January and February--ho hum!

Our January has been quite normal with a few things fun involved.  We feel like we have been stuck inside the house all month and we are waiting for our Texas mild winter weather so we can go outside and play!  It's raining and snowing so much lately!

Kelly has started his "busy season" with a BANG and is steadily busy with that.  Hey!  We can't complain too much because at least he has a good paying job.  He is also Elder's Quorum President and is busy on Sundays because of that.  Right now he is home sick with the Stomach Flu which has made its way through all of us this past week!  At least it's been cold to help us feel ok about staying in sick as dogs!

I have been doing my usual things to keep the kids going with their activities and school.   I have also just started teaching Sunbeams this month--Ryan is one of my kids.  I have never been a Primary teacher for more than 3 weeks so I hope to continue this because I really enjoy it!  We have 11 Sunbeams and we have divided into two classes with 2 teachers each, however, we still end up combining because it's just easier!  I have also taken up teaching piano to Chase and Samantha.  Their previous teacher had finally sold their house and will be moving so this was a good chance for me to take over with Samantha.  Chase is getting very good and could use a teacher that can help him with performance which I cannot do as a pianist.  However, for the time being I will keep him going.  It is a mixed blessing....It saves us big time dollars and it saves us time on Wednesdays after school. We add more time on Sundays for lessons, but we enjoy the time together and I can get some practicing in myself!  So it has worked out just great for all of us!

Chase has been busy with 4th grade and busy with being sick!  Not only did Chase throw up at school yesterday, but he also got Strep Pheumonia at New Year's and a bad virus that lasted a week this month!  He's missed a lot of days of school because of sickness.  In the middle of all this Chase has been going to Dr. Packard's (our Stake Pres in our ward) to his Orthodontic office to get expanders for his top and bottom teeth to make room because his permanent teeth need more room to come up.  Braces are imminent in his future!  Chase has also been busy with taking KARATE at the Little Gym with Samantha, school BASKETBALL games on Saturday mornings, and PIANO and WEBELOS.  Chase also got chosen by his teacher for the Principal's Court of Honor this Friday!  He's a people pleaser!

Samantha has been staying pretty healthy this month except she was the one that brought the beloved stomach flu last week home.  Otherwise she has missed all the the illnesses the others have had. She is enjoying being 7 years old and had a great time at her birthday.  She is sooooooo big into HORSES lately and can't seem to get them out of mind.  She loves horse movies, and books and wants to have her own someday :( She wants to dress like a cowgirl every day, but doesn't have the clothes for it.  We have a daily "spat" about clothes.  She's funny!  I love her passion.  She also is busy with her Samantha doll, fairies, and writing stories, and crafting.  She is quite the writer and her 1st grade teacher is amazed at her work at such a young age.  She also does KARATE with Chase and is surprised at how much she likes it.  She was sorried she wouldn't.  She was relieved to have some girls in her class with her, including her BFF Olivia.  She also has done really well with PIANO and is off to a good start learning her notes and theory and letting Mom be her teacher.

Ryan is such a 3 year old going on 4 year old!  He is a very energetic boy and these cold days of not going too much outside are driving him crazy (as well as MOM!)  He has found a best friend in Bryce and loves to wrestle and play with him, although a little too hard just yet!  He has started a new semester of preschool on Tuesdays at the Heard Museum and is learning new things about plants, animals, and earth.  He also still has his preschool on Thursdays with some of his Sunbeam friends. Ryan has a passion lately for sticks, capes, trio blocks, and singing.  Right now he can be found singing every word to songs he hears in the car.  Right now his latest song that he requests over and over is "Fireflies" by Faith Hill.  He hasn't quite mastered the skill of pedaling his tricycle yet so I think he's one of those that will skip that and go straight to his bike and scooter.  He keeps asking for his own scooter for his birthday.

Bryce is now 11 months and its making me sad that he has grown so fast!  This month has brought many growth changes and accomplishments for Bryce....First of all, he went from ZERO teeth on New Year's Day to SIX teeth as of today!  It was as if he had an virus all month long!  The drainage caused breathing problems, ear infections, and potent diapers, but we got through it and he's grinning and grinding his teeth together already!  He has such a cute grin with those new teeth!  Also, Bryce is now pulling up to stand and is still not quite comfortable with taking supported steps just yet.  He's speed crawling all over the house and is very quick at it and soon we'll see him standing alone-maybe next month????  His hair was growing long in his face he will got his first haircut this weekend!  My favorite thing about Bryce right now is his different noises he makes.  He only says "Ma Ma" and "Da Da" right now, but you'll hear singing sounds, owl sounds, even gorilla sounds, and alot of screams.  He knows how to get our attention that is for sure!  He is the most adored person in the house and you'll find Samantha, Ryan, and Chase fighting over him daily.  When that happens you can just see the "Help! Save me Mom!" look in his face when that happens!  If your'e a baby in our house you get lots of knick names--right now his knick names are "Goo Goo's" and "Baby Son".