Monday, March 19, 2018

Gym Pics, Parent Conferences, Unauthorized Playground Access, and Instant Pot Corned Beef


This week the kids had gymnastics pictures and parent-teacher conferences, and we revived our St. Patrick’s Day tradition of corned beef and cabbage, this time using the instant pot. We got some snow, but we also got some spring-like weather, so we took advantage to play outside.

We started Monday off bright and early with a meeting at the school. Mike and Hallie headed off to work after the meeting. After school Eliza had Art Club which she seems to be really enjoying. Hallie dropped Landon off at gymnastics and Mike had his China prep class. If we haven’t announced it yet, Mike is going to China this summer, and we are so excited for him and this adventure with BYU.

Tuesday was a fun girls’ day for Eliza and Hallie. After work Hallie checked Eliza out of school early and took her to get her hair done at Taylor Andrews Hair School in Orem to prep the cutie for team photos. Steph, who did Eliza’s hair, did a great job and was amazing with Eliza! One of Hallie’s favorite parts was that it was free. Eliza wanted her friends at school to see, so she had on her leotard and they went back to pick up Landon from school. It was fun to watch people notice our cutie all decked out for her pictures.




Mike had a crazy busy Wednesday with meetings most of the day. Hallie worked and then picked up the kids from school packed with all of Landon’s things for his team’s picture day. With spiked hair, singlet, and pommel pants the boy was ready to go. It was fun to see the four boys all dressed and posing for the camera.

The normal routine happened in the day. After school we attended the kids parent-teacher conferences (here called SEPs), and this time the kids walked us through their various activities and projects. It had more of a Back to School Night feel. Hallie was a bit late to watch Lily at gymnastics but thankfully one of the other parents covered until Hallie got there.  

The kids and Hallie had the day off from school on Friday. We had to take the KIA to the shop. Fortunately the repairs the car needed were less than we thought they’d be, plus we got the emissions test completed. Thanks to a coworker, Hallie found the shop we took the car to, and we are optimistic that we will be able to keep using them in the future. Hallie is glad one of Mike’s meetings was canceled so he was able to take her to and from the repair shop.

On Saturday the kids were out of the house for most of the day. Hallie and the kids ran errands in the morning while Mike did some work. Mike, Landon, and Lincoln broke the rules (a bit) and went over to the school across the road for some baseball practice. (*Editorial: What’s with fencing off school grounds and then telling people they can’t use them? Mike gets the security notion, but these grounds have two sets of fences between the street and the building. Seems like an awful waste of playground on a weekend when no one is in the building. *OK, back to the blog.) Eliza headed over to Ashley and Lexi’s house while Landon continued to play with Lincoln. Mike and Hallie weren’t quite sure what to do with themselves with no kids in the house for so long. Could this be a glimpse into the future?

We also cooked a dinner of corned beef and cabbage and soda bread. Although the veggies were a bit overdone, they were full of flavor, and the beef came out great! Thanks Instant Pot!

Sunday took us to church, family time, choir for Hallie and more family time and leftovers of corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

After dinner we called and talked to Mike’s side of the family where we learned of Alie losing her first tooth, she even pulled it out herself! A mini Eliza!

Mike put Eliza to bed and turned in early himself, and Hallie finished another chapter of Fablehaven Book 3 with Landon before it was their turn to wind down the week.

In less than 12 hours it all starts again.



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