Easter April 16-22

Easter Sunday

The morning started early, so I had time to get ready, make breakfast, and find Easter baskets.  It was a pretty low key day.  We were so worn out from the weekend that I decided that I was going to make Easter dinner on Monday.  So we had pancakes for dinner.  It made the day so nice that I didn't have to be in the kitchen the whole time.  We spent time together as a family and made some phone calls to extended family.  

The kids enjoyed their Easter baskets.  The cool new thing was a balloon helicopter.  There was a balloon attached to a propeller, so that when you let the air out of the balloon it would fly into the air.  Some worked better than others.  Of course they attached a noise maker - so it whistled as it flew.  Fun, buy annoying at the same time.  

 I had found these skirts for the girls years ago and I think they are so cute.  I had the hardest time finding shirts to go with.  I found some white collared blouses but the girls refused to wear them.  So they wore just some t-shirts that sort of matched.  They didn't look like the typical Easter dresses, but oh well.  I'll still need to find some other shirts to go with I guess.

 The bows turned out cute - the headbands didn't stay in well so we ended up pulling their hair up and putting the bow by the elastic.

 Damon saw this recipe in the Friend so we tried it.  I think I had made these in college or sometime long ago.  The hollow center where the marshmallow had been symbolizes the empty tomb.

 Doug is good to spend some one-on-one time with the kids.  It was Jenna's turn and they made a tower taller than Jenna!

 The rest of the week was busy with normal things: grocery shopping, visiting teaching, and errands.  My friend had a birthday this week and I baked a lava cake for her.  I still don't own any custard cups so I tried them in some cereal bowls.  It didn't work as well and there wasn't any lava in the lava cakes.  Oh well, the cake still tasted good.

Friday we had dance and playgroup like normal.  We went to our splash pad which was fun.  It was a little breezy so the kids were cold at times, but it was a nice day.  When Damon got home we got him ready for his camp out.  The 11 yr olds were going camping near Lake Conroe.  This was Damon's first time camping without family.  He was nervous and said he didn't want to go, but once he was with his friends he was fine and I think he had a good time.  He said he didn't sleep well, but I think that was mostly because it was so hot.

Later that evening Doug and I went out to dinner with my friend to celebrate her birthday with some friends.  It was her 40th so her husband had set it up.  We went to a Mexican place.  It was good.  Then we went back to their house to play games.  We played Apples to Apples and then played some basketball outside.  I won the game of lightning with just the girls playing.  It was lucky, but fun.  Another couple joined late and we played Apples to Apples again.  It was a fun night.  Since Damon was gone we had to get a baby sitter.  I kind of missed having Damon around.  He does a better job of picking up than this YW did.

Saturday we all got up early and went to the Church ball championship.  Doug and our ward played pretty well, but got off to a rocky start and were never able to pull themselves out.  So they came in 2nd but they had a fun season.  Doug said it was the best group of men that he's played with.

We cleaned house and did normal Saturday stuff and Damon came home.  Chris and I went over to Walmart to look at glasses.  He can tell that things are blurry and wants to get his glasses now.  We found a pair he likes but our Dr's office is closed on Saturday so I'll have to get the prescription faxed over on Monday and get them ordered.  Damon had a birthday party in the evening and the rest of us chilled at home.

Field Trip, GNO, Zoo, and Easter stuff April 9-15

Sunday was fast Sunday because of Conference.  The big news was that our Primary Presidency was reorganized.  So the president, secretary, and myself were released.  The first counselor stayed.  It was a bit sad to sit in primary knowing that it would be my last time as the 2nd counselor, but not too sad. :)  I don't really feel released because I still am helping with day camp.  So I have a lot of stuff to do with that.  I still went to the committee meeting that evening too.  But I wonder what my next calling will be.  Doug also got released and was called to be the Ward Clerk.  So now he is kind of a member of the bishopric and has to go to the early meetings. 

 Monday the girls had a field trip with preschool.  We went to Old MacDonald's Farm.  We have been a couple of times now, but of course it is still fun.  The kids were bummed that the train was not working, but we went on the pony ride three times, so that made up for it.  We didn't even get too sandy this trip, so that was a plus. 

