“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you`ll look back and realize they were the big things.”
Like dressing up friends-
playing beauty salon and "waxing" each other-
trying something new-
two cool dudes-
a lunch date-
a fancy french braid-
cooing over babies (we love babies! We had a baby over yesterday that had tiny toes! and a tiny nose! and itty bitty fingers and he sneezed and yawned and had hiccups and we were all completely enchanted!)
beautiful sunsets-
training for our first family 5K-
painting a rock-
sharing a good story-
planting a garden and digging in the dirt-
enjoying our annual April cake (red velvet, in honor of Grandpa Mark's birthday!)
Leah and Adam are both loosing teeth like sharks lately. There's always a loose tooth to check out or a new one growing in to talk about around here.
Adam tried to trick the tooth fairy by hanging onto his tooth, hiding it in the silverware drawer (eww), under a couch pillow, and in his sock drawer before finally putting it under his pillow, where it stayed for two nights before the tooth fairy remembered to pick it up.
And Leah lost a molar while eating a white chocolate chip one day. They were almost the same size! She's counting down how many baby teeth she has left to lose before she has all adult teeth and can get braces. Only 8 left to go!
Easter always means a hunt and breakfast with lots of friends-
dying lots of eggs-
then looking for them on Easter morning (we nearly panicked when we couldn't find the last one!)
seeking out the baskets- that is a look of pure bliss right there-
and some baskets were trickier than others-
then swooping out the door by 8:15 to get to the stake center in time for choir for Jason, me and Leah. Adam, Emma, and Noah were charged with sitting reverently by themselves on the pew while we were singing. And they did such a great job!
Easter also meant a surprise calling up to the podium for me to bear my testimony to the 1,500 people that were there and watching the meeting via broadcast. I nearly had a heart attack, but it really was my treat to bear my witness that Jesus lives!
Easter always means telling the Easter story, making resurrection rolls, sharing our supper with friends, and truly marking the arrival of spring along with the return of our Savior.
A castle in Iowa! We recently had a perfect day in which to check it out. But we couldn't just go to the castle. We had to dress the part. So princesses-
and kings-
and a hobbly old wizard (?)-
made our way back to Madison County (home of last year's covered bridges adventure) to check out this century-old tower that overlooks a beautiful stretch of Iowa that is just waking up after winter.
It was cooler, cloudy and a bit rainy there, but most of all it was windy! Typical Iowa. By the time we climbed to the top of the three-story tower, Emma had decided that she is terrified of heights, and scrambled up on top of my head, clutching my neck tight and sobbing.
My spunky little girl is always throwing me for a loop- she was so nervous about the recent incoming-kindergartner picture day that she woke up early dry heaving and telling me how she couldn't possibly go into the school just yet. She's so fearless and fiery, it's always good to see a bit of caution in her once in a while. We enjoyed the view from a safe distance, and she stuck by my side the whole time we were in the castle.
And we all went up and down and up and down and around and through the tower again and again.
And Daddy danced with his princesses
We took a little "hike" through the "woods", where we crossed paths with a dead deer carcass and Leah laughed and laughed when I asked her how a bumblebee could possibly sting her with it's round bum and Adam collected every purple flower he could find and presented them to me in a tiny and perfect little bouquet. And then we spread out a blanket and had our first picnic of the year. Our conversation developed into a discussion about keeping the commandments and making good choices and the blessings that come from doing the things that God has asked us to do. I don't remember what started the conversation, but it made me so happy to be sitting there together, just focusing on our family and breathing fresh air and taking advantage of a natural teaching moment. Plus we watched this cute and quick little video that illustrates why God wants us to keep the commandments.
It was a great spring kick-off adventure, and I have a feeling we've got much more warm-weather excitement just ahead!
Final nest tweaks for now- fresh flowers to help me through these last few weeks of winter-
The ladder blanket Jason gave me for my birthday (made by some talented friends) fills this space nicely-
And the last item on my honey-do-with-wood list- molding above the kitchen window.
Which has been surprisingly difficult to take a good picture of with my phone camera. There is a lot of light coming into this eastside window for most of the day. But I love it! And, of course, I would love to have a light above the sink... and new pendent shades... But that's the last item on the wood-working list for now... until I finally figure out what kind of wall treatment I want to do on this beastly wall-
The house floorplan originally included columns and an arch on the right side, but that's not quite the style we were going for. It makes for a big open wall though, and it will continue to sit bare and fingerprint covered until I can figure it out- a chair rail? Picture molding? More board and batten? Shiplap... some day I'll figure it out.
And finally, a new inspirational quote in my command cupboard-
I used to have a quote by Benjamin Franklin that read, "Less talking, more doing. Well done is better than well said." Which I loved. And now I have a scripture that reads,
Organize yourselves.
Prepare every needful thing.
And establish a house, even
a house of prayer,
a house of fasting,
a house of faith,
a house of learning,
a house of order,
a house of glory
a House of God.
Which I also love, because that is exactly what we are striving for around here.
Last week we sent Goldie on her final great adventure. Nearly two and a half years after Noah picked her out for his second birthday, Goldie was ready to head back to the ocean to meet back up with Locks
She wasn't dead, but she was heading that direction and we didn't want to see her suffering any longer.
She spent a lot of her last hours looking like this- resting next to her faithful friend Snail and breathing very slowly.
It seems silly, but this 17 cent goldfish was the best pet we have ever had. She was spunky and energetic, and would always swim around with a flourish whenever anyone was near. We had no idea she would be with us for so long, and for over a year I have been telling the kids that she was probably going to die any day now. She slowly turned from gold to brown, and would occasionally give me a start by swimming tellingly near the top of the bowl, but she would always start up again and keep going. We probably had to get six different fish-sitters for Goldie over the years. With every drop off I gave the reassurance that we didn't expect Goldie to live forever and that we wouldn't be devastated if she didn't make it through while we were away. But she was always there when we got back.
And even at the end, she was such a little fighter! It was a hard choice to make (about a fish, anyway), but we all agreed that Goldie was ready to go back to the ocean. We carried her pitcher over to the toilet while marching in funeral processional style, and all crowded around the toilet to see her happily swimming around one last time (kind of, it was more like bobbing around). Then Jason flushed her down and started singing "Wipe-out" and pretend-surfing, and everyone laughed and filed out of the bathroom, except for me and Noah.
He looked down at the empty toilet and realized that she was gone for good, and he cried a little bit. And I did too, because no matter how small, a first pet is a first pet.
