Time Flies!!!

Wow! Where did the time go? We had a great weekend and we have been happily busy with the beginning of this week. I guess I will start with Sunday.

Sunday

Grandpa Blatter planned a meeting with all of the family to teach us about genealogy and show us all of the hard work he has been doing on his Gottlieb Blatter side. He is a wonderful example of consistency with genealogy. He also asked the grandKIDS to make a pitluck dish and bring to the get-together. The kids decided to make deviled eggs, which are now called "chicken cookies with egg frosting". It was a fun project and they turned out really well. The genealogy meeting just made me want to do better with my genealogy. It was a good reminder of what really is important. We also had some good talks on the way home about what is a respectful way to be in someone else's home.


Monday

I can't really remember much about Monday. I know that Seth took the kids to their piano lessons in Payson. Then they all stayed in Payson to let Nathan work with Grandpa on his pinewood derby car while Grandma Blatter took Kortney to her harp lessons. And while they were gone, I got to go to the Temple and it was wonderful!!! I needed to go and had someone helping me get there before the Temple closed. I left the house at 9:51 A.M., made every green light, found a parking spot quickly and RAN all the way up the hill and made it just in time. It was fun. And I got to do an endowment session which was a real treat. After everyone got home, we went over to Tricia's house to help her organize the clothing and things that have been gathered for the orphans coming from Haiti. Then Kortney got to go with Grandma Higginson and spend the evening and night with her. I know they had a good time together. That is the first sleepover any of our children have had. I am still trying to decide how I feel about it.


Tuesday

Today Seth had a day off of school AND took the day off from work so that he could go to Nathan's scout Blue & Gold Banquet. So, we did our usual morning things, then took Nathan to accordion lessons. Then we went as a family to an expo at UVU that Lance had tickets for. It was fun just to do something a bit different. We watched some Olympics and the kids played outside. Then we had a meeting with the Stake President, Pres. Olson. Seth was called to be in the Elders' Quorum Presidency as a counselor. Then we went to the Blue & Gold banquet. It was...fine. Pizza, root beer, cake, ice cream,...YUCK!


Wednesday

This morning we did some grocery shopping together. Then Seth took Cameron and Tylan on a date to go get Cameron shoes at Deseret Industries. Tylan CUT Cameron's other shoes and has been earning money to buy him new ones. Kortney had a tummy ache. Nathan re-learned how to make capsules and has been sneezing because of all the herb powder he is breathing in.

Happy 55th Birthday, Grandpa Higginson!!!

Friday

Today was Grandpa's birthday. We made cards for him and then met everyone at his office to surprise him. We waited for him to get there for 45 min. in his little office (14 kids and 7 adults). It was great fun! One of the pictures is of the kids under his desk. We had a big mishap in the evening. We had some scuffles between Kortney and Nathan, so they had to go to the cold room (the laundry room) together. Nathan didn't want to be in there with her and got angry and hit the window in the door between the kitchen and the laundry roon and broke it. It really was a miracle that we walked away with as little injuries as we did. I was right on the other side of the door and got a little cut on my forehead and one on my thumb. Nathan got two bigger cuts on his forearm and one on his pinky finger. And Kortney didn't get any. All the other kids were in the other room. It was a humbling evening for Nathan and he took it very well. He did a lot of sweeping, mopping and vacuuming, then he wrote a paper of consequences he felt he should have, drew a picture of the event, and went to bed.

Kids
They did music practicing, made cards for Grandpa, read their free reading books, watched Olympics, and learned some good lessons. Kortney also did a Life Skill of making muffins.


Saturday

We got up early, had scriptures, and got ready to go to Grandpa's Birthday Party at Classic Skating. We had a LOT of fun! And no one got any major injuries, just a few good bruises. Cameron & Tylan really enjoyed being able to ride scooters around. Part of Nathan's consequence was no skating, but the last hour we let him ride a scooter.

