Coloring Easter Eggs and Egg Hunt

Alyssa jumped right in!

Spencer was having a blast

 Caleb put one egg in a cup of dye, then decided to let the other kids decorate his eggs.  Parker did his eggs fast, so he could get back to his movie. 

This is how Caleb dyed eggs

Alyssa showing off her egg

We came out front Saturday evening, and found a bunch of Easter Eggs hidden all over the front yard. 

It's a race

 It didn't take long to find the eggs. 

Look at that smile!

 Although, when we got in the van for church on Sunday, Alyssa noticed one piece of candy balanced on the rear window wiper blade. 

It's cold

This morning as we were getting ready for school the kids were all really cold.  Caleb asked me to please turn on the heater.  I told him it was on, but it's just getting cold.  He wanted me to turn it up, but I told him it takes a lot of money to heat our house and I didn't want to turn it up.  I never stopped to check the thermostat to see though, because I was rushing around trying to make sure everyone was ready.  I did glance at it just before we all left the house and the thermostat said 61 degrees!  No wonder everyone was freezing this morning.  I switched the heater off then back on, and hoped it would heat up while I was gone to school for the sing-a-long.  When I came back two hours later it had warmed up to 62 degrees.  I sent Keith a quick text explaining what was going on.  When he had a minute he called and diagnosed the problem over the phone, and told me to use space heaters until he could come home and fix it.  He did get home early and got it fixed, something about the temperature sensor being dirty and not working correctly.  He's so great! 

On a happier note - the weather was perfect for sledding today.  It was probably about 40 degrees, sunny, and hadn't yet melted the snow we got earlier in the week.  The kids got out of school early, so we headed out right after piano lessons.  It's great to live in walking distance of a good sledding hill.  I was surprised that no one else had been sledding on the hill yet, but I guess they've all been busy like us. 

Spencer really loves sledding

 This year Spencer just took off down the hill all on his own without any fear.  He loved trying all the things the other kids were doing. 

Parker and G racing down the hill

The boys with a snowman I made (N's new best friend)

 I didn't notice how cool the clouds were today until  I looked back at these photos. 

Alyssa had a great time sledding and making new tracks

What I didn't capture on camera:  Spencer kicking apart my snowman, the snowball fight I lost when all the boys decided to attack me, Caleb and N giving Spencer and Alyssa rides back down the field as we headed home.  It's days like this that make motherhood so rewarding and remind me why I do the things I do. 

Lemonade Stand

 Last week while the kids were playing with friends, they decided they really wanted to have a lemonade stand or bake sale, depending which one was doing the talking.  They got so excited and printed flyers to put up around the neighborhood.  They were a little disappointed when they had to take the flyers down and wait a few days for better weather.  So, this Tuesday they finally got to have their sales.  Most of the kids on the street came by, several times, to support them.  They even had a scout leader and some friends from school stop by.  They sold lemonade, limeade, Koolaid Jammers, cookies, brownies, cupcakes, ice cream bars, and ice cream sandwiches.  They had a great time planning this, and it was a big success! 

 They didn't want to do it together, so we had two different stands set up.  This might have worked in their favor because most people didn't just buy something from one stand, but visited both to be fair to them. 

Parker and Grant even had another friend come and help, and gave him some of the profits. 

Alyssa lost her first tooth

On Wednesday night Caleb was talking about his loose tooth.  On Thursday we were talking at lunch about how many teeth Caleb and Parker had lost.  Up to this point Alyssa had not lost any teeth yet.  Later that afternoon I was upstairs.  While I was there I heard Caleb yelling something, but couldn't tell what.  A minute later Alyssa was right outside my door talking about a lost tooth.  So, I asked if Caleb had lost a tooth.  She said Caleb didn't lose a tooth, she was the one who had lost a tooth.  She had already put it in a bag and had it under her pillow along with a note (because in the book "The Night Before the Tooth Fairy" the child writes a note to the tooth fairy).  She was so excited for the tooth fairy to come visit her, and happy this morning when she discovered the tooth fairy did come!

