Fun with Daddy

Jason is keeping plenty busy at work, but he always makes it a priority to have happy, helpful, and fun moments with us at home.  He comes home early on Thursday evenings to help with Leah's violin lessons and Adam's gymnastic class.  He took Adam to a high school basketball game a few weeks back- Adam loved learning about the game and how to keep score.

He took the kids to an indoor wildlife preserve, where they got to pet Flower the skunk and hold shark teeth and such.   Adventures with Daddy are always so fun.

FHE Check In

Boy, I haven't done one of these in a while.  Family Home Evening continues to be a highlight of our week.  Every Monday night we gather together and sing songs and pray and read scriptures and talk about  upcoming events.  We have a lesson and treats and an activity and mostly just love being together.

We are focusing on scripture stories this year.  (This month?  This week?  For now.)  We've talked about Noah and the Ark, Samuel the Lamanite, and more.  

Emma taught the lesson this week- she did a great job telling everyone about Moses and the 10 Commandments.  Leah and I had a discussion about them the night before and we used the pictures she drew to remind us what each of the commandments are.  Emma and I gathered a pillowcase full of items and she gave everyone a turn to draw something out of the bag and guess which commandment it represents.  Then we made commandment cookies.

Separate from Family Home Evening, we recently held our first official Morales Family Council (by the kids recollection anyway).  Jason led the meeting with a speaking stick.  Whoever had 'the tickler' (a bright blue basting brush from the kitchen drawer) could speak while the rest of us tried to listen.  We discussed possibilities for a family motto and a family song- I quickly came up with this one, sung to the tune of "Camptown Horses"

M-O-R-A-L-E-S (doo dah, doo dah)
Morales family is the best!  (oh the doo dah day) 
We know how to WORK! 
We know how to PLAY!
M-O-R-A-L-E-S
Morales all the way- HEY!

The kids love it and have been singing it around the house ever since.

We had a few matters of business to discuss, including plans for our upcoming trip to Utah and Colorado (the kids are all so excited about going to Goblin Valley, and Jason and I can't wait to remind them what real mountains look like) and whether or not we should replace our Chrysler Pacifica.  We talked about the importance of counseling together as a family and making decisions together.  I told the kids about the Kid Councils my siblings and I held when I was a little girl and suggested they could do the same.  I'm guessing it won't be long before they start meeting together to discuss things like how to avoid eating vegetables or how to convince Mommy to stop buying yucky toothpaste.

Spring Break

Last week was spring break, and it was fabulous.  We've got our vacations planned for the year and an exotic spring break trip did not make the list, but we all loved the lazy mornings, occasional adventures and days of playing and fun.  We went to the Des Moines Botanical Gardens with friends and loved every second of the 75 degree weather (indoors, that is).

 We had a picnic lunch at this Chinese pagoda thingy- it was 31 degrees outside and we- along with our 20 or so friends- lasted for about 17 minutes before we all gave up and left.  Spring break was mostly gray and cold, but that didn't stop us from enjoying it!

We picked out a new friend for Norman- Lady is a feisty fish that is about twice the size of Norman.  He hid from her for most of their first day together.

We grew crystals at home and spent an entire day crafting with Perler beads.  Adam still dedicates at least half of every day to making various "melty bead" creations.

 We enjoyed treats from NYC's Serendipity, sent from my mom.

 We braved the park on a super windy but otherwise lovely day.  

And Jason and I went on a date!  We even baby-swapped with some friends, which was entirely reminiscent of our date night swaps in Indiana.  It was wonderful to go out and nice to know that the kids were having fun with friends, too.  And it just makes me happy that we have friends in Iowa to do such things with.

We talked about the highlights of spring break on our last night together- some of our favorite moments were watching Frozen together, going to Applebee's, sleeping in and playing with the new laundry door (an exciting hole in the wall between our master closet and laundry room).  It doesn't take much to keep this family happy.  

My absolute favorite moment of the week came on Sunday afternoon- we were all happy and together- we sang songs around the piano and played "Little Red Caboose"- with Mommy and the front and Daddy at the back we all held hands and snaked all around the house like a train.  It was a simple, quick, and magical moment.

None of us were ready for the week off to be over, but all to soon it was time to get back to business as ususal.  I tried to make the first day back to school special, but this has still been a hard week.  We are all extra excited for summer to get here now!

