Joseph took Lincoln and Annika to their first craft at Home Depot. They had a great time and we hope to take them regularly for the crafts since Kimball and Rebecah loved the crafts so much at this age. Here the kids are sitting on the lawn mowers. If it can't be a snow blower, Lincoln will settle for a lawn mower!
Painting their periscopes.
Edie is our sweet girl of 17 months. She took her first steps in February, but it wasn't until March that she started walking consistently. For a few days she just walked and walked pushing a stroller and after that she started walking on her own. I know she is a late walker, but she still seems tiny walking around. I love seeing little people walking! Now that Edie walks she doesn't like me to carry her outside. She doesn't want anyone to forget she is mobile. She is glad that I now let her outside since she won't have to crawl through the mud. Edie is also getting really good at feeding herself. She talks a lot and says quite a few words. A lot of her sounds sound the same, but I know she is talking about different things. I love hearing her say "me, me" which is what she calls her chameleon. She loves that guy. (Edie is pushing chameleon in the stroller in the picture below.)
She starts Nursery at church in a week. It's hard to believe my baby is growing up so fast. She also has a HUGE sweet tooth and loves dessert and chocolate. She also loves brussel sprouts and broccoli so we try to find a good balance.
Lincoln is so fun. One day he went around the house asking if he was taller than household items. Some of the things were obvious that he was taller, like a step stool, but other things, like the rocking chair, he wasn't so sure about. Lincoln and I have a very different idea how to use the treadmill!
We recently moved bedroom assignments at our house. Kimball and Rebecah are sharing so they learn to get along better. Annika and Lincoln love having their own rooms. Sometimes Annika just goes up to her room and falls asleep. The only problem is that Annika has been waking up at night and she usually goes into Kimball and Rebecah's room and crawls in bed with Rebecah. At least she isn't waking me up!
Here is a picture of Kimball which describes him perfectly...wearing shorts in the snow when it's in the 20s. He won't even admit that he's cold!
Kimball participated in String Fest this year. It is a concert comprised of all the Orchestras in the district...2 middle school orchestras, 2 junior high orchestras and the high school orchestra.
Kimball endured his last Pinewood Derby on St. Patrick's day. Actually, this is his first and last pinewood derby because the other years he was in Cub Scouts the troop did a rain gutter regatta and a Lego car derby. I think Kimball's car came in 5th or 6th place. The boys who have engineers for fathers always win. Kimball took it all in stride though and didn't seem to care.
This picture describes how Kimball feels about being involved in Cub Scouts. He suffers through it! He and I are both glad that he is almost finished with Cub Scouts.
Edie and Mom at the Pinewood Derby sporting our green.
Kimball's car won the award for "Most International" since it was red, white and green.
Kimball and I had a date to see the middle school musical. It was called "Birth of Rock" and it had popular songs from the 50s. It was a fun date and now Kimball is thinking of trying out for the school musical next year.
Rebecah loves our standard babysitter. Andrea is almost 14 and she treats Rebecah like a little sister. They talk with each other at church and Andrea shares the treats she gets in her church class with Rebecah. It's a great relationship. Here is Rebecah with a picture she drew of Andrea and herself.
Rebecah also had an expander put in the roof of her mouth to widen her mouth. We had 3 weeks of orthodontist appointments followed by a dental exam. She is doing well with the expander and it's amazing how these pieces of hardware can give people beautiful smiles after treatment.
Easter Celebrations
I took the 3 little ones to an Easter themed play group. They made a little craft and hunted for a few eggs. There were treats and a story about the true meaning of Easter. They had a lot of fun.
Hunting for eggs in the Primary room.
That smile lets you know she feels like such a big girl.
We did things a little differently for Easter this year. The kids were off school on Good Friday so we decorated hard boiled eggs. On Saturday we hid some plastic eggs and then I hid a goodie bag with other candy for each person. Even Joseph had a goodie bag to find. We did a communal candy bowl this year since the little ones wouldn't eat as much candy as the big kids. It worked out well and the little ones were just happy to find the colorful eggs.
Grandma Bev had surgery the week before Easter, but she still remembered to get the kids a little treat for Easter. Her surgery went well and I was able to visit her in the hospital and a few times since she has been home.
For dessert on Easter I made a butterfinger cake. It was yummy and everyone loved it, even my kids with tiny sweet tooths.
My four big kids posing in their new jammies. I bought summer pajamas for the kids even though they are still sleeping in their winter jammies for the time being.
We ended the month with General Conference. Conference is always such a special weekend for us. We have tried really hard over the years to develop fun traditions centered around conference. I loved this picture of Lincoln watching Conference.
On the 26th we celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. So much has happened in the last 13 years. Life is good and keeps us very busy.
