Dear Family and Friends,

Our kids didn't have school on Monday so after spending the morning lazing around and getting jobs done Spencer, Allison and I went to see Spiderwick. It was a great kid's movie although a little intense in spots. We are getting the books sometime this week to start reading them as a family. Spencer has read all of them so he was busy telling me during the movie when book 1 ended and book 2 began etc. Spencer said of course he doesn't need to read them again with us but maybe he will just listen in now and then (meaning he will be there every night).

Last Friday our van's heater started not working right. And then on Monday it kept overheating every few minutes when we drove to the office. Luckily Jeremy had a guy who owned a auto place owing him money so we dropped it off to get fixed and went without a van for 2 days. It needed a new water pump and a radiator hose but is doing fine now.

Spencer spent Monday making a pan of brownies with marshmallows and frosting 100% by himself for the dad and son bake-off at the Blue and Gold dinner. He said Jeremy's part was picking the recipe and then eating a bunch which Jeremy was happy to do. Spencer made them from scratch which was a little scary to watch and involved me going back to clean up a bit after he left. But he did it and was very excited to share them with everyone there. He didn't win but he had some stiff competition. He was grinning though as all the boys hurried to get brownies from him. Spencer got his wolf badge at the Blue and Gold dinner which was neat. No nerves about getting up to get his award at all which was great. His teacher says he is doing good at school although he gets antsy and nervous if the schedule changes or if she leaves the room. He is having some issues with discretely pushing/shoving/kicking people as he walks by if they try to tell him what to do - so we are working on that. But he is also going out to play at recess with other kids again, which is a big improvement but also where he has his anger problems. Not sure at what point we want to try to address the aggression/anger problems with medications as he hasn't done well with any of the common choices versus just helping him learn to cope with it. He has been practicing a new song for piano that he is very proud of as its pretty hard. He stayed home from school with a cold on Tuesday and despite a terrible cough was bouncing off the walls - making me look forward to football season where he runs the energy off.

Allison had to present a fairy tale to her class this week. She chose the 3 little pigs and was nervous about doing it. So I told her if she chose a story I would make puppets for her. Grandma Drechsel gave me a set of patterns for hand puppets that are made out of gardening gloves and pom-poms that are easy and cute. I heard she did a great job although I didn't get to see it. The girls and I have been going over in the morning to to film teachers at Lincoln. The have been very patient with coloring in the hallways. I need to buckle down and get that video done. This time of year I always seem to have excuses to postpone projects - a book and a blanket always sounds better to me. Allison decided to keep doing swimming for another 6 weeks. She has side breathing down now although on breaststroke her arms don't really come up out of the water. On Friday Allison and her friend Kambry and I went to her school's play and chocolate fountain bar. I can not believe Allison and her friend didn't get sick but they seem to be able to handle eating tons of junk food covered in chocolate without any effects. This week we had a few warm afternoons (50 to 60 degrees) and Allison was getting spring fever and set up a kool-aid stand outside with her friend. Think she would have earned more if she was selling hot chocolate but they had fun. I got to substitute in her Primary class today and she was beaming, constantly sitting on my lap and wanting to help pass things out.

Taylor is getting used to the sedentary life style. Yesterday we had a taste of spring with temperatures getting in the 60s. So Meredith took him for a half hour walk. You could hear him huffing and puffing as he came through the door - it was pretty funny. Guess I need to provide more exercise than bouncing on the couch or bed.

Robyn is still a bundle of energy and attitude on 2 legs. She sings songs now which are pretty funny to hear - "little man" is "Mary had a little lamb". She does things like stuffing toilet paper down the toilet, saying she doesn't like dinner and pushing her food away and sitting there pouting with her arms folded, climbing on counters in the hope that candy is out there. somewhere. Just a very happy 2 year old who runs with glee to give hugs whenever someone comes home. I am glad she takes naps as it makes me appreciate all the other times. She loves having other little girls around and is very sad when it is just her.

Jeremy has been working to get another media player like ours ready for a friend. He is trying to get it out of the office in the hopes of Daniel and Mimi visiting this next weekend. Right now that room is a little crowded. He continues to organize his pictures and went to another photo walk yesterday with a friend.

Yesterday afternoon we left Taylor and Robyn with Meredith and took Spencer and Allison and a friend each to a UVU basketball game. It was scout day so ther tickets were free at the scout office. after seeing how little our kids actually care about the game, that is definitely the way to go. They ate tons of sugar and junk, cheered on all the dancers (Allison and her friend got to do the chicken dance with the cheerleaders) and had a great time. I had told Spencer about my brothers playing the broken arm game when they were teenagers so Spencer and his friend went out in back last night with their flashlights to try to recreate the game. So everyone went to bed tired and happy.

I started painting our bathroom/bedroom but I am moving pretty slow. I am only doing half the room at a time. Hopefully the motivation of being able to use our own shower again will get me to move a little faster. I have felt very slug-like lately - need to get back into running outside again I think.

Love to you all and especially wishing Griselda a Happy Birthday! Heather