April 5 - Easter

I got to go to Conference this morning!  It was a beautiful session and it was a wonderful way to spend Easter morning!

Meanwhile at home:

Have to take the traditional bunny ear pictures...

And family pictures...

Then it was time for Easter dinner!  Haze helped me cut the cheese.  With his plastic sword.

After dinner, Grama & Grampa & Bret had to leave.  We hate it when that happens.

And we finished our Easter day by painting some Easter pictures.

 

While the big kids painted, Nora played with her new toy and sucked on her candy bottle.

 

What a glorious Easter Sunday!  We are so thankful for the knowledge of our Savior's atonement and resurrection!  What a beautiful gift!

April 4 - Easter Saturday

Woke up & went to the city Easter egg hunt!

Haze kept saying, "That was so great!  Thank you for taking us to the Easter egg hunt!"

Then we went home & found that our Easter baskets were missing!  So we took a few minutes & found them.  The kids were thrilled about their new squirting toys!

I noticed that there were a few eggs hidden in our backyard so we all headed out & found them all!  Nora kept trying to take a seat on the sandbox.

After we finished finding baskets & eggs, we headed to the temple to have an Easter picnic!

Nora could not get enough of the water!  She was pretty tired from waking up early, but blankie helped her stay happy.

After all of that fun, we came home & relaxed a bit.

Haze was telling Grama, "Maybe I can come with you without my Mom sometimes.  I will be juuuuust fine!"

During resting time, we took turns shopping.  First Andlie, Bret, Grama & Grampa went to the mall.  Then me, Bryan, Bret & Grampa went to Old Navy & Dick's.  At Dick's Grampa & Bret had a foot race.  It was a close race, but Bret came out on top.

Then the boys went to Priesthood and the girls & kids stayed home and made a delicious taco bar and visited and played.  Bryce came over and we played with him, too!  Then we all ate tacos and visited and went to bed!  It was a fabulous Easter Saturday!

April 3 - Friday With Grama

Went to the party store and rode the car!

Played outside!

Went to school & watched Andlie run in.

Helped in Andlie's classroom with her Easter party!  (Grama & Nora stayed at home & played bubbles.)

Andlie and Hazey went to the park with Grama!  All by themselves!  (Horray, Hazey!)

 

But most importantly, we went on a date tonight!  It took a full day of "Mom & Dad are gonna leave & you're gonna stay with Grama & it's gonna be fun," to convince Hazey, but we did it!  And he was fine!  And we had a wonderful time.  We talked and ate delicious food and we ate slowly and enjoyed each other.  There's a lot to enjoy!  It was a lovely night.  And it's nice to know that Haze will survive when he is babysat.  Thanks, Grama!

After our date, we cut Haze's hair and then Grampa & Bret arrived!  We visited for a bit and then the kids went to bed so they could get good rest for our busy Easter Saturday tomorrow!

April 2 - Grama's Arrival

First things first.  It SNOWED today.  Not a lot.  But it was freaking cold and it snowed this morning.  

Sometimes it is hard to get everything done that I want to during the day.  Laundry, dishes, bathrooms, bills, and on and on.  I usually feel like I'm playing catch up all day long.  BUT, I recently read an article about how we are getting stuff done - the most important stuff - like being a Mommy and loving our babies.  Those are the most important.

"And sometime during the day, in the middle of the things that did and didn't [get done], your breath caught in your throat (for an instant) as you watched your bab[ies] from across the room.

My breath caught, too.

[They are] the best things you've ever seen. And when you look straight at [them, they] look straight back.

We got it all done, you see."  (Find the entire article here.)

So today, I played on the floor with my babies.  Nora found a new favorite toy - the stroller for her "bay-bees."  And Hazey remembered how smart he was by sorting shapes!

And then, something wonderful happened!  Grama came!!!!!!!  We're so happy we get to have her here for a few days!

Haze couldn't hang.  I THINK someone maybe woke up a teensy bit too early this morning.

This is Nora's new way of "sucking her bink."  She kept it in her mouth like this for a good 15 minutes.  Silly girl.