 

 This is their teacher Miss Alisha, they love her so much!

 Tuesday I can't remember what we did, just stayed home and got some house stuff done I think.

Wednesday I did some errands and made it back just in time to help with the Easter Egg hunt for preschool.  They needed to find two eggs of each color.  They had great bunny masks to help them find the eggs.

Thursday was a normal day and the boys had scouts in the evening.

Friday was a holiday so no school.  We worked hard in the morning getting our chores done and then went over to the church to play poison ball.  The boys love playing.  Not too many friends joined us, but it got us out of the house.  I was grateful that I had something in the oven ready for us when we got home at dinner time.  (Too bad it was a casserole that nobody really liked)  

Saturday was a cray busy day!  I got up early to get ready and make lunches.  We left the house at 7:50 to go clean the church.  The kids all did a pretty good job of helping and I think they noticed the building more at church the next day.  After cleaning we left around 9:15 to go to the zoo. We met a family there and they were so nice to get us into the zoo on their family passes (they had two).  We had a great time at the zoo.   The kids got a little whiny and tired at times, but over all everyone was good.  We saw a couple of new things this time.  I had never been in the small aquarium section, the tropical bird house, and we saw the lions getting fed.  They squirted milk from a spray bottle into their mouths.   It was fun to watch them lap it up.  Chris loves his animals, so it was fun to go to the zoo with him. 

  

They had a tunnel in the fish tank. 

 We packed our lunch and ate it at the zoo.  We ended the trip with the sea lion show.  It was fun to see what tricks they had been taught.  We left around 2:00 to go to a Easter get together with some families from the ward.  It was at the Bishop's property in a town about an hour from home.  We were all pretty tired and hot from the zoo.  I let the kids watch a movie on the way - which was good, but it also meant that nobody napped - they would all rather watch than sleep.

The bishop shares this property with another family in the ward and they just keep four wheelers and other outdoor toys in a big barn and then just have a couple of house trailers onsite as well.  It was very 'red-neck' but the kids had a lot of fun.  Chris loved driving this little buggy around.

 Doug took the girls for a quick ride, the mud was there before we got it, we stayed clean.

Jenna and Kaylee loved the power wheel version. 

 We had an Easter egg hunt and everyone got tons of eggs and candy.

The bishop grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, everyone else brought food to share.  I brought a pasta salad and put it together right before dinner.  The food was yummy and I have to say that everyone should try putting a little bit of mayo, season-all salt, ranch seasoning, and chili lime seasoning on your corn.  It was SO good.  

The exciting story of this afternoon revolves around Tyler.  So before dinner when the kids were all riding their different vehicles Tyler went out on the blue buggy that Chris was driving in the picture above.  After awhile most of the kids were back and we were getting ready to do the egg hunt.  I noticed that Tyler hadn't come back and I started asking around.  Some of the adults had just come back and I asked if they had seen him.  They hadn't and so we asked the bishop if he wouldn't mind driving Doug out on his property to go look for him.  Doug said that the bishop drove a bit crazy, but I guess he knows the trails well.    The conversation that I had with one of the adults while we were waiting was this:
Me: "I hope he's not lost, or gone too far somewhere."
"Oh, he won't get past the mud pit."
Me: "Oh, you don't' know Tyler, he will try anything."
"Well, then that's where you'll find him, stuck in the mud."
And that is where they found him, stuck in the mud at the very back of the property.  He had gotten past a pretty big hill to get there which surprised the bishop and others.  Tyler had tried to get out himself but couldn't do it and he started walking back  Then another girl found Tyler and she drove back to the buggy to see if she could help get him out.  They couldn't do it and so they were about to head back when Doug and the bishop found them.  They were able to get it out and Tyler drove it back.  He was a bit in shock at first, but then got upset when we got back to the house.  I don't know if it was embarrassment or afraid of being lost or stuck.  Tyler was pretty muddy so Doug cleaned him off with the hose as best he could.  He was in tears as he joined the group for the egg hunt.

