It's all good . . .

When Grandma Comes

A few weeks ago, my mom came back to us in San Antonio after visiting my sister, Wendy, in Austin for ten days.  We sure were happy to get her back, especially Arthur, who immediately put her to "work" reading to him - ha ha!

I think I missed her most of all though. It was so wonderful to have her back to spend time with, talk with, and laugh with.  We had a great time watching a BBC series called "Miss Scarlet and the Duke," and she started showing Lily home of her favorite old musicals and classic chick flicks.  On days when I was working, I would come home and lay down on her bed and tell her about my day, which was the perfect way to relax.

The day after she came home, Wendy came to San Antonio, and she, Lily, Kevin, my  mom and I were able to do a session at the temple together, which was so wonderful.  There is something extra special about being in the temple with family.  Before she headed home, She, Lily and I were able to go back and do initiatories there together, which was so wonderful.

But sadly, now it is time for my mama to go home to Idaho.  We are going to miss her desperately.  There is something very special about having a multigenerational household, and she brought a special spirit to our home.  And don't worry, Arthur was sure to get in a few extra games and books with grandma before she headed home.

Finishing Off April

April slipped through our fingers like sand, and suddenly it is over.  A lot of my April has been spent studying (and subbing), and one day when I got home, the weather was so nice out, that I decided to sit outside and study. Ironically, as soon as I got settled, it started to rain - ha ha!  I can't complain though, since I am so grateful for the rain we have been having this spring (unlike our drought last year).

Because of the rain, my blackberries and honeysuckle are just flourishing, which is fantastic.

The rain made Arthur and I chilly enough, that we decided that we needed hot cocoa.  I mean, it was only 68 degrees outside - ha ha!

Arthur loves to read with Kevin or I in the evenings - each with different books.  A lot of times while I am reading, he will play around with my exercise mat or my stability ball, which is actually pretty entertaining.  Until it gets distracting - ha ha!

Arthur had a fun Lego building adventure for his last primary activity for April.  The boys were all in heaven.

And today was the class Fiesta celebration.  Since I am the room mom, I was in charge of the party.  After the school parade where the kids displayed their floats, then it was time for the party.  We started with relay races outside, which the kids loved - and it was a way to get some energy out. Then we went back inside for treats and chips and queso. All in all, it was a success, and the perfect way to finish off the month.

Playing with My Mama

On Thursday the fourteenth, I drove to Austin to pick up my mother from the airport.  She and my sister Wendy had flown out of Idaho Falls (long story, but had to do with a doctor's appointment in Pocatello the day they were leaving), only to have their flight delayed enough that they missed their connecting flight out of Denver. They were stuck over night in the airport, but luckily were able to finally make it to Texas.  (And I am so grateful to my sister for traveling with her, as it is almost impossible for her to travel on her own nowadays.)

Well, we sure happy to get her back to Texas - between her having to have multiple surgeries over the past few months, it has been so hard to make her visit a reality.  Thank goodness it all came together in the end.  Lily was awesome and helped my mom get all unpacked and settled into her room, which was great. (And Lily didn't even mind sacrificing her room and bunking with her little brother Arthur during her visit.)

And Arthur could hardly wait a moment to start reading books with Grandma - his favorite activity.

On Sunday, as we headed out for church, I had to get a picture with her and the kids. We all love having her here so much, and it was like she had never been away.

For Sunday dinner, I made a belated Easter dinner, with ham and all the trimmings, including lemon bar cake cupcakes, which are so delicious.

Because of the timing of a few things, my mom's visit to my sister Wendy fell only about a week after she arrived in Texas, so we took a Saturday for the whole family to head to Austin to drop her off.  We stopped in Blanco on the way to get some yummy barbecue at a cute place called Old 300 BBQ.  It was a very tasty lunch, but I thought that the sign for the bathrooms was especially awesome.

On the way, we just happened to drive past the Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile!  I had never seen it in person, and it was so cool.  It also got the song stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Ha ha!

We were so lucky to have an absolutely gorgeous day for our visit, and we spent most of the time out on the back patio by the pool, with the gorgeous view of Lake Austin.  

