The Ides of March and so on

I don't remember what that is, but I remember talking about it in high school when we were reading Shakespeare. [Of course I had to google it because I couldn't stand not knowing. Yes, I totally remember learning that.]

A while back Andrew took the kids to the park, got pizza and put them to bed so I could go to the temple with some friends. He is absolutely the best! Apparently the rain brought out about a million snails at the park and the kids loved checking them out.

A few weeks ago, we went to Rockin' Jump and had a blast. At first we were bummed that we had to pay the full "children's playtime" price even though there was only half the time left, but by the end we were pretty sure we couldn't have gone any longer. After jumping, we went over to Kohl's to look for an Easter dress for Adaline-she'd been talking about this nonstop. Then, since we were already out in Brentwood/Antioch near Cold Stone and Andrew got a gift card for Christmas, we had Cold Stone for lunch. We didn't feed the kids anything extra when we got home even; we had ice cream for lunch!

This is how the boys entertained themselves while the girls shopped

I didn't even ask them to smile, they just saw me with the camera and pulled these faces

Adaline is definitely the typical older sibling

You can barely see in the background that Adaline got a bunkbed. A brother of a friend was getting rid of it and we figured we should accept since it might not belong before Matthew starts climbing out of his crib and needs the toddler bed. Adaline absolutely loves it and asks me every day to make her a bigger blanket. Ha! 

This picture marks the end of an era. It is the last picture I took with our camera because...I got a new phone! All the buttons work and it doesn't do crazy things. It's been so exciting and now I take all my pictures on there

Later that night we went to Nick's house for dinner. He was so excited to make smiley face pizzas for the kids and to have apples and peanut butter for them. It was really nice of him and the kids had a fun time. The food everyone brought was delicious and I ate way to much.

Some people Andrew works with moved around in their positions at work, so they had a little get together at EJ Phair one night to say "goodbye" to one of their coworkers. Since they changed the date of it to ensure we'd be able to go, we felt just a little obligated to be there even though it was a super casual thing. Oh well, I don't mind his work friends and our pizza was so good. (Although, the pizza tasted less delicious when I was at yoga 5 minutes later...)

On the Thursday before Easter, Andrew's work put on an Easter egg hunt and activity for employees to bring their kids or grandkids to. It was at a rock climbing gym in Concord, so we all did some climbing, then the kids found easter eggs, and then we had pizza. It was well put together and lots of fun.

She was almost exclusively interested in the purple and pink eggs

Matthew almost ran right into the Easter bunny. He and Adaline gave him a high 5. I thought he was creepy.

Matthew was actually pretty good at the rock climbing, he would have been great if he was a couple inches taller and lost some of his chub. He totally had the strength and the concept down though!

Somebody's on a sugar high. 

The day before Easter, Andrew had his first game with a new soccer team he joined. It's in Livermore, so it's a bit of a drive, but it was fun to watch him play soccer again.

Adaline decided to have her ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast.

That night we dyed Easter eggs. Adaline loved it and, to be honest, we didn't let Matthew get involved but he was perfectly happy just hanging out with us.

So much concentration

He had a good time with the stickers

And eating his  toes

Haha! What kind of face is this??

The kids got to see their Easter baskets on Sunday morning and I made golden-rod eggs for them for breakfast. They both loved it and it made me so happy because my grandma made it for my dad, he made it for me, and now I get to make it for them. It was always such a treat when I was growing up.

Coscto had a great price on some Disney movies, so they each got one

Mine and Andrew's easter basket...I needed somewhere to put all the candy

She got her own cilantro plant so that she can grow and eat as much cilantro as she wants

That evening, we had an egg hunt for the kids and then we had our neighbor over for dinner. I've never been in charge of and Easter dinner before, so it was kind of fun. We had ham, asparagus casserole, sweet potatoes, and deviled eggs. I chose not to make dessert because we had all consumed entirely too much sugar already. It didn't even sound good.

Here are the kids all dressed for church in their Easter outfits.

When Matthew hugged back, they went down pretty fast.

Adaline offered to take a picture of us.

The basket our neighbor left for A&M

I tried to do a better job of teaching Adaline that Easter is actually about Jesus Christ, His atonement, and His resurrection this year. So we talked a lot about the basic story of the last week of Christ's life and the fact the tomb was found empty because He lives. Well...Easter Sunday was also fast Sunday this year. During testimony meeting, Adaline walked over to me and said, "Can you come up with me to speak?" I looked at Andrew because I didn't really think she came up with that line all on her own, but he looked bewildered. She asked again, and when we current speaker was finished, we walked up to wait for our turn. She was so excited but so relaxed and kept telling me about the people in front of us and how soon it would be her turn. I tried asking her what she was going to say but she said she didn't know and asked what I thought. I told her maybe she could say that Easter is about Jesus. When it was our turn, Adaline excitedly climbed on on the stool, breathed into the mike, and wouldn't say a word other than whispering that she was too shy. I gave her a couple minutes and then, since someone had to say something, I explained what she had wanted to say and bore my testimony that the Savior died for us and lives again. When I finished, I gave Adaline another chance, and all she got out was, "Easter." Even though she couldn't get herself to say anything at the podium, I was so impressed by her with all the events leading up to that. She was so excited to talk about Jesus, she was obviously feeling the Spirit, and I think she really wanted to share how happy she was feeling that day. She's a good example to me, and I'm very grateful for her.

Showing off what they found around the house. Adaline actually filled two baskets. And that is why I only put one jelly bean in each egg. 

I have no idea when this picture is from, but Andrew sent it to me with his Easter ones. It looks like it was taken right after Andrew got home. We usually run around outside and wait by the gate looking for Andrew once we know he's on his way home. Then the kids fight over who gets to ride on dad's bike with him over to our apartment. 

This past weekend, we had General Conference. Andrew missed the first session on Saturday because he was at soccer, so it was just me and the kids. They were being somewhat impatient while I made breakfast, so they mostly had frozen bread and a couple of sliced strawberries, while I had this:

Adaline can smile...

Matthew can smile...

but together they grimace.

Playing during the talks. Yes, he's way too big for this, and yet even Adaline climbs in sometimes.

Adaline did a great job leading the music for the choir

During the priesthood session on Saturday night, Jessica came over so we could have dinner and hang out while our husbands were gone. Adaline monopolized Jessica's time and made her play almost every game we have. Luckily, Jessica was a great sport about it. It was a fun night.

I loved getting to listen to the messages from our Prophet, apostles, and other church leaders and feeling united as a worldwide church. It's always such an uplifting weekend with messages that speak to us individually. I am so thankful that the Lord loves us enough to continue to give us these messages, revelations, and guidance.