One More Outing...

We couldn't give up on our weekend just yet...

The kids had Monday off from school, too.  I had a ton of stuff to get done: music to practice, vacuuming, funeral preparations (Grandpa Bob), Costco run, etc.  But the vitamin D to be had was just too good to pass up.  So while at Costco, we grabbed some sandwiches and chips for a picnic lunch.  Also at Costco, Matthew decided to close the door to the van all by himself, which resulted in a smashed hand.  He cried for about a minute, then decided that his purple mangled fingers were fine, and that we should get on with our day.  I'm kind of glad (almost) that it happened, because now at least I know that he does feel pain.  I wasn't sure before.  Now I know that he's just incredibly tough.

We then hiked our little tushies over to the zoo (which was super crowded - for our little "zoo"), so we found a quiet spot under my favorite tree to eat our lunch.  Then we went to the barn for a little goat smooching.

Haley was babysitting, so it was just the four kids for this pic:

We had to check out the horses.  One of them is named Jake, and the other one we're not sure, but the kids decided to call him Jack.

Matthew just couldn't pet, scratch, and kiss these little guys enough.  I'm sure he received some great bacteria.  But I guess it will just make him stronger, let's hope.

Grace looks unhappy in this picture, but she's really just hot.

It didn't take her long to get in on the action, with Andrew's help.

We rounded the corner and they saw the playground.  It didn't take them long to split!

I was trying to get a good picture of Matt for Grandma's wall.  I was surprised he actually smiled, seeing as how he had just screamed for the last half hour because we had left the playground.

The river otters were the crowd pleaser.  They were very playful today!

Even though our little "zoo" isn't much, my kids love it.  And it was just good to be outside.  We spent the rest of the day playing in the backyard with our new water guns.  We even filled up the little baby pool!  Let's hope this weather sticks around.  Grace even got a sunburned face.  The boys just got dark tans.  Sometimes I forget that I'm not the only one who needs sunscreen around here!

Easter Weekend

We had a 5-day weekend for Easter, and on Friday it was freezing cold and snowy.  We had plans to go to the zoo, but thank goodness some friends called and wanted to meet down at the gym, set up the volleyball net, and let the kids go at it.  It was a marvelous morning, and the kids got out enough energy to actually be quiet for a few hours.  We had a blast.

***

Easter morning was a success, even though Matt didn't want to wake up.  He's not very good at waking up unless it's his idea to do so.  The boys were bestowed with water guns (big ones), Grace got "Tangled", Haley got Just Dance 2, and Matthew was finally happy with his new drawing pad.  It lights up and everything.  We followed with the annual Easter Egg Hunt in the living room.  Matthew was very pleased, and everybody found all their eggs, although one last egg wasn't found until after church.  There's always that last one, right?

***

Joey has had wiggly front teeth for quite a while now.  By the time we needed to go to church, it was just hanging there.  I could see the top of it, and it was sideways.  But it hurt to pull on it, so we thought we'd corner one of the dentists in our ward and have them yank on it a bit.  But right in the middle of the passing of the Sacrament, Joey (who was sitting one row in front of me with Momma Harris), jumped up and exclaimed, "Mom!  Look!"  He held out that tooth for all to see, and we had three rows of patrons very quietly cheering for him.  I'm sure Daddy (who was presiding today) was so happy that his family was the cause of all the irreverence today.

Easter's Comin'/ A Reunion

Easter is sneaking up on me again.  Honestly - I do not know how I am surprised every single year.  Perhaps it's because Easter falls in a different month/week/day each year!  Too bad we can't just agree on a day.  That would make it easier on me.

I did manage to pick up some eggs and dye.  This was Joey's first year of dying eggs, because before we weren't sure if he should be around them.  Which means it was Grace and Matthew's first time, too.  We had a lovely time, although it only took a few minutes.  I didn't want five dozen eggs, or something excessive like that - so each kid only did 6 eggs.  And, since they each had 3 colors, they only had to do two batches each.  But it was fun while it lasted!

***

I was SO excited when I got a call from my high school friend, Anne.  She came up from CA for a few days, and I got to visit with her on her uncle's farm.  It snowed (in April, of course) the night before and during our little jaunt out there.  But we made it, and Matt and Grace tore around the beautiful house while Anne and Craig and I talked for an hour and a half -- which turned out to be not enough time, by far.  I think we needed, like, 4 more days or so.  It was so good to catch up and see my friend again.  I hope they will be able to visit a lot in the future, and I wouldn't mind at all going down to sunny California!

It's crazy how long it's been -- and how far we've come!  We could sure do some damage in high school, but now we're just two mommies (ahem -- in their 30's!) enjoying our families.  We've gained a few wrinkles (but we still look darn good!), but we've also gained a lot of wisdom, so I think that's completely awesome.  Life is good.  Can't wait to see you again, Anne!

A Beautiful Saturday

You never know what the weather is going to be like around here, especially in the Spring.  We had an unexpected great day on Saturday, so we spent most of the evening playing in the front yard with the neighborhood kids.  Joey worked on his basketball skills, and this was after going on a 2 1/2 mile walk with me - I walked fast, so he ran most of the way and didn't complain once!

Grace's job was to look cute, as usual.  And do everything the boys were doing, of course.

 Andrew's scout group cleaned up the field next to the church, and Andrew came home with this treasure.  He wasn't sure why somebody would want to get rid of it.  It now occupies a space in my garage, waiting for some adventurous soul to bring it back to life.

