Easter 2013

This year we decided to try things a little differently.  Usually our Sundays are so hectic and crazy with church and dinner and life in general, then toss in Easter baskets and an Easter egg hunt...yeah, the day is done and everyone is tired and cranky and we really never took much time (except at church) to even think about Jesus and and his life, death and resurrection and the blessings of the Atonement. Everything is mixed up with Cadbury eggs and who found the most eggs and jelly beans. So, since this year Brian's schedule worked out and he was home on Saturday, I thought, let's have the Easter Bunny come on Saturday!  The E.B. is pretty flexible...he had no problem accomodating us. And since it was such a nice day, he hid the eggs outside...we've got a nice big yard so our 25 dyed eggs and 13 (10 little and 3 big) plastic eggs were nicely spread out. That wouldn't have worked on Easter - it was rainy a good part of the day.

Saturday morning we dyed the eggs...the first round wasn't enough so I boiled another 10 or so.  Later that afternoon, after Grace had been asleep for an hour or so, the boys decided to go hang out in their room so the E.B. could come...they closed the door and everything. I was walking up and down the hall putting away laundry and they thought the bunny was jumping around. Once Grace woke up, they discovered that there were Easter baskets on the couch with a note that told them the eggs were outside.

 Sunday we enjoyed Church. All three kids sang with the Primary during Sacrament meeting - even Grace got up there. I think this is the first time all three kids have sung together with the Primary. Grace didn't know all the words, but she made sure to chime in on the Hosanna choruses :) 
Both Brian and I teach every Sunday now - he gets to teach teenagers and I get to teach 5 year olds. I only had two kids this week - the rest were all visiting family elsewhere.

After Church we were having dinner at my parents. We didn't get there as quick as planned because Brian was helping someone. So I took pictures of the kids in front of the church...I'd wanted to be sure to get pictures of them before they changed out of their nice clothes...looking back at last year's pictures I saw that I'd not done that. So I think Grace wore this same dress last year, but there's no proof that we did a repeat ;)  I swear, it takes a miracle to get all three of them to look at me at the same time and have their eyes opened, looking the right way and a smile of sorts on their faces.  I did get some cute pictures, though.

Dinner was delicious...both my grandmas were there as well as my sister Sarah and her husband Dave who had surprised us all when they came up from Sacramento the day before. After dessert we headed home for naps for most of us and then time to get Brian packed and ready to head to Redding for his clinicals. We ended the day reading in John 20 about Christ's resurrection.  All in all a very lovely Easter.

I love how they all three finally cooperated - all have their eyes closed!
 

Doc McGrace

While cleaning last week, I came across my old monkey puppet...and it's felt nose was mostly off. Grace said we had to fix it...RIGHT NOW.
I told her I didn't know if I had any fabric glue, but we'd look.
I did...pretty congealed, but thanks to a handy q-tip, I got enough out and on the back of the nose to stick it down to ol' monkey man's face.
I placed it on my bed and told her it needed to stay still so it would stick right.
Well, being as one of her favorite shows in the world right now is Doc McStuffins on Disney, she knew just what she needed to do to make this puppet get better fast...

Pillow, mattress and blanket were necessary...

...and thank goodness she has not one, but TWO doctor kits (one a hand-me-down from Joshua and the other I think is hers...or maybe it was Nathaniel's...I can't remember...everything eventually winds up all together in one room or another...yet still, the boys seem to know exactly what Hot Wheel or Star Wars guy belongs to who (whom?) and when they got it...go figure)

While singing Doc's theme song (It's time for your check-up, time for your check-up...let's see how much you've grooooowwwwnnn...yep, if you are familiar with this show the song is now stuck in your head :) sorry)...checking his ears (lint...not unexpected...he is over 30 years old...)



(My favorite picture of the whole sequence)
Checking his heartbeat...like every good nurse or doctor will do (never could understand what the scarf was for)...just like Daddy does.

"Look momma, he's sick...it's got a sad face." Poor monkey - his nose starts to fall off and he runs a temperature!

I missed getting a picture of taking poor monkey's blood pressure - with no arms I told her she really didn't need too...so she wrapped it around his "body" (with Nathaniel's help...he was home sick from school that day).
But in the end he needed a shot in the head and a bandaid on his nose...which she removed after just a few seconds and said he was better and just needed to rest for a little while.
Then it was off to a new adventure...

Shadow...

