Thanks for Hitting Our Car!

On the way home from school today, another driver in our neighborhood bumped the back of our car.  It wasn't a big deal, and didn't leave a mark or anything, but the other driver felt bad.

So, he gave the kids each $1 for ice cream treats from the "ice cream man."

They were pretty happy about it all, and wanted to go on another drive around the neighborhood, in hopes that someone else would hit us.

:)

Easter Sunday

We did a "countdown to Easter" of sorts again this year.  Each night, beginning last Sunday, we used pictures and read scriptures about the Savior's last week.  We kept the pictures up on the shelf above the fireplace, and it was a great reminder throughout the week, of what we were really celebrating.

This morning, we woke up and put our resurrection rolls in the oven.  While they baked, we read about the Savior's resurrection, and then we all shared our testimonies about the Savior.  It was really special.

Then we raced to get ready.

I was able to sew Grace a dress, ties for Adam and Josh, and a headband for me.  It all came together so easily.  As cheesy as it sounds, I really feel like it was because I prioritized my talk.  Grace's dress only took 3 hours, which is a record for a slow sewer like me.  ;)

The only thing I didn't finish was a tie for Mike.  Men's ties are a little more complicated than I realized.  He had a tie that matched perfectly, though, so it worked out.

We got ready so quickly, that I failed to get individual pictures of Adam, who was inside getting his hair "approved."

;)

My talk went well, church was wonderful, we came home for naps and Easter dinner (we had ham sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls, potato salad, and strawberries), and then went to the temple for our Easter walk.

I LOVE doing the Easter walk each year, and finding things in nature that represent the sacrifice the Savior made for each of us.

Josh picked a flower, and I couldn't even get upset because he said it was for me.  It was too sweet!

Afterward, we came home and had carrot cake while we watched The Testaments.

It was such a special day.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity we had this week to teach our children about our Savior and share our testimonies that He lives!

The Easter Bunny Came!

For the past 2 years, I have wanted to do the more "secular" parts of Easter (i.e. the Easter Bunny) on Saturday, keeping it separate from Sunday, and the reverent feeling I wanted to be in our home for that special day.

It finally worked out, and it was great!

Grace was SO excited that the Easter bunny would be coming a day early, that she could not sleep.  It was too cute!

The kids woke up to their Easter baskets.  They each got swimsuits, a kite, and candy.

Then they went on an Easter egg hunt throughout our home.  They had so much fun!

Afterward, we had pancakes for breakfast, played, cleaned, sewed, and went shopping.

Well, I sewed, anyways.

;)

I love Easter baskets and egg hunts, but I think that we will continue doing those fun things on Saturday, so we can focus on the Savior on Easter Sunday.

On Friday of Spring Break...

Last night I got a call from the member of the bishopric, asking me to speak in church on Sunday.

He said that he felt inspired that I should speak.

Darn it!  I hate when they throw that "inspired" stuff at ya... how could I turn that down.

;)

I really, really wanted to sew Grace an Easter dress (and ties for the boys and a headband for me), but I knew that preparing a 20-minute talk would take a lot of time.

Especially, since I hadn't started on the Easter clothes yet.

But, I fasted and prayed all day today.  I felt like if I did my talk first, it would all work out.

The talk came together perfectly.

It was about "What Does the Atonement Mean to You."

I remembered stories and experiences that I could share, scriptures and conference talks that all applied.

I wrote it all day, finishing at about 5:00.  Then, I began sewing.

The kids while I did all of this?

Mike took them back to the super-cool park at Town Square that we visited at Christmas-time.

Which (to their happy surprise) had the water feature turned on.

They had a fun picnic, played, and got wet for hours.

When they came home, we had our traditional Friday night movie night.

It was a really fun day for them (and for me, a day of spiritual growth).

I ended up being incredibly grateful at the chance I was given to speak, and the chance I was given to reflect on what the Atonement meant personally to me.


P.S.  Don't tell anyone in my bishopric that.

