Planting Seeds

Michael and the kids finally planted seeds for our garden. Yay!

We look forward to homegrown roma tomatoes, grape tomatoes, surprise tomatoes from last year, bell peppers, lettuce, squash, broccoli, peas, zucchini, anaheim peppers, and strawberries.

McKenzie's Recital

McKenzie had her first piano recital on April 19th. I made sure I had the camera and camcorder batteries fully charged, and I put a brand new disc in the camcorder on our way to the recital. Unfortunately, somehow I also turned on the camcorder and recorded the interior of the bag, filling the entire disc. So, I have no video recording of our daughter's very first piano recital. But I do have some pictures!

Here she is playing Cuckoo.

And here is the lovely pianist by her instrument and with some wonderful friends who came to listen and offer moral support.

{It meant so much to McKenzie that her friends came to see her play. Thanks, girls!}

Mystery Solved

I went out to meet Brenda when she brought McKenzie home from school. Mason soon joined us outside. He was covered from head to toe in mystery powder. He didn't want to show me where he made the mess. After the kitchen and his bathroom were ruled out, we went to my bathroom. I had been very tired that day and had taken a break from cleaning to sit on the couch and do some digital scrapbooking. Thomas and Mason had both been quietly occupied downstairs with me. But then Mason had disappeared, and I hadn't given it much thought until I saw him covered in powder. We went to my bathroom and he showed me his mess.

As I thought of what the best way to respond would be, I considered that a) he is 3 years old, not 4 or 7, b)Comet actually feels pretty good under your feet - maybe what sand feels like at really nice beach, c)I was somewhat responsible for the mess, since I left the Comet out (I had intended to clean the bathroom) and the door unlocked, and d)these messes won't last forever -- maybe someday I'll miss them. I attempted to have him help clean up, but it just made things worse, so I sent him to his room until I finished. So Brenda, now you know what the mystery powder was.

Easter 2009

Easter is my favorite holiday because I love celebrating the Atonement and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I think about it all week long, starting on Palm Sunday, considering what the Savior might have been doing as each day passes until Resurrection morning. I love the blessing and the promise of the Resurrection. It is so comforting to know that I truly will see my mom, my grandpa and grandpa, and my mother-in-law again, and it's exciting to know that I'll finally have a chance to meet so many relatives that I've heard so much about. It is another testament to me of the overwhelming love that our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ have for every single one of us. It makes my heart swell to think of it.

Our Easter isn't as spiritual as I would like it to be. I try to get the kids to consider Palm Sunday, and the events leading up to the Garden of Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection, but only McKenzie seems to grasp it a little bit. I can understand. I was a kid once, too.

This year, we started off Saturday morning by participating in a friends' fun run. The Easter Bunny was there handing out candy for the kids. We won some gift certificates in a drawing. As soon as we finished, we went over to the church to help set up for the Easter Egg Hunt. The kids and I went inside and worked on kids crafts while Michael helped disperse candy all over the field. Soon, the kids lined up and were released by age groups onto the grass. Mason was in heaven. Easter Egg Hunting is definitely his sport! Candy-filled eggs, regular candy, pudding cups, fruit snacks, and cans of rootbeer were strewn all over the lawn. All the kids had to do was pick them up. Mason needed no guidance; he filled his basket to capacity. Michael helped Megan, and Thomas and McKenzie knew the routine.

Here is Mason with his favorite thing: candy.

Megan loves this game.

Thomas trying out the candy.

I think the kids made out better than at Halloween!

We have 9am church, so the kids didn't really get to see their baskets until after church. Each of them received a pair of flip-flops and what I consider to be true Easter candy (Cadbury eggs, peeps, chocolate covered marshmallow eggs, robin's eggs). Fortunately for me, they didn't really like the fancy candy. They kept going for the loot they had scored the day before.

Hope you had a Happy Easter, too!

Three Stories about Mason

4/1 Michael was gone at Mutual. It had been a long day and I was ready to punch my timecard. So, instead of sitting by the boys' door to make sure they stayed in bed, I went downstairs to clean the kitchen with the TV on. When Michael came home, he went upstairs to check on the boys and found Mason with two fistfuls of licorice, and Thomas chewing on some licorice, as well (thanks to Mason's thoughtfulness). I had hidden the licorice in our bathroom because of previous break-ins to the container when it was in the pantry, but then I left our bedroom door unlocked and Mason got to them again. So, Mason got in big trouble and was sent to bed on threat of further discipline if he got out.

A little while later, Michael and I were amazed to hear the pitter-patter of little feet coming down the stairs. Sure enough, it was Mason. Michael asked him what he was doing out of bed. Mason said, "Thomas' head hurts. He needs some medicine." Michael said, "Okay, Mason. I'll take care of it. Go back to bed." Mason responded, "Okay. Thanks for talking to me, Daddy. Good night!" and went back to bed! Thomas knew they had reached their limit that night, and didn't want to risk the consequences of getting out of bed even if his head did hurt. Mason knew he would probably get spanked for getting out of bed, but was willing to risk it to help his brother feel better. Michael let him off the hook for his compassion, and Mason stayed in bed the rest of the night!

