Hyde Happinesses

 Hello all! I have been the worst at writing on the blog! But I will try to do better!

Life is good here! It’s starting to warm up so we’ve been going on lots of walks and getting out of the house more which has been awesome. We’re starting our garden this week and are very excited about it!! Neither of us has a green thumb so pray for our poor plants. 

We celebrated Pi Day with banana cream pie, and St Patrick’s Day with corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and pistachio pudding as well. It was awesome.

Stetson is just the best ever. Last we checked, he weighed about 12.5 pounds so he is growing very well 😂 he sleeps well, chats with us, smiles pretty much all day every day, and really is the chillest baby in the whole world. We love him! For anyone wondering, he is a type 1 😉 

Cam got a promotion at work which has been really great for him. The general manager found a different job, so she quit kind of suddenly, and Cam was by far the best replacement. He’s enjoying being a manager and really likes what he does. You’ll have to come visit so he can give you a good stretch! 

Being parents is so much fun! We’re absolutely in love with this little kid. He already has so much personality and I seriously can’t wait for you guys to meet him. You’ll love him!

This is what our Sundays look like now. Well. It’s kind of what all our days look like actually lol.

Oakley is still getting used to Stetson. She makes sure he’s okay when he’s fussy or when we get him out of his car seat, but other than that, she just pours a lot. But don’t worry. She is plenty spoiled with treats and love from everyone, even though she feels pretty abandoned.

 

Hart Happenings

 Hello Family! It's been a pretty normal week here at the Hart house. 

Alex has been practicing...(can you guess what it is?)...SPIKEBALL! He's getting pretty dang good. We were able to host some of his Spikeball buddies for the weekend which was super fun! Those are some good kids.  He celebrated a big birthday down in Vegas during the huge Spikeball tournament that his company put together and hosted.  It was a massive undertaking and epic success.  

Elise was able to start her seeds!  Woop! Woop!  It feels like an act of faith with the walls of snow still piling up outside.  She also attended lots of community garden meetings. Not as "Woop Woop". Those meeting can drag on FOREVER. Alex and Elise also got to attend the Ryan Hamilton comedy show in Rexburg with Ruth and Garrett which was a blast!  They pretty much laughed for two solid hours.

Ian has been working non stop! But he loves it. It's such a perfect job for him and he gets to hang out with awesome co-workers all day which is a party for him! He has also been singing (non-stop). Ever since we have found him his vocal coach he has been more confident in his vocal abilities and we have all witnessed an amazing change in his voice. We are so proud of all the hard work he has put in to it!  He also celebrated his 17th birthday.  Wait, what?  How?  Blows his mama's mind.  He celebrated with dinner out with some friends and then brought the crew home to play games.  We laughed much and are so grateful he has wonderful friends.

Jack has also been playing lots of Spikeball and has also been playing lots of soccer. Except this week they went sledding for Youth Activities and he crashed pretty hard and has been pretty banged up and sore all week. But he is one tough kid and will not let a little, old sled stop him from playing his favorite sports. He is taking a Constitution class at our homeschool co-op and also trying his hand at stage fighting with swords.  He has many interests.  Another recent obsession is the stock market and he has been working his way through a pile of library books on the subject.

Peter loves SPIKEBALL! He also moved up to a higher rank in his flips class. He sold three Pokemon cards this week. (It's his new favorite thing to do.) He made around $30! We got a little salesman over here. Peter has been researching the types of chickens he wants to get. We're hoping to to get some this upcoming week. He is crossing his fingers that his parents will let him get peacocks as well. (not likely) He planned and hosted a Pokemon trading party this week and executed it perfectly.  All 9 of the kids invited had a wonderful time and the house was still standing after all was said and done so we'll call it a success.

Since we last wrote we have had some very fun adventures, including trips to Vegas, St. George, and New York.  It helped the longest short month (February) go by much faster.  Here are some highlight pics from our travels:

Alex's favorite poutine place.  Pomme Frits.  A literal hole in the wall with excellent food!

Peter in the Egyptian room at the Met.

Ian was in his element in the city and loved every moment of it.

When in New York, ride the subway.

The Lego store!