We have finally recognized Shadow's true greatness.  At almost 13 years old (in April) we have finally accepted the fact that she is, indeed, the Queen of all she surveys. 
She is slowing down considerably this winter. She limps a lot and really spends most of the day sleeping on the futon or the couch, our bed, Nathaniel's bed or, if the blinds are open and the sun is shining in nice and warm, she'll lay in it on the floor. Sometimes we find her curled up in a chair at the dining room table - where the heat blows from the monitor - she's no dummy.
We have a trunk and a rubbermaid tote at the foot of our bed to help her get up and down - sometimes she uses them and sometimes she doesn't.
Not to mean that all she does is sleep and eat...she has her bouts of play - usually at midnight or 1 in the morning :)
Since we moved in August, she hasn't really tried to get out of the house...we'll see what she does come spring and it is warmer out and the snow & ice is all melted - that might change her mind...

This was in August before we moved out of our trailer. The fan would blow on her so she would lay right there in the boys' doorway.

 

With her youngest tormenter, I mean, subject.
Actually, Grace & Shadow have the most interesting relationship of all...Grace sometimes just doesn't want to get close to Shadow and doesn't like her claws, etc.

Probably because they both think they should be Queen...

She loves to spend the day very productively - ie...shed hair on the futon (I'm black, it's black, what are you complaining about) - which is where we sometimes can't find her because if she is curled up and her eyes are closed and the light is dim, well, you could sit on her (it has happened)...

Her throne - pillow in Brian's chair...don't mess with me.

The oldest subject showing the proper respect.

Joshua was home sick from school one day...and this is what I found...she loves laying right against your leg as you try to sleep (or right between your knees - plan on staying that way ALL NIGHT unless she decides she is going to move)

Nap time, again....

Being friends at the moment...I just realized that I don't have any recent pictures of her with Nathaniel...they get along quite well...his bed (well, besides mine & Brian's) is the only bed she'll sleep on...probably because it is nice and dark (bottom bunk) and quiet when he's at school. When we can't find her (and haven't sat on her on the futon), we look in there and see if any of his stuffed animals have glowing eyes.

Christmas morning...she's waiting for Joshua to open the gift he picked out for her (little mice filled with catnip...yeah, she was pleased)



She couldn't wait for them to get out of the package...she has disemboweled at least one of them, and removed the tails off of all of them.

She likes the balls too - I think she realized right then the potential these had for playtime at midnight.
 

You are dismissed...I need to get back to my important nap, peasants.




Some fun the last few weeks...

On January 29th, Joshua got to participate in the county wide 4-6th grade spelling bee.  It was held at COS.
He looked so handsome and even though he was nervous, did his very best and we were very proud of him.

The fifth grade gets to go to an outdoor school/camp in May. They earn money by selling tickets to a lasagna dinner in early February. 
Between the tickets sold prior to the dinner and at the door, as well as desserts sold and auctioned off, they made the $5,800 that they needed to go ot the camp.
Joshua worked so hard!!  He was great during the dinner serving, etc., but I was even more impressed come 6:30 p.m. when it was clean up time (and he hadn't been home since 7:40 that morning when he caught the bus)  and he was still going strong helping clear tables, fold up and put away tables and chairs, and doing whatever he could to help out.

One of the most exciting things about 1st grade - making rockets!!  Nathaniel made the coolest & tallest rocket - it ROCKED!!
He used water bottles, Lifewater bottles, a Powerade bottle (can you tell we'd had someone sick earlier in the week), Dad's Nexium bottles and Mom's potassium bottles (thank goodness for our prescriptions, right?) plus a cone for the top.
He had drawn a plan of it beforehand and colored each section how he wanted it painted and the teacher later spray painted it for him.

Tuesday morning, right before we were getting ready to head to Etna so I could help in Joshua's science lab this is what greeted me - Miss Grace in her baby stroller (her Christmas present from great-grandma Donna) - she looked so cute...then it was time to get out and she was STUCK!!  I told her she might have to wait until Daddy got home so he could get her out - that wasn't an idea that she thought was very good. She told me I'd just have to try and get her out...well, we did manage to get her out and she has decided that maybe that isn't the best place for her to sit and she'd leave it for Maggie (her favorite baby doll) and others.

Snow White - complete with tiara.  I can't remember what inspired her to but on her Snow White costume the other day - maybe she'd been watching Sofia the First again.
Anyway, she curtsied and was quite regal for awhile.