The kids were so excited to get to go swimming, even if the water was a tad on the cold side, since it isn't heated and it is only April - ha ha.  They still had a blast though.

And I made sure to have Tod show us his new cars. Since I saw them last, he got rid of his other Ferrari and got a new one, as well as adding a beautiful blue Lamborghini to the collection. My mom's favorite though, is the 1959 yellow Corvette.  So much fun!

After a while of visiting, we left my mom at Wendy's for the next ten days.  We will miss her, but she will have a great time - especially because she will get to play with her great-grandkids, Jack and Avery :).

April Adventures

April is flying by, and in all the normal stuff, there have been some great moments. For over a year and a half, my good friend, Megan, and I have been getting together every single month for a lunch date.  It has been the best, and I cannot even express how grateful I am that this fabulous friend I made way back in our North Carolina days, happens to be stationed in San Antonio. We usually sit and talk for hours, only leaving when we have to go and pick up our kids from school.  She is such an amazing friends, and our lunch dates totally work as therapy session, laugh zests, and lots of talk about books.  In fact, our most recent lunch was very nearby a really cool bookstore called "Nowhere" that is owned by a local author.  We loved the store, ogled over the wonderful collection of books, talked about all the ones we have read or want to read, and then got a picture with the giant cat.  Good times!

Twice in two weeks, I have gone to the movies with the kids.  The first time was with Kevin as well, and we went to see the new movie, "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves."  Derek is a HUGE fan of D&D, and had been counting down the days until the movie came out, and he was not disappointed.  It was super fun!  And then this past week, when the boys had the day off school, I took all of them to go and see the new Super Mario Brothers Movie, which they LOVED!  It was super cute and fun.

Recently, Arthur had his final choir concert of the year.  It was such a sweet little concert, but my very favorite part was when they sang the song "A Million Dreams" from "The Greatest Showman."  Arthur did a fabulous job, as usual, and we look forward to many more years of fun choir performances.

On Saturday, Kevin, Arthur and I snuck out to go to the Fairways for Warriors event, and had the best time playing in a golf scramble.  We did really well, but the highlight was when Arthur, without even aiming, sunk a 20 foot put for our team to make birdie.  Pretty fantastic!  Arthur also really loved getting to ring the bell to let the people behind us know that we had cleared out of the fairway.

And because my husband is super awesome, he washed my golf clubs for me when we got home.  I had been hating how dingy and dirty they were getting, and he is skilled at cleaning golf clubs, so he did it for me.

Kevin and I also had the chance to go and watch a concert given by the choir and orchestra from BYU Idaho.  They were both spectacular, and we loved getting to hear all the amazing music.  So glad that we heard about it and were able to go.

Recently, Lily had a special zone conference with the new Service Mission Leaders, and they are awesome.  Lily already knew them, because she served with them in the temple, which is super cool.  I am excited to get to know them better.

Another fun April adventure has been following my friend Jana's son, Dawson, on American Idol.  He made it to the top 26, and we went to a watch party, and then ended up on the San Antonio news, which was pretty fun.  He is amazingly talented, and even if he doesn't make it all the way, it sure has cool to be a part of the fun.
On Wednesday, I had my primary girls activity, and we did a nature scavenger hunt, which was a blast.  The girls loved it, and my group was really into taking fun pictures to prove that we found the different things.  And sweet Harper totally picked me a bouquet of wildflowers, which was the best.

Another fun and random thing, is that since one of the fifth grade teachers that I am friends with is retiring, she has started giving me her stuff that she is getting rid of.  Every time I sub, I bring this empty bin, and then I come home with it full of books and other awesome stuff.  It is pretty fantastic, and will be so great to have for my classroom in the fall.

Lastly, I have to tell the funniest story of a crazy Costco impulse buy. I was shopping at Costco with my mom and looking for powdered sugar.  She pointed out the fifty pound bags of sugar, and I grabbed one and put it on my cart, not even thinking about the fact that there was no way I could fit that in my bin.  And so I had to figure out what to do with it, especially when only half of it fit into my container. I had to get creative.  I proceeded to fill up gallon bags full of it, but it sure does look sketchy.  Ha ha!  

