Analee's dance recital

Analee worked hard all year and performed a dance to "Ring, Ring" with her classmates at the Civic Auditorium near the beginning of the month. I shot all the pictures of her dancing during the dress rehearsal that day.

Analee was in love with her costume. So were her younger sisters. Gwendolen had to wear it to my parents' house the day following the recital, and Miriam had to wear it the day after that. The best part of Ana's dance was when they had to face the back and shake their hips; she made that little two-tiered skirt shake like nothing else.

The hair. THE HAIR. As I've mentioned before, this dance studio is extremely specific about how your dancer's hair has to be done. This year Ana's class had to have a high, curly ponytail. Analee wants to grow her hair out, but it's not that long yet; when she wears it in a low pony, the sides always fall out. So I had to come up with a way to help it stay in. My solution:

As I was falling asleep two days before the rehearsal/recital, this is what I came up with. Three French braids leading up to the crown of her head where the rest of the hair would be gathered into a ponytail. This way the wispies were forced to stay in place.

She did a terrific job at the recital and came home late that night, exhausted but happy.

Analee posing in the front yard before her recital.

To see more pictures from the dress rehearsal, start here.

Rebekah's first piano recital

Rather than dancing this year, Rebekah decided to turn to a different musical pursuit. She began taking piano lessons in September and showed off her newfound skills at a recital at the beginning of the month.

Grandma and Grandpa Scott, Grandma Susan, Aunt Rachel, Cooper and all of our family attended the recital in the Relief Society room of our church building. She played three pieces, one of which (my favorite) is below. It's called "My Favorite Things."

 (Watch for the special guest appearances of Winnie and Andrea.)

I think someone likes books ...

Gwen making good use of her bookcase full of board books.

Gwenism #1

Andrea took the younger girls to visit the Idaho Falls Temple visitors' center the other day. Gwendolen's favorite part was seeing and touching the Christus.

After leaving the visitors' center:

Gwen: See ya, Jesus.

Ana-ism #26

While having family scripture study and reading in the Old Testament, Ana's hand shot into the air.


Ana: What does it mean, "sandwiches on the beach?"
Andrea: It said, "sand which is on the sea shore."

(The verse is here.)

Rebekah's first Powderpuff Derby

With a houseful of girls, we're glad our ward's Achievement Days group has a tradition of holding a Powderpuff Pinewood Derby so we get the chance to make and race cars.

As soon as Bekah got the kit, she was elated. She and Seth got right to work on her car, which she designed, cut out with a coping saw, sanded and painted. Seth helped her buff the axles and install the wheels, but this was definitely Rebekah's project.

This was her final result:

Rebekah chose the number 88 for her car because Seth told her about Back to the Future and how the DeLorean travels back in time when it reaches 88 MPH. "Great Scott!"

Because of her excitement, Rebekah finished the car weeks in advance, so we had to wait a while for the races. Last night we finally go to see how "The Time Machine," as Rebekah named her car, fared.

Seth adding more graphite to the axles before the races start.

Miriam was so excited that her friend, Ashalen, was there. The two would run along the track with every race.

Gwendolen was there too, but she was a little grumpy since it was so close to bedtime.

Analee liked hanging out at the end of the track.

In the end (as you can see from the brackets in the background of the next picture), Rebekah's first Powderpuff Derby turned out to be a success. She won every race she participated in and took home the first place certificate.

Rebekah, her car and the bracket.

Winnie's messy 'do

This is what happens when your 18-month-old smears dinner all through her hair and her daddy uses the dish cloth to clean her up.

Good golly, she's a beautiful mess.

Eastering

Our Easter festivities included a great (if I may say so myself) FHE lesson where we made Resurrection Rolls and did this lesson while we waited for them to bake. (Scroll down to "Easter program.")

The day before Easter, we went to the Ucon Easter egg hunt, which everybody gets there 15 minutes early for, and it's over in 15 seconds. Except this year, they told us we couldn't line all sides of the field at Simmons Park, so the kids were stacked about 10 deep. The smaller ones really had no chance of getting close to the same number of eggs as the older ones. (I've messaged the Ucon Facebook page and asked why they chose to do it that way this year; I've yet to receive a response.)

