Easter Egg Hunt

Sorry we didn't plan this sooner. Next year we'll plan sooner and have everyone there!

The Nursery

Check out my attempts to start labor!!

Are blonds really dumb?

Jenny wanted to prove in her Science Fair project that blonds are not dumb. However, we were surprised at the results. She had 70 5th graders and 70 high school kids take the following test, scored them, and sent the test scores to a statistician to have them analyzed. This is what the statistician found:

For the 5th graders: there is no significant difference between the groups.

For high school student: blonds have a 95% chance of scoring lower on the intelligence test than non-blonds

Can you believe that she lost half of her points from the judging on the fact that her project wasn't creative or original! Some kid running a clock on fruit won (like I haven't seen that on ZOOM before). I'm only a little bitter. I try not to let it show in front of her too much.

Test Questions
On a standard traffic light is the green on the top or bottom?
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How many states are there? (don’t laugh some people don’t know)
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In which hand is in the Statue of Liberty’s torch?
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What 2 letters DON’T appear on the telephone dial?
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What 2 numbers on the telephone dial DON’T have letters by them?
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When you walk does your left arm swing with your right or left leg?
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How many matches are in a standard pack?
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On the United States flag is the top stripe red or white?
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Which way does a “no smoking” sign’s slash run?
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Whose face is on a dime?
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How many edges does a stop sign have?
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How many sides does a standard pencil have?
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Sleepy, Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey, Doc. Who’s missing? _______________________________________
What is zero divided by zero?
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On the back of a one dollar bill, what is in the center?
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How many curves are there on a standard paperclip?
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Some months have 30 days, some months have 31 days. How many months have 28 days?
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Divide 30 by half and add ten. What do you get?
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A farmer had 17 sheep. All but 9 died. How many live sheep were left?
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If you drove a bus with 43 people on board from Chicago and stopped at Pittsburgh to pick up 7 more people and drop off 5 passengers and at Cleveland to drop off 8 passengers and pick up 4 more and eventually arrive at Philadelphia 20 hours later, what’s the name of the driver?

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Warm Weather

Yesterday morning as I was coming in from taking the girls to school, I saw the most wonderful thing that each spring has to offer. The crocuses next to the sidewalkare coming up. That means the mini-irises, daffodils, and hyacinths aren't far behind.

It's been nice and warm. Dave and the girls built several huge snowmen and snow forts last Sunday and the only thing left of them is a small nub of snow lefton the lawn. They may enjoy the snow and cold, but I prefer the spring - warmerweather, increased daylight, fragrant flowers, and the baby is almost here. Only39 days left. Only 38 days left of busy season for Dave. Only 120 hours of overtime,he tells me.

I hope the warm weather brings you as much happiness as it does me.

End of January

The kids sure had a great time visiting at Grandma and Grandpa Adams' after the big snow storm a couple weeks ago. Even Jack went down the hill a couple times. This picture is after he went down. He sat on Grandma's lap and watched everyone else. I sure wanted to go down, too. But I didn't feel safe being as big as I am right now.

The bishop was inspired!

The bishop was inspired when he called me to be the cub scout leader in our ward. At the time I was the mother of two beautiful little girls (who by the way, never got into things - just a little whiny at times). But the bishop was inspired to call me to be the leader of several 8, 9, and 10 year-old boys to prepare me for what was coming. I spend one afternoon a week with rowdy, loud, and sometimes downright obnoxious boys who try my patience. I grew up with brothers, but that still doesn't prepare you for the energy a group of boys displays during the weekly ritual of flag ceremony, prayer, games, art projects, etc. that we call Den Meeting.

Two months after being called as the cub scout leader, I found out I was pregnant. Nine months later my little ball of energy was born. We call him Jack. I have now been a cub scout leader for 2 1/2 years and have learned to love the fun time I have with the cub scouts. I also have learned that EVERYTHING must be out of reach of a two-year old little boy's curiosity. I will tell you about today's adventure....................

I was working on the computer and Jack was watching Curious George in the other room. I didn't notice the tube of super glue on the bottom shelf of the entertainment center. I'm not sure how it got there with his toys. I was alerted to a problem when I heard him make distressed noises from the other room. I went in to see what the problem was, when I saw the tube of super glue in his lap. He was rubbing his mouth, obviously distressed at what he had just bitten. He had super glue all over his teeth, lips and hands. Luckily he was spitting and trying to get it out of his mouth, otherwise I would have worried that he had swallowed some of it. Suprisingly, super glue DOESN'T stick to wet things. We peeled super glue off tongue, teeth, lips and fingers.

