Easter at home

Our Easter weekend was simple and quiet this year. We had some fun activities for the kids, bought new dresses for the girls, and Garry participated in the annual Easter Cantata (the boys and I attended both nights). I was busy on Sunday with Primary sharing time and accompaniment for a solo in sacrament meeting. Overall, the holiday was very nice.

A couple of weeks ago I planned an Easter egg hunt at the park with lots of the moms in the ward who have preschool kids. Doing this was part of our Easter tradition when Zach and Tyler were little, and I have wanted a similar experience for my little kids, too. On the Friday before Easter, lots of people came to the park, the weather was perfect, and I think everyone had a good time. Success!

The next day, we invited one of Gavin's friends and his mom to join us for our family egg hunt and egg coloring. I filled the plastic eggs and Garry hid them. The kids had a blast tracking down 24 eggs each (they were color-coded).

After that, we decorated hard-boiled eggs with shaving cream and food coloring. That was a fun change from the traditional dye cups. Too bad Garry and Lexi are the only family members who like to eat rubbery eggs. We have lots! We had a very fun morning and were glad to have our friends along to play with us.

On Sunday morning the kids enjoyed their Easter baskets. The Easter Bunny hides baskets at our house, and the hiding places were a little tricky this year, but everyone seemed to enjoy the search, their candy, and the one small gift they received.  That's our Easter in a nutshell...or would that be an egg?

Gone but not forgotten

Here are some updates on our life...they have passed, but I still want to remember them.

1. Tyler's cast is gone!  After six weeks, his arm is free!  He is still wearing a wrist guard at school, but not at home.  He is slowly improving mobility and flexibility.  It's nice for him to have clean hands and to shower unobstructed.

2. My dad visited! In the middle of a business trip to Denver, he ventured down to Colorado Springs to spend some time with us.  He stayed with the kids while Garry and I attended parent/teacher conferences, and then treated the whole family to a yummy dinner at Olive Garden. Then we rounded out his visit with several rousing rounds of Don't Eat Pete, a Granny & Gramps tradition with our kids.  Fun times!  Thanks for coming, Dad!

3. We got several inches of snow this week after Mother Nature teased us with spring weather. I was desperate not to lose my tulips to the cold like I did last year. I covered the three-inch sprouts with blankets several nights in a row and they look hardy and happy! 

4.  We painted our bedroom, four months after buying new bedding.  Good-bye green!  Hello, gray!  Love it.

5.  Spring Break came and went. We (all the kids, plus Garry and me--he had the whole week off) went to the zoo one fine day.  Other highlights: a movie at the dollar theater, playing at Fox Run Park (saw some friends from BYU that we haven't seen in 12 years, which makes us O-L-D), seeing Gavin's art work (the lizard) at the school district office building, Zach dying the milk Easter colors, and lots of playing with friends and relaxing.  It was mostly a good break, but I was more than ready to send everyone back to school.

6. Garry had a birthday. Yay for Daddy!

7. We carried on the tradition of eating crepes for breakfast on the Sunday morning of LDS General Conference.

8. This event is perhaps the most fitting for the post's title. Christa Johnson, a sweet friend from my high school days, passed away this week after a four-year battle with breast cancer. A few years ago, when I was sick with my last pregnancy, Christa and I reconnected through our blogs and chatted online sometimes. We joked about PICC lines and Zofran and living on the couch. I got better...but she didn't. She died at age 35, leaving behind a loving husband and four children.  I am heartsick for that little family.  The tragedy hits close to home.  A couple of years ago I met Christa and some other friends for lunch.  I'm glad for that fun memory for her, even if the picture we took is particularly unflattering of me....

So here's to memories, the good and the bad, that fill my heart today.  Cheers!

Five-year flashback

Today we opened a family time capsule that we created in January 2009.  What a treasure!

Five years ago:

* We had lived here for seven months

* We had three boys with a girl on the way

* Zach was in 1st grade and Tyler in preschool

* Gavin was 14 months old

* We were in the Briargate Ward

* I was the ward activity chair person and Garry the ward clerk over the website

* We had the same house and cars

* Every room in the house was arranged differently

* Zach had a nasty Strep A infection in his toe

* I weighed five pounds less than I do now, and I was 5 months pregnant (sad!)