April 1 - Fools

Andlie looked cute in her leotard reading her home reader, so I snapped a picture.  I can't believe how big and beautiful she is.  I'm proud to be her Mom.  I hope she knows how amazing she is.

Little Hazer scraped his toes while riding his bike today.  (He's like his Momma - any time there is an opportunity for bare feet, he takes it.)  But, by the way he was acting, you would have thought he got his toes chopped right off.  After 10 minutes of wailing and gnashing his teeth, he fell asleep. But not before I got him a cold rag for his toes and his blankie and his truck at his request.  I just hope his toes survive.

And now to the good stuff!  April Fool's Day was today!!

Mom & Dad's Jokes For Kids

Turned all the furniture in our living room backwards.

Crepe papered our front door shut.

Andlie's Jokes

"Mom!  There's a robber in our house!"

"Look!  There's a snowflake over there!"

Gave me a "drink" which was an empty cup with a straw in it.

Gave Haze her jacket & said, "Here's your jacket, Haze!"

"Santa is behind you!  For reals!"

Came up behind me while I was eating lunch and put an Easter basket on my face/head.

"Mom, there's a bee on your flowers [on the table]!"

Got her hands wet & flicked the water in my face.  And then in Haze's face.  And one more time in Daddy's face.

Called Mom "Dad" and Dad "Mom."

"Oh no!  There's a ghost in our house!  Ooooooooo!"

Hid on the (backwards) couch and threw Easter grass off randomly.

Filled my Easter basket with random toys & told me to go look at it.

"Wuff!  Wuff wuff!  Mom, we got a dog!" 

She thought it was hilarious when her teacher called the kids by the wrong names at school today!

All of Andlie's jokes ended with crunched-nose giggling and a happy, loud, "April Fool's!"

Haze's Jokes

[With an empty cereal box on his arm.] "Look!  I got a new arm!"

[While walking with only his heels.] "Mom, I'm walking crazy!"

[After he handed me a marker.] "Here's your pen, Mom!"

[While he was passing behind my chair at lunch.] "Mom, I'm going behind your chair!"

"Mom, you're in the fridge!"

Walked up to me and put a kite on my head.

Put a pillow on Andlie's face/head so she couldn't read her book and then ran away giggling.

"Look!  There's another Dad over there!"

"Oh no!  My finger bee-peered (disappeared)!"

Haze's jokes ended with his hearty laughter and a boisterous, "Happy April Joke Day!"

Mommy's Jokes

Woke up at 4 am to put poppers under the toilet seat.  Daddy sat on them at 7:45 and screamed.  Mommy had a really good laugh.

Put poppers under the toilet seat for Andlie.  She glared and then burst in to giggles.

Put poppers under the toilet seat for Haze.  He wasn't a fan.  He cried & told me it "hurt his fingers."

Set 2 alarms on Bryan's phone.  Loud ones.  As loud as they would go.  One at 10:30 am & one at 3:30 pm.

Drove to Bryan's work & moved his car.

Daddy's Jokes

Used an elastic to tie the sink sprayer to the "on" position so when I turned the water on, I got soaked.

Used my own prank against me and put poppers under the toilet seat for me.

What a fun day at the Allen house!!  Happy April Joke Day to all!

March 31 - Tidbits

"Heavenwy Father, Thank you for this day.  Thank you for sloppy joes.  Thank you to be strong and heal-fy.  Thank you to eat sloppy joes.  Thank you for our food.  Thank you for our food to keep us alive.  Name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

His prayers are some of the best prayers I've ever heard in my entire life.

Andlie got a dog book from the library at school today.  Nora LOVES doggies and about had a heart attack when she saw Andlie's new book.  She kept pointing and squealing and giggling and running!  She thinks Andlie made a very good choice.

Andlie is our family monkey.  She is always climbing in trees or hanging upside down or doing the monkey bars or sliding down the "fireman pole."  Today after soccer practice, I found her upside down.

Nora has claimed this small, yellow Easter basket as hers.  She totes it around and puts her toys in it and then totes it around some more.

See, she's a monkey.