Easter Eve Pictures

Normally I am so ahead of the game.  I have Easter wardrobe picked out way ahead of time.  Professional pictures planned.  Oops. Not this year.  I bought the final parts of the outfits yesterday.  I didn't think we'd even get pictures (outside of the photoshoot we are doing for during Spring Break with my sis-in-law and the Randall cousins).  But we had an hour and some great lighting/weather yesterday evening, so we went for it.
But, in spite of my lack of training, I think I got some great shots.
I love these kids (and their creative ideas for posing and locations for photos.)
I took these at our local library after it was closed.  So it was just us, the blossoming trees, the homeless people and the cops in the parking lot.  Awesome.

This first location was a spot Libby liked.  It is kind of fun.  You can also tell this is the first location because Libby's hair is still wet from the shower.  It dries as the shoot goes on.  

Ben hamming it up.  

Sarah was into the arm crossing poses. 

The hand holding pose.  All is well until someone squeezes someone's hand too tight!

This is probably my favorite shot of the night.  I got the lighting and the blossoms behind Sarah just right.  

Libby insisted she was smiling in this one.  Then I showed it to her.  Then she gave me the smile below.  Now that's a smile.  

My best Bennie with the good lighting and blossoms.  The bow tie is the best!

This location is a spot at the library that they call Fairy Cove.  Not the best lighting, but they like creating poses on the rocks.  

I think I could frame this one!

Daffodil pics, for Grandma Geneva since they are her favorite. 

Menchies was the reward offered for good smiles and cooperation.  Notice that we stopped at home to change into pjs first.  Taking no chances that we might spill on an outfit before Easter!

Pinewood Derby 2017

We also had the Pinewood Derby this week.  Last year I helped with their cars A LOT.  This year I knew there was no way I would have time to help.
But our babysitter and Activity Days leader April stepped up big time and helped all 3 make and paint their cars.  Were we fast?  Um...only Ben.  But we went and we had fun.
That's what matters, right?

Let's Go Fly a Kite

I don't remember the last time I flew a kite.  The cheap kites when I was young were terrible.  But yesterday it seemed like the perfect idea.  I saw the kites while Easter shopping.  It was sunny and windy and we were all at home with plans to do something as a family that night.
It turned out to be really fun!  Next time I want to go somewhere with more consistent wind and get better kites, but I actually had a fun family idea.  Wow!

Let's do this!

Oops.  Tree snag.  We managed to get it down.  

At first they thought they needed to run to keep the kites up.  They got tired after a lap or two and we taught them how to catch the wind while standing still.  

I just loved the color and light in the this picture.  

Sarah getting "Barbie" kite up there.

Ben's intense concentration when his kite was up there was adorable!

He's doing it!  

Dad working with Libby on her flying skills.  

It was a beautiful night!

An Almost No Good, Very Bad Week

The Very Bad:
This is a week I never want to repeat.  It started off on Monday morning when I dropped a brand new (plastic) bottle of mustard on the kitchen floor and splattered myself, Ben and most of the breakfast nook and inside of the fridge.  I hit it just right to break and get an insane amount of mustard all over my life.
Then that evening, Ben injured his hand on the trampoline.  He came inside with that "injury" cry.  You know, the one, it's just a little different from the "I'm hurt" cry.  It started swelling right away so we spent the rest of the evening at Seattle Children's Urgent Care so we could get an X-ray.  In the end it wasn't broken, so I felt like I really wished I could get those 3 wasted hours back.  We didn't get to bed until 11. Not the best way to start the school week.

I was still super sore from BP 101 launch.  When the soreness went down, my neck started hurting.  So on Wednesday, after 3 hours of training clients, I drove up to my chiropractor so he could realign my neck.  On the way home I got rear-ended on Aurora.  We were in stop and go traffic at a green light and the car behind me went a little too early.  I didn't see it coming, which is better for your body since you don't tense against the impact.  But the hour I wasted standing on the street waiting for the cops to come and then finish writing up the accident seemed very long.

My car.  Seriously this poor van.  It's been in so many collisions.  The Vehix report must be 17 pages. 

The 1993 Honda Accord was much worse off.  

