5,6,7,8

Liv and I spent the weekend at the Thanksgiving Point barn at a clogging competition. Friday night we were there cheering on my niece, Rylee, who clogged on a sprained ankle. (She did great, by the way! If you want to check her team out, you can do it here.) Saturday was Liv's turn. She competed in Freestyle, 4 solos, and a team dance. I may be guilty of living vicariously through my child since I had to quit clogging a few years ago due to a bad knee, but she kind of (o.k. REALLY) likes it, too!
Here is her team dance. Pardon the low quality video. I opted to leave the video camera at home and just bring the small digital camera. You get the general idea! The first thing she said when she came and sat down was, "I messed up on my double doubles" so forgive her for that. (She starts the dance in the back and runs up to the front--right side of the screen in case you have a hard time finding her)

I think they look awesome! We had a fun weekend with lots of catchy beats stuck in our heads, girls' dinners, and lots of laughing.

The Master Chef strikes again

Remember this post? Well, apparently his desire to cook his own food and his independence are both still very much intact. The other day Warren was ready for lunch before I was ready to make it, so he took matters into his own hands. He got a frozen burrito and a plate and asked me how long to cook it. I told him 1,3,5 start (One minute 35 seconds). I was busily chatting on the phone and he was busily watching cartoons while he waited for his lunch. A little while later I smelled something and looked toward the kitchen. It was FILLED with thick gray smoke. I quickly ended my phone call as I ran to the kitchen to open the microwave (and prayed that there wouldn't be fire inside!). There was 4:13 left on the microwave. After I saw that there wasn't any fire, I called for David and Warren to run outside as I opened all the windows and fanned the front door to get some of the smoke out. The smoke detector never went off, so battery checks are in order!!! Before I share the photos, I need to clarify a few things. 1) We do feed our children non-processed food on a regular basis (and lots of fruits and veggies). Fruits and veggies don't usually cause kitchen catastrophes which is why they have not yet made a spot on my blog. 2) I am aware of the potential dangers of using plastic in the microwave. This experience only confirmed that.

It went all the way through the plate:

Thankfully, the microwave cleaned up pretty well, although every time we use it there is a still a lingering burnt smell.
After we cleaned it up Warren (with a shaky, about ready to cry voice) said, "I thought you said 1,1,3,5". I gave him a hug and assured him it wasn't his fault and that I should have watched more closely. I sent him upstairs to get dressed for school. After a few minutes I noticed him at the top of the stairs with the same sad, unsure face. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "When Dad comes home and sees the plate in the garbage, I will get in trouble." (This statement was totally mysterious to me. Darin is not an angry person, and if he would have seen the plate he probably would have laughed.) I again reassured him, and told him there was nothing to be in trouble for. I gave him another hug, and he seemed to be feeling better. I called Darin to let him know of our adventure, and told him what Warren had said about Dad getting mad. He laughed and wondered why he felt that way, but said he would make sure to handle it delicately.
We'll have to see what the future holds for Warren's culinary skills. I hope he isn't gun shy based on this experience. I am planning on having him help me with dinner sometime soon (totally supervised, of course!) to boost his confidence!
In other Warren news, this is his newest phase. Sometimes it's mismatched socks, sometimes it's mismatched shoes, sometimes it's matching everything. Depends on the day and his mood.

My Valentines

I am aware that it is now March, in case you're wondering. I still wanted to document the valentines we received from our kids. Darin and I came downstairs to these fun surprises:

From David (with help from Liv):

This one from Warren:

(It says, "Mom Dad I brot you a valentine"--It shows him bringing us valentines in bed. We foiled his plan by coming downstairs prematurely.)

This one from Sean was surprisingly comforting:

From Liv:

And this one from all the kids:

Don't let this note fool you into believing that it is a permanent love and appreciation fest at our house! We definitely have our battles (daily), but it is nice to know that even when they think we require too much of them, and think that life is unfair, they still love us! We feel like the "luckiest parents" to have you guys as kids, too!
Valentine's Day was pretty low-key this year. Darin and I went out with friends to celebrate on Friday night, and Saturday was a family day. We had a fun valentine breakfast, made sugar cookies, and went to see Bolt in the evening.