So, I just want to say, "Thank you!" to Bishop Love for his inspiration.

The holidays are OVER!!!!!

Greta and Caroline











Jack and Grandpa Flynn











Jack and Uncle Chris









Great Grandma and Grandpa Adams

We had a great time visiting everyone for Christmas and New Year's Eve. Mom & Dad Flynn were able to spend the night for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. We had a fun time visiting and playing games. Mom & Dad Adams made it home from California after visiting with Clay, Alisa, Regan, and Morgan. I hear they had a fun time, except that Dad would have liked to have had Dave at Disney Land to ride the "fun" rides with.

New Year's Eve, Jack got into a bottle of glass cleaner and dumped it out on the living room floor. New Year's Day, he got into the sugar jar and dumped it all over the kitchen table. He's learning to get into stuff, and the girls are hopefully learning to put stuff away! Not very likely, though.

The votes are in. The winner is...............

Sorry dad Adams. As much as your grandsons are outnumbered 3:1, we are only adding to your beautiful granddaughter population. But at least we can say we did our part in having a boy. Jack is loving the attention he gets from his sisters. I'm not sure how he will react to being ousted from his baby spot in the family. The doctor also moved the due date back to April 24 - same day as Jon and Erin, and the same day as Aunt April's birthday.

Make a guess

A lot has happened in the last month. But before I get to that, please take a look at the above picture. Dr. Sharon was so kind as to do an ultrasound yesterday at our appointment (sorry Jon & Erin for making your appointment late!) The baby was not very cooperative with a cute face shot, but was very accomadating in letting us know if he/she was a boy or girl. Jon & Erin were able to figure it out from this picture. Since they haven't had any children yet (i.e. never interpreted an ultrasound) everyone else should be able to get it too. Just leave a comment with your guess, and we'll see how many get it right!

As for what else has happened......

Jenny participated in her 5th grade "Waxless Wax Museum" Thursday night. Each student was assigned a person, place, or thing from the revolutionary war to portray. The wax students stood in the "museum" (school hall) and the parents walked through. If they were interested in learning more about that person, place, or thing, you pushed the button on the floor in front of them. Jenny was Abigail Adams. Fortunately we found an appropriate dress at Savers (thrift store). Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera with us to the museum, so I'll update the blog later with that. She was definitely the most beautiful girl in the museum.

Lydia participated in the school Geography Bee after winning in her classroom. She came in second place (last year she was disappointed in taking 4th because that meant no medal). All of her cramming really paid off - although, I'm not sure she will remember it all. Again, I forgot to take the camera to capture the exciting moment, so I will take a picture of the victor and her medal and update the blog later.

Halloween

Wow!! It's been a while since I last posted anything. Outdoor soccer season is over, and indoor started this week. Jenny's games are on Saturdays and Lydia's are on Mondays. Jack had a fun time as a "construction worker" at the neighborhood Trunk-or-Treat on Halloween. His favorite part was hitting his hard hat with the hammer. Dave and the girls spent the entire evening trick or treating in Grandma A's neighborhood with Uncle Chris, Uncle Jamie, Adam and Sam. Jenny was a purple party girl and Lydia was Hermione.

We had fun celebrating Lydia's 9th birthday with friends and family October 28. And Sunday we celebrated Dave's birthday.

Today is November 7th - Voting Day. Lohra is in a heated race for the Salt Lake County Attorney's office. We are excited to go her victory party tonight after the kids go to bed.
http://www.lohramiller.com/

Announcement

For all of you who read this blog, you will be informed of the secret that Jenny was so bad at keeping. About 2 weeks ago Dave and I told the girls that they are going to have another sibling, but that they aren't to tell anyone for a while. This week, I found out that Jenny immediately told her friends at church, who then told their parents. So much for secrets. Sorry that our entire ward knows our exciting news before family.

We are expecting a baby around the end of April, 2007. We were going to try for 7/7/07, but I jinxed us. In July, Grandma Barker had a "shop for free" where I gave away all my baby girl stuff. In August, I discovered that I am pregnant. If that's not a jinx, I don't know what is. With Jack, I had just given away my maternity clothes at Grandma Barker's "shop for free." So if any of you are having difficulties with conceiving, now you know the secret.

