getting through the week dreaming of summer

an easter bouquet by kyler and layla

I am the type of person who would much rather be busy than have nothing to do, but man this week is kicking me in the bum.

I am questioning my decision to potty train Layla because diapers were so much easier for the on the go demands of therapy appointments and carpools and sports practices. Port-a-potties are gross. Public bathrooms are gross. Accidents in underwear are gross.

On a brighter note, the weather this week has been so summer-esque. It makes me excited for summer break just 6ish weeks away. I'm already thinking about our summer program for this year. It went so well for us last year here, but we will be adjusting it a lot to make it work with all of our summer plans. And we have a lot of adventures planned :) :).

With our nice weather, Eric and I rode our bikes for date night to the town center to have dinner. We talked about how each of our kids are doing in 5 different areas (emotional, spiritual, social, mental, and physical). We went through each area and jotted some notes down. I got the idea from listening to a power of moms podcast. I'm already so glad we did this. I can see a difference it has made in me and E as a team supporting our children. It was a simple thing, but we walked away from dinner more aware and with simple ideas and plans to help our kids. I know we will make this a regular for us.

Easter Weekend

The Easter message is simple and significant--He lives! Jesus Christ died on the cross and was resurrected. Because of this we will all be resurrected and I can live with my family forever. I'm grateful for these sweet, silly, and sometimes crazy people. We made some good memories during our Easter weekend.

It was the first time L and Perry have dyed Easter eggs.  

L wanted all her eggs yellow.

Well, at least she did until she saw how much fun Perry was having dipping and dunking over and over again.

Perry had a smashing good time coloring those eggs. Literally. All of his eggs looked something like this when he was done.  :)

Kyler and Kacin both took a step back from coloring their eggs because Perry was intensely into the experience and cracked a few of their eggs. They watched Perry go at it until his eggs were done and Eric took him away to go outside for awhile. Then the boys jumped back into decorating a special egg for each person in our family.

Kyler made this Teddy Roosevelt egg for his dad.

Sunday morning was my favorite. Kyler and Kacin climbed into our bed (we told them not until 7am). We wanted to start our day out right. Before Easter baskets, eggs, and candy, we wanted to talk about the true meaning of Easter. We watched a video, read scriptures, and each shared our thoughts about this significant event. It was a perfect moment with our oldest boys.

Then it was time for the Easter baskets, pancakes for breakfast, and a little egg hunt in the living room.

After church, we had the Nielsen's, Fish's and Dabell's over for Easter dinner and an egg hunt in our backyard.

These are the only pictures I got of the egg hunt because eggs needed to be counted and hints needed to be given to find the golden egg, and egg hunts just go so fast.

The older kids had to wait a minute to give the youngers a chance. Look at them ready to go.

What a happy Easter weekend.

these days

A Cafe Rio opened up just 15 min. from our house. Rejoice! I guess we don't have to move out of the state of Washington after all. We ate there free twice this week. It was packed both times. And every time we went we saw people we knew.

Eric had pink eye. Hence the glasses. And he worked from home for three whole days because of it. He was shut in our office so we didn't see him much during the day, but it was so nice to see him in the morning and have him home for dinner. I'm glad he has a good job, but I hate his hour commute so this was a treat for me.

Perry's therapy is going much better for him. Layla loves coming to "ABC" (as she calls ABA therapy) at "Julie's house" (as she calls the therapy office building). While Perry works with Julie, we play. Perry joins us often for short breaks.

We have a half hour commute to therapy and one and a half to two hours at the office. I've figured out how to make the most of this time by listening to podcasts in the car and using the time when Perry and Layla are occupied to read my scriptures, look over my to-do list, catch up on emails, and sometimes even read a book.

I got Perry his breakfast one morning then came up to find Layla who prettied herself up.

She's all potty-trained now. It took a day. I'm so glad I waited until I felt we were all good and ready though. It made it so easy. I guess I didn't need to be as scared about it as I was.

We broke out our souvenir glowing ice cubes (from Disneyland) one night and put them in some mango-raspberry lemonade.  Yum and so cool. Kyler and Kacin put the cubes in everything for 2 days straight.

I finished my spring cleaning/major declutter. Well, at least stage one. For stage one I made a list of every drawer, cupboard, or area in the house (about 45 on my list). I set a reasonable deadline with a goal to go through one spot each day. In reality, some days I did more and some days I did nothing. I gave stuff away, threw things out, and wiped down every drawer and shelf.

Stage two is the garage. I am nominating Eric to head that one up. I'm setting the deadline for July 1st. Wish us luck.

I love that Kyler and Kacin have caught my cleaning bug. I keep finding them going through their desk drawers and organizing and getting rid of things. It makes me smile. And there room has never been so tidy!

What does the fox say?

So what if your kid was the one up on stage playing the violin and singing at the same time,
or doing a gymnastics routine and ending in the splits,
or maybe your kid was the kindergartner belting out The Cup Song in perfect tune and confidence,
but my kid was up there all like this.

Booyah. Your kid can't compare.

My kid was the best grand finale of the school talent show that there could be.

It was awesome.

Wilde Time

I was thrilled when my friend Cheryl emailed to tell me they would be in our area during their spring break. Thrilled! We love the Wilde family. Cheryl is the type of person that makes you feel like a million bucks. Cheryl and her family were the greatest support, and examples to us, when we lived in Utah.

It worked out that we would meet them for an adventure on Saturday afternoon. Well, the weather was nice so everyone else here in the world was out on their own adventures which made for lots of traffic and looong ferry waits and so things didn't turn out quite as we planned, but a nice adventure nonetheless.

We met at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island.

We spent the rest of our time together waiting in a ferry line. Our plans for the best ice cream around and dinner were thwarted by a ferry that broke down. Instead of getting on the 5pm ferry, we got on a 7pm ferry home. But at least that gave the boys a chance to facetime the Wilde's oldest son, Daniel, who couldn't come because of college finals.

Perry loved the motorcycles on the Ferry.

I loved catching up with Cheryl and hearing about life back in Utah. So glad that we got to see the Wilde's!