Happy Easter

This is an excellent video about the life and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.



Have a wonderful day!

Activity Days: Articles of Faith Easter Egg Hunt

This idea came from the Sugar Doodle website and was a major hit with the girls. Katelyn hid the eggs for me and was a little too good at it! I included all three different ways of doing this activity!
http://www.sugardoodle.net/Articles%20of%20Faith/AOFEasterEggHunt.shtml

1. Divide everyone into two teams. Place all of the articles of faith on the same color paper. Choose a color for each team. Place the articles in the eggs with the candy. Tell everyone that they may only keep the color of their team. If they find another color have them replace it into the egg and move on. When the team has assembled all 13 pieces of paper have them place the articles in order. So by now you know that you do not place a number on the article. The team has to work together to order the articles. First team to have all the articles in order is the winner. (Kate)

2. What I did was print two copies of the Articles of Faith cards without the numbers and cut them out into individual articles. I had 42 old plastic eggs, which I could divide by "warm colors" and "cool colors" (pink, yellow, orange and green, blue, purple) into 2 teams. I put each Articles of Faith in an egg, along with some candy, for the other eggs, I just put candy (no chocolate, because we live in AZ). Then I hid the eggs in my backyard. Each team had to find only their color eggs, and then, when all were found, dump out each egg into a bowl, get the papers, and number the articles from one to thirteen. Then they split the candy evenly into Ziploc baggies. (Amanda Evans)

3. I did one the other day that turned out pretty well. I divided each Article of Faith up into seven pieces. Then I numbered the eggs. Each girl was assigned specific numbers to look for. For example, one had to look for eggs number 1, 2, and 3. It was a lot of fun because they tried to not let the other girls see where they were looking if the egg wasn't theirs. Anyway, after all the eggs were found then we went in and tried to put them into order. I of course helped, I had a couple of older girls who happened to be there and so they helped the younger ones. After they were done putting them into order we read them out loud to make sure we put them together right. The 13th egg I divided so each girl had to find only 2 pieces of it and then we put it in order together. It was a lot of fun! (Cathy Updike)

I baked sugar cookies for the girls to decorate but they had so much fun finding the eggs and seeing who could solve the scrambled Articles of Faith that we just ate them without decorating and enjoyed the good weather instead! This definitely keeps them occupied and having lots of fun together!

Matthew is 6 weeks old!

Our little Matthew has reached the ripe old age of 6 weeks! He is growing like a weed and such an easy going little man. He loves to be around everyone else and seems to sleep better with noises. He smiles and coos at all of us which makes everyone happy! Matthew has many funny little expressions that he shares throughout the day.

The Alvey family has been fairly busy since Matthew arrived but more so lately! Soccer has been a blast and really got the kids out running and playing. We have attended 6 games just since last Friday! We planted 3 trees this last Saturday and plan on another before the end of the month. Katelyn will be getting baptized on the 2nd of May and we are expecting visitors for that so I am trying to get all the little things taken care of before their arrival.

Our garden is turning out nicely, the raised beds are all coming together. Now if I could keep William and Joshua out of them, we may have a successful year of harvest. Brandon and Goldie stayed in Saint George during Conference weekend which was nice. We all were uplifted and enjoyed spending time with family. We also enjoyed playing spin uno, it was very entertaining during the break. We sure liked having Zack around all weekend, no bishopric meetings. He did keep his headphones on during most of conference to keep himself from being distracted by the chatter and children. I don't think that is really fair as I am usually the one sitting with the kids anyway but at least one of us could tell you what the speakers all said. Like our bishop at the University of Utah said, "You need to have a strong testimony before you have children!"

We have been battling colds in our household this week. Even Matthew got a cold. Taylor has been the worst but he usually struggles with allergies at this time of year anyway. He was complaining about his ear hurting a couple days ago and so Zack took him into the doctors while I tended to the other children. The doctor discovered that Taylor has an ear infection in both ears besides a bad cold! He was keeping the fact that his ears were hurting from me because he didn't want to miss out on all the things going on around here. Yesterday he went on an Easter Egg hunt for his class and today his kindergarten class is going to Staheli farms. Then he is off to a birthday party for his friend in our ward this afternoon.

Katelyn performed in her school play yesterday as a flower and was very cute! She did a wonderful job and remembered her part without even so much as a pause! We are very proud. Zack went to her dress rehearsal and I went to the performance for the parents so we both had the pleasure of seeing her perform. I really enjoy being a mother and wife. There are so many blessing to it!

Our April Fool's Tradition

I am sure lots of people are into practical jokes for April Fools, I enjoy hearing all the gags especially the ones that Zack and his students pull on each other! Every year on April 1st, I make Fake Cake for my young family and every year they are surprised by it. William's response was wonderful this year! Once they all have it figured out I will probably continue it just because it is good and fun. I found the recipe several years ago in a magazine but I forgot which one so thank you to whomever created this great idea. Here is the recipe for anyone who wants to try this out on their family (it doesn't have to be April Fools to be worth it!)