Thursday

This morning Seth & I decided to implement my Mom's old "pick ups" routine. Seth really likes to have NO CLUTTER (or a spotless place) and we have started picking up and putting away a lot of the kids' things. We are now turning that responsibility back to the kids. We have a basket that we will put items that have not been put back in the right place. The child who is responsible for it will pay us for picking it up. They also have an opportunity to earn money (we are talking CHANGE here) for having NO pick ups. We will see how the system works.

Kids
They did their music practicing (Nathan twice on the accordion), they played prince/princess/servant/messenger with their horses and capes, etc. We took a trip to the library and got many books and one movie: Pippi Longstocking. I have read some of the book out loud and Nathan & Kortney have read them all. They are watching it right now and it is...interesting. We are going to watch more Olympics tonight.

Mom/Dad
Seth watched kids while I went to Curves (5:40 AM). Then we worked on organizing our papers, books, piles, etc. It feels so nice!

Lots of car time today

Wednesday

Today began very early with Millie & Tylan waking up at 5:00 AM because they both fell asleep so early last night. So, in order to let Seth and the other kids get their sleep, I decided to get up and take them grocery shopping with me. We finally ended up leaving the house about 6:30 AM, but the stores opened at 7:00 AM. So we drove up to the Temple and sang "I Love to See the Temple" several times, talked about Angel Moroni and drove around it several times to get all the angles we could. Then we sat in the parking lot of Buy Low for 10 minutes. Shopping with very few other people in the stores was nice for a change. We returned to the other kids cleaning and doing music practice. Then Seth offered to take over Devotional today so I could go to Curves. SO KIND! This is what they said they did:

Devotional
Pledge of Allegiance, Kid Talk cards, read in the Book of Virtues, read in the manners for boys book, went over the music notes flashcards.

Kortney
Practiced piano and harp, did a lot of Kid Talk cards, read Pippi Longstocking and Moby Dick, went to group harp lessons in Spanish Fork, played at the park with siblings, watched Olympics.

Nathan
Practiced piano, read The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, helped organize his accordion performance binder, ran errands with Dad, played at the park with siblings, watched Olympics.

Cameron
Practiced piano, studied music notes flash cards with Dad, read 3-Minute Bedtime Stories and Little Red Hen, played at the park with siblings, watched Olympics.

We love the Olympics!

Tuesday

Tuesdays are busy days for us and this one was especially busy and fun!

Kortney
Practiced piano and harp, started a sewing Life Skill of making a bib for Millie, read about the moon, read Ramona's World, went to accordion lessons with Nathan, went to Planetarium fieldtrip at UVU, played outside in the BEAUTIFUL weather with brothers, watched the Olympics.

Nathan
Practiced piano and accordion, prepared list of songs for Saturday night performance, had accordion lessons, learned about the Earth, read The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs, went to Planetarium at UVU, played outside with siblings, went to scouts and got pinewood derby car cut out and sanded, made appointment with Grandpa Blatter for Monday to help with derby car, watched Olympics.

Cameron
Practiced piano, read Dumbo, went to the Planetarium at UVU, learned about space, played outside with siblings, went for walk to Zion's Bank, watched Olymmpics.

Tylan & Millie
Really liked playing outside in the warmer weather, went for walk to bank, read lots of books, played toys together, went to the Planetarium at UVU, went for a few car rides! Missed naps and went to bed real early.

Mom
Went to Curves at 5:45 AM and I still like it! I am still trying to figure out how to get some studying in for myself. Life feels pretty busy right now. I am enjoying it though!

Happy Family Night!!!

It was a fun Valentine's weekend. On Friday we attended a homeschooler Valentine's roller skating party at Classic Skating. It was busy and bustling place with skates and scooters and strollers and rollerblades and other wheel vehicles (that Kortney and Nathan were NOT fond of).
Saturday Seth had the idea to make a "candy card" (but not with "candy") for the kids to surprise them on valentine's morning. So, while he worked Saturday at USSynthetics, I stayed up and made it. It was definitely a late night cheesy thing. Kortney earned a privilege by being good to go to a BYU basketball game with Grandpa & Grandma Higginson on Saturday. When they came back from the game, they stayed to visit and Tylan & Millie loved playing "popcorn" with Grandpa.
On Sunday we let the kids enjoy their Valentine's card. It was a good regular Sunday. Then in the evening Kortney & Nathan went through their Faith in God books.

