denim vest

I got these texts from my mom and sadly she would not put on the vest for a quick picture… I would LOVE to get those pictures.

Lullaby Loo

Lullaby is finally interested in drawing people! And they are pretty cute. Here is a picture us together. I'm the big one. Of course. In other news she can spell and write her name by herself, which I am very impressed with. I wasn't sure how challenging all those L's might be.

preschool happenings

We have been spending LOTS of time in the sandbox in preschool, when it isn't raining.  I still can't believe we have this much sand, since our last refill when my dad was here for Christmas… With the amount that I vacuum and sweep up everyday, I'm pretty sure the sand is somehow reproducing.

Spider swings with your friends… Another good way to spend your day if you're a preschooler.

And Hawken's Color Clix creations are getting pretty intricate and complicated. What a clever and creative little boy I have.

perfection

Lazy evenings in the backyard are my absolute favorite times with this family of mine. The weather is nice (when it's not raining) and the company can't be beat. These are pictures from a Sunday, I don't remember which one.

flowers

I love these little flowers that grow here in our yard. I know they are weeds, but oh so pretty. The kids always pick me several each day, so I always have a full vase. I love how they show their love.

potted garden

Hawken made me these adorable herb labels for our tiny potted garden. I think they turned out SO cute.

family love

Loving on Grandma and Grandpa through the iPad. Solace always kisses the screen, so sweet.

Sweet Hawky

Paul talked about his love for Cadbury eggs to me before and when Hawken and I saw them at the store, I shared the story with him. He was so excited about the story, he scanned the egg to see how much it cost, and decided to spend his own money on 4 eggs. 1 for Dad, Matix, Lullaby and he would share his own with Solace. He's the sweetest thing. Paul ate his that night after he got home from work. The kids were already in bed sleeping, so I took these pictures to show Hawk. Hawken was of course happy to see that Paul was happy. He is such a thoughtful person.

egg hunts!

One of the (many) Easter egg hunts and activities we went to was at our church. It was focused more on the life of Jesus than on candy, but of course at the end there was sue candy… :) Paul built this little wooden table. You can't see it very well, but I'm still hoping to get it back and use it in the yard. The kids learned about carpentry, since that's what Jesus did. They used little sand paper blocks to sand down the table. 

We rotated with two other groups of kids to the next station after a while and played a memory game. The kids loved it. It was all about what types of food were around in Jesus' time and things we know he ate versus some foods that we eat now that wasn't around then.

The last station was this fishing station. You get it, fisher of men? Anyway, one of the things we did in this room was to fold origami fish. So cute!

Afterward, the bishopric talked to the kids about why we celebrate Easter and they watched a short video clip of the resurrection. It was very sweet. Then they all got to walk into "the tomb".

After that, they were led to the gym for the egg hunt! It was a crazy mess and they loved it.  Solace ran right past the eggs and got a basketball instead. The boy knows what he likes.

This is really the best picture I could get while they were all distracted and already shoveling food into their mouths.

After the church hunt ended, we went to Chick-fil-A for their egg hunt and all their fun activities. Somehow I missed getting any pictures of the games (where they won me free food gift cards for a month!) and the bounce houses. It was so fun!

Meeting the Easter Bunny was not Solace's favorite thing to do. He got close enough to give him a high five at one point but that was it. Then any time the bunny would move, Solace would scream at the top of his lungs and run!

These giant decorative eggs made the perfect dancing partner for Sully boy. He was loving the live music.

I wish that Paul could have been there. He would have loved all the craziness. But I guess that it's a good thing that I take so many pictures. He's all caught up by the end of each night.

Mr. Mason

All the way from Utah, Mr. Mason FaceTimed us and the boys talked about it about a million times since then. They played with him every Monday for several months back in 2013, and love seeing him again. We've talked before now too, and it's always nice. Paul has the best family, I really do miss them so much.  Technology is so nice.

I also got to talk with Steph for a while and found out that Grandma and Grandpa Berg are coming out for Dale and Vanessa's baby's blessing, which we didn't know. I'm excited to see them! They haven't met Solace yet either!

cinder block bench

So I have been wanting some patio furniture, or a bench or really ANYTHING other than our folding camping chairs to sit on when I'm outside watching the kids. The weather has been getting nicer, which means we have been spending more time out there.  Instead of buying something, I decided to make something… And I think it turned out pretty cute. I bought (and loaded and unloaded) everything by myself, which I was pretty proud of. The cinder blocks were only $1.15 each, so the price was RIGHT! I started by sticking stacks of three bricks together with liquid nails and letting that set for a few days. That was only interrupted once when Paul and Brian thought they were helping and moved the stacks all back together, put the very heavy 4 by 4's in and broke one apart, so I had to start that over again...

Then I lay each stack down horizontally in the right place, each stack of three was about 75 pounds, so I didn't want to have to try and move it once they were all glued together. Then I popped in the 4 by 4's and added the cushion (that I sewed the cover for) and called it good! I seriously love it. And it's loooong. The cushion part is longer than Paul or I am tall, so it's plenty spacious! And now because all the cinder block cubes are glued together, it's very secure and stable.

The gray fabric next to the yellow pattern looks especially nice. I really like it! Plus I sprayed it all with NeverWet so it shouldn't get moldy, but I can take it off the cushion and wash the fabric if I need to.

Oh, and this is the free chair I hunted on large trash removal day in Matix's fancy fancy school neighborhood. Love it! The citronella plant has a new home in this partially shaded area too. What do you think? So fun, huh?!