Yesterday was a family day.  Spencer has been having a hard time feeling motivated to go to the temple and Allison keeps putting if off for play dates.  So I told them once a month I would take them to do baptisms early Saturday and then for breakfast afterwards.  I told Spencer it was just fine if the reason he went right now was simply out of bribery - I can live with that.  And Robyn lucked out that Jeremy had to work in the morning at the studio so she and Taylor got to come as well.
We have too much kissing going on in our family as right now all the kids have cold sores in various stages.  They are just gross and painful to look at.

I asked my mom once how we did family activities growing up and she said we did one Saturday a month.  I thought that sounded like a fabulous idea so we are trying it out.  This month Robyn got to pick.  Going to Coldstone was her top priority but a close second was doing miniature golfing as a family.  They had to try out the rock climbing first though.


Thanks to Jeremy and Spencer carrying Taylor and his stroller up THREE flights of stairs to the miniature golf course we got to play together.  It was a serious work-out for them.  The course was all in black light so it was cool to go through although very tough to get an idea of bumps and steps in the floor.  Then Taylor and I waited in the hall while the others got ambushed in a laser tag game.



Followed by the mandatory ice cream.  For some reason as our kids were brainstorming what they wanted to do in their months - it all involved going out for dessert.

Then we hurried home to go to our neighbor's vow renewal ceremony.  Gave me food for thought.  Jeremy really had no idea what he was agreeing to 20 years ago.  Getting married is truly a leap of faith!  Robyn and her friend continued to play crazy flower girl games till bed, Allison had a birthday party and Jeremy, Spencer and I finally watched Lone Ranger.  So we all went to bed happy and tired out.  I don't know if we could handle every Saturday like that but it was sure fun.


This week I have been painting our pantry.  Scrubbing out those shelves and having to use serious sandpaper to get gunk off gave me more motivation to put an enamel on.  But oil based paint is really messy - especially in hair!


I am hoping in a day or two to get it all put back together and hopefully even fix the door handles!

Friday night the girls had their piano recitals.


Spencer had parent teacher conferences this week.  His math teacher told me how he makes sure to correct any mistakes he makes while teaching the class and is super meticulous.  I just shook my head and hoped he was polite about it.  His math teacher said he should look into engineering or something where such great attention to detail is needed.  He does great with Spencer because he puts him in the back so all his wiggles don't interfere with others.  And then I meet his science teacher who tell me Spencer has a really hard time staying in his personal space and how other kids complain that he won't make room for them.  It is better to stay in reality and know what is going on but sometimes I miss just being oblivious to Spencer's problems and being happy that he is getting A's.  He is having the same problem in volleyball.  So something more to work on.  That and picking at scabs - a new gross habit I really, really want to nip in the bud.

We got a new addition to our chickens this week.  A black chicken named Hestia (by Spencer) that looks exactly like his chicken who died named Artemis.  She wondered into a friend's yard and they could not find her owners.  The other chickens are picking on her but hopefully soon she will fit in.  Jeremy and Spencer washed all the poop of the sidewalks and deck again Saturday but it is still a constant battle.  They are popping them in the rears with Spencer's air soft gun whenever they come up on the deck.

Spencer and Allison are doing a missionary month with the youth of our ward.  They have assigned companions and are doing mission activities all month long.  Allison is "serving" with a Laurel in the Mexico something mission and Spencer is "serving" with a fellow teacher in the Canadian something mission.  They are both excited about the challenges although the one of 7 days with no electronics is causing some dread around here.

Taylor had fun this week while I was at a meeting:


Spencer having a hard time staying awake in church after a busy weekend: