Saturday at the park...

We met up with my mom again on Saturday at Kiwana's Park in Tempe. My family used to go there when I was little, and I would take Brendon and Anna there when we lived in Tempe, so it was fun to go back. The kids had a great time walking around the lake, sticking their feet in the water, and just being with Grandma. And the weather was BEAUTIFUL for a day at the park.


Tyler loved chasing the ducks, but those darn ducks were just too fast for him!

Easter Fun

We woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning so we could meet up with Grandma and Grandpa Flake and the Lunts and Martindales in Mesa. We started out with a visit to Grandma Lunt's grave, and then we headed to a nearby park for a yummy breakfast picnic and Easter egg hunt. My kids had a great time hunting the eggs that Rachel and DJ hid, and even Tyler knew exactly what to do when he saw the eggs. After getting a good sugar fix from their find, the kids and I stayed a played at the park for a while after most left so that the kids could spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa Flake before they headed off for the Temple, appointments and back to Thatcher.

Strawberry plants

We've kept our pepper plants alive in our pots for a whole year, so we thought we'd try out something new. The kids and I went to Lowe's to pick something out and came home with strawberry plants. Suzanna and I worked together to plant them while the little boys were sleeping and Brendon was at a friend's house. It was fun to work on it together without distractions. Now we'll see how strawberry plants do in pots!

"Watch this!"

The kids spend a lot of time out on the trampoline right now, and whenever I'm outside(which is whenever Ty's on the trampoline), Jonathan is yelling "watch this, mom!" It didn't take long for Tyler to learn the phrase, so I've heard a chorus of "Watch this, watch this, watch this" all week.

You know you're in nursery...

...when you like to dip your snacks in water.
We've been in a lot of different wards, and our kids have gone to a lot of different nurseries, but they've all had one thing in common: the kids have always taught our kids to dip their snacks. Soggy pretzels anyone?

Starting Spring Break early

Phil's sister Lisa and her family came to visit this week for their Spring Break, so we started ours early. The kids have still been going to school, but the moment they get home the fun begins. Tonight we all went to Chuck E. Cheese's, and had a great time! Brendon was on a mission to get the most tickets, while Tyler stuck to all of the cars. Suzanna had fun on the stage (yes, we're sooo suprised that was her favorite!), and Jonathan got pretty good at skee ball. We're so glad they came to visit, and we'll be sad when they go home tomorrow and the parties die down.

Sandcastles

Since our elementary school gets out early every Thursday, some of my friends and I have been meeting at the park with our kids to enjoy the beautiful weather on Thursday afternoons. This week Jonathan and I read a book about sandcastles, so of course we had to make sandcastles at the park. Brendon was the master-planner (whether the other kids liked it or not!), and they all had a great time.

Jonathan's preschool had a fieldtrip last Thursday to a candy factory in Glendale. The tour wasn't so thrilling for the four-year-olds, but making a chocolate pizza afterwards got them smiling! They gave each child melted chocolate, "toppings" like marshmellows, nuts, candies and such, and then white chocolate for the cheese. Tyler enjoyed eating the toppings that Jonathan didn't want to add to his pizza. Then we packaged it up in a pizza box and took it home to "bake" in the fridgerator. Normally he's not a huge pizza fan, but Jonathan had no trouble eating this kind of pizza!

Little helper

Tyler is at that fun stage where he's paying attention to everything we're doing, and trying to do what he can to "help" along the way. If I metion to Phil that it's time to read scriptures, he runs to the entertainment center and passes out scriptures to everyone. If Phil grabs his keys, he runs the garage to say goodbye. When I get out the pitcher to make juice, he's got his sippy cup and lid ready for liquid before I've even noticed he's in the kitchen. He brings us the phone every time he finds it laying around (which is often since I have a bad habit of leaving the phone everywhere and anywhere). And he always remembers to shut the door behind him (which is more than I can say for the other kids). If I leave a door open, he makes sure to close it, too. Even if it's the microwave door. And even if my hands are still putting stuff in the microwave. Like I said, so helpful.

Every blog needs a little Harry Potter, right?
Brendon FINALLY finishd HP7. He started reading in December, then accidentally left it at school over the holidays. Then he wasn't very motivated to get going again for a while since he was in the long middle part. Anyway, it was so fun to talk to him about it all and get his reactions. I so love that he loves to read!
I also love that Phil fixed our computer (yet again) so that I can post blogs again. Every couple of weeks the computer decides that it dosn't like blogger and he has to perform cyber surgery. Such fun.