P.P.S. It's really not that great, but if you want a copy of my talk, just ask in the comments, and I will email it to you.  (This probably only applies to my mom and dad).  ;)

On Thursday of Spring Break...

Mike has today (and the next 4 days) off from work.  So he did the awesome husband thing and went to work on the list of all of the things that needed to be fixed around our apartment.

He's so great!

While he fixed, Adam and Grace baked.

A little background:

On Sunday, Adam asked if he could "experiment" in the kitchen, without me.  I said 'yes', as long as no cooking was involved.

He made the world's most interesting "chip dip."

It consisted of cumin, vinegar, water, Italian seasoning, butter, cream cheese, cinnamon, and ground tortilla chips.

It took all of the love in my body to try that stuff.

I told him how happy I was that he wanted to cook, but we agreed he should use a recipe, until he gets the hang of things in the kitchen.

To start, I let him (and Grace) choose a brownie mix at the store.

They mixed it, baked it, and clean it all up by themselves.

This $2 brownie mix was the highlight of their week, they told me.

I'm going to find some simple recipes for him to start making, since he is so interested in cooking/baking now.

I love that.

Oh, and the brownies were excellent.

Much better than the "chip dip."

;)

On Wednesday of Spring Break...

We played with friends for a long time.

I sure love my kids' friends...

... and the moms of my kids' friends.

;)

On Tuesday of Spring Break...

We went to the library.

Adam read books.

Grace did puzzles.

Josh brushed up on his geography.

And we checked out 32 books and 5 music CDs.

(Good grief!  Is there help for this kind of thing... an "I Can't Say No to a Cute Children's Book" support group???)

We came home, where Josh took a nap.  Adam and Grace made masks and put on a play for me that they wrote titled, "The Lion and His Trainer."

I don't think Broadway is going to pick it up anytime soon, but they sure had fun.

Grace cut an inch and a half off her hair.

She is 5 and hasn't cut it yet, and I was hoping she would escape the whole cutting her hair thang.

But, no.

We brought Adam to Scouts, picked up Mike from work, picked up Adam from Scouts and went to Ben & Jerry's for FREE cone day!

Ben & Jerry sure make some mighty fine ice cream.

On Monday of Spring Break...

We did some spring cleaning today: donated some stuff, organized some stuff, threw some stuff away, and got the house clean.

Then we picked up Mike from work, and went down to the Mirage to see the volcano.

Adam has wanted to see this for years.  

(Me, too).

It.  Was.  Super.  Cool.

We were all loving it.

Then, I turned, and looked at Josh, who looked like this:

The poor guy was terrified, so Mike walked him away.

Poor baby!

Afterward, we stopped inside to look at the rainforest and the fish.

It was a fun day.

Conference + April Fool's!

Conference this year, was kind of 'meh' for us.

Not that the talks weren't good.

The ones I saw were excellent.

It's just that I only saw the talks from one session.

We don't have cable or a converter box, so no TV for us.  We also have the world's slowest internet connection, and I did not want to bring the kids down to the church by myself, so we missed Saturday's conference.

Mike had to work super late Saturday night, so he missed Priesthood session.

Sunday, it came in pretty good on the internet, so we stayed home to watch.  The morning session was wonderful.  However, after lunch when we turned on the afternoon conference, the kids fought the entire time, and it made me grumpy, which made Mike grumpy, which led to us not really getting to watch conference.

The cinnamon rolls were yummy, though.

I feel really guilty about letting contention enter our home, and ruin conference.  I hate that I gave in and got grumpy, too.

But, we've been listening to one conference talk a day, so we will slowly get caught up.

On a happier note, we pranked the kids twice for April Fool's Day before all of the grumpiness began.

Once with telling them that spring break was cancelled.

And the next with giving them "juice" that they were unable to drink.

It was really jello in juice cups.

And since they never get jello, it was a much appreciated prank.

Much more appreciated than the "no spring break" thang.

;)