Easter

The older the kids get, the more fun the holidays are. I'm guessing once they get older that will end, but for now I love it. They loved the egg decorating this year. We did glitter eggs for Tawny and monster eggs for Brayden.

They had an Easter egg hunt at Grandma's the Monday before Easter since she was going to be gone Easter weekend.

Brayden had another Easter egg hunt at school (no pics since i wasn't there) and Tawny had another one over at Mande's house. She does a playdate once a week for the kids and thought it would be fun to have a little Easter party. She was right!

I love her hat

Ethan was a great cheerleader.

Greg didn't have ANY meeting before church (first time in a long time) so we were ready early enough to walk to church. That very rarely happens when it's just me getting every one ready.

Since we had already done the eggs/candy thing ahead of time, we chose to keep Easter Sunday purely about Christ and hie resurrection. I want my kids to have a clear understanding of why we celebrate Easter. I taught sharing time that week on the resurrection and was able to continue the discussion with Brayden and Tawny after we got home. I think they understood as much as a three and a five year old can.

I have a touching story to tell about Brayden. The Saturday before Easter we took the kids to the Mesa temple, which also has a visitors center. One of Brayden's favorite parts of the visitors center was the statue of Christ showing the marks in his hands and feet. On Sunday the primary president was conducting and asked the kids if they had done anything fun for Easter weekend. Kids immediately started shouting out all the fun things they had done (parties and candy and easter eggs, etc...) Brayden raised his hand and reverently said, "We went to the temple. I saw a big statue of Jesus and I touched the marks in his feet. When I touched it I felt the spirit. I know He loves me." Wow. It was so simple but such a strong pure testimony of the Savior. I am so thankful for my children and all they teach me on a daily basis.

Murder Mystery Dinner

We hosted a murder mystery dinner last night and it was so so so much fun! Every dressed in character, we ate great food and try to figure out who committed the crime. Thanks to everyone who came! I somehow forgot to get a pic of Greg and I. Greg was a janitor and I was a stablehand.

Cookie (a trucker) and Jessic (pie baking gossip)

Ruth (ex beauty queen) and Troy (town mayor) John (elvis impersonator) and Kim (gypsy)

Cade (rodeo rider) and Erica (4-H snob)

Budding Artist

Brayden has always loved art, but recently his drawings have really improved. I want to keep so many of his pictures but haven't figured out a good way to do it. So for now, I thought I'd scan them in. That was I'll have a copy of them in my blog book. Here are just a few of my favorites: Notice the gray then yellow guy being pushed off the plank and falling down down into the water? Also note the spelling of pirate on the big guy's shirt

When I asked Brayden why the tiger was bigger than the house and Tawny, Ethan and himself he said,"cause we have to be able to hide under him, and we couldn't hide under a regular tiger." He said this with patronizing patience, like I'm mentally slow and incapable of grasping such an obvious concept.

This isn't really art, but I thought it was pretty funny. He wrote the letters like they sound (except for t thru x). and yes, he does know the real alphabet.

Ethan: 7 months

Since Ethan's been sick for the last month, he didn't get his checkup until this week. He's almost 24 pounds and he's 28" long. He got four shots and was so brave! He didn't cry at all for the first two. With the second two he fussed, but kept his mouth closed so it was just a muffled "mmmm". It was funny because it sounded like he wanted to cry but was trying to fight it back by keeping his mouth closed. I know that's not what he was really what he was doing but I was able to tease Brayden about Ethan being braver than him. Maybe that will help Brayden not cry the next time he gets shots, but I highly doubt it.

