The Beginning of the Ends

Once a month for the past four years we have gone out to pizza with Edwin's work group.

Pizza Days and Journal Club and come to an end.

A stray cat had her kittens in our window well.  We wanted to desperately keep them, but alas, we called animal control and sent the kittens to find good homes.

James has the best FHE lessons.  Here we are throwing paper rocks at our giant Goliath. 

So Fun!

This has been my life for three weeks.  Mother of 3 for eight hours a day.

James went to the Fire station for his final preschool days.  Good times!

John and Liam enjoyed the fire station too, once they got out of the stroller.  I was grateful I arrived with three kids and came home with three kids.

Funky Fridays are so fun!  Grace and Anne wanted to sport some crazy make-up and I thought they had some great ideas.

The kids and I enjoyed a nice morning in Nauvoo while Edwin attended the temple.  We will miss Nauvoo dearly.  We have one more trip planned with a friend in June.

Kent Park Ward Camp-out

The primary kids built this structure with the help of a few adults.  It took the entire camping trip to make it all happen, but oh the joys.

We love to feed the home teachers when they come.  It makes their visits more enjoyable for everyone involved.  This month Edwin made scones and boy, howdy!  They were delicious!

Little Snippets

James and I talked about birthdays today.  He can't wait until John is 3 1/2 so he is big enough to wrestle.  James is 3 1/2.  Then he asked, "Are you a half, mom?"
Mom: "Am I a half like you are three and a half?  Yes, I am a 1/2."
James: "What half are you?"
Mom: "I am 32 and 1/2."
James (laughing hysterically): Wha, ha, ha!  You are so old.  You need Prune Soda."
a few minutes later he continues "Prune soda is for old people, mom."

I just chuckled and walked away from the table. Yep, my kids love me.





Grace is growing plants for school.  John has learned to move chairs and step stools to climb up on things.  He particularly likes to climb up on the kitchen table where the plants are growing.  One sad day I found a poor plant uprooted and eaten.  Grace had to go to school and tell the teacher her baby ate the homework.
What a tale to tell!

This is a photo of the crystal garden Grandma mailed to us to pass the winter months.  We put in on a tall counter so the kids wouldn't disturb it since it was quite fragile. Unfortunately mom attacked it multiple times in one day, so thankfully we snapped a shot before it was completely ruined.  It was great watching the crystals grow.


Uncle Kevin

James likes to tell stories.....it's that stage of life when reality and fantasy are blurred and inseparable.  His stories often begin with, "Uncle Kevin..."  Good ol' Uncle Kevin is often eating copious amounts of food, climbing to daring heights and enjoying all sorts of crazy activities.  I just laugh as I imagine our Uncle Kevin with his latest computer gadget in hand embarking on these wild adventures. We love Uncle Kevin.

We decorated Easter eggs.  Grace is sporting the squid hat she made at the Natural Science Museum. 

John turned 1 on Easter Sunday.  Anne is always snuggling that little boy.  Our friend, Deb, came over to celebrate the big event.  Poor James was recovering from the stomach flu.  

John wasn't very happy with birthday pie and everyone singing to him.  Once he ate the pie and everyone stopped singing he was happy to have all the attention.

Spring means baby chicks at the farm store.  It's one of our annual field trips.

There was also one bunny left to buy, we just pet it.  No pets for this house.

John is loving the outdoors.  He is such a boy, the bigger the stick....the better!

The kids figured out how to all swing at the same time.  I cook, read, or clean while the kids are outside swinging.  Everyone is happy.

Road Trip

 

Spring break was the middle of March.  We took the kids on a road trip to Colorado.  Our lovely Aunt Shanna offered to tend the kids while Edwin and I escaped for a few days.  (Uncle Ben was off in Mexico at the time, but that didn't slow Shanna down!)

 

This is Anne on the castles at our favorite park in Grand Island, NE.

 

No matter the weather we stop here and play for a bit every time we drive across the country.

The kids enjoyed their picture puzzles and super hero ring pops.

John may be too small for picture puzzle books, but he did enjoy a ring pop.

Poor John is just learning how to walk with shoes on.  He prefers to be barefoot, but it's still a bit chilly for that.

I do not know who took all the photos but I'm glad the kids snatched the camera and captured some good memories.

Little Savitri was sick, but Grace tried to help as much as she could.

Grace was definitely this photographer.  Beautiful job.

Aunt Shanna may have been loosing her mind by the end of our visit! 

John was happy to be out of the car!

Aunt Leonora was a big help with all the kids.  We were happy to see everyone for Uncle Ben's birthday.

Technology is the toy of choice in these parts!

Grandpa G did the dishes while Uncle Ben made his own birthday dinner. 

Great pizza party Ben!

Bruce is a wild man.  I don't know how Grace managed to even capture a picture of him!

 

Edwin interviewed for a job in Wyoming. We will be moving there in June!  Thanks to all the family who prayed for us, watched the kids, fed the gaggle of children and tended our frail sick bodies back to health.  We are looking forward to living in the mountains and being a few hours from many of our extended families. 

 It was an eventful spring break in may unexpected ways.

Colorful Art

 Grace and Anne were both chosen artists to represent their classrooms in the Children's Art Exhibit Downtown.  Here are the artists with their work on display.  It's been in the bank all month.  It was an exciting evening as we all attended the art social and treated the artists to snacks.

Grace, Anne, and James all wanted to be a part of the fancy quilt picture.  It's only taken two years to complete this project, but it is lovely. I shipped the quilt to Aunt Kathy to quilt on her machine and she quilted roses throughout.  I am happy with final results and we are eager to begin work on Anne's quilt.

WE LOVE LOTS OF COLOR!

Simple Daily Activities

Dancing to Cotton-eyed Joe is one of our favorite silly activities.  The experience has been greatly improved since these fabulous stick horses (thanks Aunt Jessica) joined the festivities.  The girls especially like that they have boots to wear now too!  We certainly have a bit of Texan in us still. 

Grace voluteered to play a piano solo for the ward talent show this year.  It was her first public performance and she did a great job.  She played an arrangement of "Pomp and Circumstance".

Anne also wanted to participate in the ward talent show.  She performed the Harry Potter Theme Song on her kazoo while wearing her Gryffindor robes.

Here are the boys of the family enjoying the talent show and supporting Grace and Anne.

James taught the family home evening lesson  recently.  The topic was eternal families.  He focused on the line, "families should play together often."  So we played super heroes.

I really like that Edwin used an apron for his super cape as he ran through the house with Johnny.

This was a great family night together.