Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been a slow catch up type of week. Monday Robyn was just miserable with a fever that wouldn't stay down and a cough that wouldn't allow her to sleep. She laid on the couch a lot, not wanting to eat or drink and we all washed our hands a lot and prayed no one else would catch it. My parents and I hung out most of the day doing odds and ends. My mom showed me how to make a cover for our bolster pillow so now I can be officially done covering bedroom pillows. My parents had a lot of excitement and nerves going on, especially my dad and it was exciting for us to participate in the excitement. That afternoon we all bundled up and took them up to the airport. Driving away I had a few sniffles and was so glad for the power of the internet! I cannot imagine even 20 years ago and having to rely only on a few letters for a year and a half.

By Tuesday Robyn still had the death rattle cough where you just think that soon she is going to hawk up a lung. But her fever stayed down and she was sucking on popsicles and cinnamon bears. She has gradually been getting better all week and is almost back to her own self today. She still will get these coughing fits but they aren't all the time. On Friday she had her 3 year old check up. She is: 41% weight (30lbs), and 69% height (37 3/4 inches) which gives her a BMI of 17.4% (that I should be so lucky!) A skinny minny as our doctor called her. She refused to take her clothes off for the exam - don't understand the sudden modesty when at home she is a definite free spirit! Then I realized she was having flashbacks to when she had to be cathed. When they touched her pull-up she just cringed in a corner but calmed down when we promised that no one was going to check for bugs in her bum today. The pediatrician said her lungs are still quite full of gunk so I am thinking she will be coughing for a while to work it up. After a painful shot "Oww, what are you doing!" we headed off to to return a wrong size magnet board to IKEA. As long as we were up there with rainy, gray skies and a week of isolation with a coughing girl we took ourselves to Taipan Trading to check out all their spring decorations and came home to dress up our house a little bit.

Allison and Robyn have a new game that Robyn loves - playing school. Allison puts on her purple winter hat that my mom made her (thats a necessity, I don't know why) and sits in the little rocking chair in her room while Robyn sits at her feet with all her "homework" and supplies around her. They will play this till Allison gets tired of it and both have a great time bossing, and being bossed around.

Allison's life seems a little busy to me lately. Piano, gymnastics, swimming lessons and play practice. Each thing was only once this week but wowee! She loves it all. Play practice is going to start picking up as the play is in 2 months. She is doing the play with her friend Alena and swimming with her friend Sarah so in some ways its just structured play! She was excited that she was able to do a back handspring by herself this week at gymnastics. Swimming she only has 2 more weeks but she is like a little fish. She can stay and play for 15-20 minutes after her lesson and I have to laugh at her stomping around in kid size flippers, goggles on and a big floaty under her arm. There is no more fear as she dives to the bottom of the deep end and swims laps. She has been having bags under her eyes lately from sneaking books into her bed and reading them after lights out by the light of her night light. I just have to remember to walk by her he bedroom periodically to listen for the sound of pages turning under the covers. James and the Giant Peach and Magic tree house are this week's favorites.

This week we have been having pockets of spring with the temperatures getting to the mid-40s. So Spencer and Allison have been breaking out the bikes and waves and spending time outside. Spencer has been having me drop him off a few blocks from school so he can skate the rest of the wave and then dropping him off halfway home so he can skate the rest of the way. Good for everyone! Rocky has been breaking out too, digging away for his dirt encrusted buried bones and he has the dirty face right now to prove it.

This week Spencer was in the school spelling bee representing his class. They didn't do it in front of a school assembly for which I was grateful. But they did start a few minutes early and Spencer was the first kid. I arrived with sick Robyn in tow right on time but they were already on the 3rd kid by then and Spencer was sitting there with a very concerned look. After the first round, half the kids came to sit with their parents and I heard the story (as I am sure all the other parents did as well as Spencer trying not to cry and loose it is not the quietest). He was asked to spell chocolate which he knows. But he started spelling it, said the wrong letter, stopped and said can I start over. But under their rules once you start you cannot start over. He was very frustrated as he knew how to spell it and all the other words after him. But we just kept telling him its a very tricky contest and to be proud he made it as far as he did. I felt really bad for him.

We had a short cousin night this week. But kids helped me get cookies made for Allison's class, turned up their noses at my girly white pizza and chowed down on their traditional cheese and tomato sauce pizza and ran rampant with tea parties, computer games and a movie.

Jeremy has been tackling all his boxes of office stuff in the garage, downstairs, in the bedroom. A lot of memories stored in there as he finds paperwork and projects from all his past jobs. He had a fun night Thursday as a friend invited him to attend a Jazz game. Last night after going to the temple we went shoe shopping for Jeremy to get him all set for Hawaii. Today he has succumbed to Robyn's germs and is snoozing/coughing in bed and hoping his good health will return soon.

For me this week has been a week of catching up on my to-do list. I finished up a bunch of stake stuff and felt so relieved to not have that voice in the back of my mind telling me to get it done! Hung up some hooks in the laundry room to hang up clothes on after they are ironed. Robyn helped me, trying to be a "fix-it girl". She had screws stuck between her lips and a tiny screwdriver in hand. Hung up a curtain in the food storage room - technically I watched Jeremy hang up the curtain as I am very good at delegating! but I was there. Covered Robyn's bulletin board inserts on her dresser with fabric that matches her curtains. And I found the cutest way to paint Allison's nightstand and got some paper to do it with: http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=JC&Screen=NIGHTSTAND Has anyone ever modge podged before? I am hoping to start painting it this week.

I have the bad habit of tackling projects and then almost finishing them so it was nice to finish up some things. One of the benefits of a sick kid is that your life slows down a bit and with the cold weather outside thats OK. Allison has finished cooking our chocolate chip waffles and Robyn is telling me its time for me to get out of my PJs. A typical Sunday morning for us. Yesterday I went around snapping pictures of kids to share. I promised Mimi to start posting some pictures of the adults periocially too - so next week I'll turn over a new leaf. Love to you all,

Heather



Don't know why but our kids think watching cartoons while walking on the treadmill is the biggest treat.



Taylor with his runny nose.



Spencer has been skating as much as possible this week.




Robyn's and my efforts to make us think spring is on the horizon. Robyn "talks" to the chicks "cheep, cheep".





After a week of no friends, Robyn was in need of a Luke fix. They disregarded the snow, quickly shedding their coats and had a great time hiding out in the playhouse. I think half the joy of that playhouse is that no adults can see what they were doing. Lots of giggles coming from there and eventually 2 very sandy kids who had been busy making and trying to eat sand birthday cakes.