Conference Packets

You can find some great ideas for conference this weekend, including the conference packet stuffed with ideas to keep the kiddos entertained during conference this weekend.
www.sugardoodle.net

I haven't taken the time to look around but I know there are other places out there with similiar stuff so feel free to leave a comment if you have some other ideas.

Comic Relief

Today I said to Jantz - maybe I should teach you how to tie your shoes so we can go get you some "big boy" shoes. (as soon as you graduate above toddler size ten velcro is hard to find!)
He said "I already know how to tie my shoes"
I say - "Oh yeah, how do you tie your shoes"
Jantz - "I know that you go straight down and then make a loop and pull it through"
Mom (surprised) - "Oh, how do you know how to do that?"
Jantz - "I learned it from SpongeBob. One time he didn't know how to tie his laces and he learned a song so I know how to do it now (then proceeds to sing some of the song)

Hmm - does SpongeBob have any other practical information he can teach my child?

*******

As I walked through the front door I heard Jantz crying loudly, and through the crying I heard him say - "It's always all about you dad!!"

*******

Dayt was looking all over for the remote so he could record a basketball game. After a bit he became frustrated and just sat on the couch for a minute. Jantz started digging around in the couch and found the remote. He walked over to Dayt and dropped it in his lap and then threw out both of his arms and tossed his head from side to side and said "Whose da maaan?!"

We LOVE Jantz - he makes us laugh everyday!!

January catch up!
Here are the happenings in our house during January. One of these days I might actually be blogging "current" events! I'm getting closer to real time though! Most of this stuff is really old news and probably boring to you, but it still has to find it's way into the Donahoe blog book in chronological order. :)

13 - 0
We started off the year with the University of Utah bowl game. We went to our friends the Newbould's house in Bountiful. They might be a little more Utah crazed than we are....but....we were all super excited when Utah won!!! What an awesome game! Perfect season 13 - 0. Josh wouldn't be in the picture (BYU fan) so he took it for us.
Check out all that Utah RED!

My cute little UTAH fan.....

I had to get a picture of the BYU fan all covered in Utah RED.
He doesn't bleed RED yet - but he is still cute!

Everybody Loves Chocolate

In January I took a fieldtrip with Jantzen's preschool to Mrs. Cavanaugh's chocolate factory. They watched a movie about where chocolate comes from and how it is harvested ( way over their heads) and then the classic I Love Lucy episode where the chocolate candies roll down the assembly line (they loved that one) and then they watched some women make some chocolate candies, and of course the grand finale and best part of the whole day - they each got a sample of chocolate!!

Here is Jantz with his buddies Rayce and Jake

The cat and the mouse

This is sorta funny and really unimportant, but hey, sometimes that is exactly what makes me laugh! I was cleaning up the kitchen one morning and out of the corner of my eye I saw a mouse run across the patio. Then the next time I looked up Rufus was trying to sniff around trying to figure out where it had gone. The sun had been out for a couple of days and the snow had started to melt a little. There was the smallest little layer of air between the top layer of ice and the ground, just small enough for a mouse to run underneath. The cat quickly figured out that was where the mouse had gone. He was poking his head down the hole that the runoff from the rain gutter had made. He went from the edge of the patio to the hole and back and forth. I lost interest after a short time. But throughout the morning while I was doing my chores I couldn't help but wonder what had happened. Part of me was cheering on the mouse for being clever and outsmarting the cat by finding a brilliant hiding place. But the other part of me wanted the cat to win because he wasn't giving up. Back and forth he went for quite some time. Every time I walked past the window he was still pacing waiting for his opportunity.

Alas, an hour or so later there was a mouse on my doorstep. That cat has caught more than 20 mice since we have lived here. I don't want to think how many mice are actually in the vacant lots across the street, but at least I know they aren't getting into my house! Well, actually, one did. Quick story: One day Josh opened the garage door and a mouse hobbled in and ran into the pantry. Dayt was called in to verify the story. Sure enough, there was a VERY injured little mouse in the pantry - now that was sad! Poor Dayt didn't know what to do. He already had to kill a mouse just before we moved in to put it out of it's misery (Jantz had thrown a rock into the window well and hit it and injured the poor thing!) He really didn't want to do it again. Long story short, he gave it back to the cat!!

