April Happenings

At the beginning of April we had General Conference.  I love General Conference and I love that my children are starting to recognize the First Presidency.  They hear me pray for President Monson, President Eyring and President Uchtdorf, and they were finally able to put names to faces.  (Tyler still talks about them and wants to know where President Monson goes to church, or what President Monson is doing at different times.)

Although I LOVE Conference, I sure don't get as much out of it as I used to "pre kids."  (Thank goodness I get to read the talks when the Ensign comes out in May.)  We tried coloring books and puzzles (notice the closed captioning got turned on).  Tyler and I made a big track during the girls nap time.







Warmer weather means flip flops!



My birthday is in April and the kids were SO excited for it.  They definitely make celebrating birthdays more fun.

My mom used to make little cakes for us to decorate for her birthday, so I decided to continue the tradition.  Here are 3 little cakes made in pans my mom had as a young girl.



Then they each chose a color of frosting and got to decorate theirs with Easter candy.







We went to IHOP for dinner (no cooking for me-yay!)





Apparently I'm THAT type of parent who is oblivious to what their child is doing who is standing up right next to them.  Here is what Megan was able to do with crayons and the blank wall behind us before Darrell caught her.  (I did ask the waitress if they had a Magic Eraser so that I could attempt to make amends.  She said they'd take care of it and pointed to another spot where someone else's kid had done the same thing.)



Tyler, Emily and Megan each got a candle to blow out on their cake.  (Not sure why Megan looks bored.)  I had a great birthday.

Cousin Time

During Spring Break the kids and I visited my parents.  We had a great time.  

Playing in the sandbox with Laura.





Emily on the slide



The older cousins helped organize an outside Easter egg hung for Emily, Megan and Tyler.  Then they helped them find the eggs.







Pizza-yum!



Lunch time in the lovely, warm sun



The kids LOVED going on four-wheeler rides with Grandpa.





Grandpa, Tyler and Teddy Bear one night after prayers.



Daniel celebrated his 7th birthday early so we could be at his party.





Greg ("Grape" as Tyler calls him) playing "Blanket Monster" with the kids.  He is such a fun uncle.



My mom and I worked on skirts for the girls.  I don't have any pictures of the skirts in progress, but here are some "after shots."

Megan loved twirling and making the skirt spin out (even over her pajamas)



The girls wore their skirts to church today and then wanted to try my high heels on.





We made 4 skirts for Emily and Megan.  We did the purple ones first and then went and bought material for 3-tiered skirts for all of the girl cousins.  We finished Emily and Megan's skirts, but we ran out of time to finish the ones for Laura, Aubrey and Olivia.  Aubrey's and Olivia's will match Emily and Megan's.  Laura's will coordinate with all of them, but be a little different.  It had been a long time since I'd made any type of clothing and it was a lot of fun.



We had such a great time with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  The time went by WAY to fast.

Since this post is called "Cousin Time," I thought I'd include these pictures too, even though they were just taken this past weekend.

My dad's sister Carol has suffered from multiple sclerosis for years.  She has also battled fibromyalgia and scoliosis the last few years and has been in so much pain.  She passed away last Monday and her funeral was held yesterday.  My mom and dad, Greg and his kids (except Nathaniel), and Kimberly and her kids came down to attend the funeral.

We all stayed at a hotel.  Emily, Megan and Tyler enjoyed seeing their cousins again.

Swimming at the hotel



Lunch time.





Darrell took the kids home and I went with the rest of my family to Aunt Carol's funeral, to the cemetery and to the luncheon afterward.  My aunt Carol is such a classy, beautiful woman.  She was always kind, soft-spoken and had a twinkle in her eye.  I admire her strength and positive attitude as she battled her illnesses the last several years.  She never complained and she always had a smile on her face.

Although it was sad to attend her funeral, I was reminded how important families are.  I loved seeing my cousins and I am grateful for my own "cousin time" that I have had (and hope to continue to have) with my cousins throughout my life.  Those bonds and memories are so special and I'm so grateful for the efforts my parents have always made to make sure that we knew our aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents even though we lived far away from them.