Oh yeah, I've been doing some Family History research that some of you might find interesting. Dad asked me to find information on a Moses Westberry, who is an ancestor of Grandma Flynn's (Opal). He was quite an important preacher in Georgia in the century prior to the Civil War (1805 - 1855). While doing this research, I came across a paper entitled "A Christian Justification of Slavery?"© by Cassandra Miller. It's a very interesting paper on how southern preachers justified the institution of slavery. Moses Westberry is not mentioned in this paper, but his uncle (?), the Rev. Richard Furman is mentioned. There is also a story of an ancestor who was a confederate soldier that was interesting. His name was James Harris.

The Cutest Kid in the West

I don't know how other parents can stand it, because everyone must just be super-jealous of my kids (of whom I am never bored). The only dull moments are when the girls are at school and Jack is asleep. When Jack is awake, he has gotten pretty good at signing at me that he wants to go outside to pick raspberries or play in the water. I'm sure it's funny to watch us. He makes signs and I guess what he's saying (like charades) until I get it right. When I get it right he nods his head up and down with a HUGE grin on his face. I thought I had done great with this signing thing, until two days ago he wagged his finger at me (saying "no"). My only consolation is that he learned to sign yes several weeks ago. It's inevitable that the kids will learn to say "no" and "mine" sooner or later. His other favorite thing to do is watch the "Jack Movie." I recorded all our home videos onto DVD, and Jack liked watching them. So I asked him if he would like to make a movie about Jack. It's only a few minutes, but he likes to watch himself on tv.

Jenny and Lydia are back in school (picture day was yesterday). Jenny is in 5th grade and according to her teacher, she will be learning to be responsible this year. Wow! Is that possible. They are both playing soccer still, the fall season has just started. Jenny has had two games so far (and two wins-things are looking up for her team). She still plays goalie. She and her best friend, KensLee, switch off goalie and defense. Lydia also plays goalie, but she hasn't had any games yet (next week is the first). Her team is looking forward to taking revenge on the Wolfpack (their nemesis) who took first place at Ultimate Indoor during the summer.

I am staying busy with work. I'm still the Webelos Den Leader (with only one Webelo), and I have a fun new calling - I'll let you know when it's official. Dave is the new Scout Master (only two scouts). Wednesday he got to try out his new calling. He took the boys and other leaders to Speed Street (Gocart racing) as a reward for their progress at Scout Camp. That's the kind of calling I like. Handing out rewards without having to do the hard part.

Ward Campout

Last Friday night was our ward campout. Jenny, Jack, and I went up early, and Dave and Lydia joined us after Lydia's last game of the Weber County Fair Tournament. We played "Faith Factor."Jenny won her jump-rope competition and I won my "waking up late and getting dressed in a hurry" competition. They also had worm eating, baby food eating, and other fun stuff. After the fun, a thunderstorm came in, so we hurriedly got our beds ready, and pretended to go to bed. The storm passed, so we decided to play games in the pavilion with the "fun" ward members. Saturday morning we got up and played a game of soccer with all the youth in the camp. After the games some kids in the area brought their ponies over and let the little ones sit on them. Then we headed home for a day of rest (much needed after a week off soccer games and camping).

The last week of SUMMER VACATION

Summer went by fast this year. I'm not sure where it all went, but I'm glad it's over. Jenny and Lydia start school on Monday (August 21). Lydia is playing her last soccer tournament of the season. Our summer has been full of horses and soccer. I'll be glad to have a few hours of quiet time while the girls are at school. No more "I'm bored" or "she's looking at me!" comments. That leaves Jack without any friends to play with. It'll be just him and me (and signing time).

Check out Dave's (Robert A.) comments about the ReAl Stadium.

Cousins

We sure had fun with Heidi and Katie visiting us!! Jenny and Lydia played with them all day Monday and Tuesday. Staying up waaayyyy too late and getting up early to go play with the horses. The picture above is the "Leopard Girls." They found some leopard print pajamas at the "shop for free" at Grandma Barker's on Saturday.

Troll Bogies?

I first must apologize for the disgustingness of this entry. Jenny took this picture of Lydia today after working on the horse farm up the street. Any of you who have ever worked on a farm, know that it creates the perfect condition for really disgusting boogers. But I never imagined something so HUGE to come out of someone so little. This is a genetic trait passed from father to daughter. I have nothing to do with it.

