A Little Bit of Everything

 My cute kids on Easter. I am so grateful to have such incredible little people by my side. The primary kids sang 'Did Jesus Really Live Again' on Easter Sunday and it was very touching. Reed knows every word to all three verses and sings the song with much conviction and inflection in his voice. It's become our nightly lullaby and he emphasizes that we have to sing all 3 verses every time. More than once singing it with him I've held back tears and have felt the Spirit very strong. I've had a few rough days mixed into the past couple weeks (hence the lack of posting) and by just living daily life, my kids help me with my eternal perspective. A primary song full of testimony in the quiet time of night can point your perspective right where it needs to be, I promise. They are strong and faithful kids and I love them very much. Plus, aren't they just the cutest? (Reed holding that giraffe- so. darn. cute.)

 One of our spring break activities included 'jousting peeps'. Nathan was behind this one. They didn't joust as many as I thought they would and they didn't like eating the nuked mallows. I didn't understand, I used to zap big marshmallows just to eat them melted and hot. It was pretty funny and they laughed and laughed.

 Nathan WON the Blastcar race at boy scouts. You don't know what a Blastcar is?? It's a souped up Pinewood derby race and in my opinion, much better. This car the boys can actually make on their own (minus the cutting which Nathan's leader helped with). The cars have a CO2 cartridge in the back and they 'blast' down the track. He was so excited to be number one. He painted a lime green car with silver stripes. All of us moms thought it would make a cute shoe or flip flop.

 Last week I highlighted my own hair. It's actually quite a bit lighter than this picture is showing. My chances are about 50/50 if I like the end result after coloring it myself. I would much rather head to a salon, ha. A lot of times I'll nit pick at each highlight and redo it here and there. It's pretty frustrating. This time I was happy the first time, yay. It's been a nice spring 'pick me up'.

 Dane performed in his hand chime group again. They played two Beatles songs and one their teacher wrote. Reed went with me and was so let down when he didn't get to go to recess with the boys. In fact, he held a grudge for a couple days and told them he didn't like their school anymore because he wasn't allowed out on recess. The nerve!

 Someone in my ward was getting rid of this and did we want it? Yes, please! When our fence was built it closed down the neighbor's playground (with toys like this) and we've had a pretty boring backyard. Owen and Reed had so much fun on this today. I'm looking forward to many warm days outside playing on our new toy. Right now, I'm going to ignore the fact that it might be annoying to mow around this summer, ha.

Today I left a batch of cookies in the oven more than a little bit too long. Probably triple time...or more. They were solid, black discs. Oops. Reed was pretty mad at me, he wanted cookies for dessert. Oops again.

Some friends showed up with this amazing picnic table for our backyard. He just, you know, 'used some old wood that was lying around work.' He branded CTR into the top and on each bench. Incredible. We can't wait to eat on this as a family (It's been cold and windy the past few days since getting it). I'm not exaggerating when I say that daily I'm blown away by people's generosity and kindness. {p.s. I need to stain or seal or paint this...suggestions?}

Dane had a piece of art chosen to be displayed at an art show for all the schools in the district. We all went down and checked it out tonight. His is the top left black and white picture. It has a fancy art name but I can't remember it now. I believe only a few kids from each grade were chosen. Go Dane!

I think his is quite brilliant if I do say so myself. The other one (no offense little 3rd grader) is just mirrored rectangles. Dane's art? Intricate squiggles and designs. I honestly don't think I could make one as cool as he did. I asked him if it was hard and how he came up with his idea. His response was so Dane. He said, 'No, it was easy, I just thought of it and did it.' I've always known that his brain deals with details and this picture proves it. I love it buddy!

Last night for FHE we went and saw the Reptile Man at the school. He likes snakes and reptiles more than any one human should and he's convincing enough that my kids say they'd never kill a snake. Of course Kat wants one (she's feel safe with a python if you're curious) and Dane is sure we need more snakes to keep the rodent population down. These kids were buying what this guy was selling. Why didn't he talk more about chores?

This crazy snake was h.u.g.e. My mind is telling me it was 12 feel long but I can't really remember. There were no less than 20 kids holding it at a time, doesn't that just gross you out?? I kept thinking he had to give it a tranquilizer so it could handle a hundred kids in less than an hour. I'm hoping this FHE won me some 'cool mom' points. You think?