I finished it up totally coated in powdered sugar, and there was a light dusting all around me. And then because one of my vacuums had to vacuum up all the loose powdered sugar that I had made a mess with all over the kitchen, I had to clean it. Which then led me to cleaning all three of our vacuums, because as we established already, I may be a little crazy. Totally not what I needed to spend my time on, but such is life 😉😂.  Ahh, the adventures.

Celebrating Easter

I have always loved celebrating Easter, and some years I am much better at being intentional in my worship than other years.  This year, after the wonderful counsel during General Conference from the apostle, Elder Gary E. Stephenson, I tried to be extra intentional in our family's worship of Jesus Christ during the holiday.  Each day, starting with Palm Sunday, we studied together something from the last week of Christ's life.

On Easter Day, I tried to make it extra special, and want to to continue on previous Easter traditions, as well as building new ones, to help our family celebrate.  I often make a special breakfast on Easter, like I do on Christmas, and this year I got up early and made homemade scones - orange scones and chocolate chip.  Both were delicious, and the kids were super excited to wake up to a special breakfast.  

While I was baking, I was listening to some of my favorite music about Jesus Christ and singing along.  I used to always listen to church music on Sundays and sing along with it, but it had been years since I had done that. I am not sure why I got out of the habit, but whatever the reason, I am grateful I did it on Easter, as it filled my heart and soul with joy and peace.  Once everyone was up and out, I turned on the concert "Lamb of God," which is phenomenal!  If you haven watched it or listened to the recording, you really need to. It is so beautiful and just filled our home and hearts with the spirit of Christ.

Another newer thing in our home the past year or two, is having Easter decorations up in our home, to help us focus on Christ, just like we have special decorations for Christmas.  There aren't many of them, but I love them.
Usually we have an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter, so that we focus more on the religious element of our worship on Sunday, however, this year our Saturday was crazy, and so we did our egg hunt after we did our family Come Follow Me study after church. As usual, we had the kids hide each other's eggs, and Derek hid Lily's eggs so well, he couldn't even remember where one of them was.  It is still missing, but luckily it is a plastic egg with candy in it, so it won't go bad.
Arthur hid Derek's eggs, and he enjoyed hiding them inside a bunch of the Star Wars Legos, which is pretty fun.  He could not get one on top of the fan to hide it there, however, since he is still small and didn't have any help.
Arthur was the last to hunt for his eggs, and they were in my bedroom.  Luckily, both he and Derek found all of their eggs.
They all got a chocolate bunny as well, and Arthur's was even dark chocolate, just like he requested.
Side note about candy - as I was filling the eggs, I had to try out a few of the newer things we got this year, such as the cotton candy flavored Peeps.  Wow - so yummy!  And I don't even like Peeps.  The other delicious thing we found this year were the Skittles jellybeans - so delicious, and I don't even like jellybeans.

One thing that seems to happen every Easter, is that Kevin will get on the piano and play songs from "Jesus Christ Superstar." And later on, I came upon Derek playing songs from the musical on his guitar, which was so cool.

I finished off the day playing the game Book of Mormon Guess Who with Arthur, while I watched the end of The Master's golf tournament, since I had to know the outcome, after watching it for the previous three days with Kevin ;).  

It had been a wonderful celebration, and I am so very grateful for the gift of the Atonement and Resurrection of my savior, Jesus Christ.

A Wonderful Conference Weekend

Kevin and I volunteering at the Valero Open made it a bit tricky for us to watch General Conference on Saturday, but we made it work.  When Kevin and I got home, and Derek got off of work, we took the whole family over to Cold Stone to get ice cream, and then we headed home and started watching the sessions of conference that we had DVRed earlier in the day.  

We settled in and watched the first two sessions, and Kevin and I both worked on projects while we watched. His was a crochet project that involved him first untangling a large amount of yarn.  And I was trying to finish up the last of some quilt blocks I have been making.