Monday

Today is President's Day. It was a different day. Seth chose to work this holiday to help earn some money for our family. So he worked from 7 AM to 3:30 PM. I went to my good friend, Amy Allen's little newborn's funeral. Wow. It was amazing. Amy and her husband, Jeff, were so strong in testimony and faith and had so much poise and confidence. The funeral really was a wonderful experience. While I was gone, all the kids went with Grandma Higginson to her house. She said they behaved themselves exceptionally well. It made me happy (and Grandma too!).

Kids
All did their music practicing, then at Grandma's house they read books, did journal writing, spelling, math, some did history, watched some of the ice skating in the Olympics, and watched "The Bee Movie" (which I still haven't seen yet). Grandma also asked Nathan to play his accordion for her ward "Rotating Dinner" party this Saturday and he is soooooo excited.

FAMILY NIGHT
The kids were very excited to have Family Night at NIGHT instead of the afternoon. Kortney gave the lesson on repentance and the atonement. It was very nice. We had yummy "vacation cake" (as the kids call it) for a treat (raw carob cake-like stuff). We got Millie & Tylan bathed and sleeping and then we all watched more Olympics and ate popcorn.

Mom
I am an official "Curves" member and loving it! I am going around 5:30 AM so that no one will even know that I was gone. I learned a lot from the funeral today. Life is a celebration and something to rejoice in, no matter what the length.

Thursday...

This morning I woke early to get things going for my family (red raspberry leaf tea, "mush", Tylan dressed, etc.) and then quickly went to Tricia's house. I helped Jerin & Brayden get ready for school. When they left, Kahlan was still sleeping, so I cleaned and vacuumed and dusted and it was so FUN!!! At about 9:00 A.M. she woke up and I helped her get ready and then we came back to the Blatter home. Kahlan stayed at our house until 3:15 P.M., so that was our day. Entertaining Kahlan and trying to keep the peace in our house.

Kids
Played babies with Kahlan, colored with Kahlan, made huts with Kahlan, played King/Queen/Prince/Princess with Kahlan, danced to music with Kahlan, at lunch with Kahlan, went for a walk to Kahlan's house to drop her off. Then they worked on Valentine's stuff (boxes, cards, etc.) for the big homeschoolers Valentine's party at Classic Skating tomorrow. We hope that is a privilege they earn tomorrow.

Mom
Besides playing with the Marr/Bailey kids, I read some good articles in this month's Ensign, read Les Miserables, and worked on being happy and patient. I also looked into the exercise place called Curves. I might try it out tomorrow and see if it is something I am interested in. I also finished my 3-day cleanse today. I honestly wasn't hungry at all, but my milk supply is low, so I decided to have some greens (salad & pate).

A Day of Service

Today didn't go as planned, but it went well.

We did some grocery shopping and then they all dropped me off to go Visiting Teaching. When I got home there was a message to call my Mom. She told me Tricia had had another miscarriage. My Mom asked my if I would go tidy up Tricia's house a bit. So the three oldest kids and I went and worked over there for 1 1/2 hours. I really enjoyed it! Seth left for work and I let the kids play outside together. The weather was GREAT! I made dinner and emailed some of my friends about our friend Amy Allen who just had a little girl who lived only 3 hours. We ate dinner and I went Visiting Teaching again. Now we're done for this month. I really do like it.

Kids
They practiced their instruments, read books, helped clean Tricia's house, were creative playing outside, did their chores and were GOOD!

Planetarium?...NEXT WEEK!

I thought today was the day we were supposed to go to the Planetarium at UVU. We left Nathan's accordion lesson early, drove around trying to find parking at UVU, then walked really fast to Seth's institute class to meet him. We sped over to the planetarium to find the door locked. We thought they had locked it because we were late by 2 minutes. We went and found someone to unlock the door and...NO ONE was in there. Joke was on us!! We are scheduled for next week. It was a good practice round. We have that much more time to learn about the stars and planets and moon, etc.

