since Easter

While Faith was on spring break, I went into the optometrist at Sam's Club for a check up. I was glad that Faith was there to keep Christian busy during the long appointment, and both kids were really very good and mostly quiet. One exception was while I was answering the "lens one, or lens two" questions behind this thing.-->

(I learned while trying to find a picture of one that it's called a phoropter. This blog is nothing if not educational!)
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Christian started in with his, "mom------mom------mom." I kept telling him, "Quiet, Bud, and mom will be done in just a minute." and finally the doctor told him that he needed to wait until mommy was done. After a hundred more "mom"s, I finally said, "WHAT, Buddy?" and he replied, "Mom, wook wike wobot!" (translation-"Mom, you look like a robot!")

Next, the doctor put on crazy specs on me like these which have interchangable lenses, but he put a black plastic piece in the left side while he checked the prescription for my right eye. After a minute or two Christian blurted out, "Now wook wike piwate!" (Now you look like a pirate!) After that one, Faith, the doctor and I all cracked up!!


On April 14th I found this cat toy on clearance for $7 (regular price: $18) and just couldn't pass it up. Faith had been wanting something like this for Dusty and was just thrilled.







She even made him a matching pirate's hat!

A couple of weeks ago, we had gotten these barstools and I forgot to take and post a picture.
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It was the weirdest thing. First of all, they are from Target and our dining set is from RC Willey, neither of which carried the opposite item and they are not marked as being from the same company (which I'm pretty sure they are since they're nearly identical.)
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Secondly, was the way we got them. I had seen them in a Target ad about 8 months ago when they were on sale for 15 or 20 percent off the regular price of $90 each. I, of course, decided to wait until they went on a better sale. I scoured the Target ad each Sunday only to find that these never went on sale again! I checked on-line a few months ago and they weren't even listed, so I was afraid they had been discontinued.
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That particular Saturday at the beginning of April, we went out to eat at the Bountiful Chuck-A-Rama, which is unusual because we don't eat out very often and if we do go to Chuck-A-Grandma's (as Faith calls it), we go to the Riverdale one. We stopped at the Centerville Target on the way home and happened to find my barstools being clearanced out for half price!
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When we asked an employee for a flatbed cart to wheel them out, he remarked that he was surprised and glad to be getting rid of the stools so quickly since they had been in the back room for awhile and he'd just put them out a few hours before! Luck like that just doesn't usually happen around here! Even better was that my mom paid for them as a gift to us!!! I should have entered the lottery that day :)



On the 15th, we had a blizzard most of the day and the snow finally started sticking around 1 pm. This is crazy Utah spring!






That night I made omelets for dinner which Tony, Christian & I thoroughly enjoyed (Faith doesn't care for eggs and didn't really touch hers). The next morning, Buddy wanted to eat Faith's for breakfast since he loved it so much! Here he is with a gigantic bite.


On April 17th our primary had a talent show activity. Faith brought this picture of Olivia for the display table because she decided that art is her best talent. I think this drawing is amazing!
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Some of the other kids sang, played piano, did karate, jump roped, played kazoos, and one even showed his talent for burping. Afterward, they got medals, light sticks (for letting their talents "shine"), and giant cookies. It turned out to be a really fun activity and all I really had to do was make the invitation and call half the families with a reminder!
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On a sad note, just this past Sunday I was released as the Primary first counselor. Yes, I was only in the presidency since November, but the president had been in for three years. (Interesting note: I was the third person to be first counselor in this presidency that I know of because she lost one who got called to be Young Women's president and another when the ward split this last time.) I hope I get another calling in the primary, I think I'm too used to the action and would have a hard time sitting through a three hour block of church without it!



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After the activity, I couldn't get the kids to leave the church grounds! They ran up and down the little hill and collected lots of dandilions. I played with this pic a bit--cropped it extra close and desaturized the color--and thought it turned out pretty cool.






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Then, the little monkeys climbed up on the hood of the car and didn't want to get off. It seriously took us an extra 30 minutes or more to get on the road after that activity!
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On the 18th our family headed over to J & J Nursery to get some flowers and such for our front and side planting beds. I love this pose of Buddy's, it reminds me of a "keep it real" rap star pose!




We picked mostly budget-friendly petunias, but also got some snap dragons, marigolds and geraniums. (We later stopped at WalMart and got two rose bushes and four peonies.) We also bought large and small hanging baskets and an urn of white geraniums. The kids loved the koi pond and could have spent another couple of hours staring at it!


Also at Walmart, Tony picked the kids up some gardening gloves in thier favorite colors. Christian had fun playing outside, and Faith was a big help planting the flowers. Next up will be a vegetable garden, as soon as we get a non-stormy weekend!!

The next day after church, I let Christian spend a minute or two watering our new flowers with his long lost friend, the hose sprayer. Unfortunately, it took him way longer than two minutes because it was just so darn fun.
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And I say "unfortunately" because little Buddy's mom is not so great at remembering the sunscreen at the beginning of spring, and she needs to work on that now that she has a child with skin just one nano-shade darker than an albino. His arms got kinda crispy and his face looked rosy, but it could have been much worse.

Tony's 38th birthday was the 20th, so we celebrated the day before at the parents' houses. My mom made Tony his favorite dessert, Chocolate Lush. (You can find the recipe for it HERE.)

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He got money, fun cards, and a shirt.

I don't write often enough how much I and the kids love that guy. He's a wonderful, caring husband (and believe me, I know how hard I am to put up with!), works so hard for our family, and is the cutest, sweetest, funnest dad ever!!! We love you soooooo much, happy birthday Ton!!




The night of the 20th, Christan was doing his best to talk me into letting him fall asleep in my bed (good try, Buddy!) while Faith rounded up items to take to school for a time capsule that she was putting together in her class.
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They were each sealing their items in a #10 can, not to be opened until high school graduation. She wanted a recent picture, so I took this one that very night and printed it out for her. Tony and I each wrote a letter for the project and I gave them to Faith in sealed envelopes.
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After school the next day, Faith asked what we wrote in the letters. I told her that it was a surprise and that she would find out when she got to unseal the time capsule.

"Is it the Easter Bunny's phone number??"

"No."

"Is it Santa Claus's phone number?!?!!"

"No."

(Very dejectedly) "Oh."
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And lastly, here is a video of Christian singing "Happy Birthday" to himself (because he always wishes he were the birthday boy) and blowing out a hot glue stick "candle":