Finished Basement

We've been enjoying our new basement for a couple of weeks and finally took pictures to show how much fun it is. Here is Charlie brushing his teeth in the new bathroom for the kids.


Here is the boys new room. It's only one half but the other half looks the same except with a big window and no dresser. They love their new room and we love not hearing them when they wake up in the morning.

This is a small play area under the stairs. It's the Harry Potter suite.

Here is the girls room. They love their new space and they have a great closet. We love not having too see their mess all the time.

Here is the new basement office. We use it for a coloring room. It includes an easel and cupboard with coloring books and supplies. There's also a computer and table. The kids used it to make shields and daggers from cardboard with their cousins. They had so much fun.

Dancing Cousins

Birthday Boy

We had so much fun yesterday. We took lots of movies but I'll have to figure out which ones I want to put on the blog. For now it's easier to do pictures. We started out the day with a lot of singing of Happy Birthday. Donald even started saying "cha cha cha" between the phrases like his big brothers and sisters. After we sent all the kids to school we made cupcakes and Donald got to eat his first cake batter. He loved it as you can see.

After we got done with the cupcakes I realized I'd forgotten to get him some balloons. Charlie thought we couldn't have a birthday without balloons so we went out for a quick trip to Walmart. While in the balloon aisle Donald noticed all the ready made helium balloons and they made him squeal and smile so of course I couldn't resist getting him one. This is the one he picked out.

We also blew up a bunch of regular balloons and they kept him busy for most of the afternoon. After his nap he played basketball with his brother but it was cold enough that he didn't argue too much when I brought him back in. For dinner we had his very favorite which is spaghetti. He was in heaven. He ate more spaghetti than all of our big kids.

He stuffed himself with so much spaghetti he wasn't to into the whole cupcake thing. He was enthralled by his 1 little candle but then he wanted to squish and then share his cupcake with all of us.

For presents he got a new pair of shoes, a ball and Donald sized basket, and a cute stuffed pelican from Rebecca. He also got the entire Legos Star Wars XBOX game but that's kind of a present for all of us. It was a happy happy Birthday.

Missionary Haircut

After our exciting afternoon taking Molly to the MTC we went back to Aunt Katie's where Grandma Weir gave Donald his first missionary haircut! He had the most beautiful curls but we decided we'd better take advantage of Grandma's fine haircutting skills while she was here. He was so good for the whole process and Grandma was able to make him look so grown-up. I still can't believe the straight line my mom cut on my wiggly baby. How do you do it Mom?

Missionary Molly

Here is my baby sister "Molly so smally" going on a mission to Santiago, Chile! We were so lucky to get to go with her to the MTC. It was so neat to see her join the mission force. Charlie and Donald came with me and they were good boys for the most part. After the ordeal of leaving through opposite doors Charlie sobbed all the way out of the MTC. On the way home he said, "Mom, I'm going to be sad until I'm 6 because that's when Aunt Molly gets home."

More Weekend Fun

Our basement is almost done! Wednesday the carpet will be installed and Thursday is the city's final inspection. We are all excited to have the kids move to the basement. It's been fun seeing the painting get done and the fixtures put in. It has gone up so fast.


