Spring Break 2011

I cannot believe our spring break this year is almost over.  It has been such a nice week, I'm trying hard not to dread the next few weeks too much, so it makes me extra grateful to have had this quiet relaxing time 'before the storm.'

Here's a brief rundown of our crazy excitement.  I know you're all just dying to vicariously live through us ;)

Monday:  The weather was in the high 50's and sunny and beautiful, so we made the most of it and got a lot of cleanup done in our yard.  We also splurged at tax time and were able to get a new clearance BBQ grill, so Bryan and the kids set that up and we were able to have our first real grillin' of the season.  We probably should have used the money to pay another bill, but that gets old after a while :)  He also surprised the kids with a trip to DI to buy a book for each of them.  Next thing I know, he is pulling in the driveway with an AIR HOCKEY TABLE!!!  It was a fully sized sturdy one in surprisingly good shape and only $15!  We spent the afternoon and evening cleaning out the loft and having air hockey competitions.  Seriously, I think air hockey was the sport I was meant to professionally play, I LOVE IT :)  I felt very spoiled.

Tuesday:  The weather was still nice during the morning, so we worked a bit more in the yard, and then headed down to BYU in the afternoon with Bryan's Mom.  Bryan took pictures of the kids at the baseball field, the Marriott Center, and LaVell Edwards Stadium.  Bryan said Zerin was completely speechless as he walked into the Marriott Center.  He's such a cute kid.  Sidenote:  Yesterday, he and Aeden were playing basketball and whatever else they play when I noticed Zerin had his blazer on.  When I asked him what for, he said they were getting drafted that day.  He is such a kick in the head sometimes :)

One of my favorite moments was when Asher and Aeden spotted a tall, dark and somewhat curly-haired young man on a cell phone outside the Marriott Center whom they SWORE was Jimmer :)  They stayed at an arm's length, hoping he would talk to them when he was done, and even after he got up to leave after a few minutes, Aeden took off on a dead run after him.  The young man didn't notice Aeden stalking him, so Aeden came back, a big dejected :)   Liah had a much better plan to track Jimmer down.  She was going to talk to all of the girls (there are quite a few at BYU if you haven't noticed) until she found his girlfriend.  She then would talk to her until she agreed to take her to Jimmer.  Sometimes, she scares me :)

After walking around campus, and hearing Zerin's well-laid plans of how this is where the rest of his life was going to begin, we met up with Bryan's brother, Andy, and his family to go see the Carl Bloch exhibit.  I had secretly been dreading this just because I know how well little kids and museums go together...especially for long periods of time, but I'm happy to report it didn't go worse than I imagined :)  The kids were actually really well behaved, and liked the experience for the most part.  Asher only ate two plant leaves, and I didn't lose anyone, so for me, that's how I gauge successes when it comes to family outings anymore :)

I loved explaining to the kids who the people in the different paintings were and seeing them make the connections to the stories they know.  It worked too, because Bryan took Asher and Zerin by "Doubting Thomas" after I had walked Asher by it earlier, and was asking them who it was at Jesus' feet.  Zerin guessed Peter (mostly because he knows Peter is Bryan's favorite) and Asher corrected him and said, "No, it's Thomas, and he's in red!"  Yay for knowing my kids don't always tune me out! :)

It really was amazing to see those beautiful paintings, and just feel of the spirit in that room.  Bryan hijacked the kids from me so I could listen to the commentary on "Christ in Gethsemane" by Elder Neal A. Maxwell.  Those few minutes made the whole trip worth it to me.  I know that we are supposed to really prepare ourselves to feel the spirit and to enter holy places, but as a mom of young children, that doesn't always feel possible to do.  So those moments of intense spiritual enlightenment and peace that for logic's sake, shouldn't happen in the middle of a chaotic situation, make me feel even more grateful for the gift they really are.  Heavenly Father must like moms :)

We finished the evening off with take-home Del Taco...who knew we would be ordering in the double digits to feed our family...13 Tacos this last time, and that was just for the kids!  I am trying to take President Hinckley's advice by opening my fridge and closing my eyes :)  Bryan also went and bought us "Tron."  I grew up loving the original...it's the sci-fi nerd my Dad instilled in me I suppose.  It was fun to watch the kids be excited about a story I loved as a kid.

