She's not spoiled or anything!

I know, I know, she is spoiled.  And I'm the worst offender.
Kate has been pedaling around her trike for a few years now.  She has outgrown it and she is really big enough for a two-wheeler.  We were planning on getting her a bike for her birthday, but we gave her her gym bar (since that didn't work for Christmas).  We thought we could give her a bike for Easter, but the Easter Bunny usually doesn't go so far out.  Greg and I were torn.
I had found a cute, pink bike on Amazon that we were planning on ordering.  On a whim, Greg suggested we visit The Bike Barn in Lehi to check out sizing.  While there, we spotted a pink, flowery bike that we knew Kate would love.  It was perfect, professional bike-store quality and on clearance (cheaper than Amazon, which never happens)!
The next day we brought Kate to the store just to see how she would react.  She immediately spotted it and went over and climbed on and started riding.  She didn't say much, but she had a big smile on her face.  When she finally got off, she looked up at me with her huge blue eyes and said, "Mom, can I have it.  Please."  How do I say no to that?  And if you think I'm bad, you should see Greg react to her.  Yep, she's spoiled because we can't say no to her!
So, Kate came home with a new bike, with a pink basket- not for her birthday, not for a holiday, but because she's such a good girl and we love her.  And she loves her bike and tells us thank you every time she rides it.

Caucus

I'll admit, I've never been to a caucus meeting.  I've heard about them, but really wasn't sure what happened there and if I really needed to attend.
This year there has been a huge push to get more people to attend their caucuses.  I thought about it.  Then, Gavin informed me that he had volunteered to help at the Republican caucus and I was going with him.  Isn't it great when your kids are better than you?
We arrived 30 minutes early and the parking lot at the Junior High was already full.  I did manage to get a seat in our precinct's room (the band room).  They filled the room with chairs and by 7:30 all the seat were full and about 30 people were standing.  I was very lucky and sat next to Kristie Hampton, who probably felt like she was sitting next to a squirmy toddler.  My back was really hurting and I just couldn't get comfortable.  About half way through she was so kind and rubbed my back.  What a great person!
Gavin spent his time showing people to their precinct's rooms and answering questions.  After the meetings started, Gavin and a few other Scouts came back to our room and distributed and collected ballots.  He also helped tally votes.  He did a great job and was very responsible.
I'm glad I attended.  I now understand better how the caucus system works and I feel good about contributing by casting my vote for delegates.  I was only able to vote for the Precinct Chair and Vice Chair (by then it was 9:30 pm and I was in charge of getting four Scouts home on a school night).  I'm happy with who we voted in and I'm confident they will pick the best person to represent us.

Scattered Thoughts

1.  Enoch is now sporting a large gap in his teeth.  He has lost his two front teeth.  Luckily for him, one of them is already coming in.  We are all so happy they are out.  He wouldn't pull on them at all and they were sticking out at wonky angles because they were so loose.  It was a little disconcerting to look at them.

2.  Gavin has been attending band concerts and competitions almost every week for the last month.  Usually they are during school, so he is also making up a lot of tests, quizzes and homework.  But, he is learning a lot and enjoys being with his friends in Jazz Band.  It's fun to see him wearing a white shirt and tie to school (even though he hates it) and he looks so sharp.
3.  The other night while I was doing the dishes I caught a glimpse of why moms do everything they do.  It is so rewarding to see your children getting along and being kind.  Enoch and Kate have a wonderful relationship and they rarely fight or argue; it's so fun to see them together.  Enoch was reading to himself and Kate the book, Wacky Wednesday, by Dr. Seuss.  Enoch loves that book and they both like looking at the pictures to find the wacky things that are wrong.   They were having so much fun being together.  Later, we read Kate's favorite book, I Wish That I Had Duck Feet.

Scattered Thoughts on Coal

1.  Coal isn't much of a barker.  She barks when someone comes to the front door.  She barks when she is outside and wants to come inside.  She barks when the kids are playing crazy with her outside.  And she barks when Greg gets out the shovel to clean up poop (really any shovel, she also barks at snow shovels).  But, she is a growler.  She has her mad growl, her bored growl and her "I love you" growl when you snuggle with her.  She also has a sad whine.  She gets her front paws up on the front window sill and whines when the boys leave for school.
2.  She is still quite dangerous with her puppy teeth and claws.  Greg gets the worst of it because he plays the roughest with her.  The other day she was playing with Enoch and jumped up and got his nose.  He now has two scratches on either side of his nose.  These are Greg's wounds from last night.