Devotional
Family prayer and family scripture study of Helaman 13, spoke about our plantarium fieldtrip (that wasn't really!).

Kortney
Read 2 Nephi 14, read Genesis 14, read books on Astronomy and Space, practiced typing with Typing Instructor, read Ramona Forever, listened to Harp 2 Suzuki CD, played outside with brothers, started a papier mache project.

Nathan
Practiced accordion, gave Cameron piano lesson, went over Scout things with Dad, did cursive, Explode the Code, did experiment from How the Universe Works, journal writing, read Great Brain Reforms, went to scouts and made Mom a Valentine hot pad, did papier mache project and got slimed!

Cameron
Had piano lessons, drew picture of Little House on the Prairie, learned how to draw horses from I Can Draw People, read Peter's Chair & The Snowy Day library books, walked around UVU, played outside, did papier mache project.

Tylan
Drew an alligator, read about Buzz Aldrin, read and listened to CD of At the Farm, went for a fun walk around UVU.

Millie
She has been very caring and concerned with Kortney's baby dolls: feeding them with pretend bottles, wrapping them in blankets, making sure I hold them a lot. She is just practicing up for the next baby to come into our family. She also got very busy with the books while I was making dinner. She managed to pull four FULL shelves of books onto the floor before I could stop her. She loved it!

Mom
I made it to the Temple early this morning and saw my cousin, Jennifer, who just was sealed to her family a few months ago, working there at the temple. What a joy that was! I hit a cute squirrel on the way home and it made me cry. I started a 3-day cleanse today(Dr. Christopher's). I am working on being "inspiring" to my children and husband.

Our Busy Mondays!

Mondays are busy!

We do our Family Night in the middle of the day so that Seth can be there for it. So, Cameron gave a great lesson on Love and Kindness. Tylan was very happy to be in charge of the treat which he chose to be our frozen banana/carob treat. I had the activity and we made a big family hut to play and eat our treat in. We also delivered cookies to the Marrs and gave them a dozen cookies to decorate themselves and deliver to others.

Kortney
Had piano lessons (Julie Sainsbury in Payson), harp lessons (Anamae Anderson in Springville), visited the place where the new Payson Temple will be, read The Great Brain Reforms and Ramona Forever, frosted and decorated a few cookies to take to her Activity Days friends and leader, had Activity Days with Sis. Redford.

Nathan
Had piano lessons, saw the new Temple site in Payson, read about and wrote a page about satellites, decorated cookies, played outside with siblings, read "?".

Cameron
Visited Grandpa and Grandma Blatters' home in Payson, visited the Payson Temple site, played outside, read some library books, read about Buzz Aldrin and wrote a page about him, decorated cookies, gave a wonderful family night lesson on Love & Kindness, played in the family hut.

Tylan & Millie
Played at G & G Blatter's home, were read to several times during the day, went on a fun walk to the bank and to drop Kortney off at Activity Days, played in the hut.

Mom
My goal is to be on this list of people doing great learning things! I am going to start reading Les Miserables, read my scriptures, read a Conference talk, and plan more for this week's activities.

A Great Sunday!

I haven't decided if I am going to record what we do on Saturdays and Sundays. We still do many good learning things, so I guess I should. I also think that I will need a break somewhere, so we'll just have to see what happens.

Saturday Seth worked to get some over-time, so I took him to work at 6:30 A.M.. I called the kids at home (Kortney, Nathan & Cameron) using the cell phone just before Seth got out of the car and found out they had a fire!!! Nathan was making his bed and bumped a tall floor lamp and it just started on fire. It sounds like they were wondering what to do for a while. They finally decided to unplug the lamp and the fire eventually went out. They were blessed that nothing happened but scaring them quite a bit. The house also smelled very bad for most of the day.