Sunday morning, I was up early and decided to make cinnamon rolls for us to enjoy as we watched conference. I put them in the oven and sat down to watch more of conference with the family, and somehow the timer didn't start when I set it.  I kept smelling the deliciousness, and then started wondering why the timer hadn't gone off. Luckily I caught it and got them out of the oven before they were too overcooked.  And luckily, with lots of frosting, you couldn't really tell.

While we watched, Arthur was playing with the "Y" ball, making different shapes as he listened. It was perfect, because he could do it quietly.

In the break between the morning and afternoon session, Lily, Arthur and I took a walk to the park, and the weather was just perfect.  It was a great little chance to get moving and enjoy the gorgeous weather before we sat some more in the house.

For the last session, Lily joined in on the sewing project fun and pulled out her quilt to tie.  It was quite the picture with the three of us with our different projects.  Good times.

While we were sewing, Derek was putting together puzzles in the kitchen, and at some point as we were listening to the speakers, his siblings joined him to finish it off.

Although there were projects and fun food, the best part of the weekend was having the chance to feast on the words of our prophet, President Nelson, and the other apostles and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  And to spend the time together as a family as we learned and were inspired together.

A Valero Texas Open Adventure

Last year, Kevin had the best time volunteering at the Texas Open, which happens at the TPC San Antonio, only about fifteen minutes away from our house. He loved it so much, that he convinced me to do it with him this year.  Just like last year, there was a special appreciation dinner for all the volunteers the week before the tournament, and since we were each allowed to bring a guest, we decided to ask our friends Debbie and Tyler to come with us, which was such a great idea.  We had the best time talking and laughing with them, and the weather was perfect and the course was pristine.

As it got closer to my actual volunteering, I started wondering what I had really gotten myself into, especially when Kevin informed me that we would have to leave the house at 4:50am to catch the shuttle.  The shuttle that was at a church about thirty minutes away.  And then about a thirty minute shuttle ride to the course. I may have been more than a little dead to the world - ha ha!  And we arrived in the pitch black darkness.

Both mornings, we arrived in the dark, went to the volunteer tent to check in, grabbed a few drinks and some fruit for snacks, and then they loaded us up on golfcarts according to what hole we were working.  Kevin and I were on hole 2, and the first day the driver dropped us off at hole one, and all of us had to walk in the inky blackness to find our hole.  It was quite the adventure.  It was much better on Saturday, when they took us directly to our hole.  Both days, we got to watch the sun rise from the course, and it was so beautiful.Like I mentioned before, Kevin and I were stationed on hole 2.  Our job was to be spotters, which meant we were assisting the pros and the tech people find the balls. We started in the middle of the fairway, but after only one group of golfers coming through, they had us move so we could help the people on the green.  I didn't mind, as we got to see so much more action, especially because the 2nd and 7th greens are connected.  It was so pretty!
We brought chairs with us to sit in for the times we didn't have to be attentive, which was so nice.  And you really couldn't beat our view.  We were on the backside, since that was were the people on the other side were not able to see, which made it feel like we had a our own little private spot to watch everything.

The first part of the day was cool and overcast, but the sun eventually came out.  On Thursday, when Kevin was volunteering without me, there was terrible fog that delayed play for four hours.  That meant that we had a LOT of groups that had to play to try and get caught up, as in 60-62 groups that had to play.  In fact, once everyone had finished the rounds they had started on Thursday, we got to watch the greens crew come and change the hole for Friday's placement.  And then again on Saturday, since not everyone got caught up on Friday.  It really was the coolest thing to watch - their precision and attention to detail.

We stayed very busy, and once the sun came out, we tried to find a patch of shade to move our chairs to, since I was melting.  Eventually, they even had a big camera cart come and set up right next to us, which was sort of cool to watch.  The coolest part though, was getting to help the players find their balls.  I mean, I got to talk to professional golfers and their caddies - so fun!