The Harry Potter store.  A magical place, indeed!

A serendipitous find.  And old bookstore.  We were giddy!

New York brownstones.  Just wandering.

Ian and Daisy at the Met.

More Met.

Wicked on Broadway.  Dream come true!

The early morning flower market on 28th st.

Cronuts.  I don't even have words.

Our favorite ice cream place in the whole world.

Dad and Ian at Six.

Times Square.

Another subway pic.  It was cold in New York too!

The Brooklyn library.

An arch in Brooklyn commemorating the Civil War.

The Pokemon madness.

Birthday treats with Moses.

Birthday dinner.

Catchin' some rays in St. George.

Nilsson News

 I haven't been on here in awhile but I feel like there isn't a whole lot to report.  February is the shortest month of the year but definitely feels like the longest.  We have been cold, cold, cold, but thankfully there has been snow along with the cold.  With the hope of helping to usher in the spring, I have started a few of my early seeds and a couple of them have sprouted!  Yay for green!

Garrett went to LA for four days for a work conference and he got to enjoy some sunshine and warm weather.  The kids and I survived while he was gone and tried to entertain ourselves as best we could.

Addy has been heavily involved in the high school choir, Bonnevaires.  Last night, they put on their annual dinner show and we were happy to have grandma and grandpa and Ian join us there.  It was so fun and Addy did a terrific job especially on her solo pieces.

Emerson has been wood carving things but just recently turned his attention to metal working.  He is very eager to build a forge so he can make his own knives and machete.  Who knows where this is going to lead to!  He has been enjoying his scout troop and survived his snow cave camp.  He said his cave only got down to zero degrees and he was quite toasty.

Eliza now has a bunny.  I real live, fluffy, breathing one.  His name is Opie and she loves him like crazy.  Her fiddling is going really well and her ear is quite astounding.

Henry can't get enough of cars and Legos.  He can name every fancy car out there and is constantly on the look out for fancy cars on the road.  There aren't too many of those on Idaho Fall's roads however.  Henry told me that when he grows up he is going to be a car collector.  He is going to build a barn that won't be for animals but for his machines.  I asked him how he was going to pay for all his cars and machines.  He answered that he was going to be a rocket scientist.  I don't doubt it!

Millie has taken off with her reading thanks to Gerald and Piggie.  She is preparing for her first piano recital and is a little nervous about it.  I told her we could play duets and then I'd be able to go up with her.  She liked that idea so we chose some songs that had a duet part.  Only after a day of practicing, she had MY part figured out on the piano!  I can't keep up.

Speaking of keeping up, Dane is all over the place and doing all he can to try to walk.  He pulls himself up on everything and only holds on with one hand.  Usually he will let go just to see if can stay standing.  He's in the phase of a lot of head bonks and bruises.

Life is good and we're counting down to spring!  Now for some pictures!

Henry's lego and car obsession combined!

When winter gets long, go to the library!

When winter gets long, do yoga!

When we were down to -27, there was thick ice on the inside of all our windows and doors.

Cute, fluffy Opie.

When the winter gets long, go to California.

Addy's dinner show.  She was a great waitress.

When the winter gets long, just play with Dane!

 

Flake Funnies

Well we have spent the at several weeks fighting off "the wog" in every variety but I think that we may be on the mend for the most part. 

Robin received 9 Fancy Nancy books from Aunt Cynthia for Christmas so we have been fully immersed in fancy-ness and big words.  It is not uncommon for her to run into a room exclaiming something like, "mom, there is something terrible in the greenhouse," or "that is so incredible." 

Rand is still fully immersed in all things construction and is thrilled when he can take his diggers and dumpers to play in real dirt and sand. 

James is increasing his vocabulary even though I seem to be the only one that understands him.  He loves being a big kid especially if Rand will do something with him. The other evening he saw Scott driving up.  He jumped down from his chair, looked at Rand and exclaimed, "Ra! 'Mere!" (Rand, come here) and he raced to the front door.

Scott's new boss started last week so we'll see how that works out.  Hopefully it will take a load off of Scott's shoulders.

Hope to see you guys soon!! Keep the baby and other kid pics and videos coming. We all love to see them!!