Biologist

Tanner was out picking dandelions for me and the neighbors the other day. He hand delivered the "flowers" to Dick and Nancy's house. The next day Dick and Nancy sent a book on flowers for Tanner (along with the news paper) and of course they couldn't leave out Kara and Kendra so they each got a book as well. Tanner was so interested in this book.

Barry made the comment that he is going to be our biologist and I wouldn't be surprised if he is one when he grows up. He has been know to stand up for endangered animals...after finding out that the manatee in Florida get hurt from boat propellers he was out raged and wouldn't even think about getting in a boat (except in Uncle Brett's for fishing), and he is a conservationist at heart...telling Grandma and Grandpa Belcher not to build a log cabin because they would have to cut trees down and then we won't have enough oxygen to breathe. We can now add botanist to that list now, he can't wait for all the flowers to bloom this summer.
Barry actually remembered that during his ISU days Tanner went out with him collecting flowers for his botany class. I was really busy that semester and Barry and Tan got to hang out a lot. Barry would load up Tanner in his back pack and take him with on hikes looking for his flower collection.

The Tree of Life

We just read in 1Nephi about Lehi's vision of the tree of life, so we thought it would be fun to do our own for FHE. The kids helped me make a tree with potato stamps that we made earlier in the day. Barry made a path of yarn through out the house that lead down to the basement where the "tree of life" was where they could partake of the fruit of the tree (caramel apples). Along the way was temptation. We set out different things that the kids really liked to tempt them away from the "rod of iron." The first was perler beads (both kids fell for it), then the Wii (only Kara fell for it), then some strawberries, candy and beef jerky (Kara fell for it, and kept the beef jerky with her the rest of the evening. Tanner ate the temptation, but managed to hang on to the rod), then a Star Wars Movie playing (Tanner fell for it), then some arts and crafts (Kara fell for it) and then they made it to the tree. When they let go of the rod we blind folded them and turned them around so they had to find there way back to the rod in the "mist of darkness." The kids had a great time and we all loved the fruit at the end!

This is Kara falling for the Wii temptation.

Bangs!

We cut bangs on Kendy. She wouldn't leave a clip in to keep them out of her face so we had to cut them. I even got brave and curled them for church today. Kara made this difficult because she kept trying to kiss Kendra while I was curling. I had to kick her out of the bathroom for a bit.
This is us all (except Barry) before church today.

The next few pictures are from yesterdays soccer games. Kara had one game and Tanner had two games. We only stayed for one of Tanners games. Although we might look happy in the pictures, we really were miserable. It was soooo windy and cold. We used our blanket as a wind breaker.

Kara scored a goal at her game! Tanner played excellent defense! We actually watched Tan's game from the car away from the wind. I would just run water out to him when there was a break.

The Best Day of His Life!

We were walking to the car from the library today and I had this conversation with Tanner:

Tanner: Today was the best day of my entire life!

Mom: Why is that?

Tanner: I feel like I am the boss of you guys (mom and dad) today!

Mom: You do, why?

Tanner: I went to play with Josh today, like I wanted, I got to play baseball today like I wanted, I got to go to the library today like I wanted, I got to have pizza today like I wanted. I got to do everything that I wanted so I was like the boss of you guys. It was the best day of my life!

Soccer

This is Kara today playing soccer with her team. It's hard to catch, but at the beginning of the video she says, "I'm out of running." She was tired; plus she hasn't been feeling 100% the past couple of days. She was really excited that she got to play on her own team, just like Tanner.

Tanner was practicing hitting the ball off his head. He did well and played goalie for a good portion of his scrimmage.

Warranty

Barry called Home Depot because our washer (that is less than one year old) was not working properly. The spin cycle didn't spin! Home Depot told us that a repairman would be out to our house between 8am and 5pm the next day, I'm not sure why they couldn't narrow the time down just a little because I had to be home waiting. The guy finally came and told me that the transmission needed to be replaced and that only the part was covered under warranty and that the labor on it would be $200. Well, when you only pay $250 for a washer, it's hard to want to pay $200 to fix it. Barry was sure that it should all be covered under warranty. So Barry and I made a few phone calls to get the guy back to fix the washer without having a $200 bill. A couple of hours later he came back and fixed it. I'm just wondering if there is any way to get an extended warranty...we need this to last us a few more years. Do not buy a GE washer, I guess this happens frequently and we didn't do our homework. At the time we were in a hurry to get it.