But wait - there's more excitement.  After the egg hunt Tyler went off on the 4-wheeler.  This time he tried to go up a steep hill near a culvert and lost control of the back wheel, fishtailed 90 degrees, and dived head first off the 4-wheeler into the ditch.  Then the 4-wheeler fell on top of him.  Tyler was in the water with his head sticking out, stuck again underneath the 4-wheeler.  Luckily this time a dad from the ward was right there and was able to uncover him and help him out.  Tyler was really upset this time, banged up, and soaked.  We had brought a spare change of clothes so Doug hosed Tyler off again and we helped him get changed.  I talked to him for a bit in the van and helped him to calm down.  It's a little bit different holding an almost 10 year old in your lap, but he needed some love. :)  Doug was just frustrated at Tyler for not having much common sense and Tyler was scared from the whole ordeal.  He only got a few scrapes on his side, we of course were grateful that it hadn't been a lot worse.  Now I just hope that it scared some sense into Tyler so that he will be more cautious in the future.

Needless to say, we were pretty much done with the day.  After dinner we loaded up and headed home to baths and bed.  Everyone was tired.  But the night didn't end for Doug and I.  I had neglected to get Easter stuff ready during the week so I needed to go to the store, fill Easter baskets, fix the girls' skirts for church, finish their hair bows, make a scavenger hunt, and hide the baskets.  Gratefully Doug did all of the dishes and cleaned up so I didn't have to do that, and he hid the baskets.  I also had been asked to sub in primary earlier in the day so I started working on the Easter lesson at 11:00 PM.  We didn't get to bed until after 12:30.  It had been a very long day.  

Conference and more business April 2-8

First week of April, the kids did pretty well for conference.  We did our lunch by listening for words and then eating the associated item with that word.  The kids like it and we get to eat so it's a win-win.  I laminated cards with the words so we could use them each year, but I made them too big, so I'm thinking about cutting them and putting them on popsicle sticks for next conference.

Monday I went to the elementary school to get the girls registered for Kindergarten, CRAZY!  I can't believe that they will be going to school in just a few more months.  They are so excited and will do great.  I didn't have time to do the online part there, the computers were being extremely slow.  So I just turned in my paperwork and then did the online part at home later.

I went to the dentist after that.  My teeth have been doing pretty good lately.  There are a couple of spots they are watching, but everything looked good. :)  I went to the grocery store really quick after that before I picked the girls up from preschool.

Later we went to Damon's school to support him on his good grades.  He has had to work a bit harder in English this year, so I've been proud of him to see him be responsible and do well in school.  He got all A's and received good citizenship.

We had the missionaries over for dinner so that kept me busy in the kitchen.  I made a new Tuscana soup that I really liked and the kids thought it was ok.  I made bread sticks and had a fruit and green salad too.

Tuesday Chris went to the eye doctor for his first eye exam.  He did well and we confirmed that Chris will be needing glasses.  He said we could wait a bit if we wanted.  I figured we would go through the summer and then get them a few weeks before school starts.  Chris wasn't thrilled at the idea of wearing glasses, but hopefully it will grow on him.

I had book group in the evening.  We discussed the Orphan Keeper.  It was a great book and we had a good discussion.

Wednesday it was Tyler's turn to go to the doctor.  He is growing fine and is in the higher percentiles in height.  He had to miss part of his benchmark test in math, but he told me he was able to finish it later and it wasn't a big deal.

Thursday I had a visiting teaching interview in the morning.  This ward just has you pull up in your car and one of the RS presidency joins you in your car and gives the kids a fruit snack and the mom gets a water and a small treat.  We talk a bit and then you go on your way.  Easy peasy.  I watched Morgan that morning so she was in the car with my girls.  They all had fun making a fort when we got back home.

That evening Damon had his choir concert.  They performed songs from movies and everyone was supposed to dress up like a character.  Glad we could use our hobbit costume again.  They did a great job.  Damon liked the new song from Moana: You're Welcome.  They also sang, Colors of the Wind, I'll Make a Man out of You, Under the Sea, and Be Our Guest. They had a huge choir - just 7th grade, but still over a hundred kids.

Friday the girls had their dance class and then we went to play group.  We went to a new park this time.  It was a great find.  Lots of trees and some fun equipment.  It had a little skate park that the kids liked playing around on.  They used the large cement ramps as slides.  Glad they weren't wearing their nicest clothes.

