days playing outside as much as possible: watching our two hens {Sally and Penny} peck in the dirt, riding bikes, playing ball and playing elaborate imagination games with the neighborhood kids.

He's also enrolled in a summer art class offered through the city rec department. It's been lots of fun to see what he comes home with each day.

 self-portrait by Lincoln

 fisherboy

With Daniel at Canyonlands National Park in May

in like a lion out like a lamb?

Hey! Isn't March supposed to start being balmy and lovely towards the end? Then what was up with yesterday's snow storm?

Whatev.

All I can say is I'm more than ready for April and warm weather.

Anywho, here are a few random bits about us from the past month:

Jack turned 2. It was a pretty low key birthday. He actually got his present (a basketball hoop) a month early (yes, we're pushovers). So on the big day he got a living room full of balloons and a roll of bubble wrap.

Never underestimate the awesomeness of bubble wrap.

the birthday boy

Jack is a crazy awesome delightful addition to our family. He's always good for a snuggle and a smile. We still get the occasional temper tantrum-- but that just means he's normal, right?

the boy's got a thing for frozen blueberries

He's also slightly obsessed with sports. Have we mentioned that before?

Stella is almost completely over her case of RSV, thank goodness. She is 100% delightful. People are constantly asking us, "Is she always this happy?"

Yes. Yes she is.

well, she's smiling on the inside. (trust me)

Lincoln started and finished a great basketball season. He learned a lot over the course of his 8 games. Like how to stay with the ball and his team, instead of just chasing around the guy he was supposed to guard (even when his team had the ball).

Go #34!!

We've been on a baking kick lately:

when was the last time you used a dozen eggs in one recipe?

For us, it's been the two times this past month that we've made this monster recipe. (stay tuned for our adjustments) We get fresh hot bran muffins for breakfast every morning and the batter stays good for weeks in the refrigerator! (although it never lasts that long).

giant vat 'o batter

Joe and I managed to get out on a date last night despite the fact that our live-in-babysitter is gone on a mission.

BYU holds an annual alumni ball; I've never seen so many grandmas in prom dresses. It was awesome. Next year, we're totally going all the way with the black tie thing.

Anyways, we started with dinner at the Bombay House with Joe's best friend from high school and his sweet wife (who just happens to be 7 months pregnant-- yes, we talked birth the entire time). Then it was on to the party for dance lessons, root beer floats, a fabulous live band, and a photobooth (which I confess was my favorite part). We also ran into the parents of friends of ours from high school, the Christensens. They lived in Brigham City before they moved to Spanish Fork, so they knew both of us before we got married. Weird.


Maybe you've realized that there are no pictures of Daniel in this post. It's not that he's disappeared or that we don't love him. The truth is simply this: he's spent most of the past month pretending to be Ronald Weasley (we're on Harry Potter book 3) and has not been interested at all in posing for muggle cameras.

us today

We broke in the fire pit for family night tonight. The verdict: money very well spent.

Daniel enjoying a s'more. (and being cold)

Lincoln, and the newest hole in his mouth. He lost the tooth last night and decided once again, not to sell it to the Tooth Fairy.
(the way he talks now is just too cute to be believed)

Jack, as charming as ever. He got hit with a nasty cold this weekend,
but I think he's on the mend.
His latest funny: His standard banana knock-knock joke, but if you don't laugh hard enough at the end, he'll look at you very seriously and say, "Joke."

And last, but not least, Sweet Stella. She weighed in at 18.5 lbs at her Doctor's appointment last week. The boys are all immensely proud of her chub and kept going on and on about their fat baby at the appointment. The nurse must have been sensitive about that issue, because she kept insisting that Stella was not fat; she was "just perfect."

I think they're all right. Stella's incredibly fat, and that's just perfect.

Daniel did a sweet thing last Saturday. It was his turn-out with Joe and he decided that he wanted to use it to plan a party for the family. They bought balloons and candy and flowers for Stella and I (my tulips are yellow, Stella's are pink). When they got home, we all decorated together, ate our treats, had a dance party, and took turns playing bubble breaker on Joe's cell phone. Daniel declared it Saturday Holiday. It was a great day, indeed.

my magical munchkins

We had some fun with ping pong balls today. Can you guess how we made them fly? Was it magic?



"Today we had some fun. It looked like the ping pong balls were flying. And today we're going to have a fun day. But yesterday we didn't have a fun day. And tomorrow I wanna do this too.

I am magical."

~Lincoln

"I had some fun today. Bye-bye. And one more thing: bye-bye."

~Daniel




"Ball!"

~Jack

and she's off...

Well folks, it's official: Kaley is safely sequestered in the MTC for the next 9 weeks. And after that (in case you've been living under a rock (just kidding)), she's headed out to the California Carlsbad mission (Spanish Speaking).

"Hola! I'm Hermana Weight. You can call me Hermana."

The pre-MTC lunch seems to be a big tradition around here. We weren't brave enough to attempt a sit-down meal in a real restaurant with just Kaley and me and my four midget punks-- I mean, angels.

So we settled for Cafe Rio takeout consumed in the lovely confines of the Silver Bullet.

Casual, but delicious.

Then we headed up to the MTC, (actually, a nearby street) for pictures and hugs...

...and kisses. Jack doesn't actually get what's happened yet, but he is really going to miss Kaley.

more pictures...

(that "sticker" on Lincoln's nose is actually a band-aid-- more on that in another post)

... last minute phone calls to the Indiana fam...

... some tears (she is a Weight woman, after all)...

...more pictures...

Notice the ever sensitive and compassionate Alex at the left.
(Totally kidding, Al. You know we love you, right?)

...and one final picture of the Utah Sisters inside the gates of the MTC.

Having Kaley with us for the past 6 months has been nothing short of a blessing for our family. She was an incredible help through the last few months of my pregnancy with Stella, helped to smooth the transition of the newborn stage, and eased us through the upheaval of Joe's calling to serve as bishop. The boys adore her and I'm so thankful for the time we've had to strengthen our friendship.

We are going to miss her. Like crazy.

But we couldn't be more proud of her decision to serve the Lord and the people of Carlsbad as a missionary for the next 18 months. (and grateful for her example to our sons-- who are now looking forward to their missions)


If you know Kaley and would like to send her a letter or a package (she'd love it!), email me and I'll send you her contact info.

savings

We've been making up a lot of spreadsheets here lately; trying to figure out how much $$ we need to save for four college educations, four missions, and feeding four teenagers.

And then we saw this:


See that brand new tooth in there?

That's Lincoln's and it's a brutal reminder that there's something that we'd forgotten to add to our spreadsheet: Orthodontics.