The kids did all their instrument practicing, many Saturday chores and a big library trip. We got to spend the evening with Seth which was a treat. I had a singing practice with Tricia, Kara & Lisa for the song we sang in Relief Society today in our ward. We also had a hair cutting party in our kitchen. Lisa came over to cut Kortney's hair (her first big cut since she was 2 yrs. old) and the Ford family came to get Bella's hair cut. Kortney is happy about her hair. It is very cute! The three older kids watched "Man From Snowy River" with Seth and really had fun! I had a headache, so I went to bed with Tylan and Millie.

Sundays we relax. Kortney practiced her harp because she played in Relief Society today ("Army of Helaman"). We had a fun Family Council this morning. We mixed our family scripture study with it and talked a lot about prayer and fasting. We went over our upcoming week's schedule and have some fun things we get to do this week. Church and our singing and harp playing responsibilities went well. We've spent the evening making Valentine's cookies for others. It was Seth's idea and the kids all loved it. They really wish they could do a lot more of the touching and tasting!

We love Fridays!

Devotional
Family scripture study with Dad. Tylan's day! Pledge of Allegiance, prayer, review of poem, scripture memorization:
1 Corinthians 11:11 "Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord."
Article of Faith #1 review, learning Article of Faith #2 (review for most), numbers discussion (base, whole, negative, odd, even, etc.), Kortney read to us How Big is a Million?, discussion about Friday fieldtrip.

At 3:00 P.M. we went to the BYU Museum of Art and had a "costume tour". We all loved it, especially the kids. We all got to pick a costume to put on that matched someone in one of the art pieces. I was a lady in a white flowy dress with a hat; Millie was a ballerina with a necklace; Kortney was a General from the Civil War; Nathan was a hunter with gun, bullets, and all; Cameron was a man in a suit coat and hat (from the Great Depression era); and Tylan was a young boy with suit jacket and hat. Tylan loved the picture that his person was in because the boy was feeding a calf. They all decided that they wanted to do that again sometime. It was a success.

Kortney
Read 2 Nephi 13, read Genesis 12, practiced piano, practiced harp (playing in relief Society on Sunday), learned about adjectives from grammar book, read History book (about Muslims), read Me and My Little Brain.

Nathan
Practiced piano, practiced accordion, gave Cameron piano lesson, finished "Green Salad" Life Skill (made it for Dad's lunch to take to work), read More of the Great Brain.

Cameron
Had piano lesson with Nathan, practiced the piano, read books to Tylan, wrote loving notes on hearts for family, read more books.

Tylan and Millie
Had a happy day reading, playing, and going to the museum!

Here's My Plan

I want to use this blog to record the things the children and I do. I was planning on starting yesterday, but I fell asleep putting Tylan and Millie to bed and didn't wake up until Seth got home from work at 11:45 P.M.. Then I got my p.j.'s on, brushed my teeth, put away the clean dishes and THEN remembered...the BLOG! I hurried to turn the computer on hoping it was not midnight yet, so the post would show Thursday still, but the clock showed "12:00 A.M." exactly. That was my answer, "Go to bed". But I am going to write what we did yesterday and I plan to improve today.

Devotional
Prayer, Pledge of Allegiance, months of the year song & knuckle # of days trick, memorized poem: "No matter if you're quicker, Or slower than the rest, Tha main thing when you're working, Is to do your very best!"

Kortney
Read Book of Mormon, read Bible, practiced harp, practiced piano, read one of the Great Brain series books, ran outside and around the block, made huts with brothers, started Life Skill "Make Tea".

Nathan
Read More of the Great Brain, practiced piano, practiced accordion, gave Cameron piano lesson, made huts with siblings, ran outside and around the block.

Cameron
Read lots of books, had piano lessons with Nathan, read Paddington, read books to Tylan and Millie, made huts, rode his stick horse outside and around the block.

Tylan
Read lots of books, made huts, ran outside with his stick gun around the block.

Beginning a Blogger's Life---TODAY!

Today I decided that I want to and need to use a blog for my family to keep track of what we are doing. I am doing it only for myself really so that I feel I am doing my part in teaching my children. I will also be able to see where I can improve.