Hooray, the kids go back to school!

After having snow days from Tuesday to Friday this week, I am at my wits end! Hopefully this next week will be a little bit more normal. The kids really do better when they have school. 5 Saturdays in a row don't work!

The roads were icy all week, and there was snow too. The house got to be a mess, -- the living room was the worst, with wet coats, pants, gloves and boots scattered by the wood stove drying out. The dishwasher ran three times a day with the constant snacking, and by two or three in the afternoon nobody was getting along.

We've been working on trying to have the Spirit in our home, and to keep our voices down, but this past week I did pretty horribly. One day I actually started losing my voice!

Oh well. It's not as bad as it sounds. Checkers and chess were big hits this time. And we did have fun playing outside too. Van only had early morning seminary on Monday, so we could sleep in a little, and I went out on Monday (before the bad weather hit) and got a serger sewing machine at Walmart for my birthday. It was a present from Van and my parents combined. I played with it all day Tuesday.

Van and the kids made me a birthday cake on Tuesday. Van is so creative! Rachel loves Wonder Pets and the little duck "Ming Ming" always says, "this is serious!" So Van made a cake that said - " Mom is 39, this is serious!" And he made Ming Ming out of yellow frosting on a rainbow cake. I couldn't ask for more! Rachel ate some green sugar and sprinkles off the top of her piece.

Van and Ryan worked on his pinewood derby car this past week. The race was supposed to be Wednesday, but they put it off for a week due to ice. Van is a pro at derby cars and has made quite a few over the years. Ryan chose to model this year's after a red Ferrari hot wheels car he has. It is very shiny and fast-looking!

Wyatt left Thursday morning to take a trip to Washington D.C. with his grandparents. My mom had several appointments at a clinic there which specializes in mouth and jaw pain. She has suffered for eight years with constant pain and is desperate for relief. Hopefully she will get help there. My Dad has a lot of trouble with his back and can't lift a thing. Wyatt will carry their stuff and also get to do some pretty cool sight-seeing. They had some frequent flyer miles leftover for his ticket so it worked out pretty nicely. Everyone else wanted to go too. He gets back this Tuesday.

I don't know who wants to read all this stuff about our family. But sometimes I enjoy knowing that other families go through some of the same stuff we do. It helps you to feel like maybe you're normal. -- But just maybe!

Rachel fell asleep on the stairs -- while having her lunch!

Van -- expert cake-maker and decorator!
Ryan working on his pinewood derby car.

I really liked my birthday cake! -- And the fact that I only had to blow out one candle!