Hogle Zoo

Photo Ops at the Zoo

Tuesday we didn't have anything else going, so we headed out to the zoo. We were there early enough to catch all the shows (I don't think I've ever done that before). Jack loved all the animals. Jenny and Lydia loved the Red Pandas - they got to "meet the keeper" for one of the shows.

On a sad note, my Tivo unit died Sunday morning just a couple of hours before the world cup final. All my recordings are gone, and we didn't get to watch the world cup final. Turns out there wasn't much to watch anyway. I like to see more scoring - none of that overtime/penalty kick stuff. So, I lost all 8 episodes of the "Signing Time" that Jack likes so much. Now I have to start all over again. Luckily this week they start over again with the first episode.

We got our replacement DirecTV DVR (not Tivo) unit yesterday. I have to say DirecTV did a horrible thing leaving Tivo. Their new unit is horrible. It doesn't have any of the features that made the service so great. I'm very disappointed. Tivo has spoiled us.

Wednesday through Saturday this week, Jenny and Lydia are playing in the Rampage Classic tournament. They are both playing goalie, and doing a great job. Jenny's last game was this morning, and Lydia's last game is tomorrow, unless they win (which is a very good possibility). If they win, we will play a championship game on Saturday. Of course I will update you with pictures when we get our trophies!!

Independence Day 2006

North Davis Prep Choir 4th of July Float

Monday night (July 3) Jenny and Lydia sang at the Layton "Voices of Liberty" concert. Our choir of 38 students looked great in their vests and they sounded better than any of the other 4 choirs.

Tuesday Jenny and Lydia were in the Layton City Parade. They had a lot of fun, singing their hearts out to the parade watchers. Jenny got to sit in the back of the truck with Camille because they are the oldest kids. Lydia is sitting on the float close to the front with a red visor. The float was put together by the choir parents. They did a great job!! It's amazing what you can do when you get so many people to work together.

After the parade we had a delicious lunch at Jamie and Marni's - we love Jamie's bar-b-cue!! The kids had so much fun playing with Adam, Sam, Melanie, and Caroline. Then we went home for a much needed nap. (We were up until 11:00 at the concert the night before and up in time to be in the parade)

Before we napped, the weather decided to give us a scare. We had a great thunderstorm with microbursts. The grill was knocked over and all the chairs were blowing away when we ran outside. Dave fought with the grill, while I rounded up all the chairs. We got up from our naps to go to watch the Kaysville fireworks from Chris and Karin's front yard. They have a very nice apartment across the street from DATC.

Independence Weekend

Saturday was the neighborhood 4th of July Breakfast. Lots of food, fun and friends. We were excited the Mom and Dad A. could come with Karin, Adam, Sam, Melanie, and Caroline. Jenny and Lydia rode their bikes in the bike parade, but we didn't decorate them this year (they are too old for that kind of stuff).

After the breakfast, Dave and Dad A. ran all the wiring in the basement, while I organized the food room. I'm getting excited to get the basement finished. We also got the cucumbers planted, along with some carrots and more peas.

Sunday night we had our annual neighborhood "Cul-de-sac of Fire." Dave had fun lighting off his fireworks "from that other state" for the whole neighborhood to see.

Gardening Blues

Gardening Blues

The peas are all gone. I pulled the plants out of the ground this morning. Dave is very sad. We like having fresh peas. But the raspberries are coming on strong. I get about 3 cups of raspberries every few days, and the girls love to help pick them (Jack helps, too, but he mostly just eats them). Soon the tomatoes will be ripe and we'll be making fresh salsa every couple of days. I guess I'll be planting cucumbers tomorrow. MMmmmmmm..... cucumber and tomato sandwiches for lunch!!!!

Yesterday we all went to the dentist and those of us who are near sighted, went to the eye doctor. What a long day. Jenny got contacts for the first time. And we found out that Lydia does not have any permanent upper lateral incisors (you'll have to look it up http://www.dentistry.leeds.ac.uk/oroface/teeth/map1.html) and that's why she has not lost any teeth since kindergarten. Jack, of course, is too young for any of that stuff yet, but he definitely has good eyesight, hearing, and 12 teeth. This morning he stole the nectarine out of Dave's lunch while Dave was getting dressed. He ate the entire thing right off the pit.