Learning

One of the things I loved about teaching is seeing students learn new things and walk out of my classroom at the end of the year knowing tons of things they didn't know when they walked in the door the first day of school.

I also love to see Tyler, Emily and Megan learn new things.

Tyler loves preschool and has learned so much socially and academically the last 2 years.  They recently took a field trip to a nearby fire station.  He was SO excited to go.



Doing puzzles.



We've been able to go to story time at the library and the kids have loved it.



Singing and dancing at story time.



Making leprechaun hats at story time.



The kids love reading books at home.  I often find them getting out the books from the library to read.







I read the kids each a story before nap time (most days), but my favorite thing is gathering on our bed at the end of each day to read together as a family.  The kids take turns sitting on our laps and Darrell reads the story out loud.  The kids got these books for Christmas and we love them.

 

 

Behold Your Little Ones

Sometimes my days consist of things like this:  

emptied and scattered junk drawer

toys

toys

and more toys

Bear flung up on pantry

Pulling off many, many velcro-ed parts to file folder games

Two "naughty girls" who were not supposed to be out of their own beds.

And it seems like I'm always saying phrases that start with,  "Don't..."  "Stop..."  "Quit..."  "Leave....alone."  Or I'm addressing potty mouths (Poop, poopy, stinky, etc. are THE most hilarious words. Ever.)  It seems like I'm grouchy.  A lot.  And I don't like that.  And I'm trying to do better.  But it takes time...and patience..and more opportunities (oh joy) to be a more patient mom.  Maybe I'll blog about that another time.

But besides my shortcomings, I do feel very blessed to be a mom to these 3 little ones.  I found this quote in "Teaching, No Greater Call."  (A little set up for those not familiar with the Book of Mormon:  After Jesus Christ was crucified and resurrected, he appeared to another group of believers on the American Continent.  The people were so faithful and believing that Jesus was able to teach the people wonderful things, perform many miracles and bless their little children.)

When the resurrected Savior ministered to the Nephites, He showed His great love for little children:

“He took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. …

“And he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones.

“And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them” (3 Nephi 17:21, 23–24).

Referring to this account, Elder M. Russell Ballard said, “Clearly, those of us who have been entrusted with precious children have been given a sacred, noble stewardship, for we are the ones God has appointed to encircle today’s children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are” (“Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children,”Ensign, Apr. 1994, 60). (Teaching, No Greater Call, 108.)

Picture Source

I do feel a desire to "encircle {my} children with love and the fire of faith and an understanding of who they are."  And in spite of my weaknesses, I do some have some "Drops of Awesome"(see post here.) in my day.  I love when I hear the kids singing "I Am a Child of God." (Listen to it here.) or "Follow the Prophet."  (Listen to it here.) or they mention President Monson.  (Go here.)And I really think they are happy and having a good childhood.  

So, here are some recent (and not so recent) pictures of happiness.

A few pictures from a "photo shoot"

An "organized" collection of toys

Playing "horse" on Daddy

How Tyler made his bed one day--with his teddy bear and monkey tucked in

Hanging out on Megan's bed one morning 

Playing Mr. Bucket

Playing Cootie

One morning Tyler gathered all of necessary items for choc-y milk

Megan "eating" ketchup at In 'n' Out (our Valentine's Day treat...going to In 'N' Out, not eating ketchup.)

Sidewalk artist

Hangin' in the wagon

Cool dude

Smoothie mustaches  (Don't tell them they're called green smoothies for a reason.  Although the girls actually like raw spinach.)

Playing on the stairs

Making a train (with strollers as "passengers")

Playing with my old Winnie the Pooh dishes and pans that used to be my mom's when she was little

We had read "The Little Gingerbread Man" so we made gingerbread cookies so the kids would know what we were talking about.

Hanging out with Dad

For a while Megan would ask to wear her apron every night after dinner.  Then she would ask me to put music on so she could dance.  Her CD of choice was Scripture Power.

I love that these two are friends and play together (mostly) really well while Tyler is at preschool.