Easter

Happy Easter!  What a beautiful Sunday this turned out to be.  It was quite cold yesterday and Friday.  We even got about 6 inches of heavy, wet snow.  Saturday egg hunts were all done in the snow, but it made finding the brightly colored eggs even easier.

This has been quite the week.   Monday night we did our special Easter family home evening about the Savior’s last days and the reason we celebrate the holiday.  We made resurrection rolls, which were so much fun.  We baked jumbo marshmallows dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar inside biscuits.  The marshmallow melted and left the little ‘tombs’ empty.  The kids had a lot of fun making them.  We got a laugh when we found some of the unmelted marshmallow inside a couple and Lydia said, “We melted Jesus!”  I also bought some white carnations and put them in water with red food coloring.  I read the kids a scripture in the Book of Mormon, Alma 7:11, that says, “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.”  Then we talked about how the Jesus Christ took all our sins, our suffering and pains on Him so that we could receive mercy and exaltation to be with our Heavenly Father and him again.  Fiona has really enjoyed watching the flowers turn from pure white to a pinkish color from the food coloring.  It was a really simple and fun lesson that I think we’ll start as a new tradition each year.

Wednesday I went with Wesley and his 2^nd grade class to Harward Farms on a field trip.  We learned about all sorts of farming from vegetables, minks, even bees.  We saw them shear a sheep.  I am always amazed how the sheep just lays there complacently while the farmer tosses her to and fro to get off all the wool.  We saw a lot of baby animals: a calf, several lambs, a kid and two piglets.  Wesley kept talking about the piglets and the tractors.  I think those were his favorite.

Thursday was the 2^nd grade school program.  So Wes was able to perform with his class lots of the songs they have been learning all year.  He did so much better than in past years.  It’s so hard for him to pay attention and stay on task.  This year he got his part right on and only spaced out on the songs once or twice.  He’s really maturing and he got to sit next to his cousin Emmalee, who really helps him a lot. 

Friday we were hit by the snow storm that took us all by surprise.  Fiona barely got to preschool, because we don’t have 4 wheel drive.  She had a fun Easter party with her little class and her teachers gave her a cute bucket and shovel.  They do so much for those children.  I also had another doctor’s appointment that morning to check on little Everett.  He’s seems to be growing well (today in church one of the older sisters told me I look ‘really’ pregnant.  I feel really pregnant right now.)  The projected day for the c-section will be around the 20^th of June, unless there are unforeseen obstacles.

Yesterday we took the children to the city egg hunt and an egg hunt at one of our neighbor’s farm.  They were both really fun and fortunately, we remembered to bundle every one up.  The kids came home with plenty of candy and small toys.  After the egg hunts I spent the rest of the afternoon at the church helping with a funeral.  A dear brother had passed away last Sunday.  He was almost 90 and really ready to go.  He has battled cancer twice.  The great sadness was that his dear wife was left alone until she can join him.  Their family all came in town and since I’m in the Relief Society presidency I helped set up, serve and clean up the luncheon.  The funeral ran long, but it wasn’t a surprise.  This brother was known for his stories and love for visiting and he passed that on to his children.  His one son spoke for a little over an hour during the funeral.  The Stake president and Bishop both spoke, but they kept their remarks short and sweet.  They spoke about the plan of salvation and that this life is truly not the end.  I am so grateful for the knowledge and testimony that I have of our Savior, his Atonement and his Resurrection.  I know that we can be with our families forever, that this life is only just a small part of eternity.

This morning we had a little grumpiness from Wesley because the Easter Bunny hadn’t come while they were asleep.  We explained that the Easter Bunny likes to surprise them and this year he decided to come during quiet time later in the afternoon.  He was still quite grumpy about it, but we told him that his attitude will affect what the Easter Bunny will bring just like at Christmas.  It’s amazing how that affected his attitude.  We had some wonderful lessons in church today about the immortality of the soul and being a disciple of Jesus.  I felt like I really learned so much, the spirit was truly speaking to me during the lessons. 

enjoying lunch at the kidman's annual easter egg hunt, katie and mick were able to make it, too.  so good to see them!

i love new easter clothes

puppies and fairies

the nice thing about puppies, it just draws the children outdoors and the weather has been so wonderful.  The weather has even persuaded a fairy or two to visit us.  hope that spring is finding you and warming you up a bit, too.

this is ginger, she has the coolest eyes and I love that her belly is freckled.  She is very patient with the children and allows them all to tote her all over the yard.  I don't think her paws touch ground more than a few seconds when they are outside with her.

ruthie seems very smart and alert and will probably look a lot like Zero when she grows up but with a slightly different coloring.  She's not as fond of being held, but loves to run and chase.

Is winter over yet?

checking her fairy schedule...

I am CRAVING spring weather!

science fun? yeah I'm all over that!

Hello, Hello!  Spring might finally be making her way here and I am so ready to welcome her back.  The last 3 days have reached at least 50* and it has felt so good.  It has been really good for the new puppies, too.  Yep, we got puppies.  Monday night we were able to pick up 2 new female aussie/healer puppies.  One is black with gray and brown freckles, the other is a rusty orange color and white.  Ruthie (or Roofie as the girls say) is the black one; we named the orange one Ginger.  The children have just loved playing with them.  I'll work on gettin pictures of them to post. 

that is a tarantula my son is poking.  and where is mom?  she's about a good 10 feet away using the zoom.  I can't think of anything that would get me to put my hand in that tank.

blasting off astronaut balloons

Ian even broke a board with his fist

Yesterday we had a lot of fun with Katie, her kids and Mom.  Katie found out about this fun children’s science palooza that the local university puts on for free.  They stood inside a giant bubble, made their own icecream, colored glowing pictures in a black light room, even fished out candy from a tank holding a live tarantula (I was quite impressed with this bravery, they definitely don’t take after me and my fear of spiders.)  We were able to do so many fun experiments and activities.  Austin couldn’t go because his had to take the Praxis test for his Masters.  He feels pretty good about it, but won’t get the results for another 4 weeks.

it's a.....

