April 2014

 Maybe it is a little case of pregnancy nesting, or maybe it is just that Spring cleaning spirit, but we did a lot of projects around the house this month. And, speaking of Spring cleaning, it was time for teeth cleaning too! I have to include this mundane event simply to brag about how awesome the kids did. For the first time, with some strong hesitation, Kade sat in the dentist chair during the whole cleaning! And Miss Kathryn sat in my lap letting the hygienist polish AND floss her teeth!

 As our little Kathryn grows, she seems more angelic each day. She understands commands and does what we ask her to like, "clean up your toys," or "follow me downstairs," or "give me a kiss." Maybe we have forgotten what a 16 month-old is capable of, but she seems unusually bright for her age. Kathryn, however, does have a mischievous streak in her. Her newest hobby is throwing things in the bathtub while her siblings are bathing. Sometimes it's toys, other times it's kitchen utensils she has fished out of the kitchen drawer. Her favorite item is their pajamas. Sometimes Grace or Kade has had to wear one of my t-shirts to bed because Kathryn threw their last pair of clean pajamas in the water. She totally knows it's wrong too, because she runs away from the deed smiling and giggling to herself.

 The sandbox has become a new-found marvel with the kids, now that it is warm and dry enough to play outside. I just love this box full of fun--it makes the best babysitter when I need to take a breather.

 Easter was more meaningful to us this year, as the children are older now and understand more about Jesus. It was really special to hear and answer their questions about the Atonement and how we will live again with our Savior some day. They have such child-like faith and, although they ask lots of questions, they don't doubt for a second who Jesus Christ was and is. I need to be more like them.

And what better way to celebrate the morning before Easter than by using the precious body God gave him to run a half-marathon? Neil ran 13.1 miles in under two hours, giving himself a personal record for his mile pace. I was proud of him for waking up early in the mornings to train. He must have prepared well, because his recovery was pretty fast AND his knees still felt good!

 Upon returning from the race, we found that the Easter bunny visited with baskets of new flip-plops and side-walk chalk. He also left a trail of eggs filled with kettle corn and peanut butter M&M's. That bunny sure has good taste in sweets, if you ask me!

 Once the effects of the race finally hit him, Neil took the afternoon to rest. While he was sleeping, the kids and I decorated paper Easter eggs and made our mantle look very festive.

The end of the school year is fast approaching, and now starts all the recitals and school programs. The first one was Grace's "Let's Play Music" recital. She played and sang all her songs perfectly.

This is a really cute thing Neil and Grace have been working on together. Our family has caught the Genealogy bug. I have been researching family names for over a year, and now everyone else is following suit. On Sunday afternoons, Neil has been working with Grace to teach her stories about our ancestors. She was so proud of this Family Tree she drew during one of their sessions.

 And about those house projects. With the warmer weather, we knocked down our old mailbox from below the driveway and installed a new one above it. It looks much nicer, and now we won't worry about running into it when backing out of the icy driveway in the winter time.
That same day, with the help of my younger brother, I painted our front door black. It gives our entry a lot more contrast now.

 At the end of this month we got a new roof put on our home. After seeing shingles in our yard, we got it inspected only to learn that it was not repairable. In most places along the ridges, plywood was exposed and even wet in spots. We feel blessed though because we got a really good price on a brand new roof. The workers installed it in less than 48 hours and it looks so sharp!

Anyone who knows our family at all, knows how much we love to be outside. Our neighbors might think we are slave-drivers, but we really do enjoy working in our yard every chance we get. The work is starting to pay off as the yard looks more green and there are fewer weeds than when we first moved in two-and-a-half years ago.