Spring Break and Spring in general...

...means something different in this house than the last ones.
 It means Yard work.
 Intense Yard work.

With the bushes cut down and ready to rip out the yard looks even bigger.

This is the out front tree. I can see now why its big branches couldn't hold up T.'s weight. It had nearly rotten through! The beauty of it will be missed but not the fruit. Who plants a fruit tree in the front yard as a shade tree anyways?

One of my favorite finds in the back yard. Raking up rocks( boulders would be more like it) and debris has its perks. Treasure. A grass hat. The grass was seriously growing on the top of it. Cool!

D.'s shed is getting closer and closer to looking like the awesome Ceramics Studio it will become. He is even going to let me plant a wisteria bush to climb up the road facing side. Like some kind of cottage. An Art cottage I guess.

All of this work is quite satisfying as the yard is changing and looking like a place the kids might even dare venture into. It's a lot of work and still will be for years to come, and I am glad. I love the neighborhood, love the house and love the yard. We are so blessed to live here!

Can we swim? When can we swim?

Seriously. It's April! Not June. The irrigation water that hooks up to the lawn sprinklers isn't even turned on yet, because its APRIL.
We took a fieldtrip up the mountain to see where that water will come from and test out the temperature for swimming(which really means playing in the hose and sprinkler).
The hike was almost as fun as swimming and just as tiring.
I didn't even hear the swimming question for a whole day after that.

Easter time fun

My grandparents hosted an Easter party for the kids this year.
The weather cooperated for the traditional egg hunt.
Its so exciting for kids to find the bright eggs and exciting to open them up.
Its like each one is a present for them.
N. was thinking how cool it was that he is old enough to be an egg hider, unfortunately he will still have to wait another year to practice it though. He spent the day with his best friend at Sundance on the snow slopes instead.

Dash for the best eggs!

Wanna share?

Z. lines hers all up for counting.

CANDY!

MONEY!

I had to add this one because I hadn't noticed just how Z. and I look alike, before now!

We end up with a load of candy but somehow it all gets eaten by the time the week starts again.

FHE doesn't have to hurt

Sometimes it is actually kind of fun.
For most of us.
This time we went to the Museum of Art where they have a monthly family night for the community.
There was a local Airbrush artist, local Musician, and then a craft.
Not too painful.
Actually fun.

S.trying to be quiet and hold still. Successful at the quiet, not so much at the holding still.

Grandparents are so useful, even as pillows.

Making paper bag puppets.

Making a sweet dragon, artist tongue doing its part.

Minecraft "Creeper". N.'s idea caught on and started a creeper trend in the room.

What is z.'s? A Hamster of course!

Unicorn, no problem. They have pig noses and cloven hooves right? No. Well, it can be a pig unicorn. If you don't like it get your dad to help you next time.

Finally found the slippery exchange student. Whenever sitting without something to read is involved he disappears. Snake puppets are almost as entertaining as reading though.

How can my baby be 4?

She is supposed to be the baby but somehow she just keeps on growing and growing.
Its bittersweet.
Terribly.

She knew and asked for exactly what she wanted.

Party with a few friends(a neighbor and friends who drove down from Logan) and cousin S.

Can you tell finger paint was one of her great gifts?!

Birthday ride with daddy!

When she is the baby:
She has the cutest dimples, the sweetest smile greeting, the easiest temper, the softest arms tight on my neck, the highest pitched voice asking "momma, is today storytime?".

When she is the big 4 year old:
I cant seem to keep her from climbing over the chainlink fence, following big brother down the street to find a friend to play with, sleeping on my floor instead of her own bed but bringing her own pillow and blanket with her, insisting on a booster seat in the car instead of the car seat, telling the exchange student he stinks "like China people" and needs to go home.

Zipper the hamster

 Once Z. has something in her mind it is hard to get her to think otherwise.

 This time the obsession is a Hamster.

 Zippy.

 She begged and pleaded and we heard the word "Hamster" (in a high pitched voice with a big smile and shoulder shrug) a million times before we finally gave in.

Good thing daddy knows how to set up complicated cages. This one was harder than it should have been.

The drive home from the kind hearted strangers home who raised Zippy for her first 3 weeks.

Zippy was named for the black stripe on her back that looks like a zipper. She is cute and soft and sweet.