The Powells

How to Catch a Leprechaun…

Michelle — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 22:36:41 +0000

Spencer came home from school every day this week with a new idea of how to catch a leprechaun. All I can say is that these ideas came from books read at school and classmates talking about it, because we have never made a big deal out of St. Patrick’s Day except for our yearly feast of Corned Beef and Cabbage (aka. New England Boiled Dinner). So as he is telling me how his trap was going to work and what he needed, I told him he had to come up with a diagram…a blue print if you will…this is what his plan looked like:

He informed me that as the leprechaun ran into the rubberband you see in the diagram it would slingshot him backwards into the other box and flip the box up on end so he couldn’t get out. He was going to put his fools gold he got from school on Monday as the bait, but we couldn’t find it, so we made a trek to the store for some gold coins instead. The finished project turned out a little different than the diagram, but there was a slingshot involved and he was so sure that we would catch a leprechaun. Here is his finished “Leprechaun Trap”:

Then the leprechaun set off the trap, but left more gold and a treasure hunt instead that Spencer and Josey absolutely LOVED! They had so much fun following the clues and were so excited to find the pot of “gold” at the end!

We’re Going to the zoo, Zoo, ZOO!

Michelle — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 06:30:24 +0000

We had the day off from school and decided to go to the Hogle Zoo with The Carr family. Hannah is in Spencer’s class at school and good friend. It was 64 degrees, with a breeze and perfect! Warm enough that the animals were all out and active, but not too hot that it was miserable or sweltering and there weren’t a ton of people! All Josey wanted to see was the snakes at the reptile house (she’s looking at the map below to figure out how to get there!) Spencer wanted to see the crocodile and the elephants, but I think his MUGG shot next to the gorilla head speaks volumes! Izzy LOVED all of it. She would pat my shoulder and say, “Mom, MOM!” and then point at whatever caught her fancy. I LOVE the look on her face with the brass gorilla! Priceless! She was so much fun there!

A Quick Winter Getaway

Michelle — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:23:50 +0000

We took Friday (Feb 24th) off and decided to get out of the smoggy valley and get into the mountains. We booked our condo in Midway, UT and headed there for 2 nights! We swam in the pool, went tubing at Soldier Hollow, swam some more, watched movies, played games, read books and just chilled…and enjoyed being together as a family without any other distractions! It was a much needed getaway and a lot of fun! Izzy LOVED the swimming pool…she’s a little daredevil and must be part fish because she didn’t want to leave! Josey loved the hot tub and would have preferred that to the swimming pool, except I gave her a time limit. Spencer loved the tubing hill that had bumpy jumps and went super fast! Mom loved watching the kids enjoy themselves, and Dad loved sleeping in, napping, catching a few zzzz’s while watching a movie with the kids…just catching up on his beauty sleep!

Valentine’s Festivities

Michelle — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:42:55 +0000

The strawberries at Costco were too big, too red, and too perfect to pass up for dipping in some chocolate…one of my children’s favorite…okay, really my favorite! We had a lot of fun dipping, swirling, decorating and eating these delicious treats. By the end Spencer and Josey were pros at it and I had mastered the art of the drizzle decorating. We decided to take and share these yummy treats with several friends and neighbors because anyone who has dipped strawberries knows they are only good for about a day and a half! What a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s love and they didn’t stick around too long in our house! Check out the final product…not bad right!?!??

Our other Valentine project is Josey’s favorite thing ever…frosted sugar cookies! I have the best recipe for the softest, fluffiest cookies and my kids love to decorate them their own creative ways. I must admit that I have a weakness for these delicious treats like Josey does! We invited The Hutchings over to help us decorate the dozens of cookies that I had made. Kira and Olivia loved to sprinkle on oodles of sprinkles, and Spencer was all over the writing with the gel frosting on his cookies. It is a fun tradition that we look forward too each and every year!

She’s a Dancing Queen

Michelle — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:27:10 +0000

While getting Josey’s tights and leotard on for dance today, Izzy tried to put on Josey’s dance skirt and had a major meltdown when I put it on Josey. So to curb the tantrum, I pulled out one of Josey’s old leotards and put tights and a skirt on her. After she was dressed she did a twirl and then we turned on music and danced! When we went to Josey’s dance class today she knew she was “all that” and had to do some dancing there too! What a cutie!

My Basketball Star Scored!

Michelle — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:50:30 +0000

Spencer started playing Jr. Jazz Basketball with a bunch of boys in our neighborhood a few weeks ago. The first week he ran on the outskirts of the action and the boys going after the ball. The second week he played god defense, but still wouldn’t go after the ball. This week he scored his FIRST BASKET EVER!!! Yay for him! He’s number 25 in the pictures (which is cool because that was the number Chris had when he played ball growing up!)

