Random stuff

The last half of our Spring Break was pretty quiet. There was snow...and more snow...and lots of staying inside. We had grand adventures planned that didn't work out, so the kids and I stayed home, did laundry and chores, and bugged each other while Garry worked. The boys are excited to return to school tomorrow. I am very excited to send them!

Here are a few tidbits from our life lately:

• I had the brilliant idea to organize Lexi's hair bands in a daily pill container. I love it! I wonder if there are other tiny things I could organize in this way.
  

• Lexi cut tooth #5 this week. It neighbors her top teeth. I had no idea she was working on it. She has started sleeping better since I began bedtime doses of Tylenol.
  
• We tried this fabulous soup for dinner tonight. Twelve thumbs up! It's a keeper - especially because it's a recipe for the Crock-pot.
  
• Zachary is very interested in reading the Harry Potter series (and watching the movies, but we want him to read the books first). I think he is a little young, but he might read the first three anyway.
• Garry is exploring (with the help of higher-ups at Wells Fargo) the possibility of transferring in his current position to an office in Gilbert, Chandler, or Tempe, AZ. If he can keep his current job and secure Arizona office space, we will most likely put our house on the market when that happens.
• I taught Relief Society today. The topic was Elder Nelson's conference address. I am not the regular teacher and had a pretty neat experience preparing for the lesson this week.
  
• On Saturday Gavin decided to start potty-training himself. He used the toilet, unprovoked and unassisted, several times throughout the day. He has been richly rewarded for this amazing behavior and now wears Pull-ups during the day. I am still not ready to commit to this effort, but it is fun to see him trying.

• Our ward boundaries were realigned this afternoon. Our little neighborhood was carved out of the 9th Ward and taken in by another ward. I was surprised at my emotional reaction. I'm very sad! But all will be well.
• Gavin LOVES to take self-portraits with me.
• I had a major flashback this afternoon as I was baking Easter-themed sugar cookies. I remembered delivering plates of Easter cookies to the kids in our Quatama Ward Primary class in the Spring of 2002. It's hard to believe that eight years later, the kids in that class are now 12! We will frost our cookies for Family Home Evening tomorrow night.

• While I was juicing lemons the other day, the kids were driving me crazy so I sent the oldest three out to play in the cul-de-sac for half an hour. During that time, Gavin left his scooter in a neighbor's driveway and the neighbor backed over it with her car. While I am sad that Gavin's Christmas present is destroyed, this incident was a good reminder that I can't leave the eight-year-old in charge. We are very glad that the only thing damaged is a toy -- things could have been much worse!