3/4 lbs ground sirloin
1 egg
1/3 cup season bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 cup mashed potatoes
carrot minced

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 6 muffin tines with cupcake liners. In a bowl, mix together ground sirloin, egg, bread crumbs, milk, ketchup, onion, and Worcestershire sauce. Divide into cupcake liners. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes while you make mashed potatoes. Place potatoes in a resealable plastic bag with a star tip, and pipe a swirl of potatoes on each "cupcake." Sprinkle with finely minced carrots. Makes 6 servings.

Officially a Soccer Mom

Katelyn and Taylor are both playing soccer this Spring at the city recreation center.

They are having a blast! It started as a way for Zack to spend sometime with the kids while I was home with the baby but became more of my time with the kids as most practices and games are during the week when Zack is working. He still sneaks off to see a couple minutes of them playing when he can! Katelyn is in the 1st and 2nd grade group which focus on learning a few of the different positions. She really has gotten into the game rather than standing off back like she did with basketball. Which we are very excited about! Taylor is in the coed kindergarten group who basically run around and chase the ball. It is so fun to watch them all enjoying themselves. I am glad to be a "soccer mom" as long as my kids are having fun. Isn't that what sports are all about?

The kids are starting to relax a bit with all the changes going on. It is fun to see how much they love their new baby Matthew! He is such a wonderful addition to our family. He thoroughly enjoys their attention which can become quite a bit! William and Joshua are very protective of their baby. Of course they are okay with picking on him but if one of the others get a little too close...look out! Matthew is really starting to respond to each one of us and smiles when we talk to him. I included a picture of William and Joshua being silly. Just a little FYI: If you click on the collages they will get bigger.


I did a little "photo shoot" with Matthew on the couch after I fed him; he wasn't all that interested! If he is awake and I am around, he would much rather be eating! I am his "fridge." When we went up to Salt Lake I stopped over at the Quilted Bear with Stephanie and got this cute vinyl sign which is above my laundry closet.

Katelyn's Barbie House

I am finally finished!!! Yeah for completing a large task! After finishing the boys dinosaur murals I decided to use Katelyn large shelves in her closet to create a barbie doll house.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Matthew's first trip!

After all Zack's hard work on the yard we decided to take a short trip up to Salt Lake to show off the baby. We went and saw my little sister Stephanie and her hubby (she's due to have her first baby in 2 weeks), Jennifer & her family, Zack's Grandma Benson, Aunt Carolin, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Jon, some cousins, his little brothers - Charles, his wife Erica, Jed & finally met his fiance Aubrey. We apologize to all those that we didn't visit with, we will be making another trip this summer and plan on visiting more of you!

Jennifer lives in Lehi now and took us all over to Cabella's Sporting Goods which is only a few blocks from her house. The kids enjoyed the aquarium, animal exhibits and shooting range. Something to note: the greeters give you free tokens for the kids to go shooting! I am always up for a free activity!

We got home about 1am Sunday morning. Our kids are usually really good travelling at night but this time they were not. Our usual 4.5 hour trip ended up being more like 6 hours! YUCK!!! Even though the kids slept in they were little zombies all Sunday! Taylor refused to give his talk in church and was quite a handful during sacrament meeting!!! We went over to Grandma Belt's home to give her a birthday card and visit but the kids just sat around the whole time so we left and put them all to bed.

I took the kids to Matthew's 1 month checkup this morning. He is 9 lbs 6 oz and 22 3/4" long, a tall skinny boy!!!

Happy Saint Patty's Day

To celebrate the holiday right we all dressed up in green. It seems Joshua was out of green besides some decorations on his diaper which totally counts! No one was allowed to pinch him. I dyed the milk green with food coloring, which got very mixed reviews from the children. They commented anytime they drank it throughout the day! For dinner we ate green eggs and ham. What a way to make it feel all festive! William refused to eat them. "I don't like green eggs and ham!" said he. They tasted good even if they didn't look as good.


Matthew is 3 weeks old! Another week with our sweet little guy, Matthew! He is starting to focus a little more everyday. He loves to be kissed and eagerly reaches for more. The boys are starting to adjust a little better to our new arrangement and it really helps that mom is feeling much better. I am not 100% yet but we are getting there.

I have decided that part of having a larger family is to learn to play it by ear, roll with the punches or just let life happen, rather than try to force it, we all seem to get along better and the kids are much easier going when I am. Don't get me wrong there is still plenty of structure but I pick my battles, play a little more and take the time to just hold them close. I know I am completely outnumbered but I am raising some very good children who are learning along with me. Zack is a major support which makes life so much easier! I don't know what I would do without him.

This week was rather uneventful as weeks go for the most part. Matthew went in for his 2 week checkup with Dr. Twiggs. He is in the 90% for height and pretty average for his weight. Basically a tall skinny kid. I plan on fattening him up as much as I can! The boys did not appreciate the PKU testing, William was rather flustered that they were hurting his brother. He did appreciate the nice "lellow" band aid the nurse put on Matthew after she was done and "she said sorry!" We started taking Katelyn to school in the mornings again, a wonderful sister in the ward volunteered to for the past couple weeks which was a major life savor! Thanks so much! Getting everyone out the door was challenging but only Katelyn has to be dressed for school, so the rest of us are fine in pj's if that is all time allows! Taylor gets carpooled with some other sisters from the ward in the afternoons which is wonderful. Thanks guys.