 

I found these tiny sharp pieces of metal on the floor the other day.  I couldn't figure out what they were until I found the other part of the credit card!  Yep, Coal chewed up a credit card.  I'm hoping she didn't actually swallow any of those pieces.

 3.  This picture should probably gross me out, but I know she will only climb up there when the dishes are dirty.  She stays away when the dishes are clean.  Her favorite things to lick clean are spoons.

  

4.  I love this picture!  This is Coal and Hippo.  Hippo was the first toy we got for Coal the night we brought her home.  She has slept with Hippo every night since then.  In the morning she is so excited to get up and play that she will run out of her crate.  It only takes her a few minutes to go back and stand in front of her crate and whine until someone opens it and she can get Hippo.  I often find her snuggled up with Hippo during the day.

5.  Another favorite toy is tennis balls.  She LOVES chasing them!  And she is getting better at bringing them back to you.  I bought her a set of doggie tennis balls and she had broken them in half in two hours!  So, now she gets just normal tennis balls. 

 I think the kids were trying to torture her.  They found this huge tennis ball in the shed, got it out and started throwing it to her.  Obviously, she can't pick it up in her mouth.  She circles it while growling at it, pounces on it, stands over it.  It's quite frustrating for her.  I finally put it away.

Dog Cousins

Today was such a beautiful day.  We decided to take a break from the home projects and spend some time outside.  We called the Kellys and Fords (they were busy), and invited them to check out a dog park in Sandy.
Kate was so excited to see Toby (Kelly's dog).  She said, "I haven't seen my dog cousin in a long time."  We were also curious to see how Coal would react to his dog cousin.
The park was designed for dogs, just gravel and some rocks.  They did have a few picnic table to sit at and watch the dogs.  It was quite busy with a lot of dogs of different sizes, temperaments and breeds.  We laughed when we saw all the collies.  They have a lot of energy to burn off (we know!).
Coal had fun exploring and running around.  It took her awhile to warm up to the park, but then she was off.

 Coal seemed quite indifferent to the other dogs and had more fun playing with the people.  She is definitely more of a people dog and enjoys the attention.  Toby is a dog dog and was right in the middle of all the dogs.  So, Coal and Toby really didn't play together much, but they were friendly when together.

It was a fun day and I'm glad we could get out and enjoy the sunshine.  We used sunscreen for the first time and the smell made me so excited for summer.  We will have to do it again!

Stash Skirts

This morning when Kate got dressed, she put on her favorite skirt.  Unfortunately that certain skirt is my least favorite item of clothing Kate owns. I made it last summer and it fit her fine then, but she has grown (shocking, I know) and it just didn't fit the same.  It is form-fitting and every time she sits it rides up her hips and becomes much too short and we can all see too much of her.
I made her a deal - if we could put away that skirt, I would make her a new one.  I was planning on making a few for summer anyway.  My sewing room is full of cloth, so Kate and I went downstairs and picked out some fun fabric.  I am determined to sew with what I have and not buy anything new.  This is the first skirt I pulled together.  I had so much fun sewing it that I made a few more.

 

Kate probably likes this one the best.  She loves purple.  You can't see it very well in the picture, but it is a three-tiered skirt.

I really like this one.  Kate wasn't too excited about the green trim, but she's living with it.

Which one do you like?

It's great to be sewing again.  I still have a lot to do before summer and the baby comes.  Hopefully, it will get done!

Snow

We finally had a major snow storm.  The kids were thrilled.  We are not sure how much snow we actually got because of drifting, but it was a lot.  Greg and Gavin shoveled about nine inches off the driveway.  It didn't stick around long because of crazy Utah springs.  The weather warmed up the next day and the snow melted quickly.  But, we enjoyed it while it was here.
A few days later, we drove up to the cabin to sled.  The snow was great and we had a good time even though it was quite cold.  The boys (Greg, Gavin, Gavin's friend, Matt, and Enoch) sledded while Kate and I stayed warm in the cabin. 

 We took Coal up with us and tied her to an one hundred foot rope.  She loved being able to explore and play in the snow.  By the time we left, she was so cold she was shaking.  I held her on my lap, close to the heater, all the way home.  She was doing better by the time we got home.

This winter has been quite unusual.  While some of us haven't missed the snow too much, others have found it disconcerting to go through most of the winter without snow.