Luckily, we were able to take quick breaks throughout the day, since there were two of us, like to go get water or use the restroom, or later to use our voucher to get dinner.  They brought us box lunches, which were not great, but later they gave us ice cream, which was fantastic. I was so completely drained, that in the evening when there was a random fifteen minutes where nobody was playing our hole, I put my raincoat down on the grass and took a nap.  And I mean, I slept soundly.  When Kevin woke me up, I couldn't believe I hadn't just barely shut my eyes.  It was definitely what I needed for a second wind.

The first day was a very long day, because of the fact that the players kept playing until the horn blew because it was twilight and too hard to see.  I watched the tail end of the sunset as the golf cart was taking us back to the volunteer tent to clock out.  We didn't get home until almost nine at night, and then had to be up again at 4:20ish so we could start it all again on Saturday.

It was on Saturday morning, that it became very apparent that I should have applied sunscreen during the overcast part of Friday.  Even though I was cold, I still got burnt.  The funny thing was that I put on tons of sunscreen once the sun came out, I just didn't think about it in the morning, because I was so cold.  Oops.  Just a reminder that you get burnt worse in overcast conditions.  Because of that, I tried to stay in the shade as much as I could, especially when Kevin noticed my poor knees.  On Saturday, he had been set a little further from me over in the shade, and so after a bit, I just stayed with him, unless we had to actively search for a ball.

In the morning, because of people still finishing their Friday rounds, we had some time off.  I used it to study for my big certification test, and Kevin went and walked around watching some of the players finish their rounds.  At one point I went to join him, but on the way, I got distracted by the pretty flowers, and when Kevin found me, I was taking pictures of them.  Ha ha!  Kevin told me that only I would be at a PGA tournament and take pictures of the flowers. So true.

One of the interesting things was how the spectators would follow the players from hole to hole.  We totally knew when it was someone especially popular, because a hoard of people would come moving alongside the course.  Especially when it was Ricky Fowler.  Good times.
After each day of volunteering, Kevin would come home and watch the coverage, searching to see if we made it on camera.  Which, we totally did - even if we look like blurry specks.  Or the one from Thursday where Kevin just looks like a creepy guy in the trees - ha ha!  So cool that we were on camera though!!
Luckily for us, play finished for us around four on Saturday, because we were beat.  It sure was a fun adventure, and I am so glad I got to share it with Kevin. And hey, now I can always say that I volunteered at a PGA tournament.  Pretty darn cool.

 

A Very Busy Week

What an action packed week - full of good things, with life thrown in the mix.  Monday we started things off with the APEX Fun Run, and since I wasn't teaching, I got to go an help out as a volunteer.  I was one of the people who got to mark off a row of obstacles with a sharpie as the kids finished a lap, and since it was both fourth and fifth grade coming through, it meant I got to see so many of my great kids that I love - including my Arthur!

He loved running through the different obstacles and was actually very fast at it.  I was also impressed with how he actually did the obstacle like he was supposed to, instead of just messing around like some of the kids did.

He really did love it, even the last one, which was probably the trickiest one to do, since the holes were really deep.  It turned out to be a pretty fun adventure. (And after I was done helping, I snuck off to go have lunch with some of my friends, which was awesome.)
On Tuesday, I subbed in the library, and after school, Arthur never showed up, like he usually does.  I couldn't find him anywhere, and his teacher said he had already left.  He had completely forgotten that I was teaching, and so he started walking home, although I was not in the car waiting for him as usual. As soon as I realized what had happened, I took off and drove down the road toward our house to find him.  And there he was, way up the hill, halfway home.  He was freaking out a bit, but we figured things out and came up with a plan for if it ever happens again.

Later that night, it was a choir concert for Derek. We had to be there extra early, and so Lily and Arthur came prepared with plenty to read while they waited.  Good times.  My kids know to bring a book wherever they go - just in case.

Derek did a fantastic job at his concert, and I can never get over how grown-up and handsome he looks in his tux. 

The concert was to showcase the pieces they were performing at the UIL competition, as well as Celebration of Excellence, and they did such a wonderful job.  Derek's choir is always my favorite, and not just because he is in it.  They always seem to sing the best pieces.
They had a Varsity Men's Choir, as well as his Kantori choir.  One of the performances started with them out in the audience, and singing as they filed in.  It was pretty fun.  they also had a couple songs with actions, which are always a good time as well.

