Our J Squared Fam: MARCH 2018

This month of March 2018 was filled with all sorts of fun! Since before planning to move, Jonathan and I decided to put a basketball cement pad into our new backyard and so finally after 3 months of living in our new house, Jon started digging up the sod and digging into the dirt to level out our side yard. Thankfully, his Dad was able to make the time to come visit us during this project to help Jonathan finally pour the cement and level it off nicely with his cement-laying expertise. What a blessing Dad Ralph, and Bro. Bailey were in the planning process. Bro. Bailey is a nice older man in our ward who has managed many construction development projects for his career and he offered his advice and many tools to help Jon get the ground zoned and squared off with the proper leveling frames for the panned cement layers. The kids had such a fun time helping Daddy shovel dirt, level the rock layers, shovel pebbles all over in the prepping process and were SUCH BIG HELPERS! It made all the difference to have help because at the time, I was about 37 weeks pregnant with our 5th little one and I couldn't do much heavy laboring at all. See the preggo pictures for reference!!

We were just so thankful and so blessed to have all the help we did! We couldn't have done the final cement laying without the help of Aunt Liz, in her wader boots, Dad Ralph, Jonathan and the help of three or so stalwart young men in our ward. They offered up their time, nice athletic shoes getting some cement on them and man-power and we are so very thankful for all the help! Although the second wooden frame collapsed under the pouring pressure, causing piles of cement to pour out onto the grass and to the sidewalk, thankfully, the brethren were able to get the problem managed, by reinforcing the frame again and all within a matter of minutes, before the cement hardened and solidified. It was a nice life lesson, that although sometimes things may appear to be strong, we all still have weaknesses and we have to be vigilant and guard against our weak spots against the adversary so we can ward off his temptations trying to bring us down and away from achieving our eternal potential.

Other fun activities this month included us venturing out with some Classical Conversation Home-school friends to a Civil War Re-enactment Day about 1.5 hours North of our home. It was so neat for the kids to see what both the North and Confederate sides would have worn for their uniforms, learn about their weapons, how their carried their gunpowder and how long it took to load their guns up, learn about their homes and way of life, food they ate, blankets they had and what times were like back then in Texas. We also had the chance of going to the Frisco Discovery Center too for a field trip as well. We sure like to get out and explore and learn together!! Love these kiddos and the blessing it is to have them home-schooled so we can experience some of these special outings and memories together!

Other than that, there are some park and neighborhood "GATOR" shenanigans and some of the moments I never want to forget!

Another highlight or bucket list item for me before we had this next baby girl was that we go on a bike ride as a family to some nice trails. Thankfully, since we still had our passes to Lake Ray Roberts, Jonathan helped my wishes come true, packed us up with the bike trailers and we made a nice day trip out of it on St. Patricks Day!! Even though I was VERRRRY VERRRRRRY pregnant and had to make sure I was safe up some of those hills, I was so glad we had the chance to get out in nature as a family and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, shady paths and outside time together!! LOVE FAMILY TIME! It is the best of time!

Katelyn was so proud of her very own, first baking project for Grandpa Ralph when he visited!! She found an incredibly challenging but amazing looking French Scone recipe in a library book, which required several hours of cutting in butter, flour and layering the dough just right (ALL THIS WITHOUT A PASTRY CUTTER), but they turned out super yummy and she was so proud to make a special dessert for grandpa!! Way to share your baking talents with us Katelyn! I know grandpa felt so special you would go through all that work and trouble for his special time with our family!

The kids decided to create their very own BOOK CLUB, where they get together each week to discuss their favorite books and share what they liked about them. SO CUTE!!!! I didn't orchestrate this at all, and it was so neat to see them all listening to their big sis Katelyn lead them in this great cause and since Katelyn made it so fun, they all really wanted to be a part of it! SO STINKIN ADORABLE!

Nathan's FIRST Baseball season, 7 years old! He even scored the most on his team and won the game ball once too! Way to go Nathan and those speedy quick feet!

This month wouldn't be complete without a PI DAY CELEBRATION!!!

Field Trip to the Plan Symphony Orchestra since we were learning about the sections of an orchestra in CC this semester! We were amazed at the fun, recognizable songs they played including Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park and other favorites! What a fun experience we got to share with friends!