2nd half of February

Lindy working on her counting and matching skills- Valentine's style


Learning about the steam engine, the cotton gin and standardization (specifically of guns) at home school group! We built marshmallow shooters! What a hoot!



The kids were out helping Richie with the bunnies the other day, when Richie comes in holding a crying Benson and says, "A rabbit bit his finger", as he heads to the sink to assess the damage. I couldn't believe this was happening again!! I was terrified that we were going to have another Lindy incident on our hands and I started freaking out. Once Richie, who was way more level headed than I was, got a good look at things and called his mother to get a second opinion, we cleaned the wound thoroughly, and then super glued it shut! It has healed really quickly and Benson was a champ about it all. Richie had turned his back for a second, Benson stuck his finger in the cage right next to the food, just like Lindy did when she was his age. I'm so glad it wasn't worse! I think I finally calmed down by the time I went to bed.


On President's Day, we headed to Provo with the Anderson family to check out the M.C. Escher exhibit at BYU. It was a snowy day, not many travelers, and we had the place basically to ourselves. It was awesome! Benson was not as appreciative of the art and all of the "Do Not Touch" signs as we would have liked...but that's to be expected I guess. The kids had a blast until they realized that their friends had to go home, and we weren't buying them anything in the really cool (and expensive) gift shop. They sulked until we told them we could meet Uncle Jacob, Uncle Jeffrey and his gal McKenna for lunch since they live in Provo! :) We went to the pizza factory, and here's a picture of Richie mocking my picture taking tendencies. They brought out the cool breadsticks, I snagged my phone and Richie said, "Here we go, gotta get a picture of our meal otherwise we won't remember we ate it!" I told him one day he'd be grateful I did... I hope I'm right! :)



Lindy finished her second sticker book of the school year! It makes her feel really important to have school to work on just like Miles and Gwen. She said, "I finished my sticker book! And when I finish my coloring book, you'll take me to get candy like Gwen!" :) She's also really into drawing these days, on plain white paper, and has turned a corner in her abilities. She draws specific things and letters now. So fun to watch!


A surprise package from cousins! Does it get any better??? Not a chance! Thanks Lamb Famb!



I cooked and dyed some noodles for sensory play the other day. "This will keep Benson busy for hours!" I thought optimistically. When will I ever learn?? NONE of the kids were interested for more than 5 minutes.


Big news at the Garner household: We got a dog! Richie has been begging for one since Ozzy died. I've been able to hold him off till now. Finally I said, if you want to get a dog, that's fine, but you have to pen in the chickens and rabbits so that they have their own space and aren't pooping all over the backyard and digging up our lawn. Don't get me wrong, I really love having the chickens and bunnies, but I'm getting a little tired of our "pasture". He said, "Really? It's all about the poop?" Yep!! And that weekend he fenced in the rabbits and chickens, found a dog on ksl and claimed it. Her name is Ginger, she's a miniature Australian Shepherd, spayed, has all her shots, house trained, kennel trained, 4 years old, and was free! I didn't realize it would happen so fast, so I had to run out and buy a bunch of dog stuff that day so she would be well cared for. I should know by now that this is Richie's pattern: I want it, I'm gonna get it now! He doesn't hem and haw like I do. She has settled in really nicely and is extremely well behaved. All except for the fact that there's been a severely sharp learning curve when it comes to her nature as a shepherd dog and rabbits. (We've lost 2, almost 3 so far!!!) Now I'm anxiously awaiting a lush green lawn in the backyard that I could walk on with bare feet! :)



We attended a charity "carnival" to raise money for our recently deceased Bishop's family. There has been lots of support and people rallying around this sweet family and it couldn't be more deserved. They are the best. The kids had a blast and really made out like bandits. They got sugared up, got all sorts of prizes, and we won a few of the silent auction items, which they were thrilled with. Miles was most excited about winning the pie eating contest, Lindy was most excited about winning a My Little Pony thing at the fishing pond, and Gwen was most excited that they had face painting.


Joy School here again today! The theme assigned was art! Easy peasy. We always have art project stuff around here. It was a fun one to put together. I always stress that on the days I host, I can't help Miles and Gwen with their school, so it's pretty much entirely neglected those days. Then I have to take a deep breath and realize that they are learning valuable lessons regardless. Learning how to help the little kids, learning how to manage their time, learning how to teach others...etc. Breathe in, and out...

Valentine's Day

I love almost everything about Valentine's Day. I really love making all the little Valentine's with the kids. All the puns, all the glitter and love :) Makes me happy.


We planned on celebrating the day after Valentine's Day because it was on a Wednesday and those are Richie's long days at work. But I couldn't resist buying a heart pizza on the official Feb. 14th. :)


On the 15th the kids woke up to heart- attacked doors, new outfits (that I got some killer clearance deals on), and heart pastries! Miles also bagged a new bow-tie, and the girls each got a fancy necklace (courtesy of my sister Adrienne-hence the turtle pendants!)