This week is Spring Break which started out with an all TOO SHORT visit from Brittany and her family Friday night, due to little Howard having a cold. She did not want our little guy to catch anything so they made the visit short and sweet. When they were leaving William said we should go to their house in the morning to play. Unfortunately they live far away but we definitely have to get all the little guys together! Our kids had a blast playing together. Thanks for stopping by. We always appreciate visitors. Just let me know.

Saturday we mostly spent outdoors working on the yard, mainly Zack working while the rest of us played or relaxed in the shade. Our wonderful priest quorum came by this morning and helped Zack lay all the sod for our backyard so now we have grass YEAH!!! They were all a wonderful help, they laid 2200 sq ft of sod in 1.5 hours. It would have taken Zack at least one full day if not more. We always welcome a service project like that! Thanks guys!!!

I think this week I have realized how important gratitude is. We have been blessed in abundance with good kind people whom we associate, a healthy loving family, great jobs, a nice home, the gospel of Jesus Christ, a very loving Heavenly Father who knows us personally and many other things. I am truly blessed.

Matthew is 2 weeks old today

We have made it through the first two weeks of life with our little Matthew.

The kids adore him and I am still adjusting to having five children who depend so much upon me.

It is truly a huge but rewarding job.

Matthew has smiled a few times which is a definite treat! I haven't been able to catch it on the camera yet but soon enough.

He is still working on his days and nights but we will get that adjusted pretty soon.

We really enjoy how much he likes to snuggle!

I really enjoyed this pose of him "dancing"!

Well here comes another week and Taylor says I am suppose to be much better now so we will see how things go!

__________________________________________

Brandon and Goldie came in town to visit and meet our little man.
It was cut short though as my dad's mom passed away Friday afternoon. She had been sick since I was in high school or junior high. My uncle Jon called my dad on Wednesday to let him know that she probably wouldn't make it through the weekend and so my dad quickly left to see her before she passed on. Fortunately he was able to spend some time with her. I am sure it was hard on him. She doesn't even remember who he is, she's had Alzheimer's for years. I know Mike and him are a great comfort to their brothers. The knowledge of the gospel makes death not final. I am thankful to know that one day my dad will see his mom again and she'll know him. Alzheimer's is such a sad disease. To forget everything you knew is hard on the person who is sick and their loved ones. Brandon took my mom to the Vegas airport this morning so she can be with my dad at the funeral which is Tuesday. I hope for their sake that they can be strong for everyone else there. Love ya Dad!

Matthew's 1st Week @ Home

Well life has definitely changed with five kids at home. We took Matthew home from the hospital on Monday afternoon. The kids were thrilled to say the least. My mom and sister came over during the week and helped out so that I could get some recovery time and rest. They were definitely life savers! He is a great baby and a wonderful addition to our family. His cry is so quiet you can barely hear him unless he gets cold then he lets you know how ticked he is.

As far as the others kids are concerned: Katelyn is adjusting to mom adjusting which she really doesn't appreciate but in a few weeks she'll have her life back to normal so that will be make her happy. I think she needs a little one on one time so that will be one of the things I'll focus on this week. Katelyn has never been big on change and having lots of people running the house was frustrating to her. She seemed to drive her Aunt Kelsey crazy with her demands that it be run my way. I didn't realize I had a certain way but Katelyn definitely knows how we run things. Sorry to Kelsey for my daughters demands, she's having a little challenge in her life right now!

Taylor had a crazy week from school with no school on Monday and Tuesday and then early out for the rest of the week. He really loves going to school so being rushed through it wasn't his favorite but he is glad his schedule will be back to normal this week. He has been dealing with Katelyn's orneriness and wants a little break from the craziness himself. Taylor adores Matthew but doesn't like how much he sleeps or that mom is so busy taking care of the baby.

William seems to struggle the most being completely aware of all the changes going on, he is not much for change and was very clingy with his dad this week. He doesn't want me to help him with anything. Which was very much like Katelyn when he was born. Of course three years old is a rather challenging age anyway and then add some major changes it gets a little chaotic.

Joshua on the other hand was thrilled by it all! He seemed to walk around with a permanent grin! He loves his baby and just pats him on the head or gives him kisses whenever he sees him. He is a sweetheart and taking some of the stress off of me. I know that in about a weeks time the kids will be fine and life will become much more normal, it is just the initial changes that make things frustrating at first and once I've recovered from this birth life can be much better!

Zack made the sign with Katelyn and Taylor's help.

We took all the kids to sacrament meeting on Sunday which was quite an experience to say the least. Katelyn stayed for the rest of the meetings with her dad and I took all the boys home and we all took a break/nap.

The kids got a little "creative" during the week!