Wheezy

We are now proud owners of a Nebulizer. Kendy started with a runny nose yesterday and had a little cough, but it was nothing big. She had a rough night sleep and woke up this morning wheezing and had to really labor to breathe, so I called the doctor. She couldn't even sleep to take a nap and she was so tired from not sleeping that night before. She was cranky, so I tried to find a pacifier, which I found under her bed. I stuck it right in her mouth and when I looked down at her I saw that the pacifier was covered in ants! I pulled the plug out and saw that her mouth was full of ants as well. I got as many out as many ants as I could, rinsed it off and gave it back to her. Nothing seemed to help the her mood (but can you blame her...she couldn't breathe) so I was glad that the doctor could get her into the office soon. He gave her a breathing treatment, which she hated, but it did help her.

The doctor hooked us up with our very own nebulizer to keep for Kendra. As I went to pick it up I realized that a year ago almost to the very week Kendra was in the hospital the first time with RSV. I'm so glad we can celebrate that anniversary with a trip to the doctor and breathing problems. We have to give her breathing treatments every 4 hours and she also has to take one dose of a steroid everyday for five days. As you can see in the pictures, there is a learning curve to giving a baby breathing treatments. She really doesn't like them because the machine is so loud, but we found out that if we let her watch a show and suck on her pacifier that she will tolerate a loud machine with steamy air blowing in her face.

Some cute notes about Kara:

The other day it was raining, Kara said you better turn on your swishers Mom so you can swish the rain away.

Last night Kara woke up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. We always hear her because the floor creaks and she is afraid of the dark so she comes in to tell us that she needs the light on. She was on the toilet and started to cry. I just realized something. I'm tired. I'm 1000 seconds tired. It was a rough night for all of us.

Family Gratitude

Kara- I love my mother and sister a lot. I'm grateful for my dinner that Daddy made. I'm grateful that I could go to my friend Cambria's house and be good there. I'm grateful we could play hide and go seek.

Tanner- I'm grateful that we could watch a sing along movie. I'm grateful that I could draw a Preyingmantus at Kid Pics. I love gym because we do fun things and we get to do a kind of a nappy time thingy. I have a family, I go to school. I'm grateful for Kara and Kendra and Mommy and Daddy, and all the rest of my family. I love soccer. I'm a member of the YMCA. I like bugs because I like to catch them and they crawl all around me. I have a Wii. My favorite letter is T. I like T-ball because I played it in gym. I climbed on a tree yesterday. I like Jack and Annie books. I like Captain Underpants. I'm grateful for chapter books because they make me smarter. I'm grateful for my teacher because she has fun projects and she tells me a lot of things, she told me what Martin Luther King Jr. said, but I forgot. He made it so only white signs were against the law. I'm grateful for my dad because he brings me stuff from the hospital. I'm grateful for all my neighbors because they make me happy by what they say. I'm grateful that we go to church because they teach me cool things like when my teacher asked if we had ever seen Star Wars, she said that when they talk about the force it reminds her of the holy spirit. It was cool. I was talking to Easton and he said that his teacher said the same thing. I'm grateful that I could plant Lima beans. I'm grateful Kendra could be born because she is so cute and cuddly.

Barry- I'm grateful that Kendy is healthy. That the lady with Eclampisia did not die today giving birth. I'm grateful that it didn't rain, and that Jodie bought me hair gel.

Jodie- I'm grateful that I took Kendy to the Dr. today so she could get a breathing treatment. I'm also grateful that the sun was out today and that we could play outside! I'm grateful that Stacie watched Kara while I took care of Kendy at the doctor, even though we had invited Cambria over to play at our house today.

Kendy is grateful that she can breathe.

