Life is good

As much as these two fight, it warms my heart so much when I find them happy together. Life really IS good.

Fathers and Sons

Wade, Jonny, and Grandpa Reed went on the annual Fathers and Sons trip in May. Jon looks so much bigger now than he did on their trip last year.

They always have so much fun...and it's probably good that I'm not with them because it's not until afterwards that I find out some of the crazy stuff they did. (ie: climb on top of Grandpa's motor home or have lots of cheetos and sprite). It's all good though because it gave Emily and me a chance for a fabulous Girls Night Out. ;) What a win-win, right?

1 little, 2 little, 7 little kids?

Wade and I were lucky enough to see what life is like with 7 kids under the age of 5 when we watched all these kiddos for four days the first week of May. Our friends, the Colvard's and the Lauti's, were attending The Great Life training, and since the training has helped us so much, we were happy to assist our friends by taking care of their children.

Could Darcy's twins get any cuter? I think not. I am a big fan of these two boys, Tui and Tau.

Little crowded for one kiddie pool? Maybe...but they sure don't care. They had a blast!

Bath Time...

followed by snuggling on the couch for a movie so I could get a nap in!

It was an exhausting, but very rewarding week.

B-ball

Since Grandma Reed was in the hospital for several days on Jonny's birthday (she's doing much better now, thankfully), we invited them over for dinner and cake a few weeks later. They surprised Jonny with a basketball hoop for his birthday.
Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Reed! Jonny loves it, and he still plays with it daily. Although, if you ask me, he's going to be our star WRESTLER rather than a B-ball player. ;) Have you seen this kid? He's looking like he'll wrestle in the 189 weight class for sure. Wade played soccer and swam in high school, but we both have a feeling that he'll wrestle just like my brothers. We'll see.

Potty Training 101

After the week from hell when I first tried to potty train Emily just after her 2nd birthday, I learned the secret to potty training success: WAIT UNTIL THEY'RE READY! So I tried again 10 months later, and she pretty much picked up the whole concept in 3 hours, using the methods from Toilet Training in Less Than a Day. She rarely had accidents, and I was so grateful I didn't try to rush things with her. Hearing from everyone and their dog that boys are more difficult to potty train than girls, I definitely didn't want to rush things with Jonathan either. So a month before his 3rd birthday, I gathered the crackers, Capri Suns, M & M's, potty chart, and stickers, and prayed we would have success. Wade took Emily on a daddy daughter date for the day, so Jonny wouldn't have as many distractions. He's been doing awesome and loves his toy castle he got from filling his potty chart up with stickers.
So although I miss this little boy running around our house in nothing but a diaper...

I'm proud of my big boy, and I think he's proud of himself, too. ;)

Wow

We came home on a Tuesday night in April and found this on our doorstep. It was a box covered with sweet messages like, "WE EXPLODE WITH LOVE 4 U!"
Inside was a Volcano cake! It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for our family. Wow, were we touched! And since it was signed, "Love, your secret admirers," we still have no idea who gave it to us, but it sure brightened our day!

Easter Time

With warm sunshine just days before on our field trip to Sugarhouse Park, we were all surprised for the snow fall that came just in time for our Preschool Easter Egg Hunt.

But honestly, the hunt was even more fun for the kids because it was trickier finding the eggs hidden in snow.
Here's some of my afternoon preschool class dying Easter eggs
The next day, the snow had melted quite a bit for another hunt with my Friday preschool class

I have to tell you, Jon and Emily were absolutely delighted by this sight on Sunday morning, even though the Easter Bunny kept things simple just like Santa does at our house. Emily's Easter dress was a hand me down from her friend, Elyse Allen, and the other clothes were all Christmas gifts from grandparents. But the kids didn't seem to notice receiving it twice. ;) We all had a movie in our Easter basket that we already owned and just 3 M & M's in each egg. My sister thought I was just cheap, but really, my kids had eaten too much candy from the Preschool Easter Egg Hunts, that I didn't feel like they needed TONS more candy. You should have seen how excited they were finding candy in each egg, even just three small pieces. It just proves that kids can be pleased by the simplest things, without overindulging.

Happy kids!

Wade and I were pretty excited about our baskets, too. :)

Here's Emily accompanying the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. ;)

Watching General Conference was the perfect way to spend our Easter as a family. It seemed like every talk focused on Christ. What a beautiful conference it was!