That evening we borrowed Moana from a friend and watched it for the first time.  It was such a cute show, I loved it.  And now we are singing all the songs. Doug went to Guys Game Night while we watched the movie  I'm glad he goes and socializes with some of the other dads in the ward.  He's not as much of a 'gamer' as some of the others, but I think he still has a good time. 

Saturday we got up and went to the Battleship Texas State Park.  We had been once before as a family, but they love pretending to shoot the big guns and Damon needed to go to a historical monument for a scouting merit badge.  

 

Doug and Damon took the truck to get the tires rotated in the afternoon and I took the rest of the kids to the park.  They were having a Concert at the Park so we went over to listen to the music.  We also climbed the rock wall, went on a pony ride, and bounced on some inflatables.  The kids were tired from the Battleship and didn't really want to go, but I talked them into it and we all had a good time.  It was a hot day so I'm glad that we weren't there for too long.  Then it was dinner, baths, and bed.

A week at the Doctors March 26-April 1

It's hard when you get behind, looking back at this week I was so busy I don't really want to write about it- so we'll see how it goes.

Sunday: Church as normal - I've been conducting for the month, I still stumble over my words and forget things.  What is it about being in front of people that makes you ten times worse than you normally are?   

After church was quite busy.  Doug went home teaching at 2:00, our home teachers came at 3:00, Tyler and I went to choir at 4:00 then we had dinner at 5:00.  We had our family home evening at 6:00 and then we went back to the church at 7:00 for Damon's Priesthood Preview.  I didn't have to help much with this meeting so I was able to enjoy it.  It was a great program and I hope that Damon and his friends realize the importance and significance of receiving the priesthood this year.  They all sang "A Young Man Prepared,' and did a great job. 

 This was a week of being at the school and at the Doctor's office for well check-ups.

Monday was Chris's turn.  He didn't have to have shots, so that made him happy.  He didn't do so well on his eye exam, so I made an appointment with the eye doctor.  We may have another glasses wearer in the house.  Chris also missed a bit on his hearing, we are going to retest in a month or so - but I really wonder if he can't hear as well - it would explain a lot of things at home.  Chris is just above 50% for height and weight.

Tuesday I went visiting teaching to both of our ladies.  We like to talk so it usually takes 2 1/2 hours.  It is great but takes up my whole morning on those days.

Wednesday I worked hard in the kitchen while the girls were at preschool.  I was getting ready for a surprise birthday luncheon for a friend.  I made a yummy Toscana soup and super yummy Chocolate Torte Cake.  They were a bit labor intensive so I'm glad I got them done the day before.  I also made sugar cookie dough and frosting to help things be faster in the morning.

My friend picked up the boys from school for me so I could take Damon to his Dr. appointment.  He is getting older and has to do a few more things at his visits.  I have to take him to a lab to get a lipid panel drawn.  He also received a bunch of shots - he was sore for a few days.  He is healthy a just a bit below 50% for height and weight.

Thursday - I can't remember if I have blogged about it, but usually on Thursday mornings I lift weights with two friends.  We meet at 5:30 and go to a gym that my one friend works at.  We had a great work out this week and I was really sore for a few days afterwards.

In the morning I worked fast to bake the sugar cookies and decorate them.  I also finished the chocolate cake and got a present ready and some decorations.  I went over early to help and we barely got everything done in time.  We had a great turn out, over 25 moms came to help celebrate.  It was a fun luncheon.  I felt bad that I had to leave a bit early to go to Jenna and Kaylee's doctor appointment.

Their visit was fine, but they did need shots this year.  They were pretty upset about it.  Jenna did ok, but I really had to force Kaylee down to get her to hold still.  We went to Sonic after and got some slushies though so that of course made everything better.  Their legs were a bit sore, but not too bad.  The girls of course are still small.  Jenna weighs 2 more pounds than Kaylee and is a bit taller.  But they are growing and their percentages are increasing.  I think are in the 10-19th percentile.