Later in the day Caleb came home from piano with a caramel and a Laffy Taffy.  While he was chewing them he asked me to grab him a bowl.  His tooth came out with the sticky treats!  So the tooth fairy visited two of my children last night. 

Easter

My friend put together a packet about having a Christ-centered Easter.  She showed us at our last Relief Society Meeting a few of the things she does during the week before Easter to put the focus on Christ.  We used a few of her ideas, and enjoyed thinking of Jesus Christ's life, Atonement, and Resurrection. 

We colored eggs Friday night and had an egg hunt on Saturday morning.  Here are the kids showing off their finds. 

Playdates for Alyssa

 Last fall I contacted a few friends that also have girls Alyssa's age, to see if they wanted to get the girls together to play.  For most of the school year, they got together about once a week to play and often had an organized activity.  One day the girls came to our house and were excited to get to paint.  It has been so fun for Alyssa to play with all these girls. 

She really enjoys art projects.  After the other girls left she gathered up all of their paint and continued painting on her own for a while. 

A Wedding

The happy couple

Today we went to my friend's wedding.  She and I have been friends for as long as I can remember.  It was fun to be there for her special day.  Thanks to Keith for taking the day off work so we could go. 

I have many happy childhood memories playing cards at her house, having sleepovers, and waking up early to deliver newspapers then riding to buy donuts at the grocery store.  I loved hanging out at her house, and was always welcomed by all of her family.  I am so happy that she has found someone to share her life with, and consider him a lucky man. 

We saw her this summer at my Mom's house.  She came with us to the rodeo and helped with my kids.  She said that her future hubby had been asking her questions about how her brothers-in-law had asked her dad's permission to marry her sisters.  So I was not surprised when I heard she was engaged. 

Thanks to my aunt who watched the kids while we went to the temple.  They had so much fun bouncing around on her bouncy horses.  Alyssa cried when the horses had to take a break so we could get the kids dressed for the luncheon.  Parker asked if we could go back every Saturday to visit.

The Atonement: After All We Can Do

Earlier this week I called a friend to follow up on some information she might have that I needed. After I left her a message, I realized that I had another place I could look for the information. I found the information I needed a little while later. She called me back a couple of hours later, just when I needed her. I was feeling overwhelmed with my new calling and tired because it was mid afternoon, and talking to her lifted my spirits. I think that is the real reason I called her that day, and why she returned my phone call. She shared with me this talk given by Brad Wilcox at Education Week 2009. I downloaded the audio, and listened to the talk that night while I washed dishes. We knew Brad Wilcox when we were at BYU, so it makes it even better listening to him when I actually know him.

What would you do for a friend?

A while ago my sister asked me if it was hard to ask people to watch my kids. I said it was not hard to ask them. She said that I must have good friends, and I feel like I do. The best of which is of course my husband, but there are others out there, too.

Today we had Stake Conference. We stayed after to help clean up the chairs. I had gone onto the stage with the boys, and Alyssa in my arms. The chairs were nearly cleaned up when Alyssa threw up! Keith was on the other side of the room and did not see what was going on. My friend Dawn was also on the stage, and saw my plight. She quickly ran to the bathroom to get paper towels. I sent one of the kids to find Keith. Dawn came back with paper towels. She handed some to me and then proceeded to wipe Alyssa off and clean up the carpet. I was just amazed at her help. I think I might have gone to get paper towels, but I do not think I would actually clean up the mess. Keith finished cleaning up the floor and took Alyssa to the bathroom to wash her off. I am grateful for Keith's help. I do not do well with messes, especially on carpet. I just do not feel like I ever get it clean. I am so glad that she did not throw up during conference, and that it did not get on anyone but she and I. Alyssa seems to be feeling better now, and has gone for about 5 hours since she last threw up. At about 5:30 I realized I did not have a plan for dinner. I had just been watching Alyssa to see if she was going to throw up. Keith offered to make dinner, and we had some wonderful orange chicken.