Easter Eggs and Apostles

This morning we attended our ward's semi-annual pre-General Conference pancake breakfast.

They also held a little Easter egg hunt for the kids. :)

Back at home, our kids were excited to play Conference Bingo and earn some snacks (Joy opted to put her tokens toward credit for a new Rubik's cube).  I was excited to sustain the new prophet, President Nelson, as well as the first Asian and Latino apostles.  It's thrilling to see how God has prepared each new prophet to build on what the others have taught before him, and I love how President Nelson combines high standards with incredible love and enthusiasm.  He's more than twice my age, but it I think it will be a challenge for me to even keep up with him.



Challenge happily accepted.

Jellyfish and Aliens

We're so excited that Papa and Red Grandma are here to visit!

The kids were off school for Good Friday, so we took Papa and Red Grandma on a tour of our fair city, including a stroll around Lake Kittamaqundi . . .

. . . then we paid a visit to Chuck E. Cheese, where Papa and Joy protected the universe from hostile aliens.

We stopped off at home for some down time and a few rounds of Engine Engine Number Nine . . . 

. . . then went to the National Aquarium.  I loved seeing the colorful, graceful jellyfish.

We even got to touch a few!

The Five Days of Springtime

On the first day of springtime a snowstorm gave to me . . .

. . . some icicles on our oak tree.

On the second day of springtime that snowstorm gave to me . . .

. . . tubing down a hillside and some icicles on our oak tree.

 On the third day of springtime that snowstorm gave to me . . .

. . . a tiny little snowman, tubing down a hillside, and some icicles on our oak tree.

 On the fourth day of springtime that snowstorm gave to me . . .

. . . sledding with the neighbors, a tiny little snowman, tubing down a hillside, and some icicles on our oak tree. 

On the fifth day of springtime that snowstorm gave to me . . .

. . . a snowball fight with Daddy, sledding with the neighbors, a tiny little snowman, tubing down a hillside, and some icicles on our oak tree!

Happy spring, everyone!

Joy's Package

Joy spent some of her money (which she's earned selling paper airplanes and such) to order a package from Amazon this week.

She was pretty excited when she got home from school and saw that it had arrived.  So excited, in fact, that she flung the front door closed behind her and bonked her poor brother in the head.  Life with siblings certainly has its hazards.

Her package contained three variations on a Rubik's cube--a tetrahedron, a dodecahedron (that thing with twelve sides), and a cube whose facets are different sizes and all the same color.

Pretty soon the kids were all trying to solve these challenging geometric puzzles . . .

. . . except for Anna, who felt that her time would be better spent reading about rainbow fairies.

Be Cool Like Todd

School was closed again today, since there's still quite a bit of snow on the ground.  Being the adventurous, fun-loving mom that I am, I dusted five inches of snow off our minivan . . .

. . . and took my kids to the dentist.  One of Todd's brushing-challenged older siblings had a small cavity, but the rest of them passed their dental exams with flying colors.  Then they all got bouncy balls from the toy chest up front, which you can bet they bounced all over our house for the rest of the day.

Be cool like Todd.  Brush your teeth thoroughly every day (or let your mom do it for you).

Snow Day in Spring

Yesterday was the first official day of spring . . .

. . . so naturally, Maryland handed us the biggest snowstorm we've seen since we moved here last summer.  The girls headed outside to play in the snow with the neighbors . . .

. . . while Daniel stayed warm inside with the dance pad.

After Joy came inside and thawed out, she and Daddy squared off in a game of chess.

I think Daddy's going to win.

Smile!

Uncle Mark and Aunt Connie are here to visit!

Smile for the camera!

Or something. :-/

Todd's Buddies

When Todd and I ran some errands after Joy School today . . .

. . . Todd decided to bring Doggy and Tiger along . . .

. . . 'cuz you never know when you might need a pink tiger at the grocery store.

Scouting for Food

Daniel's Cub Scout troop did a "Scouting for Food" service project this morning.  Last week they left grocery bags and notes at people's front doors, and today they returned to pick up any food people wished to donate to a local food pantry.  At the first few housing complexes we visited, there were only a couple bags and ten eager kids running to collect them.  The faster kids got the bags every time, and Daniel was feeling a bit discouraged (and possibly resentful of his mother for urging him to go out into literally freezing weather when his help wasn't actually needed).

Fortunately, the last complex we went to had lots of food bags, and Daniel was able to gather a couple of them (with his little brother and sister along to keep him company).

The troop collected a lot of food to donate . . .

. . . then they enjoyed some well-earned donut holes.

Reading Day

The big kids' school invited parents to come read in their children's classrooms today.  I couldn't make it to all three of my kids' classes . . .

. . . but I was able to read two of our favorite Elephant and Piggie books to Anna's class.  It was delightful to share these fun books with Anna's classmates, using a different silly voice for each character. The kids even wrote me thank you notes afterward, which was really sweet.