We have great news (especially in Ian’s opinion) we are having a baby BOY!  I know we would have been happy and it would have been great news either way, but Ian truly is relieved that he’s getting a brother (and since he is, so am I).  I felt 90% sure it was going to be a boy, and would have been pretty surprised if the doctor had announced otherwise.  There were just some signs and feelings that I can’t quite explain that led me to think of when I was pregnant with Ian instead of the girls.

We don’t have any names picked out for sure, we just have a few that we are throwing around.  Unfortunately Ian and Austin still Dragonslayer would be a great name.  Today at church I was joking about it with one of my friends and she shared that her husband wanted to name their 3 month old Cobra Axe.  It was nice to know that this seems pretty normal for a guy and that someone understands what I’m up against.  Our little ‘Dragonslayer’ is due near the end of June.  It’s going to be a great time to have a baby.  Spending time at the park and lazy summer days with the kids.  I’m looking forward to it.

Fiona had a great 5^th birthday.  I made some sparkly princess skirts and we found a box of dress up shoes.  She and Lydia have had a wonderful time playing in them.  We have glitter all over the house.  She had friends come over for a party yesterday.  They all dressed up in their favorite princess dresses.  I made felt crowns that the girls decorated with beads; they are so creative, and the crowns turned out wonderfully.  We played ‘kiss the frog’ like pin the tail on the donkey, but with a picture of a frog and paper lips.  When I told the girls about this first game, they were so funny.  I got a lot of ‘ewwws!” and “I don’t want to kiss a frog”.  It was a lot of fun and lots of laughs.  We also played ‘the princess and the pea’.  The girls sat on pillows in a circle.  One girl would go to another room while we hid a ‘pea’ (one of the boys’ balls) under one of the pillows.  The girl in the other room would come back in and try to guess under which princess the pea was.  This game also created a lot of laughs and they kept playing round after round even after all of them had had a turn.  We had pink cupcakes with little pearl sprinkles on top (the girls thought the pearls were very fancy and were quite impressed).  I love how easily children are impressed with the small simple things.  It makes it so much fun to be a parent.

and the princess cake made another appearance

boy or girl?

okay, just a heads up for everyone.  this week we find out whether baby #5 is a brother or a sister.  Ian is very optimistic for a brother.  During church I overheard him having a conversation with one of his friends.  The other boy said, "you have 4 kids in your family just like us."  And Ian replied, "we're going to have 5 kids, 3 boys and 2 girls."
I'm also leaning toward boy based on my 'mother's intuition', which turned out to be wrong in Lydia's case.  The doctor, who is notorious for being wrong whenever he guesses, guessed girl for the first couple of months, but this past appointment changed his mind to boy.  So make your guesses and I let you all know next week.

it's a zoo around here

so last night we had one of those moments when we were trying to get the kids up and moving, outside or anywhere just to get them away from the tv and video games. it was really windy outside and the kids did not want to go out to play (can't say I blame them, I think wind is the worst kind of weather). I tried bribing them out the door, but Lydia gave her treat back and asked to be let back in the house with big tears in her eyes. I just couldn't say no to that and I dare anyone else to try it either. They were whining and moaning when an idea finally hit. I told them to go make a zoo with all their animals and I would come visit and take pictures. It worked out great. They all worked together to sort the animals and find the best habitat for all of them. Wesley even decided on getting tickets for everyone so they could be admitted into the zoo. I just had to watch out for the tiger hiding behind the couch, they forgot to put him in his cage and he was hungry.

the bear cave (though I think a dog got thrown in there as well)

the giraffe enclosure, they were tired from a day of eating acacia leaves.  oh no!  there's the tiger, better move to a different area of the zoo.

the horse arena

Fiona said this was the 'white' group.  It's a pretty interesting group: sheep, cats, even a snow tiger cub.  Maybe that's why the tiger is on the loose, she's looking for her cub.

Here's the cows.  Yeah, our zoo doesn't just cater to the exotic.

the monkey house.  the big monkey on the left was separated from the little monkeys on the right.  i think he was a trouble maker.  this also seems to be a good spot for my monkey, Lydia.

the fantasy creature paddock, we have two dragons and a cyclops.  not every zoo has such bragging rights.

this was my favorite part, the babies.  I guess I say that our house is a zoo enough that this group just made sense to my own little ones.

good day

yes, it was a good day.  lots of loved ones, lots of good food, and lots of laughs (with Austin's family that is just a given and I am very grateful for it.)

so where do I start?

this is Wesley's first pack night, those crazy scouts and their wacky traditions had me a little nervous right about now.

no snow for new years, but we did get a little sledding in

my favorite pic over the holiday was of kamry and her purple chicken

we had a great time bowling

ian had great form

our new favorite place to celebrate birthdays is Jungle Jim's

i just loved this picture and thought I'd include it for a smile.  and I wonder if this is the look I have when Austin brings me Ben and Jerry's phishfood icecream.

I thought I was keeping up on this better and again I was shocked when I checked the date on my last post.  So I guess I'll just start where we are at.  For those of you who don't already know, we are expecting our 5th child and I blame a lot of my forgetfulness, disorganization and overall insanity to that fact.  We have had another birthday and Wesley will soon be baptized this coming Saturday.  We even went on vacation to St. George and played on the rocks.  this are going well for us and I will try to get back again next week.  Here's some pics to keep you updated on our current cuteness.