4/4 Mason and Megan were playing in our square foot garden, which we haven't still planted for this year. They were having a great time pouring dirt on each other's heads. Lovely. I pulled them out and brushed off the dirt. Mason was wearing his newer shirt and jeans. He dropped to the ground and started squirming around. I thought he was doing a worm impersonation. I asked "What are you doing?" He said, "I'm cleaning myself." I pictured the dirt and grass stains being deeply rubbed into the fibers of his clothing. Then he got up and said "Now I'm all clean!" I need to get that sign that reads: BOY: Noise with dirt on it. It's so true!

4/5 Our boys are in to all things Star Wars. We recently bought some lightsabers for Thomas' upcoming birthday party. Mason was standing on the patio outside and started fake-crying. Michael looked over to see what his problem was and saw that he was standing a few feet away from his lightsaber with his hand stretched out to it. He was upset because it wouldn't go to his hand. Michael said, "Mason, you don't have the Force. You have to pick it up." I thought it was funny that he thought he could just will his lightsaber to himself with the Force.

Megan Turned Two Today!

My youngest is now two years old. It's amazing how quickly the days pass by. We had a low-key birthday celebration for her today. I wasn't feeling well, so she had a simple cake instead of the "pupcakes" we were planning on making. (Maybe this weekend...)

To make her day special, we visited Michael for lunch,

then played at the park

and threw rocks in the river.

Later, she played with bubbles while I worked on her cake.

Megan loves dogs, so we rented this movie

and ate hot dogs. For her birthday, Megan received a pretty purple Radio Flyer tricycle, a plush yellow lab (I'm tempted to make it real),

a bouncy ball, a princess cell phone, and a cute handmade apron from her grandma and grandpa. She seemed most enthralled with the toy phone, which was an afterthought that we saw while standing in the checkout line. (Go figure.)

I am so grateful to have Megan in our family. She is such a sweet, fun-loving, caring little girl. She is a joy to have around. She's getting even more interesting as her vocabulary expands. She definitely has her own personality.

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Bread, Leprechauns, and Madagascar

In my last post, I mentioned that I was really looking forward to going out on a date with my husband. I also mentioned that our daughter was sick. She was sicker than I thought, so we wound up canceling our babysitter and watching a movie at home, after the kids were in bed. It was kind of funny when Mason came downstairs and asked why we weren't in bed, too. He said we should be in bed. We told him that we were on a date and to go back to bed.

Since we didn't get to go out on Friday the 13th, I was really looking forward to our date on Friday the 20th. But then Michael came home sick from work on Thursday. He was sick on Friday as well, but thought he felt well enough to go to our Relief Society Birthday Dinner and out to a movie. We made it through both the dinner and the movie (unfortunately, because I HATED the movie), but he felt worse and worse as the night continued. The next morning, I found him bowing to the porcelain god. Poor guy. This is his four day weekend. We were planning on making a lot of progress in the office, but he has been feeling absolutely miserable.

I have been feeling like a troll. These are the times when I especially hate people who have nannies and can just leave their kids for a bit while they take a nice relaxing vacation. I NEED A BREAK! (Don't we all?) We are on week two of potty-training Mason. He is slowly getting it. He really prefers to wear a diaper because of how convenient it is. All I can say is that I'm sick of poo. I hate it. But I continue to persevere because I know that each day is one day closer to the day when he will go in the toilet instead of his underwear. And that will be a great day, indeed.

Anyway, here are some of the goings-on at my house this week: On Saturday night after I had put the boys to bed and was combing out McKenzie's hair, Mason came downstairs covered in marker and said, "Hey Mom, look. I'm Madagascar! Thomas is too. Come see!" They had colored their faces and "paws," their "cave," and Mason's little cow. I can't get my flash to work, so the pictures turned out blurry, but here is one for illustration purposes.

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, as you know. We were surprised to find that some mischievous leprechauns had visited our home and turned our milk green, and the children's cereal into Lucky Charms!

Thank goodness they left my cereal alone. It didn't look very appetizing with green milk, but it tasted fine.

I tried to make bread this week for the first time ever. I think I was too impatient in mixing the dough. It didn't turn out very well. My friend, Molly, came over to help salvage it, but it was a lost cause.

I was thinking it might not be worth all the effort to make bread (since it didn't even taste that good) until Molly brought one of her loaves over today to share with me. I took a picture of her loaf next to my loaf so you could get a better idea of how bad mine was.

Molly's bread inspired me to try again and this time, I think we have a winner.