April

The first weekend of April we get to watch General Conference.  And every time, I set up little jobs for myself that I can do as I watch.  This year, I made a mistake.  There was a lady in our ward who had a connection to strawberries sold for 1$ a pound.  Great buy and I wanted to make strawberry jam.  My neighbor bought 6 flats.  So I bought 2.  If she can do 6 flats, surely I can do 2!  No, I can't!

I started out great.  I had the kids involved.  We washed them, cored them, and then I used my handy dandy Blendtec and blended them.  Where I started on my downhill spiral is trying to go "healthy".  Instead of normal jam, I found a "delicious" honey substitute for sugar jam (and without that "harmful" --or so say all the crazy people--pectin).  Instead of just trying it out and making one small batch.  I made a HUGE potful (probably 2 1/2 gallons).  I ran out of containers, it didn't set, I put the wrong date on the containers, I was frantically trying to fix it all (in my pajamas), I was missing out on General Conference (what was I thinking!?!), and worst of all?  It was NOT delicious.  It is disgusting!  Argh!  Well, I got myself out of pajamas and ran to the store, bought more containers, bought pectin, and the next day I used the other half of the strawberries and made it the correct way (with sugar and pectin).  So, lesson learned folks--and please learn from my mistakes--sometimes it is just NOT worth it to be completely "healthy" and eat gross tasting jam.  Homemade strawberry jam is one of the best things in the world.  Do not ruin it with honey!

With that said, I have a bunch of "Honey Strawberry Jam".  Does anyone want me to ship some to you?

We have been busy with FUN this month.  Both Aidan and Weston had field trips I got to go on with them.  Weston went to "This is the Place" and Aidan went to the TranJordan Landfill and the Hutchings Museum.  At "This is the Place", they did some really cool things about the Civil War, Weston will be sharing things he learned in CC.  The Landfill is so interesting!  You wouldn't think learning about garbage and recycling would be so fun to learn about!  That was actually my second time going there, and I would love to go again (and, yes, the kids liked it, too).  The Hutchings Museum was just a little thing, but they did a great job and Aidan learned about Atlatls, which he will discuss in CC as well.

We had a whole week for Spring Break, and we wanted to have a "staycation" since we couldn't go on vacation somewhere else.  So, once the kids got out of school on Friday, Scott took Aidan and Weston skiing.  Aidan did a class and was so cute!  He got the hang of it quickly.  Weston was a pro and they are both excited to go again next year.  Elise, Bren and I ran errands and had fun together at home while they skied.  Once they got home we had a fun barbeque with our neighbors (we love them so much!).  On Saturday the boys had soccer games (and did well), we made crepes for a brunch, then we went to the new Muppet movie and out to Applebees for dinner (my main goal for our staycation was to not have a huge mess in our house--I didn't want to be cleaning the whole time.  So we went out a lot...).  Sunday we had cinnamon rolls (bought from a neighbor who was selling them. Best cinnamon rolls I have ever had) and then Grandma Nancy invited us over for dinner.  It was a very relaxing day.   Monday Scott went to work, so I took the kids to IHOP (he doesn't like breakfast, but we do!).  Then we went to some really cool parks in daybreak and played for hours.  I wasn't really thinking about how much sun I was getting and by the end of the week I had a really red face. 

On Tuesday, we met Scott downtown and went to the Church History Museum which has a section on the Century of Honor scout stuff.  I am glad they were a part of that.  After the museum we went to Ensign Peak and hiked to the top.  The kids did a great job and I am glad we can enjoy that activity as a family.  Then we had a lunch at a little deli and dad went back to work.  The kids and I went to the planetarium and spent some time there (my other goal for this staycation was to not spend a lot of money, so we did a lot of free things and we used all our coupons and free meal vouchers the kids earned at school). 

On Wednesday we went to the Natural History Museum (I had free passes for all of us!).  That is one of my favorite places.  They have a new display about chocolate.  YUM!  Then we got Chik-Fil-A and ate and played at Murray Park.  Then we had a coupon for the Nickelcade, so we spent 5 dollars and the kids played those games earning tickets and they each got a 10 cent toy in the end.  What a way to spend 5$...  Still, they had fun.  Elise and Brennan had their yearly doctor appointment in Murray, so Aidan and Weston hung out at Grandma's while I took the younger kids to the doctor.  Both Elise and Brennan are doing great.  Somehow Elise is in the 75% for height.  I don't know where she gets that and I wonder if it will last.

Thursday we all went to the Dentist.  No cavities!  Yippee!  We then met up the cousins at a park and played for hours (they played so well together, we didn't stop them and just let them play). 

Friday we went up to our old stomping grounds and met up with some friends from the old neighborhood (Kingsburys and Lesters).  Again, we played at the park for hours.  Then we met Scott at In-n-Out for lunch.  That night the other cousins came over and the adults went to the temple while the kids played. 

Our staycation was about to end, so we had to jam a bunch of things in on Saturday.  We had our annual Easter basket and egg hunt at our house.  Then went to soccer games, then went to the Utah Spring *** with Uncle Cameron.  Grandma had her annual gigantic Easter egg hunt.  The kids candy should last for several months (of course it is gone by now...).  We came home and decorated eggs as a family and prepared for Easter Sabbath. 

We had an FHE on Monday about Easter.  Scott found a game online that asks Easter questions and it was actually really fun and the kids learned a lot.  We talked a lot about the Passover.  On our calendar, when it indicated the first day of Passover, Brennan said, "Don't we need to put blood on our door so they won't get us?"  Glad he listened, but I guess we needed to be more clear about a few things.  He is such a sweet boy.  Sunday, the kids sang "Gethsemane" in church, and the choir (which included Scott and myself) sang "How Great the Wisdom".  Scott taught High Priests and I taught a special lesson to the YW about Jesus Christ.  I took the Youth 2014 Theme Song and made a power point presentation with pictures of Christ and the girls.  It really turned out great.

The rest of the month was just normal.  Soccer practice, scouts, visiting teaching, piano...  Life.  Along the way, some funny things were said.  Brennan was playing with Aidan and he said to him, "Aidan, you are so smart.  You always think what I think."  The kids were waiting in the car for me for a minute and when I got back in Elise was angry and said, "Weston is talking like a mom!"  (I guess he was telling her what to do?)  And then sadly, I was talking with the kids about foreheads and I was going to tell them what I used to call them (headboards...) and I pointed to my forehead and asked, "What is this?" to which Weston replied: "A crease". 

Yep kids, it has been a great April!