Spring Happenings

Here are some recent photos of our life.  Enjoy!

How naughty am I?  I've heard that we are not supposed to take photos during church.  But, I did it anyway.  Just this once!  I had my camera in my purse, I did it silently and without a flash, and I hope not too many people saw me do it, 'cause I don't like to set a bad example.  I promise I won't do it again...  This is our group of primary children singing songs on Mother's Day.  It was Tootie's first time being up front, and he did a great job for someone his age (3)!  Goldie is right next to him in the light blue shirt, and Didi is in a navy dress behind the blonde girl also in a navy dress.  Shark was home sick that day, or he would have been up there too.  I don't know about everybody else, but I love those cute primary group performances.       (P.S.  The older gentleman on the far left of this picture is the brother of Dallin H. Oaks.  Cool, eh?)  P.P.S.  Isn't our organ beautiful?  It was hand-made by a local organ-maker, and there aren't many like it. 

I love the pink blossoms near our home.  This was part of our Sunday afternoon walk (Jazz and I were willing to bear the allergies for the sake of the beautiful weather and scenery).  Can you guess which of our 2 kids could use new bikes?  Hint: one has an invisible bike, and one has a pink princess bike, and could use a slightly more masculine one.

This is my Wednesday afternoon Spanish class (with just one or two kids absent).  We were playing the Memory game, and citing the picture words in Spanish as we found the matches.  You can see my trusty assistant Shark in the background there, working on homework (on a laptop borrowed from the school--so different than when I was a kid and computers were as big as our car) and waiting to assist me in whatever I need.  I pay him $1.50 per class to hand out snacks, copy down information from the board, and help me straighten chairs and clean up afterwards.  It keeps him in the room with us (he had not wished to be part of the learning group this year), he's very helpful for me, and he gets a little spending money.  Win-win! 

Here's our lot--ready to be chopped up for our traditional breakfast the following morning, "eggs a la goldenrod".  Mostly only the girls in the house love it (and most of all me, since my dad used to make it for us when I was a kid), but Jazz obliges because he's such a fan of family traditions. 

These eggs were not hidden, we save that for the plastic eggs filled with candy, but we decorate them nonetheless.  It's one of my favorite Easter traditions.

I got to accompany Goldie on her field trip to a local arboretum, which was really fun!  We saw all kinds of different plants and a few forest animals, disgusting banana slugs (groooooosssssss) but I think the kids were just as excited about seeing a spider or a squirrel as they were about anything.  It was fun to hike around with them for a couple of hours, and just laugh about all the funny things first graders can say.  I'm sorry that I decided to leave Tootie behind--I didn't know what the situation would be like, but I think he would have loved it, too.

What a great moment.  Granted, by the time I had my camera up, the pose was gone, but they were willing to do a re-pose for me.  ; )

We let our kids dress themselves.  Once in awhile we put our foot down and say "I'm sorry, but that combination isn't okay for today." Other times, like this day, I just laugh so hard deep inside and think to myself, "I am so glad children--especially those in this community--don't care what their friends wear.  Mis-matched socks are the norm, here!!  We might as well enjoy this freedom while it lasts."  Ha ha ha : ).