This Week at Our House #2 Snowmantopia and Rain

We got in all the school I like to get in along with some fun snowman making, and dancing in the rain, a fun birthday, and the A&E 6 hour Pride and Prejudice movie. The snow stayed until Tuesday afternoon, so on Monday when the weather turned warm, the kids went out in the snow first thing in the morning and then again in the afternoon when most of them made a snowman or two. It was a lovely sight. By Thursday it was quite warm and humid, and on Friday it was over 70 degrees and down pouring much of the day. The kids had a wonderful time in the rain, including Sam, who kept sneaking out the back door. Our sand pit, which used to hold an above ground pool, filled with water. The kids played in that a lot. They also jumped on the tramp every time it started to down pour. I ended up with a lot of dirty laundry, because they would all go out and play in the rain, come in and change their clothes, and then go back out, repeat, repeat, repeat. John even went out to play in the rain with the kids. I went out and played a basketball game called lightening with John, Johnny, and Adam. It really was a very pleasant week.

1. John is my favorite gospel teacher. Today I was thinking how I longed for a teacher with the boldness of Nephi during church, and then I realized that I have that in my husband and I get to hear him teach everyday.
2.  I went grocery shopping on Thursday and since it is a half hour drive to Sam's Club and Walmart, and costs a bit in gas, I decided to buy about 3 weeks worth of groceries, so we would not have to go back soon. It took 4 hours to go there, shop and get home, and then another hour to figure out how to fit it in our one fridge and freezer. I think, we didn't have dinner until after 9pm. I remember sitting down after the dinner clean up, looking at the clock and realizing that it was 10:24pm and we had not even begun family scripture study.
3. Ruth told me that she is missing the family. I expect that will come and go in doses.
4. Rachel said that Kate is very nice, but that she did not know that until after we moved out of Utah and they shared a room. Kate said, "Is that what you learned? I am kind of a jerk. I get it from my dad."
5. Johnny was very nice playing basketball with me. He kept giving me multiple tries to actually get a basket. 
6. Adam loves the outdoors. He was out in the snow, and the rain, and the cold, and the warm. He typically finishes school a little later than the other kids. He tends to sit by the window with his math book staring at the kids already playing outside.
7. Rachel hates math. She goes into hysterics every time I teach her a new concept, so everyone talks about how terrible she is at math. But she always gets all of her math correct, and she got the highest test scores in math last year when I did their school testing. 
8. Anya had her birthday and as a birthday activity she wanted to watch Pride and Prejudice. I loved that activity. We watched it over 4 days, and I think I love Anya even more now.
9. We have this funky door that separates the hallway to the kids bedrooms and bath from the dining room that does not reach up to the ceiling. Adam has been using it as pull-up bar and Joseph has been climbing up to the top and laying over it. He thinks he is spiderman.
10. Joshua had a better week. I was careful to give him plenty of hugs and verbal approval when he was doing things right. John was careful to spend time with him, and I think being able to get outside more helped him too.
11. Arwen's reading is starting to come along, so putting her with Josh seems to be helping and not hindering her. She is even starting to get words before Josh.
12. Susan doesn't wet her pants anymore, but she is only pooping in the toilet about half the time. While we were looking for a birthday present for Josh, Suzy kept insisting that it was her birthday. I told her she wasn't allowed to have a birthday until she always pooped in the toilet because I was not going to have 4 year old pooping her pants. She quit begging for her birthday after that, but she did do better for a couple of days.
13. Samuel loved the warm rain. The back door is by the laundry room. While I folded laundry, I had the door open to enjoy the weather and Sam started to go out and then walk a little further and then a little further until he was in the big water/sand pit with the other kids.

Pictures