Easter Fun 2014

The Thursday before Easter, we received a visitor! Grandpa Barry came for a few days!! Barrett had Good Friday off, so the boys fixed the leak in our van door, went to Lowe's, and got Byler's sandwiches! I took the boys to the Primary Easter Activity. Unfortunately, the eggs were all collected by the time Tommy got outside and Damon only found a few also. Their friend shared with them, but they were so disappointed! They complained the whole way home. 

On Saturday, we dyed Easter Eggs and Grandpa took us to Texas Roadhouse, then the boys played baseball outside. It was Stake Conference weekend, so we were pretty busy. Barrett played the organ for the priesthood session and on Sunday. I accompanied the special musical number (which Barrett sang in) Saturday evening. It was awesome to leave the kids at home with Grandpa and sit beside Barrett and listen to the speakers. We've decided it's totally worth paying a babysitter to go to the evening session of Stake Conference! 

The boys wanted to make ninja eggs. They turned out super cute!

 Sunday was Easter and Stake Conference. We had cinnamon rolls and a really good cheese and egg suffle! We got to church super early because Barrett needed to practice the organ and I thought my kids were needed to sing in the children's choir (it ended up only being for 8 and up). As always, it was an uplifting meeting. Barrett was called to the Stake High Council, so we had to wait around afterwards for him to be ordained to High Priest and set apart for his calling. Our kids were going bonkers by the time the Stake Counselor finally made it to us. Luckily, I had some dum dums in my bag, so the kids were nice and quiet while everything took place:) Barrett's dad did a really nice job ordaining him and we were really grateful he was able to be there. We finally got home and Nathan showed up (which was a surprise to the boys). Barry took care of the Easter feast (I contributed lame rolls and dessert). When Hannah woke up from her nap, the boys got their egg hunt. All the kids loved it!

 Since the boys were on spring break, we had some fun with Grandpa on Monday. They played on the preschool playground while Barrett and I went to the bank to withdraw money for our down payment on our house. Grandpa treated us to Chick fil-A so we treated him to Rita's after dinner (for his belated birthday gift). Hannah loved that he kept giving her bites:) We were sad for him to leave early the next morning. We loved having him!

Cute Girl

Hannah was gobbling down some chocolate puff cereal which made her look like she had been eating dirt!

 She loves pulling out everything from my wallet! She loved playing with my money...which is rare, I never have cash! I love this picture!!

 Sometimes she's too absorbed in Barney that she can't even turn her chair to face the tv:)

April 2014...so far

April sure has been  busy so far! We started off with a great April Fool's Day. A few days before I explained to the boys what April Fool's Day is and basically you just play little tricks on people. So we brainstormed things we could do to dad:) We poured cold water on him in the shower, put toys in his shoes, and replaced his bag of chips with carrots. The boys thought it was hilarious. Tommy even started doing little tricks on everyone. Barrett and I both found toys under our covers. I put mints in Damon's raisin box in his lunch. I had to keep reminding the boys that we didn't want to do anything mean, just silly. 

That evening, Tommy had his Kindergarten screening. He was super excited and loved the "doodie bad" he came home with (new book, glue stick, crayons, scissors, alphabet and number cards.) When we got home, I walked in the house and noticed our TV was gone! I did a quick glance around the room, then realized Barrett must have done it. I called to the boys, who were playing outside, and had them check it out. Barrett bounded down the stairs to scare them. He was so sneaky and even parked way down the street so we wouldn't see his car. Barrett also took the mattresses of the boys' beds and hid them in Hannah's room. The boys loved it! I wish I would have taken some pictures though.

So, one day, Little Miss Hannah wouldn't nap. We turned on Barney while we were making dinner and then realized she wasn't watching it anymore. You know this girl's tired if she falls asleep during Barney!!!

 She loved this Lego box one day and kept climbing in it. 

 Tommy loves building things. Grandma gave him these new cool building toys for his birthday. He rediscovered them this week and he and Hannah have loved playing with them. One day he decided he wanted to build the picture in the idea brochure that came with the toys. Boy, it was a pretty hard task. I had to help him and it took a lot of team work and patience! He was so proud of his rocket ship.

 Our family loves General Conference weekend. We have loved taping the pictures of the apostles up on the wall and coloring a picture that goes along with their talk. Barrett had a work commitment with one of his towns that he couldn't get out of, so had to miss the first session. I was worried how I'd fare with the kids alone during conference. It was awesome. Hannah took a nap and the boys were so excited and drew and listened and ate lunch. When Barrett finally got home, all kids had to be sitting next to him or on him! Hannah loves to color and plopped herself down and started coloring...our little conference notetaker! But for some reason, that girl kept taking Elder Cook's picture off the wall. He got crinkled a couple times, drawn on, and even thrown away. His picture is the only one she touched!

 We finally got some sun shine!!!!!! The daffodils are finally up! The tulips are working on it. The magnolia trees are in bloom as well as the forsythia! Spring is finally here!! We ended up having lunch outside today then I busted out the popsicles for Tommy and Hannah. Hannah loved walking around with her very own.

 Tommy's preschool had their annual Art Fair/Open House. We went and looked at some of the art in the classrooms. These are Tommy's bunnies that they painted with carrots.

 Here's his butterfly and bouquet. 

Hannah also had her 18 month check up this week. She's in the 30s percentile for height and weight. She looks super chunky, but she's pretty petite...except for her cheeks and belly:) She was petrified of the nurses and cried and clung to me, but when the doctor came in, she just started jabbering away to her. At one point Tommy piped in like he was translating what she was saying. The doctor and I thought it was hilarious!!

The boys had dentist appointments. They got A's for brushing!! I was so excited because we never get A's on their brushing score card. I help them brush every night too! Then they told me Tommy has 3 little cavities...boo. Damon didn't have a single one! They put his name in a drawing for their cavity free club and now he thinks he's winning the 20 bucks:)

Hannah has been super into dancing to Barney songs lately. I videoed her one day. It is the cutest thing I've ever seen!! I love being a mom. I feel so lucky that I can be home with my children and see all the cute things they do. It is the best!