Winnie stayed at home with Grandma Susan; Analee and Miriam went with me to Simmons Park where we searched for eggs with Cooper and Aunt Rachel; Seth took Bekah to the Ucon field where the oldest kids searched.

Rebekah ready to grab the candy-, coupon- and prize-filled eggs.

Analee found a fellow 1st grade friend (Brinna) to search with.

The overcrowded west side of the Simmons field.

Miriam with the eggs she managed to grab.

Rebekah with her haul.

We dyed eggs that night (even the ones I cracked while being careless) ...

Miriam with her egg, whisk and orange dye.

... and had a lovely Easter dinner with the Hendricks side of the family the next day.

To see more Easter photos, start here.

Trailer sleepover

Since we happen to have a big, lovely shop all built, we figured we ought to have something big and lovely to store in it. So Seth and I found a travel trailer on Craigslist that we liked and purchased it.

Words cannot express how excited I am for hunting season this year.

Beds. Our own room. A sink with running water. A stove. All of it packed up into a wonderfully portable mini-home.

We still have a little bit of work to do on it before it's ready for its maiden voyage with the Grovers, but in the meantime, the girls were dying to try it out. Seth, being the sweet father he is, suggested they all have a sleepover in the trailer. Winnie and I stayed in the warm house with the three older girls and Seth bundled up out in the shop.

Analee in one of the bottom bunks. Although she had claimed a top bunk as her own, she decided to try her first sleepover in the trailer on a bottom bunk. She was glad she did. Around 11 p.m., she fell on the floor, which was a lot closer to her starting position than it would have been on the top bunk.

Rebekah and Miriam in their bunks. They love that they each have their own reading lights.

Seth checking on the girls in their beds. He didn't want to run the furnace in the trailer (he would have had to keep the shop's garage door open all night), so we piled blankets on top of sleeping bags so the girls would stay toasty.

The girls tucked away in their bunk room.

Seth and the trailer in the shop.

Miri-ism #27

Miri: Even when I'm a grownup, I am going to hate naps. Naps are so not fun. Naps are underfun. Underfun means naps are not good, and playing is the best.

Gwendolen's 18-month stats and Miriam's 4-year stats

Nothing lets you compare your children to each other like a joint doctor's appointment, and that's just what Winnie and Miri had yesterday.

Both are on target developmentally. They're as happy and healthy as two little girls can be, even on opposite sides of the spectrum.

Winnie's stats

Height: 31 1/4 inches (27th percentile)
Weight: 20 pounds, 5 ounces (17th percentile)
Head: 19 inches (92nd percentile)

Miri's stats

Height: 43 1/2 inches (98th percentile)
Weight: 44 pounds (97th percentile)

 Our big and tall Miriam received two legfuls of shots (I didn't mention the word "shot" until we were in the exam room and it was too late to run away), and our scrawny little Gwen received just one. Both of them settled down when the nurse brought them suckers.

I thought it was interesting when the med student accompanying our pediatrician asked some questions about Gwendolen:

"Does she talk?"
"How many words?"
"Does she string words together?"

Then the pediatrician announced that Winnie is advanced in her speech. They expect 18-month-olds to have a 5-15-word vocabulary; they expect 2-year-olds to have a 50-100-word vocabulary. And they don't expect kids to start stringing words together until they're 2.

I came home and told Seth that Winnie easily has at least 100 words that she says (without parroting). He was a little disbelieving, so we spent the evening remembering words we've heard her say, and we wrote a list. The list dominated our dinner table discussion.

The final count (and I don't think the list is yet complete): 112. I think that's why her head is so big in comparison to the rest of her body. Where else would she keep all the brains that store her words?

Rebekah meets Brandon Mull

Our kids love books. Winnie brings me board books and sits down in my lap so I'll read them to her. Miriam looks forward to our weekly trip to the public library and story time. Analee can often be found in her top bunk with her nose buried in a book. Rebekah complains that we only let her read for half an hour before lights out at night.

