Birthdays and More!

The last month has been  eventful in many ways. March 15th Dylan turned 8! Hard to believe we have such a big guy. He continues to impress us with his responsibility and efforts to do that which is pleasing and helpful to others as well as that which is pleasing in the sight of Heavenly Father. Favorite movie Swiss Family Robinson, favorite activity is reading or playing legos, favorite food is steak, peppers and salad... we went to a steak house for dinner on his birthday. Wants to be a doctor when he grows up, this has changed as he used to want to be a rescue ranger. Favorite color is green. Favorite tv show, which he gets to watch when we are in hotels, is Phineas and Ferb. Favorite sweet food is ice cream and cookies. Loves to bike ride and shoot hoops and give piggy back rides. Favorite subjects are PE, music and spanish.

Sticks are a popular mode of entertainment amongst our kiddos. Faith and I had a mother daughter moment not long ago. The other kids were with Chris inside, we step outside and I asked her what she wanted to do. She said, "pick a stick, mom." I followed orders and picked one from the pile she was pointing at. Then poking her stick out like a sword, she said, "come on mom, fight!" So thats what we did with our mother/daughter time...we sword fought with sticks. It was memorable...

I mentioned sticks because Ethan was picking one up while Dylan was bending over to pick one out and Ethan's stick lacerated Dylan's cornea!. I told Dylan he was just fine and I thought he was until he woke me up at midnight crying because his eye hurt so bad. I battled on whether or not I needed to wake up all of the kids and cart them to the ER but luckily I waited and it was okay. These things happen only when Chris is out of town. He is healing up alright but has been on eye drops since I can remember! The ophthamologist thinks we are the poster people for eye accidents. We should all be wearing safety glasses in this family!! Needless to say I am always on edge and looking out for what could cause an eye injury. I'd like to say I was cautious before, but now I am really cautious.

That leads me to the next accident in our home, Chris broke his wrist on Dylan's birthday while mountain biking. Fortunately it was his left wrist as he is right handed and we'll find out in the beginning of May if he has healed up okay. He is really looking forward. He was a great sport on Dylan's birthday and didn't go to the doctor until the night after. This was really sad as the mountain bike season is just beginning. He continues to itch for outdoor activity so we head out as a family as much as we can. We get to hike along the Potomac which is just a few blocks behind our home. There are all sorts of paths and it is just beautiful. We took a particularly steep path this last time and had to walk like crabs to keep from falling. Ethan wondered if Washington and his men had to walk like crabs. It is special to walk where these brave men did.

Our garden is in and is growing slowly but surely. We can't wait to start picking! 

Spent a night in Baltimore because I had an appointment at Johns Hopkins for my eye. We had a great time swimming and had plans to see the inner harbor the day of the appointment. We were there for an unexpected 4 hours and were tired so we left for home after a drive by of the harbor. We will have more trips there as I have an upcoming operation to correct strabismus from the accident I had to my eye about 2 years ago.

Then on April 6th, Ethan turned 6!!  Sweet Dylan planned a scavenger hunt for Ethan's presents and has begun our new family tradition. We had so much fun following Ethan around the house as he read his clues and discovered his gifts that we decided it is a must do from now on when possible. We went out to sushi, Ethan's favorite, for dinner. We ate so much and had such an enjoyable evening. The wait staff were really shocked at what the kids are willing to eat and were very complimentary of them for their good manners and behavior. (They must have had their backs turned while Faith ran circles around our table.) Ethan is currently drawing blanks on what his "favorites" are. I'll record from memory that his favorite color is white.. then blue. He loves the Wii. Can shoot the ball about half way to the hoop. If its Faith's strawberry shortcake "light" ball he can make it in the basket. Also enjoys bike riding. He really likes to admire the fancy pants sports cars that pass us a little too frequently on the road in these parts. Ethan has turned into a great reader and likes Magic Tree House books and Magic School Bus books. When he grows up he'd like to be an ice cream man. He figures if he works the hot months he'll make enough money to stay at home during the fall and winter with his family. He is frequently found looking out the window watching and waiting for the iceream man.

After spending Christmas with just the 6 of us and spending the entire day in the kitchen cooking the full feast for just our little family, I decided I would much rather never do that again. So for Easter we invited a few families for a pot luck, egg hunt and ping pong match. It was a very memorable holiday as we also reflected on the role the Atonement plays in our lives and that the Atonement is real. We did our Easter countdown and found the empty tomb we also feasted on "empty tomb" rolls for a family night snack and decided that would also become a new tradition. They were yummy and had Ethan totally dumb founded.

(We just baked crescent rolls rolled in butter, cinnamon and sugar that had a marshmallow rolled in the same thing stuffed inside. Once baked, the marshmallow melted revealing the empty tomb.)

Channing continues to smile and make us smile, hence my hundreds of headshots! Faith's new favorite is the Sound of Music and she sings the songs every day. I am really liking my 4 kids! Honestly, I am absolutely nuts about them!

The rakes were meant to help with the outside work but really came in handy for that pesky basket grass and jelly bean trail clean up. Those were the biggest hits from their baskets.