Brielle's 11th Birthday

Brielle had a Friday birthday that was spent at school doing state testing.  Luckily she likes school and her teacher gives them sunflower seeds whenever they have tests which Brielle loves.

 She also said all the kids in the cafeteria spontaneously sang happy birthday to her during lunch.  It started with a couple kids at her table and grew to the surrounding tables.  I would have thought she'd be embarrassed by all the attention, but she came home laughing.

Birthday requests

Breakfast: Crepes (had a hard time choosing between them or her other favorite, beignets)

Lunch: It was Pizza day at school, so she chose school lunch.

Dinner: Lasagna and Caesar Salad (which we did for Sunday dinner with the family)

Dessert: Peanut Butter Brownies-Decorated as a Quidditch Field from Harry Potter

That evening we had dinner at the park with all of the Finlay cousins in town.  We ended up picking up Cafe Rio (one of her favorite places) and picnicking at the park. 

She loved sharing the celebration with the other May birthdays (the trio all turning 4 this year) and being able to have so many extended family in town.

It was quite a pile of presents in our backyard with 4 birthday kids.  

General Conference April 2018

Ethan came home from church last Sunday and asked me he could take notes for conference this year.  That made me laugh, since I encourage note taking every conference I'm not sure why he felt he needed to ask.  He was extra excited about it this time because the primary president was offering a treat.  The kids did great for the most part.  Saturday was smooth with everyone focused.  By Sunday afternoon the boys were struggling with all the sitting time and were getting a bit more wiggly, but with the changes being announced I wanted to pay attention to the talks and wasn't taking time to re-direct them which would have helped.  It's always a favorite weekend for the family though and we get excited to sit and listed to the words of the prophets.

I had printed out some of  this conference packet for Preston, but the big kids saw it and wanted one too.  

Preston took notes on a couple talks, but mostly worked on coloring and dot to dots.

Ethan kept getting too caught up in how to spell their names and asking what they were talking about, but once he would focus and listen he would figure it out and enjoyed it.

Brielle has been very excited about her gel pens and markers that she got for Christmas and loved coloring each of the speakers.

I didn't do our conference cash or store this time.  Since it was Easter weekend we had so many new treats and little toys from egg hunts I didn't think we could handle more.  The kids missed it, so it will probably come back next time.

Ethan 9-year-old interview and stats

Ethan is a mover and a shaker.   He speeds through life at a dizzying pace that is sometimes hard to keep up with, both his brain and his feet.  He is a bright kid that loves to be challenged and averages 15,000 steps a day. He loves sports. If he see's a ball of any kind he loses all impulse control and can't seem to stop himself from kicking, bouncing or throwing it despite being in the house (and having been told many, many times to keep the balls outside.) He is a kid that can be off task playing, drawing, building, etc. all morning but somehow when I say it is time to go he is still the first one ready and in the car.  He leaves a tornado of mess behind him (socks stuffed randomly everywhere, books on the floor, lunchbox hidden under the couch) but also jumps up to help whenever called. He loves to be in the middle of everything; so much energy and so much fun.

Height: 57 inches (98%)
Weight: 75 lbs 4 oz (88%)
Sleeping: 10 hours (8:30 pm-6:30 am) Asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow, but even when we get to bed to late he never sleeps in.
Hobbies: Everything.  He is a kid that does thrives on a full schedule.  He is currently doing track practice before school, and also after school has piano (Monday), soccer (Tuesday/Thursday), glee club (Wednesday), volleyball (Wednesday/Saturday) and cub scouts (Wednesday).  He has really taken off with reading this year and wakes up early to sit on the couch to read before he needs to get ready.  He loves to be outdoors.  When he's not playing sports he's catching lizards, or crickets, or frogs.

Ethan's responses to 9-year-old Interview Questions

What is your name? Ethan
When is your birthday?
March 9th How old are you? 9
What is your favorite color? Turquoise
What is your favorite song? Phoenix by Fall Out Boy
What does Mom do? Stays at home helping the kids
 What does Dad do? Goes to City of Hope
 What do you want to do when you are a grown up? Work on Animals
 Where do you want to live when you grow up? By the Mountains
 If you had 1 million dollars, what would you do with it? First I would pay my tithing, then put some of it in college savings, then use some of it to buy things I need and the rest I would save.
What is your favorite food? Cinnamon Rolls
What is your least favorite food? Mushrooms
What is your dream car? a Van
What is your favorite animal? Cougar
Where do we go to church? Duarte Ward
Why do we go to church? To take the sacrament every week
What is something you’re good at? Sports
What is your favorite movie? Star Wars
What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla
Where would you like to travel? Great Barrier Reef, Australia 
Where do you like to eat? Cafe Rio
Who is your favorite person? My whole family
Who is your best friend? Justin and Isaac
What is your favorite thing to do? Go on Water Slides
What is your favorite book? Magic Tree House series
What are you most excited to do this year as a 9-year-old? Go to the Scandinavia Trip

Ethan's 9th Birthday

Ethan got to spread his birthday out over the weekend, which was fun.  His birthday fell on a Friday, so he celebrated with his class at school. That morning he requested Egg and Bacon Croissant Sandwiches and Fruit for breakfast.