Pancake Picasso!
Josh really wanted me to post this picture of his pancake. He wasn't even trying but he was amazed to realize that he made a smiley face with his syrup! It's pancake art! Cute kid!

SKI Day!
Josh has been wanting to learn to ski for several seasons now. This past year Josh received a ski pass from Great Grandma Gibson for Christmas. He was soooo excited. He was ready! Our friends the Crookston's have season passes to Wolf Mountain so we took off one Saturday to meet up with them. Here are Josh, Anna, and Skyler ready to hit the slopes.

Amy and I stayed back at the house with this cute group. They decided to do a bit of sleigh riding. Alex, Abby, Jantzen and Isabel

We took lunch up to the skiers so we could see what kind of progress they had been making.
Dayt said Josh caught on quite quickly and no surprise - was quite fearless and willing to try anything. After lunch the edgie wedgie was history and Anna and Josh pretty much took off on their own a little ahead of the rest of the group. They went down the hill together, jumped on the lift by themselves and took off back down again over and over. Josh had a great time! He loved skiing! We were able to take him up again this month before the season ends for the year.

Dayt and Josh

Josh

Anna

Sky

TY MICHAEL NELSON
Oh what a sweet baby!
After 5 girls in a row Hunter and Nick really deserved to have another male enter the family. The delivery wasn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination but Ty Michael Nelson finally made it here! He is so yummy! Unfortunately, Candice had a C-Section so she had to spend a couple of days in the hospital - but on the plus side - I was able to spend a couple of really fun nights at the hospital holding this little guy. One of the nights Erica flew in from AZ and we an awesome GNO at the hospital laughing our guts out - I'll spare you the details BUT who wouldn't have a ball with Poppycock and crown burger?! He he he
I sure am going to miss this little guy when he moves back to AZ next month....but I'm not bitter! :)

Ice Skating
During the winter break we took the kids ice skating at the ice sheet in Ogden. Grandma and Grandpa Gibson were on their way to Egypt/Israel for a couple weeks so we invited them along to see the kids before they left. The kids had a great time! Jantzen decided it was too cold and it looked to hard so he wanted to watch. FINE by me! So the Dayt took Abby and Grandpa took Josh and off they went. The rest of us watched from the bleachers.

Dayt was a little hesitant because he hadn't ice skated much. His first mistake was to ask for hockey skates - ha ha ha. It didn't take long before he decided to get him some truly fashionable figure skates. He did much better after that - "toe pick" (Cutting Edge) Abby was a natural, she did great! She caught on soooo quick. After about two circles around she was doing great on her own, Dayt was so relieved!
Bless his heart, Josh tried and tried to figure it out in his hockey skates. We didn't think about getting him some figure skates until it was basically too late to switch. I felt really bad for him because I am sure he would've enjoyed it so much more. He is a trooper though! He fell time and time again but never gave up. He circled that place over and over again determined to skate like a pro.

Grandpa and Josh making the rounds

The next Kristi Yamaguchi!

Then after about an hour Jantzen decided he wanted to give it a try. I think it looked fun to him after the zamboni came out. Oh crap! I was thinking I wouldn't have to put on the skates. Of course while I am trying to "discourage" him - grandma was "encouraging" him to give it a try. So.....with only a short time left we bundled up and got the tiniest little figure skates I have ever seen and took off to the ice. He actually did rather well for a four year old. I think we only made it around ONE time and then he was satisfied! AGGHHH! After all that - he only wanted to get just a "taste" of it and was done after 5 minutes!

Then he was back to the bleachers again with grandma, snuggled up and toasty!

Indoor Soccer
Josh tried out indoor soccer for the first time this year. He had a fun time. He played on a team with a couple of kids from his neighborhood. They played older kids and all comp teams so they didn't win any games. However, it was AMAZING to see how much they improved in just 6 short games. They were good sports and they never gave up. It was a great opportunity for Josh to learn something new, and it was GREAT exercise. It was a fabulous way for my little ADHD guy to expend some energy and it was so much fun to watch him.

Abby's Birthday List
I thought this was too cute to not post about. Abby gave me her birthday list a couple of weeks ago....

Translation for those of you who don't have a first grader:

Abby's Birthday List
A new "girl" cd player and the Sharpay that goes with Zeke and that is a Barbie and another Barbie that is Taylor with Chad and another Barbie that is Taylor Swift and my own laptop and a gumball machine and a I-pod.