April in Review

We woke up to this sight on April first.  I said it was God's April Fools joke on me!

This was Rooke's April Fool's joke on his sisters . . .

Gretchen played along after she figured it out, and they convinced Bridgette it was mayo so good that even after they told her it was vanilla pudding, she wouldn't even taste it! 

The kids earn marks on a "chore chart" and can choose a reward when their chart is full.  I think all three of their charts were done at the same time for this fun living room sleepover reward to happen!

My mom had a significant birthday this month (think: rhymes with bixty!).  My dad pulled out all the stops and planned some pretty fun celebrations, including flying me out to surprise Mom!  It was as much a gift to my mom as it was to me: I love being with my family, and the weekend get away was ultra relaxing from start to finish.  

The view of the Rockies was breathtaking as my plane left Denver.

Let's go surprise Mom!  Even if she had a hunch something was up, it was still exciting to anticipate seeing her.

Surprise!  Happy Birthday, Mom!

And then my sister arrived later in the day to double the surprise!

The next day, on Mom's actually birthday, my sister-in-law joined us for a surprise Saturday spa day . . . ahhhhhhh!!!  

We capped off Mom's birthday with dinner and another surprise when several dear friends drove up to celebrate with us!

Our nephew, Finnick, was happy to snuggle with his aunties (who may or may not have been feeding him flour tortillas and ice cream). 

I got to be together with my siblings on National Sibling Day!  We planned it that way, of course.

Tana makes a great latte!

The snow melted and the sun came out!  We are grateful to have a fun neighbor friend who likes to play outside with us in the afternoons.

Our cutie in curlers making some rice cereal on Sunday morning.

These girls.  Such sweet sisters.  Wonderful friends.  And they know better than anyone how to push each others buttons!

Rooke and Gretchen took part in a reading program at the library.  They each read to Sisu, the poodle!

We love reading.  We really do.

I love little girl birthday parties, and all the anticipation in preparing to attend one!

Rooke is wearing the red and yellow gloves!  We went to a military kids appreciation event and he was the champ two times in this bouncy house boxing ring.

Trying out the remote control robot that soldiers use to locate and deactivate bombs overseas.

A fun new flashcard game to keep school fun that involves jumping on pillows, quizzing each other instead of Mommy being in charge, and mini M&Ms!

And we made it to May . . .

Fort Stevenson State Park

Last month, we drove down on a Saturday to Fort Stevenson State Park for their "sugaring off" event.  The park rangers gave talks about the process of collecting sap from trees, and had a few trees tapped so we could get an up-close look.  I love how Bridgette is not afraid to wiggle her little body to the front of a crowd so she can see . . .  

A local farmer brought his horses and cart to offer rides around the park.  It was just warm enough to enjoy being outside!

A boy scouts group was cooking pancakes and sausage with . . . homemade maple syrup, of course!

This was the best look we had at the actual sugaring off process, which wasn't really in full swing, but we did get to taste some samples of the syrup after being boiled for different lengths of time.  

And then we went and explored the park  . . . more beauty than we expected to encounter! 

Simply Tuesday

I have been reading a book by Emily Freeman called "Simply Tuesday".  Freeman's challenge in the book is to seek out "small-moment living in our fast-moving world".  I've appreciated the reminders to embrace what often feels very ordinary and unimportant.  A few years ago, I took photos throughout one day in an effort to document what felt "normal" during that season (that post is here).  I decided to do it again.  Following with the idea of the book, I chose Tuesday.  And as it would happen, the Tuesday I decided to take photos ended up not being as "ordinary".  But the unexpected is always a part of our days, so in a sense this was still a very normal day for us!

5:00am - alarm goes off.  Ryan and I head out to the garage to do a tabata exercise routine together (usually two mornings a week).  I wouldn't do it without him.  Ugh.  These are early mornings.

6:00am - showered, dressed, and ready to pour my coffee to sit down with my Bible.  Baked oatmeal for breakfast (with another cup of coffee, please).

7:00am - Sleepy heads come out of bed.  They have clocks in their rooms and are supposed to stay in bed until 7:00.  It usually happens!  

8:00am - Ryan has left for work, breakfast is almost done, and we are ready to finish our morning jobs.

8:45am - we begin our school days with "Circle Time: a combination of singing, looking at the calendar and talking about what's coming up in the day, practicing our memory verses, reading through a rotation of books like this one, or this one, and prayer.  The extra blankets and pillows are not normally a part of our circle time, but it was an easy "yes" to give them on this particular morning.

10:00am - snack!  Math work and piano practicing are finished, and the big kids are working independently while Bridgette and I do "Mommy and Me" time.

11:00am - revisiting some math corrections, doing a language learning lesson, and finishing up the rest of our reading and school work.

12:00pm - the animals are having a tea party while I make lunch. 

1:00pm - we've eaten lunch, cleaned up, and are headed in to the gym to meet up with another homeschooling family for P.E.!

2:00pm - "Let's go, kids!".  Time to put away the skates and scooters.

3:00pm - normally we would have been back at home, wrapping up our quiet time.  But I called early in the morning to check on an appointment with the doctor for a strange rash on Bridgette's leg that won't go away.  We were able to get a 3:00 appointment.  So we ran a couple errands and then went to the doctors' office.

4:00pm - still in the office, waiting for a prescription to be filled.

5:00pm - throwing together a quick dinner while the kids watch a show.

6:00pm - The kids and I have eaten, cleaned up (mostly!), and are ready for our evening activities.  Ryan walked in the door from work just in time to grab a couple bites of food and then take Bridgette and Rooke to Rooke's basketball practice.  Gretchen and I leave at the same time to go to her music class.  Everyone out the door!

7:00pm - half-way through music class.  Gretchen is doing great!  It's a special time she and I share each week.

8:00pm - Rooke and Bridgette have showered and are just finishing up evening devotion time when Gretchen and I arrive back home.  We join them for our catechism review and then it's off to bed!

9:00pm - kids are sleeping, toys are picked up, Ryan is reading for work, and I'm enjoying a cup of tea while catching up on some emails.

10:00pm - kitchen is clean and we are headed to bed.  

10:30pm - lights out

Good night!