We headed to our home school group to exchange valentines. I had been seeing a lot of complaining and debating on Facebook about making Valentine's boxes for public schooled kids to exchange their treats in. I inwardly gloated thinking, "That's one less thing I have to do because we homeschool!" but come the morning before the exchange, I couldn't help it any longer. I grabbed some boxes downstairs, wrapped them in brown paper, and pulled out some things for the kids to decorate them with. Which they did so in about 20 minutes, and were very proud of. Yes, making the Valentine's boxes can be a lot of work and one extra thing you have to do, but I always loved doing it in elementary school. It probably has something to do with the fact that my mom is ultra-creative and I always had THE BEST boxes... So I felt obliged to carry on the tradition (kind of) at least this year.


That night I "snuck out" to clean Richie's truck, as per tradition, complete with new floor mats. Oooh-la-la, so romantic yes? We had our annual fancy dinner. Pear salad, cauliflower Alfredo, breadsticks, and chocolate for dipping later on. :)


Maybe this annual outpouring of love will make up for all the times I yell and lose my temper. ???

First Half of Februrary (it's a long one!)

I should blog a little more often probably to avoid monster posts like this one... Or maybe I shouldn't post as many things...I just get worried that I'm gonna get old someday and not remember all the little things that made my world go 'round once upon a time. So here it is, in all of it's tedious glory.

Celebrating Bastille Day at Home school group


Lindy is really into the piano these days. She'll pull out some music, and "play it" for 30 minutes at a time. Without fail, she'll come to me later and ask, "Was it a pretty song Mommy?"


Trying my darnedest to keep Benson occupied while I -fill in the blank-. At this point, it was probably me trying to buy some time while I made dinner.


Gwen hit a milestone in school the other day. She made it to the end of the reading curriculum she's been using since kindergarten! She's been anxiously looking forward to that last lesson, which "teaches" you to read the word "Supercalifragalisticexpealadocious." She was over the moon about it, and to celebrate she got to pick out some candy at the store and help me go shopping for Dad's Valentine's present.



Sometimes school includes listening to stories on our record player. :) A friend gave us a ton of these old records of kids stories that go along with books. I feel pretty confident in their abilities to navigate a record player now, so they pull them out when they have free time and follow along in the books.


Some mornings it takes me a while to get out of bed. Some mornings the kids will pull out the cereal for me. Sometimes I take too long waking up, and Benson takes matters into his own hands, climbs up on the table, and starts eating before everyone else. :)


Miles looking' dapper in his new suit!


Hosting Joy School again. This time wasn't my scheduled turn, but I took it last minute because another mom was sick. Normally this would have made me nervous because of my lack of planning. However, I feel like recently, as in the last year or so, I've reached a new level of zen. With things like sharing time, home school, joy school etc... I would plan and prepare well in advance and be constantly thinking about it. I don't know how it all came about, but these days I just roll with it. If I plan a bunch of stuff, great. If not, I'll figure something out and it will probably be just fine. I don't know if that's zen, or lazy, either way I'm enjoying it. I literally pulled some stuff together before going to bed the night before joy school this week, without giving it another thought. And guess what? It was just as good as any other time I've been in charge. There's a lesson in there somewhere.



Managed to throw together another sensory bin in hopes of keeping Benson occupied. Instead, it kept the girls occupied. Beans and dinosaurs, who knew?


Making Russian Thunder cake for home school group!


Practicing our spelling words by writing them on the window with window markers.


Gwen and I playing "sums of ten" to practice the sums of ten math facts. I love it when they love school.


Miles and his very first book report! I walked him through the process of rough drafts, typing it up on the computer, making it look nice etc. It was a fun process. I think he enjoyed it, especially feeling very grown up typing on the computer.


Miles earned his Wolf badge in cub scouts! It was awarded to him at the blue and gold banquet. He was so excited that he put all of his scout uniform stuff on about 7 hours early. They also had a talent show portion of the evening and Miles played "On Top of Old Smokey" on his uke and sang! I could tell he was nervous, but he did very well and felt enormously proud afterward.


Lindy needed some one-on-one time. Last weekend, Aunt Makenna offered to take the 3 oldest for a sleepover. Richie and I put Benson to bed and had a sitter come over so we could sneak out to a late movie. 5 minutes into the movie, the sitter texts us because Benson woke up and she doesn't know how to get him back to sleep. 8 minutes into the movie Makenna texts and says Lindy is sick and she's bringing her home! We thought it would be such a painless evening! Ha! Anyway, the next morning Lindy came grocery shopping with me and then we got her a smoothie. These dates sure don't have to be anything big to make our kids feel extra special. It was fun to be with just Lindy.


Miles wanted to pass off one of his Faith in God requirements the other day, so he helped me make soup and breadsticks. It's a typical soup, and typical breadsticks, but Miles kept remarking on how yummy it all was. :) I think he felt proud of his efforts.


Again, trying to keep Benson occupied during home school. He makes it so challenging! It started out with him on a chair by the sink, but ended up with him in the sink for at least an hour, with a diaper that probably ended up weighing 5 pounds. Hey, it kept him occupied, so I'm calling it a win!!



It just doesn't seem like Valentine's Day until we make sugar cookies. It's even more fun when we have friends over to help us! I have such fond memories of making sugar cookies for Valentine's Day with my mom. It's fun to do the same thing with my kids.