After school we went to the Skirball Museum and met up with cousins to play at the Noah's ark exhibit. On the way home we stopped and had a picnic dinner at the park.  The kids were having so much fun we stayed much later than we meant to.  It was well past dark, but luckily the park had lights because of swim lessons happening next to it.

Cousins slept over Friday night, so Saturday was another day of fun.

Ethan once again designed and decorated his cake.  He told me he wanted green and brown fondant, oreos and a chocolate cake.  

I got the supplies and made the cake, but he took over the decorating and had a great time doing it. I think the idea for the circle was to have it be the winner's circle for the monster trucks.

We had a family birthday dinner at Great Grammy and Great Grampy's house on Sunday night.  His dinner request was Chinese Chicken Salad and Potstickers.  He is a salad lover, which always makes me smile as I imagine him in the future as an athletic high schooler downing a huge salad at lunch everyday.  

Winter Field Trips

Looking through January and February pictures and realized we've been busy with a lot of fun field trip and outings. 

 The kids had a day off of school and we took the train to the Natural History Museum.  

Preston gets confused and often calls museums a "zoo".  He was excited to go back to the "dinosaur zoo."  Most times I take him to a museum he asks which zoo we are going to.

Brielle got to go up to Morro Bay over President's Day weekend and toured Hearst Castle, which was an amazing experience for her.  

As a family we went to the BYU/USC volleyball game.  They were exciting nail-biting, edge of your seat sets.  We were rooting for BYU and were very excited they won!

Ethan went with Gramma Finlay and Cousin Gavin to spend the afternoon at the new Korean Air building in downtown Los Angeles.  

Another fun family outing to the demolition derby and firework show.

Preston went out with Gramma Finlay to run errands and loved the stop at Wes's Feed and Seed where he got to hold pigs and ducks.

Brielle's class had a field trip to City of Hope.  They got to do some fun science experiments as they learned about the brain, disease and health.

Preston and I have gone on lots of field trips with his Preschool group. One of the mom's made them matching tie-dyed shirts to wear when we go out.

They don't seem to care where we go....exploring museums, hiking around gardens, or just the local play ground is always better with friends.

We also got most of the Finlay cousins together at the Los Angeles Temple.  The women all were able to go in for a session while James and Ian stayed out with kids.

Aladdin

For one of our Christmas presents we got tickets for our family to see Aladdin.  We started listening to the music the month before and everyone was very excited to see how it would look on stage.

It was fun to walk around Hollywood to see some of the famous stars in the sidewalk before heading to the Pantages.

 We met up with cousins for pizza before the show.  These girls were thrilled to have matching dresses to wear.

I got to sit next to Preston during the show.  He was mesmerized.  He had a grin on his face the entire time and would hoot and holler while he clapped after the songs.  It was fabulous.

It was hard work being so into the show. :)  Since then he is still wanting to act it out and listen to the music every day.  Such fun memories!

Fly-on-the-wall: Wednesday

So, as I was thinking that I haven't done a fly on the wall post for a long time I looked back to see what day I would be on.  I found this post I started last year and never published.  It's not complete, but worth publishing anyway.  I don't know all the details of the day, but it was interesting to look back at the pictures and be able to mostly piece together what I did. 

Here is another glimpse of our current (now past) life. I tracked what we were doing on the hour marks on Wednesday, March, 8th (2017)

Plan for the Day

6:00-Exercise

Pretty nice view from the tredmill.  Boys up early to wave good bye to James.

7:00-Morning Routine in Progress

I don't remember how long ago we started the morning playlist.  There are songs for each action the kids are supposed to do to get ready.  It doesn't mean they do everything without me reminding them, but at least keeps us mostly on task.  

8:00-Breakfast with Kids
Wednesdays we review the primary song/scripture for the month during breakfast.

9:00-Preston to Mommy and Me class

10:00-Miss Mishele's Class

Bubbles and circle time/singing, one of his favorite parts

11:00-Miss Mishele's Class
I was taking a turn watching kids outside while some of the adults had discussion inside. 

12:00-Home for Lunch

1:00-Relief Society Meeting

Met with previous compassionate service leader to find out needs of sisters in the ward.  So helpful! Preston was supposed to work on puzzles, but I think came out to visit with me instead.

2:00-Home-Getting work done.
Ethan turns 8 tomorrow and is so excited to be a cubscout! Just got his application dropped off to fill out.

3:00-Talent Show Practice
Ethan and Brielle are both participating in the talent show.  We went over to help.

4:00-Home-burning off extra energy

Everyone back from school.  Ethan loves to play in the backyard when he gets home.

5:00-Magic Minutes

? Don't have picture, but assume I was getting dinner ready, house cleaned up and helping with homework.

6:00-Dinner

7:00-Family Scriptures

? Don't have picture.  Would have gotten boys ready for bed and taken Brielle to the church for activity girls.

8:00-Picking up Brielle from Activity Girls

9:00-Prepping Tomorrows Dinner

Tomorrow is Ethan's birthday.  We're doing a celebration with extended family.  His dinner request was for Soup and Beaurox

10:00-Computer Work
Prepping Agenda for Relief Society Meeting and writing in Journal
I took out this picture because of too much personal/other people's info on it, but I had a picture of my computer screen at the end of the day.  With the screen shot of my text messengers open and journal I was able to see a lot of my life that day. 


11:00-Checking on kids and heading to bed
Got through the to do list...doesn't always happen that way.