From Snow to Sunshine

I've been nervously watching the weather report for days.

We were scheduled to fly out for Aunt Heather's wedding this morning . . .

. . . but a snowstorm has been advancing toward us

like a grinning devil of impending doom.

Our town is supposed to get 18 inches of snow today.

The leading edge of the storm had already dropped an inch or two of snow

as we prepared to leave for the airport.

Daddy cleared a bit of it off the driveway,

then we headed for Boston with prayers in our hearts

that we'd arrive safely and our flights wouldn't be delayed.

We made it!

Time for Joy to have a snack,

for Anna and me to pop some Dramamine . . .

. . . and for Daddy to take a nap . . .

. . . on our way back to the Motherland.

I don't miss the concrete or the smog,

but I do miss the relatives and friends who live there,

and the warm weather is a welcome change from the snow we just left.

We wrapped up a long day of travel with dinner at Chick-fil-A.

Good food + playground = everybody's happy!

Speed Chess Showdowns

Since many of the Primary boys in my activity group love chess,

I decided to try a new spin on it this evening.

I invited my friend Ed Rumsey 

(whose weekday attire includes an awesome canvas kilt),

to teach us the ins and outs of speed chess.

The boys really enjoyed it,

and Daniel even squared off against his friend Nathaniel

after the Young Men activity wrapped up.

I played two rounds against Todd, and he beat me both times

because he realized he didn't have to checkmate me to win.

He just had to make faster moves so I would run out of time first.

Well played, sir.

Eggs in the Basement

I don't want Easter Sunday to be . . .

. . . just about candy,

but I do want it to be fun.

The third year we celebrated Holy Week,

we added Empty Tomb Rolls to Easter Sunday and it was a big hit,

but I still felt we needed something more.

After church today, I told the kids to grab Easter baskets and flashlights,

because we were going to have an egg hunt in the basement . . .

. . . with the lights out.

I'm sure we could come up with some symbolic reason for that rule,

but I mainly threw it in there to level the playing field for the younger kids.

I also told the egg hunters they could only go down one at a time (youngest to oldest), 

and when it was their turn to go, they had to recite an Article of Faith before heading downstairs.

It was pretty wild, but we liked the novelty of it.

I wanted the activity to have a spiritual element

(and I didn't want to give my kids too much candy),

so I filled twelve of the eggs with items that represented 

some part of Jesus's Holy Week story

(and dollar bills, 'cuz kids like those even more than jelly beans).

Every time one of the kids opened a numbered egg,

we talked about what the item symbolized, 

and a lesson we could take from that part of Jesus's story.

For example, the empty twelfth egg symbolizes Jesus's empty tomb,

and the hope He gives us that we will live again too someday.

It also reminds us that since He conquered death to save us,

He is powerful and loving enough help us with any challenge we face. 

I may ask each egg hunter to talk about just one symbol each next year, 

so the discussion doesn't feel quite so much like "Holy Week pop quiz time,"

but I think the activity as a whole has potential.

It has all the elements of a good holiday tradition:

family, fun, food/prizes, 

and an invitation to think about higher and holier things.

The Easter Party Double Header

This year's Easter activity at our local church

included an egg hunt for the younger kids, but not the teenagers.

Joy thought that was a bummer (and I don't blame her),

so she decided to host a pre-activity egg hunt at our house,

and she invited all the youth in our ward.

We stuffed candy into dozens of eggs before bedtime last night . . .

. . . then while Daddy supervised a waffle brunch for our guests this morning . . .

. . . the girls and I hid Easter eggs all around our yard.

Reesey: There's something strange about that egg,

but I can't quite put my beak on what it is.

After the egg hunt, everyone traded candy . . .

. . . and played a few rounds of Mario Kart . . .

. . . before heading to the church to help set up for the ward activity.

Youth leaders had divided the teenagers up into groups,

and assigned each group a scene from Holy Week to act out.

Some of the performances were carefully scripted . . .

. . . while others were ad-libbed and kinda random.

I think our ward, like our family,

is still trying to find the sweet spot between doing fun stuff that engages young people

and offering uplifting messages that inspire us to be more like the Savior.

The good news is that I believe we're getting a little closer every year,

and God gives points for effort.

Shout Hosanna!

This week is Holy Week,

my favorite week of the year!

It's time to shout "Hosanna!" and eat kale

as we reenact Jesus's Triumphal Entry as the King of Kings.

Time to talk about the fruits of righteous living

(even when you're tired).

Time for Parable Pictionary . . .

. . . and our semi-authentic Passover feast to remind us 

that Jesus is our Deliverer.

Time to watch Bible videos,

and eat hot cross muffins on Good Friday

as we look forward to Easter Sunday.

(Why are there only eleven muffins?

I had to eat one to make sure they turned out OK.

It's a chef thing.) 

I love sharing these little traditions with my family,

and turning our hearts and minds a bit more toward the Savior.

I hope when the food and fun are just a memory,

we will all be a little more like Him,

and a little more determined to follow Him.

Pi with a Side of Broccoli

Saturday seems like a great day

to share some random pictures from the past few weeks,

so here you go!

This week was Spirit Week at Joy's high school,

and Tuesday was "Dress Like a Teacher Day,"

so Joy dressed like her dapper chemistry teacher.

She even borrowed our friend Jamie's pi tie to complete the look.

Todd's class is learning about idioms,

and for a recent assignment, he chose to reference the correlation

between autism and his academic aptitude.

I wonder why he chose to color his paper brown?

Maybe he envisioned a brown cat?

Or did the metaphorical cat escape from a brown paper bag?

Or were the cat and bag BOTH brown?

I'm sure there's some deep meaning hidden in there somewhere.

Speaking of Todd, he made it about as far as I would have expected him

(or most other humans) to get with the wicked hard Mario puzzle.

For days he insisted that he would work on the rest "sometime,"

but he eventually learned the important life lesson

that if you keep putting off a leisure activity,

that means you like the idea of it but don't enjoy the reality,

so you should find something else to do.

And in case you're wondering, 

Cici hasn't received an acceptance letter from Harvard yet,

but she remains hopeful.  

Tia, on the other hand, has seemed kind of bored and antsy lately.

Someone on the internet said pet birds like playing with veggies they can chew up,

so tied a piece of broccoli to the side of her cage.

Tia: Are you kidding?  That toy is lamer than a one-legged millipede.

Me: Well, back to the drawing board.

Do What You Can

The Vernal Equinox was a few days ago,

and it feels like we're hovering between winter and spring.

It's warm enough that the boys are consistently meandering about the yard again . . .

. . . but cold enough that the younger kids borrowed a blanket from the Young Women closet

to keep warm at church on Sunday.

Later that evening, we braved the chilly weather to visit the temple,

but arrived to find the gate locked for the night.

So we took a picture by the sign instead,

then spent some time prayerfully pondering on the temple's driveway.

I'm a big believer in doing what we can,

and trusting God to magnify it.