Timber

I went to take a nap and just as I lay my head down on the pillow, I heard buzzz...buzzzzzzzz, the sound of a chainsaw. I looked out my bedroom window and the neighbor was cutting down the tree about three feet away from where I was resting. Needless to say I didn't get a nap in. Luckily the tree fell right where the neighbor intended it to go and not into our house. The kids thought the tree on the ground was neat and entertaining! It wasn't there for long...the neighbor had it all cut up and hauled away by the evening.

We had our Great to Be Eight meeting today and it turned out great and went very smoothly. Stacie and I made 75 sandwiches and we had 6 dozen cookies. Everything got eaten, but I don't think anyone left hungry.

Barry got to go to Chicago again this weekend. His brother Cameron was there for continuing education for podiatry (I think). They went to Navy Pier and walked around and froze, but had a good time. It had been a while since they had seen each other (maybe close to three years), so it was a good visit.

Kendra thought she was pretty cool with Tanner's Superman hat on and loved looking at herself in the mirror.

We did our hair crazy today. Kendra wasn't thrilled to be a part of it, but Kara loved it.

Keeping Up

Today was a day of catch up. After having fun last week with Barry's Parents, it's time to get down to business. I had four dark loads of laundry that I did today and I still have whites and reds left overflowing from the laundry baskets.

Kara, Kendra and I played Hide and Go Seek pick up. Kara is getting pretty good at hiding. She no longer hides in the same place every time. I'm not sure Kendra really enjoyed the game. I would have her hide with me and when Kara would find us, Kendra would jump a mile high.

Tanner came home from school in a good mood and we played a game of Clue while Kara was taking a nap (she fell asleep looking at books in quiet time). Then we went to Shopko and found Tanner some jeans. It was a successful trip, and we came home with three pair of pants...they were a little more expensive than the ones I had to take back to Sears, but they do look better too.

We are getting ready to our "Great to be Eight" program at church. Gretchen is going out of town for it and Stacie is sick. I hope she is better by Sunday. I'm not prepared to fly solo. I got the invitations addressed and they'll be sent tomorrow. Now I just have to make sandwiches for the light lunch that is being provided.

The Windy City

We caught the train in Harvard, IL to ride it into Chicago. Tanner really wanted to sit on the second level so we did. The ride was about 2 hours, but it seemed longer. Once we got to Chicago, we caught a bus to Navy Pier. The world's first Ferris wheel was located there at the World's Fair in the early 1900's.

We really want to go back sometime and spend more time at Navy Pier at the carnival. The kids liked looking at themselves in the Fun House Mirrors.

We had lunch on Navy Pier and then walked around for awhile while we waited for our Arcitecture Boat Tour.

The tour was really good, and we got to go up the Chicago River to see all the sky scrapers, especially the Sear's Tower.

By the time it was over we were all really tired so we headed back home on the train again and picked up a pizza for dinner.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Tanner's Class put on "Peter Rabbit." Here he is doing his part as a narrator. He did a great job and was so cute in his rabbit ears!

Kara and Kendra really loved the play too. Kendra would copy the moves that the singers did. It was fun to watch her be so excited.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We left Janesville with the intent to catch the train and ride it into Chicago most of the way, but we had a change of plans when we couldn't find a parking spot at the Metra station and missed our train. We drove down most of the way and rode the Metra into Downtown to Wrigley Field.

There was a 40% chance of rain for the day, so we came prepared with ponchos that luckily we didn't have to use, but we did have to bundle up for the freezing weather. Our hands and feet were numb after it was all said and done. We did have a good time watching the game and the people around us.

DeAnn was the smart one that stayed at home with the kids where it was nice and warm. Thanks for letting us have a day out!

These pictures are of us at the park the other day. This picture makes me laugh because Kara kept telling her Grandpa that she did not need help, but she would just about fall every time. He was there to catch her when she "didn't need his help."

Tanner had so much fun at the park that he didn't want to leave. Hopefully spring will come soon!
Kendra loved the swing and the whole park. She didn't want to get out of the swing until she realized that her brother and sister were off to other things. Grandma was nice to hang out with Kendy while Grandpa chased the other kids.