April was a good month. We had a lot of activities. The most important event of the month was celebrating Easter. I didn't take one single picture Easter weekend, but I LOVE Holy Week. We read about Christ's last week out of the Bible the week leading up to Easter Sunday, we listen to a special song about Jesus each day and watch a bible video that correlated with our reading. It's probably my favorite week of the year. The kids seem to enjoy the songs and videos, too, mainly because they like to see if I'm crying through the songs. General Conference was the same weekend as Easter so we had an extra special weekend listening to the words of our Church leaders.
We also dyed eggs, hunted for candy and the little ones had a visit from the Easter Bunny that was organized through our Town Council. I have never been a big Easter Bunny fan. It never crossed my mind when I was starting my parenting journey to include the Easter Bunny so most of my kids have learned about the Easter Bunny later in their childhood, but they have never lacked for candy.
Joseph borrowed a riding lawn mower and a lawn flattener from some friends. He and the kids had a wet day flattening the yard. I missed getting a picture of Rebecah driving the lawn mower all by herself.
Here is Kimball in his football uniform. Eden found the pads later and had to try them one. Who wears the pads better??
We had a really warm day in early April so we met up with some friends to enjoy the play ground at one of the local schools.
On the last day of hybrid learning Joseph had a large quantity of mulch delivered. Joseph was working most of the day and with rain in the afternoon forecast the kids and I decided we would surprise him and move the mulch to the various beds around the yard. Lincoln was a really good help loading the wheelbarrow. I didn't realize how much he was helping until he took a break to play and I was left doing all of the shoveling myself!
The girls helped to spread the mulch around after I would dump it. Rebecah was really good at helping during her break between classes. Without the help from the kids I would have had to work another hour+ to finish the job. Joseph was pleasantly surprised when he got home.
The kids returned to in-person learning full time this month. The elementary started the second full week in April and they love it. They are so happy being at school every day and learning from their teacher. I guess they didn't like "mom" school very much even though I just had them do the work the school sent home. The big kids returned to school the third week in April. They are still home on Wednesdays so the teachers have a day to meet with any students that remained remote. Rebecah loves being back in school. Kimball, not so much, but it's only for 1 quarter.
The little ones had an opportunity to take 1 week of swimming lessons. I wish we could have fit 2 weeks into our schedule, but with the other kids having after school activities it was hard enough for me to get everyone picked up and dropped off with Joseph working during the 4 days of lessons. I know a lot of families live day in and day out going from one activity to the next, but I hate living my life by practice schedules. One of my favorite parts of the Covid pandemic was not feeling guilty for not having my kids participate in smorgasbord of activities. Now that restrictions have lifted in our area the kids are back to activities, but I'm trying to protect our family time as best I can. Family time is sacred time!
The swimming pictures aren't great, but I had to take them from a distance through the viewing windows--Covid precautions. The kids enjoyed lessons. Annika was by far the bravest of the three kids and she made the most progress. The others made progress too, just at a slower pace. They are all geared up for more lessons this Summer.
Annika floating
Eden with the swimming coach. Lincoln to Eden's left and Annika next to him.
Football ended for Kimball and he was so sad to see it end. All practices were held at the high school stadium which was really nice since it's only a 5 minute drive from our house. Kimball's team ended the season with a 4-0 record. Track has now started so Kimball is still busy after school each day.
Rebecah is helping more and more in the kitchen. I always call on her for help if I'm running behind in my dinner prep!
I love watching my little girls play together. They love to be crafty together and make creations.
Joseph and I went to Green Lakes State Park. I walked the lake trails for Green Lake and Round lake. It was only a 3 mile loop so it took me less than an hour. Joseph spent that hour on the mountain biking trails. We weren't exactly together, but we were both doing our preferred form of exercise.
We always seem to end up at Green Lakes on cloudy days, but it really is pretty and the lakes are just amazing from an Earth Science perspective.
Rebecah started musical practice this year. The musical will be a little different this year. The cast will do 3 songs and then the rest of the show will be more like a Variety Show with different performances from students.
I had my second Covid vaccine this month. I was lucky that my only side effects from the shot were a headache and tiredness. I'm glad Joseph and I are now immunized.