So when I found out that Brandon Mull would be signing book at Barnes and Noble during spring break, I asked Rebekah if she'd like to go. Rebekah has read the entire Fablehaven series, has listened to/read the Candy Shop Wars about 20 times, and started the Beyonders series. (She is about halfway through the last book now.) So she thought that sounded like fun.

When Grandma Scott heard we'd be meeting Brandon Mull, she told us that he was presenting an assembly at the school where she teaches third grade earlier that day and asked if we'd like to come. Rebekah was gung-ho, so I took four little girls ages 18 months through 8 years to another elementary school during our spring break.

That evening, we all drove to the mall and Seth carted the younger girls around while Rebekah and I stood in line to meet the author face-to-face.

 Holding a couple of her Fablehaven books and her Kindle.

After we reached the front of the line, Brandon asked her which of his books she's read. Then he asked her how old she is. Then he asked me if she had read them by herself. (They're all pretty long books--like 400+ pages long--but I assured him that she has, in fact, read them by herself.)

Rebekah showed him her Brandon Mull library on her Kindle. I asked if he wouldn't mind signing the inside of her Kindle cover. He happily obliged.

Rebekah with Brandon Mull.

Rebekah came home from the experience super-excited to finish the Beyonders series and with a couple new signatures in her books.

Miri-ism #26

While watching the Saturday morning session General Conference:

Miri: He looks like a real nutcracker.

Apparently the effects of age on Elder Holland make his face look like a wooden doll that smashes walnuts in its jaw. He's still an incredible speaker.

Charlotte

Since we have a house full of girls, we love babies. And girl cousins. So when the newest girl baby cousin was born in Rexburg, we drove up to give her a visit at the hospital. She did not disappoint.

First Uncle Kent showed Charlotte off to our family.

Then we passed her around and took turns holding her.

 While Aunt Melissa entertained Winnie.

You done good, Melissa and Kent. She's gorgeous.

To see more, start here.

Spring breaking

The girls' spring break started last Friday and Seth had to take a day off in the first quarter, so we made a day out of it and started by going to the Civil Defense Cave north of St. Anthony.

The girls had been to the cave once before--at least, the older ones had been there before. I wore Ana on my hip the last time we went. This time, I carried Winnie in the sling and Seth carried Miriam/held her hand as we explored the cave with our flashlights and glow bracelets.

Seth and the bigger girls going down into the mouth of the cave. Once we got back far enough, it was warmer in the cave than it had been outside.

Winnie managed to hold on to her baba throughout the entire cave.

Ana in the cave. She wanted a picture of her standing on top of a bunch of rocks, but of course you can't see the rocks because it's so dark.

Our adorable girls in a little room off the main chute of the cave.

Water has dripped through the cave and created some incredible ice formations on the floor. The girls enjoyed shining their flashlights through them so I could take pictures.

Some ice stalagmites.

Rebekah sitting on a rock at the mouth of the cave on our way out.

Seth carrying Miri back toward the light.

Seth had to take a picture of my white hair at the mouth of the cave.

The only downside of the whole caving experience was seeing the litter and graffiti scattered throughout.

Our next stop was for lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe, then we took the girls to the Teton Flood Museum.

Miri and Ana looking at how a log cabin may have been set up and furnished in days gone by.

 Winnie feeling Seth's stubble.

Miri sitting on an old school desk seat.

After looking through the exhibits and watching a movie about the flood, we discovered the children's room and spent some time there.

Rebekah found some skeins of yarn in the children's room and found a spot to finger-crochet her a scarf.

Winnie wearing a fancy hat and playing with toys.

Then we drove to BYU-Idaho to walk around the Thomas E. Ricks Gardens.

 By this point in the day, the girls were begging me to take a picture of them every 30 seconds. I promised them each five poses in the gardens.

Rebekah sporting her newly made scarf.

Seth had to get in on the action.

Miriam telling me she wanted 11 more pictures.

Winnie even smiled for the camera.

Then we stopped by the Benson building to show the girls the dead animals (every time we called them "stuffed animals," the girls thought we were taking them to a store to play with teddy bears).

Picking their favorite animals.

We all came home tired, so the day was a success. To see more, click here.