Dear Family,

Hard to believe that Robyn is 2! Yesterday for her birthday after cleaning the office we went to place called Kangaroo Zoo that is full of inflatable toys. She had a great time bouncing around as did everyone else. Afterwards we came home for chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. She liked the singing and blowing out the candles so much she kept sticking the candles back in and asking us to sing happy birthday again. She got a baby that drinks a bottle and makes sounds from Grandma Lynda and Grandpa and a stroller (and some outfits that she said cute and quickly threw to the side) from us. She loves her doll and is constantly changing its diaper, feeding it or taking it for walks. Last night she put it in bed with her which lasted for 60 min till Allison was tired of asking her to stop playing and took the doll away from her. We went for for a walk around the block with her pushing the stroller and after 2 long circuits I called it a day and brought her protesting inside. To finish off the day we went to an Elder's Quorum movie night at the church with our family. So Robyn had a great day and we all had fun being with her.

This week the plumber and his crew came and did the rough plumbing in our basement. Wow, jackhammers are loud as they jacked up the floor to connect to the sewer system. It made for a noisy breakfast! We had our first pleasant surprise as the bids coming in this week for sheetrock were much lower that we had anticipated. Jeremy spent the afternoon yesterday working on the can lights till all the insulation got to him. Once we get the cans and wiring in then we can do the vaperlock and insulation and we'll be set for sheetrock. We have debated putting in another fireplace downstairs as it is going to be cooler but I am not sure if it would be worth it.

I finished painting the bathroom this week. I really like it although I am critical of my paint job on the beadboard and molding - its hard to get a real uniform smoothness to it. Next paint job is our bedroom although I keep putting it off as I look at the vaulted ceilings.

The girls spent a lot of time this week in the hallways at Lincoln as I filmed teachers for the video we are making. I need to do shorter visits more often as Robyn does not think staying in the hallway with Allison is a good thing yet I can't have her with me as she tugs on my arms and makes the video turn out all shakey.

Allison is really doing good at her swimming lessons. They started working on side breathing this week and a whip kick. She works really hard for those 30 minutes. It is a big difference compared to how much she learned at the community pool classes in the summer. Sarah was gone this week so it was just a one on one lesson.

I had the rest of my root canal done this week. I had to go back on penicillin last week because it started to hurt. By this week it hurt all the time and I was up a lot at night. But I knew I had this appointment and babysitting all lined up so I didn't want to go on emergency stand-by. The antibiotics didn't work this week so when they opened it back up it was oozing pus and blood. Very gross and very painful 2 1/2 hours but its over and is gradually getting better. I am on a z-pack now which seems to be helping and as long as I don't forget to regularly take my tylenol I am pretty good. So I spent a lot of time laying on the couch holding a hot pad to my jaw this week as I waited for it to feel better. Its all those old big fillings that are having problems - most of them have been replaced now.

I went with Spencer's den to take a tour of the fire station this week. It amazes me that it is all run by volunteers who do this in addition to their regular jobs for zero pay. Spencer had a small incident at school this week when he told a kid who had asked to play with him no. The kid thew a big ball at his face, knocking one of his baby teeth loose and called him names. So Spencer went up and punched him in the chest. So the two boys spent the rest of lunch talking over their behavior with the principal. Overall Spencer has been doing good as long as you give him some space instead of demanding instant obedience and as long as he isn't getting hurt or frustrated. He is still really twitchy about playing with other kids and doesn't want to have friends over for his birthday party this year but would rather do something fun with the family. He is trying hard to not make mistakes which gets a bit annoying at times - like when he has to eat exactly what Jeremy will eat and serve his food in the same order. He is trying though.

Robyn has discovered all my stashed of food and has learned new words - cinnamon bear and chocolate and gum are are favorites! Guess I need to set a better example. She is very excited whenever any little girls are over and knows all the names of Allison's friends.

For pizza and movie night we watched Remember the Titans with our kids, since they have school off Monday for civil rights day. They were just astonished that people would ever feel or act that way. It has made for some interesting discussions.

We are all excited to see Griselda and kids and Daniel's family this week! Love to you all, Heather