My toxic friend

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a love/hate relationship with sugar. I love to eat it, and I hate what it does to me physically. Not only does it add unwanted mass, it also causes me fatigue and pain. That should be reason enough to stay away from the stuff, right? Wrong. I have gone without sugar many times for short spurts (my longest was 6 weeks), but I always cave and make it a part of my life again. I have also tried making rules for myself, such as eating a treat once a week. That hasn't worked well for me, either.

When I made it to the halfway mark of my pregnancy (last week) I decided that for the health of my baby, my mental wellness, and to give my booty a fighting chance at continuing to fit into my pants the rest of my pregnancy, that it was time once again to fine tune my eating. I felt so great after just a couple of days of eating more healthy choices, and then I remembered my ongoing battle with sugar, and decided I needed to change how I think about it. I think of sugar as the enemy, and so far that mentality has failed me time and time again. As I was washing my hands yesterday I had the thought, 'you should think of sugar as your friend'. Then a light bulb went off and I had an AHA moment. My thought continued...'but not as a good friend that you can spend lots of time with, more like a toxic friend that you can only handle in small doses because they don't bring out the best in you.' So, that's my newest attempt at keeping this sugar addiction under control. I have let go of the anxiety, and will not shame myself if I eat a treat. Rather, I will enjoy its company when I choose to spend time with it, and be ready to say goodbye after a brief visit.

The Dentist

Yesterday was the day.

On the dentist menu: Cleanings for the oldest three, sealants for Sean, and a dreaded cavity filling for Olivia.

As the kids came home from school Olivia announced that she had lost a tooth during reading time. She excitedly wondered, "What if that's the tooth that needed the filling?" (yeah right, I thought). "Maybe", I responded (doubtfully), and we headed out the door.

They were placed in their respective rooms, and I spent my time traveling the office between three exam rooms and the kid area (to check on David) to make sure all children were settled. As I was in Liv's room with her I joked with the hygienist, "Liv lost a tooth today, and she's hopeful it's the very one that needed the filling." She checked the computer and started laughing. Her reply? "You know what? It is!" Liv couldn't keep from smiling. (Neither could I). I couldn't believe her good fortune. The kids all got A's for brushing, and slightly less great marks for flossing. Sean is the unlucky one this time. There was a little bit of decay in between the teeth that will need to be taken care of. Because of that the sealants were postponed until next week when the cavity can be filled. We headed to the store to stock up on all the goods that will hopefully motivate us to take excellent care of our teeth.

I heart our dentist's office. It is less like a dreadful experience and more like visiting friends every time we go.

Grown up girl bonding time

Monday we were able to attend the NieNie benefit concert (Mindy Gledhill and the Thrillionaires). AnneMarie and Eva found out about the concert, and thought it would be fun to have a girls' night! They were right! We had a blast. We ate dinner, then had plenty of time to browse at the silent auction before the concert started. We bid on a few things, and came home with one (Olivia still suspects foul play on the part of the grandma who snatched the pink daisy necklace at the last minute--both of the girls said the auction ended with our bid, but when we went to claim it, it was gone. I sure hope her granddaughter loves it!). Anyway, there was no way that could have dampened our spirits! The concert was so much fun! The Thrillionaires were hilarious (and I found an old college friend on the stage with them!!!), Mindy Gledhill was amazing, and there were some great surprise visitors--Ryan Shupe and David Osmond (not together). We laughed, we cried, we danced, we sang, we went home happy. Thanks for the fun!

The grown up girls

and their moms

all of us in the lobby checking out the goods from the silent auction

The girls with Mindy Gledhill

The rules of the game

I woke up yesterday morning to the sound of a made up game. I still don't quite understand the object of the game, but it involved throwing a ball at each other and giving points. Here's just a sampling of the dialouge:

Warren: (Throws the ball at Sean) Yes! Two points for me.

Sean: Nuh-uh. It doesn't count. You hit my pants. (Proceeds to throw the ball at Warren) Yes! Two points for me.

Warren: Nuh-uh. You hit my pants.

Sean: That doesn't count. They're not even real pants. They're pajama pants.

Oh. I see how it works.