There are so many thing I love about Ethan and so many moments I never want to forget:

• When he's tired and I rub his head behind his ear, he'll fall asleep instantly
• He wakes up at 5:00 to eat every morning and doesn't go right back to sleep, but isn't fully awake either. The house is completely quite with no distractions and I get to hold and cuddle him. It's just me and him. It is hands down my favorite part of every day.
• There is no end to the things that make him smile and laugh. Dogs, people, loud sounds, silly faces, toys, food. Pretty much everything and anything.
• His hair. Oh, his hair. It sticks up in every direction and there is nothing I can do to get it to stay down.
• He babbles and "talks" incessantly. Of course his favorite sound combination is "ma-ma-ma". Does he know what it means yet? Probably not. But that doesn't mean I don't light up every time he says it.
• He's starting to understand certain words. If I say the word "eat" he gets so excited. Greg didn't believe me so the other day I said it in the car. Ethan was in the back all by himself and as soon as I said it, he started kicking and talking and got so excited.
• He never wakes up crying. Just imagine hearing him babble over the monitor instead of crying. It's the most wonderful sound.

This Week

This week, as always was a busy one. Tawny participated in her first dance competition. She was so excited and had so much fun. The students choreograph and perform their own dance. Since Tawny is only three I helped her a little with the choreography, but I tried really hard to let her have as much input as possible. She did so awesome and was insistent that she was going to win. I tried to explain that she was the very youngest girl competing and might not win, but she was so sure she would win. She ended up being the trophy winner for her age group (Ages 3-5)! That means she gets to perform her dance at the county fair and the year end dance recital. I sure hope she doesn't get stage fright when 200+ people are watching her. I'm guessing she won't. She's a natural born performer. We're so proud of her! Brayden has been playing t-ball for a few weeks now and is really loving it. His coaches are great and try to make sure that everyone get a chance to play every position. Since it's first year t-ball the rules are very basic. Each inning everyone gets a chance to bat, and everyone gets to run all the way to home, ever if they are thrown out (which doesn't have very often). They focus on learning the game, and having good sportsmanship, which I really appreciate.

Brayden really loves being a big brother. I can always count on him to step up and help when it's needed. Today I was super late getting ready for church. Greg as at early meetings, I had forgotten about the time change and found out I had to do singing time about 45 minutes before church started. Fun times. Brayden was so helpful. He fed Ethan his breakfast, got himself dressed, helped Tawny get dressed and packed the diaper bag books, crayons, paper, diapers, extra clothes...everything! (the clothes may not have matched, but oh-well) Then he played with Ethan until it was time to go. What an awesome little boy.

Greg got a new church calling this week. He is the Spanish Group Leader, which is like a branch president with a few less responsibilities. He nervous but very excited about his new calling. I know that he'll do great. He loves the people and I know he'll do everything he can to help the grow in the gospel. I'll get participate some too, which I'm excited about. I'll be the pianist for their sacrament. I guess I need to brush up on my Spanish!

Love in Her Heart

I had the cutest conversation with Tawny today as we were driving to pick up Brayden from school. I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that she looked a little sad. Here is the conversation that followed

M: Tawny, is everything okay?
T: I feel a little sad in my heart. Right here. (pointing to her heart)
M: Why?
T: My heart is all empty of Daddy Love. I need to see him so I can fill it up with Daddy Love.
M: Should we see if you can visit him at work right now?
T: YES mommy YES! Can I stay with him a long long time so my heart can fill all the way to the top with Daddy Love?

Needless to say she got to spend the rest of the day at work with her Daddy. And when she got home her eyes were shining as she told me that her heart was full "all the way to the tippy-tippy top". Priceless.

6 months

My little baby is already six months! Where did the time go? He's definitely growing up so quickly. He's been sick for the last few weeks with a real nasty cold that turned out to be RSV. But he handled all like a champ and is doing great. I still can't get over how happy he is. Even when he was sick he was still so smiley and happy. He's cut his bottom two teeth and is working on his top. We started him on solids about two weeks ago and so far we haven't found anything he won't eat (no surprise there). And he finally rolled over yesterday! I was starting to wonder if he ever would. I think it took him so long because there's just so much of him to roll over. I took him to the dr. a few weeks ago and he was 27 inches and 22.5 pounds. That's a lot of weight for a 6 month old. We all love him so much. He's made our home a happier place.