 I picked up the boys straight from the doctors and then I dropped all the kids off at my neighbors so I could go back and get my stuff from the party.  Crazy run around day.  - but it's not over :)  I went back to my neighbors to get the kids and visited for a minute, Damon came in as well, seeing that my van was there.  We left around 4:30 and then we had to leave our house at 5:00 to go to Chris's 1st grade program.  They learned some cool routines drumming on Yoga balls.  It was pretty fun.  We had dinner afterwards then we all loaded up in the car again to go to Pack Meeting.  Tyler received his Bear.  They did some fun face painting as part of the ceremony.  It was a long day with kids getting to bed a bit late.  I was tired. Doug went to church ball, they had the late game at 9:15.

 Friday I went to the school to support Tyler and Chris with their good grades for the 3rd quarter.  The do a little assembly and recognize those who have perfect attendance, all A's and B's, all A's, and who have good citizenship.  They receive these little embroidered pull tags (called spirit sticks) that they put on their backpacks.  Chris and Tyler both did well and Chris even had perfect attendance - guess he wasn't sick during that stretch.

I went back to the school in the afternoon to watch Tyler walk in the Hall of Fame.  This is for students who have been caught doing good things and then they earn a ticket.  If you have 10 tickets by the end of the quarter you get to walk in the Hall of Fame.  They get a shirt and all the of students sit in the hall and clap and give high-fives as the group walks by.

I took the boys home after that so that I didn't have to go back to the school another time. They were actually kind of bummed to leave early since it was fun Friday and they were missing their game/fun time.  Tyler was really upset - but he eventually calmed down.  I thought they would be ok since we were going to go swimming at a friends house and have pizza - you would think that they would be excited to go have fun - but I understand how unmet expectations can make anyone upset.  We all have a hard time with changes in plans and trying to be flexible.  We had a fun evening though and Doug came home early and joined us.  We are grateful for friend with pool who invite us over.

After we got the kids to bed we went to our friends house for Game Night.  We have a great group and we had a fun night talking, laughing, and eating yummy food.  I was all baked out so I brought over popcorn.  It was good to have something salty to go with all of the sweet.  

Saturday we got up early to do some service at the Church.  This has become an annual tradition on Saturday Conference morning to do yard work at the church.  We weeded and spread mulch.  It looks much better now.  The kids did pretty well  - we were there for about 1 1/2 hours.  Doug and Damon did some more lawn aeration with the Scouts for their fundraising.  They did a lot of yards and worked hard.  The rest of us did our jobs at home and listened to conference.  I was surprised at how well my kids listened and stayed quiet.  They liked playing conference bingo or coloring while we watched.  

As soon as Damon got home I took the kids and we went up to Conroe for some BBQ and the Montgomery County Rodeo.  Dinner was great but I should have had Jenna and Kaylee share.  They never eat much when we go out.  The boys all ate their hamburgers and Chris was so excited that I let him have Dr. Pepper.  I had a pulled pork sandwich that was really good.  We met another family there so it was fun to put all of the kids together and the adults at a separate table.  

After dinner we drove to the fair grounds.  Of course the kids all wants to go on the rides or eat fair food, but they did pretty well when we said we were just coming for the rodeo part.  We got there pretty early so we could get good seats.  I've never been to a rodeo before so I figured while we lived in Texas we should go.  They had the youth events first, mutton bustin,' a boot race, and the goat pull.  The kids did ok, but were starting to whine since they were tired and hungry.  We usually put Jenna and Kaylee to bed around 7:30/8:00 and that's right when the main rodeo started.  But they perked up again after a bit and I was glad that I had a granola bar and fruit snack for everyone.  The girls liked the barrel races best.  Chris was tired too and tried to rest on my leg or the chair with his jacket as a pillow.  He liked the event when teenagers tried to chase some calves.  If they roped them and pulled them to a certain area they could keep them.  Damon and Tyler were fine, maybe a bit bored, but they liked the bull riding and lassoing events.  It was a small rodeo so there were not many riders in each event.  There were many misses and most riders didn't stay on long, but it was perfect for us to give us a taste of the Rodeo life.  

Of course everyone was tired and the three youngest fell asleep on the way home.  We got back around 10:30.  Doug had enjoyed the priesthood session and went to Whataburger afterwards with some guys from the ward.  

The great thing about going to bed late this night was that the kids slept in on Sunday and it was a week that we could actually let them sleep in - and Doug and I did too.!  

Whew! that was a busy week!