Wednesday:  It was still pretty decent weather so Bryan worked with Aeden on riding his bike, and he is doing so good!  He has been our late bloomer when it comes to riding, but I think once he overcomes his fear and gains more confidence, he'll be able to outbike Zerin and Liah without trying.  The morning started off with tears trying to get him to go, but by days' end, he was begging Bryan to go out 'just one more time!' :)

That afternoon, we went to the Rec Center to go swimming with friends.  Thankfully, Bryan kept Belen home.  She loves the water, but it's hard to keep track of all 5 when I'm always stuck at the shallow end of the kiddie pool :)  I took the little boys down the water slide.  Aeden LOVED it!  Asher kept telling me it was scary, but he'd smile when he talked about it, so I think he kind of sort of liked it :)  Zerin and Liah were able to be with their friends pretty much the whole time, except for when I'd have to send Liah out on search and rescue because Aeden was MIA (one of at least 5 times).  That kid is a WANDERER!!!  Not a good quality when at a public pool and hundreds of little kids :(

I had work that evening, so Bryan took the kids on a little hike which they all loved.  Belen surprised everyone by walking the entire time.  She is a little tank.  Slow, steady and POWERFUL!

Thursday:  My sister, Jenni, sister-in-law, Cindy, and nephew, Jonathan all came for a visit.  We had a fun afternoon chatting and watching the kids play together.  I feel pretty blessed that my kids have so many wonderful fun cousins to play with...some we see a lot, some we see not so much, but they all love each other and get along and it's awesome.  I saw a plaque somewhere that said "Grandma's (and Grandpa's) house is where cousins go to become friends."  I loved that...I have such wonderful memories with my many cousins growing up, and so many of those cousins are numbered in my dear friends.

We were also surprised to get a card in the mail.  No name, just cute easter stickers and a little hand drawn heart in the middle of the card, along with a Walmart giftcard for $100.  I feel so bad we have been the objects of so much giving as of late, but I feel very very grateful and humbled by it all.  I cannot wait until we are in a better position to do the same for other people.  This particular gift just made our day :)  More on how we used a small part of it on 'Friday.'

Here are also some pics of the girls' rooms that we finally finished.  The little boys accidentally pulled down one of their curtains, so hopefully today I can rectify that situation and post pics of their room soon.

My old craft room turned Liah's new bedroom.  I LOVE it!!!!  She has my bed from when I was little :)

It reminds me of Pollyanna's room, don't you just love the mirror I found at hobby lobby for her.  Total Pollyanna! :)

Belen and  the baby's new room.  I painted the two dressers, made the drapes, and repainted the green and brown walls white and pink.  

This table and chairs was my happy thought!  Normally, it was $120, but I guess it was a display model and missing some screws, so I got to take it home for $19!!!  It was red and weathered, so I sanded and painted it pink, and voila!!!  

This was a chair I found at DI forever ago.  The paint was really faded and yucky, so I finally got around to painting it (I did brown underneath, the weathered crackle, and then an off white).  I love how it turned out.

Hair bows have a way of disappearing at our house, so this was Thursday's project.  I think these will hopefully last for at least a couple weeks :)

Friday:  Yesterday was a snowy, snowy day...quite a contrast from Monday's weather, but it gave us the perfect excuse to get a few things done around the house.  One of the projects turned out horribly, so hopefully today I can rectify that situation (I painted our cute cubby/bench thing in our dining room and it looks abysmal).  But the other project turned out perfectly.  Bryan has wanted to make Liah a desk for 2 years now, so he went and found his old countertop desktop from his mom's house that was waiting for it's Toy Story 3 ending at the dump, and fixed it up and mounted it in her room.  I painted the walls and redid her little corkboard, and I  think it turned out pretty cute :)

Bryan and my co-project that has been 2+ years in the making...Liah's desk

Bryan also took ALL 5 kids to Walmart for a mini shopping spree courtesy of our mysterious benefactor from Thursday.  He bought them "Narnia:  Voyage of the Dawn Treader" (we watched it last night and it is soooo good!  They really nailed the characters...Eustace was exactly how I imagined he would be, and so was the ship!  Good flick.).  I am curious though if anyone else noticed that Caspian's accent changed.  Last movie it was a Euro-Spanish accent, and it was a full blown English accent this time.  He looks good in a beard so I guess it doesn't matter :)   Anyways, Bryan also visited the clearance racks and picked them up some clothes, and hello, he got all the right sizes!!!  I shouldn't be so surprised, but with that many kids, and with as much as their sizes change, I am doing good to get the right sizes, so yeah, I was pretty proud :)

Saturday:  That brings us to today :)  The only set in stone excitement we have planned is our semi-annual pilgrimage to the dentist office.  All 7 of us!  At one point it was easier to have two adults help with all of the kids and to have 2 hygienists working on us all so we could get out of there faster, but there are just so many of us now, I'm thinking we'll have to start dividing to conquer :).

It has been a wonderful relaxing week.  I'm a little sad to see it end :)