The following day, I was subbing again, and this time it was Bike Rodeo, and so I got to see Arthur outside with his class and cheering on all the kids that participated.  My cute little second graders were so great at cheering for not only the kids in their class that went, but all the second graders.  We had a great time :).

On Wednesday night, Kevin and I slipped away to attend the temple.  Sometimes when life gets super busy, we have to be extra intentional about making time for the things that matter most.  Even though we had had things every night during the week, we made sure to make time for this.

On Thursday, I subbed in 3rd grade, and when the class had library, I got to go in and see the cool project that Arthur had made in GT with his partner, Kamron.  They were studying enigmas, and the one they focused on was the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  There was even a QR code you could scan and then watch a movie that went with it.  (Arthur's teacher, Mrs. Hardon, was super impressed with his acting ability.)

Thursday night was a Relief Society activity.  It was one of those times when I was beyond exhausted, and it was literally all I could do to make myself go.  Luckily, I had the added incentive of having Lily who needed to attend as well, and we managed to have a good time, in spite of being worn out.  We did lots of team building activities, which turned out to be fun, but the best part was the lemon cheesecake for dessert ;).

One of the other things I did this week was to do some necessary work in my garden, including planting.  While I was out there, I noticed that I have baby raspberries on my bushes.  And my new rose bush not only looks amazing when it blooms, but it smells so very good.
Not sure how I fit it all in, but Friday began the start of a whole other adventure - volunteering at the Valero Texas Open Golf Tournament, but I'll save that for another post . . .

Little Bits of March

March blew in and out before I could blink, but there were lots of great moments in it all.  Sometimes they were simple and necessary things, like Saturday morning haircuts for all the boys - including Kevin.

And then there was the day I made homemade German spaetzle, using my new press for the first time.  It worked so well!  Much better than my old one.  And yes, making it is a pain in the neck and makes a huge mess, but it is so yummy, I have to do it every once in a while ;).

I have been so busy lately with studying and working, that I have not been getting my normal deep spring cleaning done.  That said, I did use some extra time at home during spring break and after to deep clean a bunch of the kitchen - the stove/oven, fridge, sink, dishwasher, etc. It feels so great to get some things really clean!!

I also took advantage of study breaks to get some small projects done, like the new beach picture collage frame that I added to the kids' bathroom.  I love it!  And then I added a fun new sign to Kevin's golf wall, which I ordered from Etsy.  It says "Kevin Brown's Golf Club: Established 1978".  I love how it all comes together.The other day, I got a late birthday gift in the mail, which was awesome!  Late gifts always make my birthday last longer ;).  It was a new book that I am super excited to read, as well as probably the cutest bookmark I have ever seen.  It is a Nessie!!  I love it, and I love that my sister-in-law, Susan, always knows just what to give me.

On Saturday, Kevin and I got to play in a 9 hole scramble with the Fairways for Warriors group.  We had so much fun, and afterward we finished off our date with the yummiest dinner at Broadway 5050.  The last time we ate there was when we were on our house hunting trip in San Antonio, and it was just as good as we remembered.

Spring is in full swing, which means there are wildflowers everywhere I look - peaking out of rocks, on the side of the road, or in people's yards.  I can never seem to resist taking a picture of them.

The weather has been beautiful, and my roses are flourishing.  I love seeing them bloom, and they smell amazing.

Speaking of roses, when I went to get my mammogram last week, they gifted me a rose, which was also spectacular, but it just didn't smell as amazing as the ones in my garden.  (I may have went through every bush and only bought ones that smelled fantastic.)

 

Spring Break Adventures

Although spring break wasn't super exciting, and we never actually planned a getaway like I had hoped to do, but we still managed to sneak in some fun adventures:

SEAWORLD DAY:

Spring Break started off very fun, with a quick trip to SeaWorld.  We had to go without Kevin since he had to work, but were able to go with Lily, since it was her day without service assignments.

