Easter Weekend

Easter was wonderful!  We were able to go to St. George and spend some wonderful warm weather time with my family.  We were all there together and had a great time enjoying each others company.  Nothing compares to a weekend like this!

Challenges, bubbles, and blessings

 

Over the kid's spring break, Elli and Carter went to Florida to spend time with their dad.  It was my first time being apart from them for a whole week.  I was nervous but they did very well.  They went to Disney World, played like crazy and especially enjoyed the plane ride. I only got 3 tearful phone calls which was very nice, as usually just one weekend has that many!  I missed them terribly but when it was time to come home they were a little sad to leave all the fun and come back to reality.  I was very ready for them to come home however, and was sad they had a hard adjustment back.  Saturday was hard, but sunday I pulled myself together, quit being selfish and immature, and actually enjoyed my sweet kids.  As I was playing bubbles with them outside listening to their laughter everything was instantly better. Then as all 3 were laughing and playing Elli says, "This is better than Disney World!"  Again, everything felt ok.  

I truly am grateful that all three kids have good other parents who support and love them as we do.  I am thankful that our relationships with our ex spouses is generally positive and we can work together well.  I know it is necessary to encourage their relationships with their other parents and I do my best to.  Sometimes it is hard, I wont lie.  But it gets easier through time, especially with Steve by my side to help me keep perspective. It's really amazing how something that seems so impossible, hurtful, and heartbreaking at times, can, in the end, help us see God's love in his unique plan for us. I doubt it, I question it, and I miss key points of the gospel in my moments of despair.  But in the end, I always return to that same spirit that has always been there for me.

April Fools

I am not a big fan of April Fools.  I fall for jokes way too easy and end up feeling stupid.  I don't like messing too much with the kids but thought it would be fun to do a silly dinner.  I made jello in clear glasses that looked like juice.  It took Elli a good few seconds to figure it out.  Very entertaining.  Unfortunately she told the other two before they could try.  We had meatloaf "cupcakes" with mashed potato "frosting".  They didn't fall for that though.  It was too obvious. I set the table with random plates and silverware.  The thought that was just dumb and not even funny, except that dad had a baby spoon to eat with. For dessert I scraped the frosting out of 3 Oreos and filled them with sour cream and gave them each one.  Carter had eaten nearly his whole thing before realizing it was different and Elli was half way through hers.  Bailey was saved and hadn't even taken a bite.  It was good I didn't use toothpaste like I planned cause it made them mad enough!  Before bed the kids always want a snack, usually graham crackers and mild in a bowl or cereal.  I froze water about half way full in a bowl and put their cereal on top with a tiny bit of milk.  I laughed so hard watching Bailey try to figure out what was going on. She tried to push her spoon in, picked up the bowl looked at the bottom of it, turned it around, tried again.  It was honestly a full minute or two before she looked over at me laughing my head off and knew I had done something to mess with her. 
By the end of the night they were tired of my little jokes but I think we all had fun!

5 year old baby

While walking in to Costco today I was carrying Carter cause he was tired and whiny.  There was a baby somewhere around one year old I would guess sitting in a cart.  She points to Carter and says, "baby, baby mama!"  Carter heard just as I did. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye to see if I had heard.  He could tell I had so he looked away with a little smile on his face.  I started laughing and so did he.  Maybe hearing it from someone smaller will help him realize he doesn't need to be held- he is 5!  Its funny cause at home if anyone says he is small, short, skinny, or looks younger than 5, he gets so mad and offended.  Because he is so small, it is even hard for me sometimes to remember to treat him like he is 5, not a toddler.  Okay, I guess part of that is that he is my baby right now! 
It was pretty funny though!

Patience

Never pray for patience.

End of story.

Day of Good Luck

Lucky the Leprechaun paid a visit to our house leaving us with green toilet water, green milk, green pancakes, and treasure hunt full of green goodies.  The kids are just grateful he is a nice leprechaun because apparently there are some not nice ones around too.

Reading Lucky's clues

We found the treasure! Green drinks, treats, and bubbles, and
of course some chocolate golden coins!

Jazz #2

Even if the Jazz SUCK right now, we are still fans.  Thanks to their losing streak we were able to score $5 tickets.  Although they didn't compare to our complimentary amazing seats a few months ago, the kids were still thrilled.  In fact, more thrilled. When we had lower bowl row 16 seats they wanted to sit up higher, they got their wish.  When we got there, we found our seats- at the VERY top row.  Not Steve's idea of good seats, but it was still fun.  They even gave out free Jazz beenies, pretty much paid for the 5 buck tickets right there! It made for a fun night with Kevin, McCall and Neisha!

Fan of rookie Gordon Hayward

He is a fan of anything his dad is a fan of.

Our AMAZING view

Free beenies!