May 1, 2005

May 1, 2005
Marisa has been hiding out in her room all weekend. She just finished reading the 4th Harry Potter book just this weekend. She is such a fast reader. She also read two other books this week- two from the series of unfortunate events. She is like a reading machine, I tell ya! She has also been practicing the violin every day faithfully and is sounding pretty good.
Kayla gave a great talk in primary today. She and Tyler have been playing spies around the house. They can be very creative. Kayla took all the money she got for her birthday and bought a portable CD player this weekend. She LOVES it. It also plays MP3 disks so she is in heaven. She has been wanting one to listen to music on the bus home from school. Her best friend just got one, so Kayla decided she wanted to use her money to get that too. She has been in her own little "music world".
Tyler has been reading his new books about sharks and learning a lot about them. Looks like we will have to rent "Jaws" next!
Alayna has been a handful this week. I had a really good friend point out this week that I never write much anymore about Alayna and the disasters she causes. Well, that’s because she had been being pretty good. But, as if on clue, she started up again this week with a vengeance!! She ran out of our front door into the street and Kayla caught her just before she got hit by a car, she ran out again another day and the Mayor caught her, she emptied the sugar in the cupboard and then licked it off the floor (while the missionaries were here!), we caught her in the bathroom sink yesterday and she said "I am washing my hair"-she was covered in water and shampoo! So there! Psycho two year old is back!!
Bob got a new calling today. He is now 1st counselor in the Elder’s quorum. So, he will also be released as a ward missionary. I went to our ward today but then also visited another ward with the Stake. Plus, Bob and I sang with a octet in church today so it’s been a busy day.
This week we had all 4 missionaries over for dinner (since I am in charge of it I figured I could have all 4 over!) We had a fun dinner. It is always so wonderful to have them in our home. On Saturday, the CR missionaries came to teach a lesson in our home, but the family we were to help teach didn’t show, so we fed the missionaries dinner instead. Funny story: I went in to get out stuff to make chili dogs and found that the kids had eaten most of the hot dogs at lunch! So, I secretly sent Marisa running to the store to buy hot dogs. She bought a pack that was 59 cents- should be a big hint there. When I cooked them, they all blew up. The missionaries were sweet and ate them anyway. (They must have been very hungry)
On Friday night, we had a big ward FHE (family home evening). They decorated the church like a big park and had everyone bring their own picnic dinners for their family. Then our family was asked to do a presentation of our favorite FHE we have had. So, we did a fun skit about our family olympics. Then they had a fun scavenger hunt that took us around the church. The kids had a great time.
We spent lots of time bike riding again. On Tuesday, Marisa and I decided to go for an evening ride. It had been raining all day and it had stopped. Alayna begged to go, so I got her helmet on and wrapped her in a blanket. We drove out about ½ mile away and then it started to HAIL!!! Now, I don’t know how many of you have actually been out in a hail storm, but that is crazy! It was coming down so hard. I wrapped Alayna up like a big ball and rode as fast as I could. Marisa and I ended up soaked and pelted. What an experience that was!
We saw "Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo" with the kids on Friday. It is such funny stuff- like you are in a time warp. Last night, Bob, Marisa and I watched "Ladder 49". It gave a great look at firefighters- was a lot like "Backdraft". We liked it. (Was irritated at the ending though!!) Well, we are off to make homemade pizza and watch "The Work and the Glory" which just arrived yesterday and we are dying to watch. Have a wonderful week. My new favorite song is from Celine Dion called "I’m Alive". It’s my new life motto! Hugs and kisses!