On Thursday I made quick Costco run during the girls' piano lessons.  Then I picked up Ben from a friends so he could help me unload before I went back to get the girls.  I tried to load up Ben with one too many things.  His injured hand is still struggling to grip.  So, a glass jar of avocado mayo made it onto the floor of the garage. Ouch.  The sound of that crunching glass and goopy mayo echoed in my head for hours.
On Saturday Libby took forever coming to the van to leave for dance.  We were late, so I left her.  Stupid.  Then I felt bad and couldn't complete my errands without her (since she needed new shoes--see next paragraph).  So I wasted 1/2 hour to go back and get her since she wasn't answering the new home phone.
We found Easter clothes and shoes for Ben only.  Libby found some shoes she liked.  Then on the way to church today (again, we were waiting for her to come out until we were late) Sarah complemented Libby's shoes.  Libby said, "Yeah, they are really squeezing my feet."  Hit the brakes.  Turn around.  Go home and swap shoes.  The new summer shoes won't work out if they don't fit on day 1.  Urgh!
Saturday evening had some bright spots (see below).  But Derek and I got into it over something stupid and he left for work angry.  So, I listened to 3 episodes of the Happier podcast and cleaned like a maniac.  I was still awake when he got home, contemplating a way to simplify my life so little frustrations don't send me over the edge.  Answer, (although it is hard for me to do) I'm taking the next 3 weeks off from training clients.  I need room to breathe.  Especially because Mariners season starts tomorrow.
The Good:
There were some good things this week. Teaching went really well.  One of my students said, "Mrs. Norton, you are a really good teacher.  I'm glad you are my teacher."   It was so sweet.
I also got to sub Ben's class on Friday.  It was fun to be with him all day.  I adore a bunch of his classmates.  Others I got really tired of by the end of the day.  Especially the one that wouldn't stop touching me.  AHHH!
My car isn't really damaged.  It's driveable and that's a blessing.
Libby used the home phone for good too.  I posted about her funny mean emoji texts.  So on Saturday she called as I was just finishing at the gym.  (I guess I could add to the bad list that during my sauna time at the end of my workout there was a woman in there playing music from her phone and singing along, how relaxing is that?  NOT!)  Anyway, Libby called and said, "Mom, I didn't want to send a nasty text.  I just wanted to clarify that you will be home at 7:30 (I left a note).  And we can all walk [on the treadmill while watching the ipad] for 30 minutes.  So I can start at 7:30 when you get home, then Sarah and then Ben?  We will all have time?"  I loved the word clarify so much (and the math going on in her head) that I didn't even mind having to leave the sauna early.  Especially since I got to escape the wierd singing woman.

Last Week's Texts

This Week's Texts

Also on Saturday, in between trips to drop off a food order (yes, multiple trips to drop off one order), I got most of the Easter shopping done.
The last good thing about last week was that I had a family fun idea that was inexpensive and it worked out!  See Kite Flying Post!
I also had a great day at church today.  I love teaching my sisters in Relief Society.
Here is to a new week.  A week with more open space in my calendar to prepare my home for the guests that are coming this weekend, and to catch up on sleep (a little).  A week where I can teach Kindergarten and enjoy it.  Where I can give the parents from our school a chance to see if they are the next Picasso for the Art Docent fundraiser on Thursday night.   To go to the chiropractor again (since my neck is bugging me again).  And to cook for my family.  At least one meal this week. To put on a good Easter dinner with homemade rolls (okay, that may be going too far.  Storebought rolls.)  I got this.

April Fools FUN!

So the kids and I were sitting down to dinner last night while Derek was at the Priesthood session.  I had made the first homecooked meal in 3 nights.  (And Tues is frozen food night around here, so it was IKEA meatballs, so really more nights than that.)  The kids all of sudden looked up and said, "Wait!  It's April Fools and we didn't do anything!" True story.  The last few years I have gone all out for April Fools food fun.  This year I was just proud to have a dinner on the table.  

But we started brainstorming a dessert we could make to fool Derek when he got home.  The ideas were hilarious.  Brainstorming with my kids is one of my favorite things.

Then I realized.  Wait...I don't want to cook anything.  Let's fool him with his favorite cookie that I don't make.

We rushed to Fred Meyer and got some Doublestuff Oreos. We hollowed out a bit of the inside and filled them with different candies.  Then we replaced the top (I did make a little frosting paste from some of the insides and milk that we could pipe onto the oreo to a make sure the new inside stayed hidden).

We made him a nice plate of oreos by his dinner plate.  

I was cool as a cucumber when he got home.  The kids were off playing.  No one was the wiser.  He sat down to eat my delicious beef and barley stew (big instant pot triumph!).  But then, one by one the kids came in and asked, "Did you eat your oreos dad?"  By the time the 3rd kid had casually asked this question, the joke was up.  

He was a good sport and tasted all 4 varieties.  He said the Troll powder was the worst but they were all pretty gross.  

It was a fun April Fools afterall! 

Nerdy Oreo

4 of the innocent looking Oreos

Troll sour powder.  Very easy to disguise!

I only wish we had had time to run some over to Grandma Geneva before bedtime.

I Thought I Was Busy...

There have been many times in my life when I thought I was busy.  And I guess I was.  But now, I have taken busy to a whole new level.
The cold that started next week decided to linger this week because I pushed a bit too hard.  And I think because my sinuses are just defective or something.  So I was tired this week.  But I had some seriously awesome highlights that made this week a week to remember.

Highlights:
My kids ate fast food/pizza 3 times this week.  They don't mind mom being so busy!  (For me this was a highlight because I didn't make or clean up dinner for 3 nights in a row!)
We finished off another wrestling season!  Einstein did quite well!

When the wrestlers were being called down to roll mats, Ben said, "I'm going to go down and show those guys how to roll mats."

I had a great time teaching Kindergarten.  I feel like I am hitting my stride.  I want to teach again next year.   I asked my former principal and a former student to write me a letter of recommendation. My student's response brought me to tears.

I also got to launch a Bodypump release for the first time in almost 2 years.  It was so fun! (And hard!)  The launch was on April Fools day.  Our joke was wearing pink and fluffy clothes (when the release was anything but!) and we did the tracks out of order.  People who come to BP like the structure.  So it was totally funny to throw them a curve ball.  And it was a different challenge to do triceps before chest!  Back track was last.  I was dying by the end!  The rest of the team stayed and did it again too.  I was lucky to get to leave and drive my kids to gymnastics. Whew!