Mother's day

I'm one lucky girl and momma.  I'm surrounded by these boys and despite the volume in my house, complaints of dirty floors, and 10 different cups out at any given moment, I'm pretty dang lucky and feeling blessed to be called Mommy.  I think I'll cry when they starting calling me Mom...  

I love being Mommy.

More random pics

Hunter's class put on two full hour Shakespeare plays - MacBeth and Twelth Night.

Hunter was MacBeth and he was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.   I know I'm his mom, I know I'm prejudice, and I know it's my privilege to brag because of those facts - but honestly, he did this on his own!  Shayne and I were both shocked at how good he was.  Not only did he memorize a bajillion (really) lines and monologues, but he got into it and is quite the actor.  No mic's were used and we could hear everything - and even understand it.  It wasn't like this a year ago!  We're so proud of Hunter and all he has accomplished this year - his final year of elementary school... sniff, sniff... and a hooray too!  And it was such a treat to be his mom and sitting there and enjoying the magic of the night - he really blew us away.  The whole class did a fantastic job.  Hunter has been at a different school to participate in the Gifted/Talented program and it's been the perfect place for Hunter these past 4 years.

Hunter  placed at his Chess Club year-end tournament.

Danny finished the "Let's Play Music" program - he wrote his recital piece (The Bad Guy and the Farmer) and I'm really hopeful to find a fun and endearing piano teacher that will keep him going - Miss Alicia was an amazing teacher. 

Cole digging into a computer, donated by Uncle Brian. 

April Fools!

I completely forgot to post about April Fools Day!!

April Fool's Day Report 2015
Points awarded:
Shayne 4 points
Drew a mustache, goatee, and Fool on Lea while she slept (that pic is from 5:30am, I did not go to the gym with the facial as Shayne had hoped)
Used up all the hot water then made sure the water heater was set to vacation mode
Bought the boys doughnuts, only dyed half of the jelly blue - and covered the rest with the regular jelly = really blue mouths
Made a breakfast shake, that no one would drink - but it was absolutely fine

Hunter 6 points
Removed/hid all of Cole's clothing (Cole ended up wearing one of Hunter's shirts)
Decorated his dad's car
Covered the steering wheel with syrup
kool-aid powder on the seat
Raffi music on FULL BLAST in the car, when he pushed the power button
Blocked off the hallway with string and duct tape (which their dad honestly walked right into since he was not awake when he walked out to see what was going on)

Cole 4 points
Put "eye" stickers on Hunter's shampoo/condition in the shower
Helped with blocking the hallway
replaced all our milk with Soy Milk, (BLAH!)
Wet, worms (luckily fake ones) on his sleeping dad's face

Danny 1 point
Helped with the hallway tape/string

Mommy 1 point
Made muffins with broccoli hidden inside
(& got really grumpy since all kids were up at 5:30am trying to get their pranks ready, next year there will be a 7am rule or a "don't let Mommy catch you up" rule)
PS remind me to leave town next year, by myself.

Random April Pics

Danny did indoor soccer - loved it.

I forgot to put this in my Easter post - and it's a classic.  I told you - Muscle Man.

We had an outing with our friends to the SLC temple grounds - I don't do this often enough.

Here's a couple pics as we went help Bri and Dev put in our their floor in their AMAZINGLY SUPER CASTLE PLAYROOM.  Seriously - it's better than it looks, and it LOOKS AMAZING.

While we were helping that night - we heard the Michael (my nephew) screaming a deathly scream.  His dad ran to help him and it was kinda funny - Michael had kicked Hunter in the face.  Hunter was sitting there stunned and Michael was crying...  his dad asked him, are you saying sorry to Hunter?  "I was going to!"  I'm grateful Hunter kept his cool - evidence proved it was a good kick by the next morning.  He just told everyone a ninja had attacked him... which is true.

Our new Lego Room - We have an empty room and the train table was getting a bit too short for those big boys who still love their legos.  So, Shayne designed this lego space. He made the bins - yes, they are full of Legos, and there is shelf space to put their creations.  I love it when they are in there for hours, just creating.  

I went to help at Cole's mountain man rendezvous - I was in charge of the 3 legged race and I did get one in with Cole.

My valentine's gift from my Valentine was pottery classes together.  Shayne is the master.  I did manage to make some pots and when they are finished, I'm sure I'll do another post to prove it. 

Skyler and I did Itty-Bitty Baseball together - I coached again.  If he likes the station, he's great.

If he doesn't like what we're doing, he's pouting and refusing to participate.  He's definitely a 3 year old asserting his independence these days.

Easter

We had a little treat waiting for the boys when they woke up Easter morning - I guess I only took a pic of Skyler with his bubble maker.  He was loving it.

Since it was General Conference Sunday, we did not have regular church meetings.  We listened to conference in the morning and tried to get to Nana and Papa's by noonish.  We started with an egg hunt - the type of hunt I grew up with - REAL eggs.  Although, Papa and Nana threw in a few plastic eggs this year with change and made a few kids REALLY happy.

Despite counting the eggs before and trying to remember how many, I think we still lost one.  I think that's a tradition too.

After the egg hunt, we roll the eggs - smashing them together to get them ready for "Egg Stuff" (creamed eggs over toast)  

Nana is busy in the kitchen getting the "egg stuff" nice and ready.

Devri added Sticky Buns to the lunch an I think that should be a tradition.

Here's a pic that Devri captured of us making the egg stuff.  I love my family.  We always have a great time together.

After our big lunch - we zoomed off to another Easter celebration with Shayne's family.  Lucky us - and really lucky kids!

Skyler enjoying his loot.

My amazing dessert that I made...   I do love desserts. 

At the end of the hunt, Grandma did a special egg hunt that all pertained to the reason for Easter - reflecting on the crucifixion of Christ and His Resurrection.  I'm grateful my boys had a lot of fun on this day and I'm grateful they were attentive and willing to cherish those quiet moments as we reflected on the greatest gift given to us.   I'm so grateful we get to enjoy these moments with our grandparents and cousins, we're so lucky to have so much family close to us.

just two cute pics

This was when we got home from our vacation...  Skyler wanted to help shovel.  I think he put more on the driveway, but was super cute doing it.

Danny is my muscle-man.  He loves to do push-ups, pull-ups, and every once in a while he'll refuse a treat and say "I need to eat healthier so I can have bigger muscles."  He is a tough kid!