This Saturday was extra special. We went to Provo to see 2 of our nephews baptized. Baptisms in our family are always so exciting with so many of the Weir grandkids there. There were 17 this time, Rebecca being the oldest. We had a couple of kids clapping after the first baptism but other than that it was really reverent. It was especially exciting to have Grandma Weir there all the way from Qatar. She gave such a wonderful talk on the Holy Ghost and it occured to me that Rebecca had her give the talk on the Holy Ghost at her baptism. I think your grandkids must think you do a pretty good job, Mom.
After the baptism we all went back to my sister's house and had a big lunch and visited. Our visit was cut a little short because Rebecca has been dying to go to a mall, any mall. We don't have one in Tooele and I am not one to drive far just to shop, but if I have another reason to drive into the big city then I don't mind a trip to the mall. Dan was a super good sport even though mall shopping is not his favorite thing. He took the kids to the play area and told me and Rebecca to be back in 30 minutes. Um, 30 minutes is not a lot of time for mall shopping, so Rebecca and I had to run to find a good store for girls clothes and then she had to try clothes on so fast. She had a blast and found a nice pair of modest summer shorts and a cute shirt.
After our quick trip to the mall we headed up to BYU campus for a basketball game! It was an adventure for me because even though BYU is my alma mater I never went to a basketball game while I was a student. Our seats were 3 rows from the ceiling so when we climbed up to them the kids all suffered from vertigo, except Charlie. Charlie was nuts and kept scaring Adrian by walking on the bleacher in front of us like it was a balance beam. While we waited for the game to start Charlie kept screaming "GO BYU!" It was funny but probably not so funny to all the people who were sitting around us. I finally had to ask him to quiet down until the real game started because he was so loud. Really he was just warming up. He watched the whole game and really enjoyed it. During his 2 potty breaks he was a nervous wreck because he didn't want to miss the game.
Donald was also a good sport. I thought I'd end up in the hallway with a crying baby but he cheered everytime the crowd did. He almost fell asleep at one point and then BYU made a 3 point shot and everyone went nuts so he was awake again clapping. It ended up to be a late night for all of us but it was worth it.
Sunday we got to go to Molly's BYU student ward. She was giving her farewell talk. She is entering the MTC this Wednesday, preparing to go to Santiago, Chile! We really stirred things up in Molly's ward. We had 2 rows in the back packed with kids and 3 babies at various stages of sleeping, talking, or crying. It was so much fun. I can't believe my little baby sister Molly is going on a mission. I remember changing her bum and feeding her a bottle and fighting over her with all my other sisters because I always wanted to play with her!
After our fun weekend it's back to the daily grind, to include getting used to the time change. We're all a little more tired than normal. The good news is Donald sleeps in a little later so I have more time without him while getting the kids ready.
Speaking of Donald, now that he can walk his next goal is to dribble a basketball. It's quite a feat just to pick a basketball up but he's figured out how to do it. Here is his monumental effort trying to get off his feet with his daddy's basketball.


Here he is so happy to be able to do it! He loves basketballs!

Fish Funeral

I am blogging out of chronological order but I couldn't help it because Donald walking was so exciting. However, we did have other news from last week.

On Wednesday of last week Shari did "show and teach" for her class. She taught everyone "How to Feed a Baby." Donald was her prop and they did a wonderful job. She buckled him into his stroller and put his bibby on him then she showed everyone how to open the baby food and mix it with oatmeal. While she fed him she answered any questions about taking care of her baby. It was super. I was so proud.

I also registered Charlie for kindergarten. He is such a character. His assessment was so funny. I was sitting outside the room just listening and laughing. He started out getting all the answers right so he yelled out to me, "Hey, I'm really smart!" Then I heard him start giggling because he kept getting the answers wrong. The teacher said, "Are you teasing me?" and he started laughing. He said, "Yeah, I'm just teasing!" What a way to go. Try to trick the teacher and get all the wrong answers on purpose just for a laugh. Hopefully his test taking skills will improve. Then the teacher was having him pick out pictures that matched the sounds and one of the pictures was "jail" for J. Well, Charlie was fascinated by this and had to ask a dozen questions, "Why is that guy in jail? What did he do? Why is he so mad?..." It was hard to move onto the next letter. The greatest was when the teacher was complimenting him on what a good job he was doing. She said, "Your mom must teach you a lot." Charlie responded, "My mom doesn't teach me anything." The teacher was a little taken a back, she said, "Didn't she teach you all these things you know?" and he said, "No, I just know them."

On Thursday I was cleaning the fish tank and our fish, Sparkles, was floating around in a small bowl. When I went over to check on him he was no longer in the bowl! I was freaking out because I couldn't see him anywhere. Apparently his color really blends in well with our wood floors but I managed to find him laying on the floor right by where I was standing. I almost stepped on him. I grabbed him and put him back in the water and he immediately started swimming and seemed fine. I debated telling the girls about it but I decided to warn them because I wasn't sure if he would make it. He lasted another day but Friday evening we finally called it and decided to bury him. It was a sad occasion. The girls had a small service for him out underneath one of our bushes. I came out to check on them and Charlie was balling. It was the saddest thing. I told Charlie to sing a song for the fish and maybe it would make him feel better. Here is a happier rendition of the song he sang:

During the funeral he was crying through daddy fish, but when he got to whale fish we all started laughing and it made him feel so much better.
The girls have handled it well. They went out with their dad and bought a new betta fish, along with an aquatic snail and a frog. They seem to be doing well together. In remembrance of Sparkles they named their new fish...Sparkles.