* I had been blogging for one year

* Barack Obama had just been inaugurated as President for his first term

* Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were the hottest couple in Hollywood

Here are just a few of the relics from our time capsule.  Lexi was very upset that nothing but a pregnancy photo represented her.  Tyler was sad that his soccer trophy was broken.  The rest of the box was highly entertaining.  We especially enjoyed all of the surveys that each person had filled out, and also the hand and foot prints we made out of construction paper.

In 2014 our lives are quite different, but also very much the same.  We plan to make a new time capsule over the next week or two, with items that will give a snapshot of our current life. We will include some of the treasures from the box we just opened, so we can have a ten-year comparison next time.  In five years Zach will be a senior in high school and Kate will be seven. It's hard to imagine how our lives are going to change between now and then!

Traditions new and old

We had the happiest of Christmases, which makes my heart all warm and gooey.  I admit that Mrs. Claus panicked a little around 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve.  Were the gifts right? Fair? Too much or too little?  This time it all rolled out {almost} perfectly.

Our tradition on Christmas Eve is to eat lasagna for dinner and give the kids one special gift.  We have experimented with ornaments, pajamas, and books.  This year I made "magical pillowcases" for each of the kids, presented on a brand new pillow.  The kids were way more excited about this than I expected. Apparently a new pillow is a great gift, especially if it is cute.

We watched a really stupid movie that I regret showing, but we ended on a high note: Candy Cane Oreos (thanks, Melissa!) (I have great friends.) and milk.  YUM.  The kids were really surprised that I shared.

We tried some new things on Christmas Day.  Last year was fun (despite our series of unfortunate events) but we discovered that less=more in the gift department.  So this year we gave less and played more, and we had a great time. This will definitely become a tradition.

In previous years, gift opening began before 6:00 a.m.  Kids set alarms and shook us out of bed and we were all cranky and exhausted by 8:00.  I'm sure the kids were still up before dawn this time, but we didn't let them come upstairs until 7:30.  We all got dressed first (I showered! so lovely!), then turned the kids loose to discover the joys of their stockings and the one present Santa left for each of them.  The kids opened and enjoyed what Santa brought, which never happened in the past.  Gavin tipped and tottered on his Wobble Board.  Lexi zipped around on her scooter.  Kate danced around in her dress-ups.  Tyler set up his r/c car and drove it around the entire main level of the house.  Zach exercised his muscles.  Garry and I savored our candy before breakfast.

Then we moved to the kitchen, where the table was set for a feast.  We enjoyed breakfast casseroles that Garry made--pumpkin French toast and cheesy potatoes--and orange juice.  We discovered that the tablecloth is liquid resistant when a cup of juice spilled.  We all opened Great-Grandma Dent's envelopes with cash inside.  After breakfast Garry and I cleaned up while the kids ran back to their toys.

Next we moved downstairs, where presents from the grandparents and cousins were laid out (which I had done just before going down).  The kids took turns opening and enjoying those gifts as well.  Kate's reaction to a box of princess dress-up shoes was priceless!  She was beyond thrilled.  Two-year-olds are fun on Christmas Day!  After enjoying that segment of gifts, we goofed around with a "photo booth" and silly props that I found online.  The kids didn't really get it.  Maybe next year?  I thought it was a fun idea...

After that we went back up to the living room, where presents from Mom and Dad were under the tree.  The kids each had three--something to wear, something fun, and a movie (which I had purchased for a few bucks each).  We gave Kate a scooter, Gavin a back pack, Tyler a sandwich maker, Zach a how-to-draw-cars book, and Lexi a Rapunzel costume.  Woohoo!  The kids loved their gifts.  We have some priceless pictures locked away on our nice camera because we don't have a card reader for that one anymore (oops).

Our last destination was Mom and Dad's bed.  We sat in a circle with the gifts the kids gave each other in the middle. Garry's and my gifts to each other were in the pile, too.  We each took turns drawing from the pile.  The sibling gifts were small and cheap but the kids were all happy with socks and markers and costume jewelry.  Garry surprised me with the promise of new bedding in our room, and I got him some electronics, which are generally a hit.  So we were all spoiled.

In the afternoon we played Christmas Bingo and watched movies.  I read a book (an amazingly rare luxury) and napped a little. Garry fixed a dinner feast that we all enjoyed.  I have a pile of Christmas themed games and activities that I had planned to use today, but will instead spread holiday cheer for days to come.

All in all, I was very pleased with our day.  Extending gift giving for a few hours was so much better than the usual blitz attack.  I loved how much family time we enjoyed.  I guess I like structure better than chaos, even when it comes to Christmas, but when Mrs. Claus is happy, everyone else can be, too.