Unfortunately, everybody else decided to go to SeaWorld as well - maybe because it was the only day all week that was supposed to be good weather, or maybe because it was spring break and people were visiting from all over.  Ha ha!  In spite of that, we had a blast for the few hours we were there, riding a few of our favorite rollercoasters, including Great White - my favorite.  

We also stopped to see the different animal exhibits, which are fantastic.

Lily especially wanted to see the penguins, since their exhibit was closed the last time we came through.  There were so many of them, and they are so fun to watch.My favorite part of the day was going to the whale and dolphin show.  Those dolphins are just amazing, and the show was fabulous.  We even sat in the splash zone for Arthur, and although he was sad we didn't actually get wet, I was fine with that - good times.

The beluga whales were pretty amazing as well, and I love that the trainers got to get in the water and play with them, like they used to do with the orcas.While on our adventure, we also found a new roller coaster to add to our favorites - the Texas Stingray.  It was the best wooden coaster I have been on in forever.  So much fun, even if I had my arm across Arthur the whole time, just to make sure he didn't fall out.  He wasn't really in danger, but I was still nervous.

Our last stop for the day was the sea lion and seal enclosure, which was super fun, especially since they were being fed, and so they were super active and vocal.  It was so cool.  It was a perfect way to finish our adventure.  (And I just love that because we have passes, we can just go for a few hours and call it good.  We didn't even buy any food while we were there.  Go us!)

FUN WITH FRIENDS:

Arthur was lucky enough to have multiple playdates with friends. On Tuesday, he and his friend, Wyatt, had a blast playing, and then on Wednesday his friend, Jack, came over to play. And then on Friday, he got to go over to his friend, Oliver's house.  He loves getting to spend time with his friends, and I love how super creative they are and how much fun they have together.

PI DAY

On Tuesday, March 14th, it was Pi Day, or 3.14 day, and so I made pies.  First, for dinner we had a bacon/egg/cheese pie - otherwise known as a quiche, but since my husband "doesn't eat quiche, we rebranded it - ha ha!

Then for dessert, we had a chocolate chip cookie pie, which is to die for.  We enjoyed it with ice cream while we introduced the kids to "The Count of Monte Cristo," which is such a good movie!! (And book)

GOLF:

Kevin got to sneak out and play golf, and he sent me a picture of a sign on the course.  Hmm.  Not my favorite thing, although I guess it makes sense that there would be, especially because that is even Derek's high school mascot.  Good times. At least they are not Timber Rattlers like there were in Pennsylvania.  I mean, rattlesnakes that climb trees takes it to a whole other level.  Err.

A NEW JOB:

Back in November, Derek lost his job at McDonald's, and ever since then, he has been hunting for a new job.  He had applied to so many different places, and interviewed with a bunch, but not only was he not getting hired but he was not getting ANY FEEDBACK. It was extremely frustrating, and I felt terrible for my son, as he would have what he felt was a great interview, only to have radio silence afterwards - not even to tell him no.  

At one point, I just couldn't take it anymore, and so I reached out on Facebook to our neighborhood page and asked for advice.  I was given another treasure trove of options (and even a few people who offered him jobs, but where sadly too far away for it to work with three of us sharing a car.  Sadly, once again, although he applied at over twenty places, would go in person and bring resumes, talk to people, interview, and then nothing.  

And so on Tuesday of Spring Break, I had him call a few of the places where he interviewed to check back with them.  His first call was to Sonic, only to discover that they sent him an email he never received (even in his junk box) saying they wanted to hire him.  A few hours later, he had met with the manager, got all his paperwork taken care of, and was scheduled to work on Thursday!!  It was truly an answer to prayer, and he is loving it there so far, even if it has only been two days of work.  We are so proud of Derek and his amazing persistence and hard work.  This was not an easy road.

And so, yes, our spring break was pretty low key.  We watched movies, made treats, and sometimes played games, but mostly we just enjoyed having a little bit slower pace (except for Lily and Kevin - they were still busy, but it's all good).