Video Portion

Here is the video portion of Nathan's Homecoming.

Back Track

In March my brother finished his stint with the Navy and we went to my parents to welcome him home. Here are some of the events of the day.

A rare photo of the adults belonging to this blog...and together too!

Ben and my Dad reading together. Ben read about half of a Dick and Jane book almost entirely by himself!

As the evening went on we got kind of relaxed about child care...and the boys started baking in the kitchen. This is their creation. Caution to those with a weak stomach.





The end product was a mix of water, cocoa powder, orange peels, sunflower seeds, and butter.

Spring Flowers

I have always loved forsythia. In fact I don't think I would have survived the MTC without the forsythia blooming outside my dorm window. Now I have one all of my own. Does anyone have any advice on how to care for it so that it is full and not scraggly looking?


Aaron and I had a difference of opinion about pansies. See I like them, but Aaron doesn't like their name. Imagine my surprise when I went to the store and they were labeled Violas. Not only is it a name Aaron and I can agree on, but it was my great Aunt's name. I am now the proud owner of 7 viola plants!

I don't remember planting these and as such I don't remember what they are! It has been fun to watch them emerge. Since taking this photo they have fully bloomed and I now know that they are Grape Hyacinth.

I also finally planted daffodils. I love them! They have personality. I mean doesn't this one seem to be speaking to you as if it has something important to say?

Art Work Central

Ben brought home a stack of paintings he had made and I just don't have space to hang them all, or to save them all. I love each one of them so I am preserving them here for posterity. Some of you may receive the originals...





Notice how he signed his name backwards? He often does this with other words. Aaron says he wrote like that when he was little too.

Jacob was marveling at the paintings because we have only ever done watercolors with him so I pulled out the easel and found a big sheet of paper and let him go to town. He was so meticulous. He made sure to put the brushes back the exact way he found them, he did not mix a single color and he very carefully made each mark on the paper. I almost wanted to tell him to break loose a little!

Easter

I am finally on to posting Easter pictures! Aaron doesn't like the candy I pick so this year I got way more candy than usual in hopes of finding the right mix. What I have learned...my family likes fruity candy. I can totally skip the chocolate, except the peanut butter eggs. They were a hit. The chocolate bunnies were on sale otherwise we don't normally get those.

Another big hit were the airship balloons. They all popped before lunch, but the calories expended by playing with them all morning made up for the candy they ate. This first photo isn't great, but it had all tree kids in it and I wanted them all equally represented.

Here Sophie and Ben have green and blue light sabers. We have been on a bit of a Star Wars kick around here.

And finally a video of the balloon play. At this point the balloons were fruit. Yellow was a banana orange was an orange, green was avocado etc...My favorite part is when Ben grabs two colored balloons and yells, "FRUIT SMOOTHIE!!" As a parent I thought it was clever.

This is the secular representation of our Easter festivities. For the religious side we watched General conference and then Monday we did a lesson on the Resurrection. The next day Jacob's lunch prayer went as follows...

"Thank you that Jesus was on the cross. Thank you that we make mistakes and Jesus takes them away."

Even with candy in the way kids can grasp the underlying message of the season!

To finish out the day we had a hot dog roast. Not your typical Easter feast, but it was a lot of fun!

Good Weather Fun

For a bit we were having beautiful summer weather. These are just a few shots from those days.

Sophie had a friend over after school so I thought I would make a special snack, goldfish in a pond. I went through the time and effort of dying the cream cheese blue, spreading each individual cracker, carefully arranging the fish in a cute way, and the whole time I was thinking my kids will think I am so cool for this.

In the end they all had one and said, "I don't like these." Except Ben he and I ate almost all of them. Next time I think I will just scatter some crackers in the grass. Less time, less effort and the kids will probably like it better.

Ben and I played some barefoot ball together.

And of course my lively crocuses. My grandfather gave them to me a few years ago and I love them!

Sleeping Solutions

For a long time we have had a hard time keeping the kids in bed at night so Aaron came up with a great solution. It is basically a hide a bed on a hinge. We tuck the kids in at night, remove the support and climb into bed ourselves. One happy family...all in one room!



JUST KIDDING OF COURSE!!! All that space under the bed is now full of long time storage. You know, the stuff we only need to get to once or twice a year. It has freed up our closet space for the things we need to access more frequently.

p.s. I know I am married to him and quite biased, but Aaron is awesome. He did such a good job on this bed frame!

Another FHE Post

A few weeks for family home evening I did something a little different. See, I was getting "changing the toilet paper overload syndrome." I was the only one to change the toilet paper and I find it hard to believe that I am the only one who ever finishes off a roll.

At first I would leave the empty roll on thinking, "HA! This will teach them all a lesson!" But somehow it was always me that found myself "up a creek without a paddle" so to speak...not a fun place to be.

It even got to the point that I was using the bathroom at a doctors office one day and the roll was empty and I had to refill it.

So for family home evening I taught everyone how to change a toilet paper roll. I have to say that I choked up a little bit when I found the toilet paper put on backwards like this because you know what...I didn't have to refill the toilet paper.

How's This for Timely

This one is about Christmas!

March 25th Aaron burned the Christmas Tree. Menfolk and their "tools" are a little scary. First of all Aaron let the boys help cut the branches off the tree. I went outside just as Ben and Jacob were both gleefully hacking away at the tree with sharp objects. By the time I came back with the camera I was only able to capture Jacob.

Then there is Aaron who felt the tree was best lit with a blow torch. He really honestly, truly had this look of "he he, I'm using a blow torch" on his face.

Boys...It is a good thing I like them, because soon this house will be crawling with them!

Another Off Weather Post

Here is the problem with not posting on time. These photos are from when it was cold and rainy and raw. As I type there is not a cloud in the sky, it is 8:50 a.m. and it is already about 50 degrees. Oh well...

When Jacob woke up he was grumpy so I distracted him by showing him the giant puddle the rain had made in the side yard. He immediately wanted to go check it out. I even let him touch the OH SO OFF LIMITS mommy umbrella. I am glad I did it makes for a good photo op.


In case you were wondering, this is what a chicken that has been left out in the rain all night looks like. Serves her right. She is always hopping the fence.

Family Home Evening

From now on the kids are teaching Family Home Evening. Usually Sophie sits and listens and answers all the questions while Aaron fights to get Ben and Jacob to stay in the room and quiet, let alone paying attention.

Sophie read MANY pages of the story of Moses with no interruption and Ben and Jacob were glued to her side with rapt attention.

So guess what...I quit!