Easter

Beautiful walking weather, at last.
Cousins playing the the yard after dinner.
My burn, ouch!!
Before cooking, the leg with rosemary and garlic.
Davids modified trifle
The finished lamb, yummy. The vegs were just the way I like them.
Easter weekend was beautiful, the weather was great. David and I took the dog on a walk both Saturday and Sunday morning. We watched conference and enjoyed the talks on families and relationships. We bought a leg of lamb, since Iceland we had been missing lamb. I burned my hand in the oven, I had barely turned it on and it was HOT HOT HOT already.(The rack was too high at first and had to be moved.)

We all piled in the van at 4:30PM and headed to the Connetts for dinner. Ham, lamb, three or more kinds of potatoes and I love potatoes(my downfall if I ever have to diet.), dip and crackers, and more food then we needed. Vanessa made several different desserts that looked delicious, but I was ill from eating too too too much dinner. We all made plans for the egg hunt the next afternoon(yes we hunt eggs on Monday.)

The egg hunt, and there off.

SPRING is here at last.
Fin and Cenneidigh

Off they go!
We Easter egg hunt on Monday, it's easier for me and 50% off all treats is another reason. The kids plan for it and can't understand why everyone doesn't do it that way. I'm sure my neighbors and the cars driving by wonder what were doing hiding Easter eggs the day after Easter.(I've tried floating the same idea with Christmas, but no one will go for it.)

After pizza and birthday presents, Eric and Bonnie hid eggs, or in Bonnie case threw eggs and then we let them loose in a line of youngest to oldest and the youngest got a few minutes or seconds the on the next group. Too much candy like usual, but hey its only once a year, oh wait Halloween and Valentines don't count.

Happy Birthday to JT, he is 8 today!!!

Best friends and best cousins, does it get better then that?
Sometimes he does get tired, not often.
Hey grandpa, looking good.
I need to remember, "The days may be long, but the years are short."
Shorter that they seem to fly by, one birthday to the next.
One grin to the next smile, what a joy to see.
Silly and goofy are his middle names.
He can now touch his nose with his tongue, you could too without those teeth in the way.
Not another Christmas, didn't we just do this?
What a love and a mess most of the time.

Almost time for the pool again and swimming lessons.
A smile is contagious, happiness begets happiness, and love begets love. Hello to everyone out there I hope you have a great day enjoying JT.

JT is 8 today, wow it's hard to imagine that he's been with us that long. It's amazing how fast time goes when you look back. He's in 2nd grade and almost always smiling. He's stuck between being too young for things and being too old, it's a difficult place to be. He seems to be making the best of it anyway. He's been wearing glasses since he was about 18 months old and is hardly ever without them, unless he tells us he's tired of seeing. Today is also my grandparents wedding anniversary, I love you grandma and I miss you grandpa. Its great to share an important day with others we care about.

Guess whose birthday is tomorrow? Happy Easter!!

You guessed it. Happy Easter to everyone. Because of today, we are all able to return to live with our loved ones after death. What a glorious day to be thankful for our Savior and to rejoice in his love.

April, a busy month

Lots of birthday's(JT, Bonnie, and Qatar) and this year a baptism(JT on the 11th). Then we have the Austinaire show(three nights), choral-fest for Gunnar, a concert in St Paul for Gunnar(AHS was chosen to perform at Orchestra Hall, a great honor I guess), Ezekiel has Math Masters competition at the end of the month, and a family night at Banfield. General Conference, Easter, Austin Artist Series Concert, and David is gone for four days next week for work, but thank heaven the weather is getting nice. I'm finishing up the last of the tax returns I have left to do and work will pick up by the middle of the month with all the teachers taking their personal time. Of course April showers will start soon so we can have beautiful flowers in May.

Books 44 and 45 Nurture Shock WOW

Loved this book, I have raised my kids all wrong. All well not much to do about it now, but this was really interesting and enjoyable to read. Arguing with a teenagers is good for them, maybe not you, but for them. Being too permissive and your kids will rebel more often then if you are stricter. Spacing in children is not important, it is the way the child is that determines if they will get along with their siblings, not the distance apart. Do not be fair, trying to be fair in all things with children and problems will develop. All kids need different things and different attention and praise. Children are unique, darn none of that been there done that. Darn.

I did not cry like I expected too with this one. The last one I read broke my heart and when I think about it I feel like someone has punched me in the chest. This was okay, nothing great, but a nice story.

Deep thoughts

I always thought when I reached 40 I would have my life together, I would know exactly were I was going and what I was doing. Yet, I don't have a clue. I feel like I'm still getting to know myself, I must admit I like myself more every year. Maybe I'm finally fitting into my own skin, or maybe I've spent enough time with myself to know what to expect. Either way I still wonder what I'm going to do in the next three years(before JT goes to Ellis and he'll be gone from 7:15am to at least 3:15pm without any extra activities.) I enjoy working, just not everyday.

We watched Julie and Julia and it really is making me think. It took Julia Child eight years to write her cookbook and then to have it published. She wasn't looking for anything more then something to do while her husband was at work in Paris and she became a famous cook. She worked hard and she became discouraged, but she found her nitch and the rest is history. I just wish I had a map to help me find my nitch. Hard work is not scary if you enjoy it. Short term goals are great and I just need to find one now.