First Haircut

It's finally time!  Emma's hair is beautiful and growing in nicely, but it has turned into a bit of an uneven mess in the back.  Still super cute when curly, though!

We went to a friend's house for Emma's first haircut and she was not sure what to think of it.  She wanted to hold my hand the whole time.

She sat so still, never taking her eyes off the mirror.

And when it was done, she was just as cute as ever!  And now, a few days later, she is still so proud of the fact that she "held so still the whole time!"

Father and Son

"There is no other relationship quite like that which can and should exist between a boy and his dad."

- M. Russell Ballard

The Wearin' O' The Green

I checked the blog for a reminder of what we did for St. Patrick's Day last year, and there is no record of it.  No pictures on my computer, either.  And the memories I have from what I thought was St. Patrick's Day last year are actually from 2012.  Granted, we were two weeks away from moving last St. Patrick's Day, but surely we did something?  I don't know.  I can't remember.  And that is just another testament to why I blog- I have a terrible memory.  I can easily recall the things that I've taken the time to write about over the years, but if it's not recorded, it's history.  As in, the memories fade pretty quickly.

So!  This one's for my future forgetful self.

St. Patrick's Day kicked off our spring break this year, and it was great!  The kids have started remembering small holiday traditions, and they were all really excited about the gold and the Lucky Charms that they knew were coming.  Leah even took it upon herself to wake her sleeping siblings up first thing in the morning to start the treasure hunt.

It wasn't even light outside yet.

Still, they were thrilled to find the treats.  Emma kept saying, "Dis is so awesome.  Dis is so much fun."  I love experiencing holidays and such for the first time again and again through the eyes of my children.
A very naughty little leprechaun delivered our annual box of Lucky Charms (a cereal I refuse to buy- I'd rather just buy a bag of marshmallows and call it good).

Adam was the first to discover this footprint mess and spent a solid 7 seconds taking it all in before calling out to his sisters to "Come look!"  The kids were equal parts excited and creeped out at the though of a leprechaun making mischief in our house while they slept.  (Which reminds me, Leah is still completely terrified of Cupid, just as she was 3 or 4 years ago.  That was the first thing she told me on Valentines Day morning this year.  Understandably- a lot of the holiday characters we teach our kids about are creepy- a bunny that lays eggs?  An old man that squeezes down your chimney?  A baby that flies and shoots people with arrows?  I get it.)  They all kept saying, "Wait till Daddy sees this!  He's going to be so mad!" which is just silly because everyone around here knows that Mommy is the one that would get mad about a mess like that.

And we made a fruit rainbow and and played "rescue the sea creatures" in the sink and danced around like leprechauns and colored noodles for necklaces and the kids were just so darn happy all day long.  It was a really fun day.  We had dinner with friends and all decided that corned beef is actually quite tasty.

Noah was around, too, but spent most of his day looking like this-

because he's got a cold that keeps him looking like this-

Poor little guy. Still, it was a fantastically fun St. Patrick's Day.

It's baaaack!

Darnit- I thought I had avoided it this time around, but it's back.  Baby brain.  How you love to sneak in and muddle up my thoughts.  You kind of make me look like an idiot, you know.  I went to a Relief Society dinner at church and tried to make conversation with lovely friends- many of whom I haven't had a chance to talk to in months (we'll blame that on equal parts new baby and cold weather). I know I conversed with people about fundraisers, elementary school boundaries, recipes... I think there was a conversation about socks... I tried to talk but mostly I listened.  I wanted to have conversations but not actually have them.  I started talking and then forgot what I was talking about.  I kept thinking about the baby I left behind and whether he was screaming or sleeping or just happily being with his daddy (spoiler alert- answer number 1!).  I left the house without him to give my tired arms a break and then immediately wanted him in my arms again.  I wanted to think about something besides life at home but found myself unable to remember what else there is.  Baby brain has a way of putting a fuzzy cloud over my head like that.  I notice in conversations that the other person is often looking at me expectantly.  I'm sorry, other person.  I know it's my turn to talk.  I want to talk to you, really I do.  Just not as badly as I want to leave so I can take care of my baby's every need.  Mother Nature is incredibly overpowering in that way.  But thanks for sticking with me and my efforts at conversation anyway, other person.  Even if we are just talking about socks.  I promise the old me will be back soon!