 Matthew amazed the neighborhood kids with his genius in all things alphabet.  They were simply stunned that he knew all his letters and also could write them all.  We're stunned too, and we don't claim any credit.  He's just a kid who gets really obsessed with things, and luckily he picked something academic.  At least it's no longer garbage cans that he loves.

Dinner Conversation

Before I go to bed tonight, I have to write down the conversation the kids had at dinner (because I'll wake up tomorrow and I'll have forgotten).  It started with Andrew telling us that the neighbor boy is getting pretty good at guitar.  The rest went like this:

Mom: "Well, maybe someday, you guys can have a band."

Andrew: "Maybe."

Grace: "Andrew can play the drums, and Joey can sing, and I'll be the dancer."

Joey: "What will you do, Mom?"

Mom: "I could play the keyboard!"

Grace: "No, you'll be the watcher."

Joey: "By the time we have a band, you'll be really old.  Like eighty.  And you won't want to come watch, because you will say it's too loud.  Old people don't like loud."

So I guess there goes our plan for a band.  I'll just be too old to be the watcher.

Baby Shower

We decided to have a little fun this weekend, and throw a baby shower for a friend from church.  Tara Beynon is having her second little girl in a few weeks.  We had a great turnout, with lots of ladies from the ward.  Many of the brought their daughters, so even Gracie had friends to play with.  We kicked the boys out, of course, for a few hours.  There's not much I like better than to spend a fun afternoon with friends and family!

This cake was made by Heather Mielke - she is amazingly talented in many areas!

 Tara and her daughter, Halle:

I think everybody had a great time, and Tara had all kinds of cute new baby girl clothes!

Random Things I Don't Want to Forget

I couldn't sleep last night.  It was about 12:30 am, and all of the sudden, I heard the strangest sound.  It was sort of a laughing/crying sound, and I didn't know who was making it.  I heard it a few more times, and figured out that it was laughing intermingled with talking.  So I got up and went into the boys' room, and there was Joey, sitting straight up on his bed, eyes half way open, with his pillow on the bottom of his bed.  I thought maybe that was the problem, but when I put his pillow back and told him to lay down, he started laughing hysterically again.  It really freaked me out, because I could tell he wasn't awake, and his eyes were glazed and half open.  It reminded me of when Haley used to halucinate and sleep walk.  She would scream that there were spiders all over -- she would even point to them.  But she was sleeping.  She would get up and do strange things in the middle of the night.  Luckily, she grew out of it.  Maybe Joey is just at the beginning.  He would laugh and laugh last night, then he said, "That is SO small!" and laughed again.  Then he said, "I want to do my piano!" then laughed again.  When he talked, I could tell that it was "sleep talk" because his speach was slurred and heavy.  He finally stopped, so I went back to bed, smiling.  Finally I fell asleep, and he didn't believe me when I told him in the morning.

One of Matt's favorite toys is this little car that has a magnetic writing pad on it.  He gives it to us and tells us which letter to write, over and over and over.  He loves his letters.  He finally must have gotten sick of waiting for us to be able to write for him, so he taught himself how to write the alphabet.  And he does a great job.  They all look wonderful, and I might just stick him in 1st grade next year, because he can read, too.  I don't know how I'm going to keep up with that kid.  He also keeps Grandpa hopping.  Yesterday, he took off at Target, and ran toward the exit (which, of course, leads right into the street).  Grace had to try to stop him, and Grandpa had to yell at a stranger to grab him before he got out.  Little stinker.  That kid needs a leash.  It reminded me of when Joey used to take off as soon as we got into Target, and I would have to run full speed to catch him -- which, trust me, is very embarrasing and draws a lot of attention to yourself. 

April Fools Day, and a Birthday Party

April Fools Day is one of my favorite days of the year.  I start planning days, sometimes weeks, in advance.  This week was pretty busy, so my family had it easy.  Haley's joke was nothing.  I laughed when she told me that she was waving her hands around in front of her as she made her way to the bathroom in the morning.  She was expecting to run into something, but she didn't.  And that's hilarious.

The boys were gift wrapped in their rooms.  We closed their door and gift wrapped the entire thing.  I was just glad nobody had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  It was really funny standing in the hallway while they whispered to each other and discussed how to break free.  They weighed their options, including shooting it with nerf darts, kicking through it, and throwing something at it.  They finally decided that their light sabers would do the trick.

I also changed all the cereal around, so when they poured their cereal in the morning, a different one than the one they picked came out.  They had fun sorting it all out, and checking boxes to see which one was the one they really wanted.

I had plans to steal Ben's car again this year and park it a few blocks away.  I even swiped his extra set of car keys several days in advance.  But the boys had their friends come over after school, so I never got the chance.  He said it's a good thing, because I wouldn't want to unleash his power of payback (which is probably true).

***

Matthew had his first ever birthday party invitation.  Today was the big day, and he's been so excited.  He picked out a present for Avery, who turned two this week.  She is a friend from nursery.  As he was picking her present out, he also found a few for himself.  "This one for Avery.  This one mine!"

We wrapped the present and combed his hair, and off we went to Musikgarten.

This is Avery:

Matt had a wonderful time as the only boy at the party.  He also discovered some new treats, such as gigantic rice krispies shaped like Mickey Mouse ("This is big!!), and peanut and jelly sandwiches ("This is sandwich.  I like this sandwich!").