Merry Christmas Mickey Mouse!

Michelle — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:30:29 +0000

So 3 days before Christmas Chris came home from work and said to me, “I think we should go to Disneyland for Christmas.” WHAT??!!?? is what my mind said, “Really? Okay.” is what I said to him. So I spent the next several days working out the logistics of a family road trip 700 miles to California over the holiday break. I am SO glad that we did it! It was crazy busy with boat loads of people there, but was such a blast for our little family and fun times for the kids, even Izzy!

Spencer was tall enough to ride all of the rides this time and Josey could ride everything except Indiana Jones (although she was scared to death of everything, even Peter Pan!) Some of my favorite moments of the 3 days there: Josey did not want to ride any of the rides…she would take one look at them and say they looked scary and that she was going to throw up if we made her ride on them. Her very first ride was Peter Pan and she was freaked out. A teenager in front of us told her she would give her 2 quarters if she didn’t like the ride. By the time we got off Josey was crying uncontrollably and the teenager stayed and delivered on the two quarters. She only wanted to meet all the characters: Mickey, Minnie, the Princesses, Tinkerbell, Goofy, all except Sullie from Monsters, Inc.–NOT interested! Spencer wanted to ride all the roller coasters. Chris and Spencer would go ride the roller coasters while the Girls waited in lines to meet the characters. They rode the Matterhorn several times, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain. In fact he rode Splash Mountain 5 times back to back as a single rider getting wetter and wetter the more he rode. He loved the freedom! Izzy loved Tigger, Pooh Bear and Eeyore. While waiting for Spencer on Splash Mountain, they were coming back from a break and Izzy saw them and with arms out in front of her chased after them, Tigger came out behind her and saw her, following her mimicking her arms and she stole the show and made everyone there smile! Josey at that age wouldn’t let the characters come near her, Izzy let them even touch her without freaking out! She was fun! It was crazy busy, but the magic that children experience while there is priceless…I am so glad that I worked out all the logistics!

Christmas 2011

Michelle — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:28:44 +0000

Every kid’s passage through life needs a ‘crying on Santa’s lap’ picture, and Izzy didn’t disappoint! She was NOT happy!

Josey apparently told Santa that she wanted a doll with blue shoes and a blue dress with the prince that goes with her…unfortunately that didn’t translate to Santa’s Helpers and on Christmas morning after all but the last present was opened and she didn’t get her doll with the blue shoes and dress, she stormed out of the room crying and slammed her bedroom door! Jeesh! Santa was in BIG trouble!!!

Spencer had his whole list ready to tell Santa with a paper that he created while in Ohio with Mema and knew exactly what he wanted for Chrismas. Santa had a better idea and didn’t bring him anything he wanted on his list and Spencer was thrilled with that he got! I love when Santa knows best and knocks it out of the park!

We went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the beautiful lights and enjoy one of my favorite Christmas traditions. We went to dinner at Settebellos (an authentic Italian pizzeria) first, then walked around the area and through the lights. It was freezing cold the night that we went, but my favorite sounds were the “ooooohhhhs and aaaahhhs” coming from my children when they would see the bright Christmas lights, the nativity and the LDS temple.

Then there was Christmas!

My kids are at the most perfect age for Christmas this year…Spencer got Imaginext Aircraft and a telescope. Josey got the fun castle and a bunch of princess stuff, dolls, dress ups, games…what more could a girl ask for?! And Isabelle got the Weeble-Wobble go round that plays music so she can dance and she loves! As our final present we had them open an envelope which had a picture of the Disneyland Castle on it and left the evening of Christmas to drive to Disneyland for 5 days for Christmas…they were so surprised and so excited they couldn’t contain themselves!

His 1st “Meet” as a gymnast…Gold!!

Michelle — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:34:40 +0000

Spencer had his first “mock” gymnastics meet with all the boys in his gym. They were scored as if they had been in a real meet. He did really good…1st place in all 5 events and Gold Medal for All-Around for his level!! He was only tenths of a point behind the boys that are on the Boys Team…I was really impressed with his skills and putting them together and how focused and serious he got when it came time to compete! His coach Luke Shettell is a great guy. He puts up with their endless energy and knows how to motivate, teach and keep them in control. Spencer will do anything for his coach. Now to see what he wants to do next…hmm…the olympics??!!?? Don’t know if he/we are that serious or not!

She’s WaLkiNG! Heaven help us!

Michelle — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 05:19:04 +0000

She finally did it! Izzy’s been taking a few tentative steps on her own and has been walking around the house behind her stroller walker for the last few months hours on end, but she finally took off on her own and there is no stopping her now! She’s thrilled with her self and thinks she is HOT stuff! She follows her brother and sister around every where and loves that she can keep of with them, almost. It won’t be long before she is running instead of walking! Heaven help us and the house!