April 2012

April 1- church, stayed home w/ kinsey who didn't feel good, lazy day, attempted braden's lego chocolates, kiddos spent the day outside soaking up sunshine, awana, subway for dinner then brian took kiddos to the park for playtime until dark.

April 2- piano, kinsey's school, easter egg hunt at the nursing home, cfa with everyone for lunch, school, kiddos spent the evening playing outside, cailey got a stomach ache and was out for the evening:(, read tons of books:)!

April 3- school with kinsey, review with braden since cailey was sick, played a fun game of catch with ephram, went on a very short walk and played outside with kinsey and ephram, read a cute story in AWESOME cursive handwriting written by braden, went to mcalisters and to see October Baby with leslie for a much needed girls night out, and came home to the biggest girl still awake/feeling better/and had a nice talk with her.

April 4- cailey caught up on some school since she was sick, school with kinsey, ephram painted both watercolor and regular, three youngest did an Easter craft and painted, helped cailey pack for her overnight with AHG to Blue Jay Point, dropped off Cailey, got lost, played more with the youngest three, and LOVED to hear kinsey say (as it was pouring outside and I was worried about cailey getting wet), "don't worry mommy. i'm sure she's in her cabbage (cabin) now:)" and i did NOT correct her:).

April 5- GI doc, dropped braden off at reece's for the day, played with kinsey and ephram, polished toenails for all the females in the house:), picked up cailey girl from Blue Jay point, listened to all the fun things she did, listened to all the fun braden had at Reece's, unpacked cailey...then we all packed for MD.

April 6- Happy Birthday to my Braden boy!, school with kinsey, lots of games and playing together, Cailey was sick, lots of singing to him, crafts with the youngest three all afternoon with some games thrown in, made resurrection rolls together and LOVED to see their amazement, and drove to MD.

April 7- helped mom make pancakes, kiddos played with cousins all morning, hung out with matt and leigh until lunch, went as a fam to an Easter egg hunt, tons of games played/inflatables jumped on/pizza eaten, eggs gotten, lots of outside play in the GORGEOUS sunshine, played games with Kinsey, mom played games with ephram and braden, and hung out with mom at night filling Easter eggs and baskets.

April 8- Easter Day!!, kiddos hunted for and found their baskets, watched them hunt for eggs hidden by poppy, hung out together all day, lots of outside time, brian played a hot/cold game with them in the yard, helped dad with his boxes/etsy, ate a yummy dinner prepared by mom, and traveled home.

April 9- school, gymnastics, writing class, played outside with ephram, kiddos played outside, NICE day, played games with ephram and cailey, made a dessert with cailey, braden got to play tennis with scouts while brian was on the playground with the others.

April 10- school, kiddos got play time and finished their work early:)! YAY!, played games with ephram, cailey got sick at the end of the day again:(, finally found a new great recipe on pinterest that everyone loved (crockpot chicken cordon bleu), made cherry salad and roasted sweet potatoes with kinsey's help, lots of playing outside, did chalk with ephram, packed for laura's, and found out that she's too sick for us to come:(.

April 11- didn't get to go to Laura's b/c she was sick:(, school, took Cailey to the dr., got her a milkshake from cfa for her throat:), TONS of free time for the kiddos, too many movies for cailey, lots of playing together, legos, hung out with braden, played games, lots of outside time in the COOL weather, and enjoyed being together.

April 12- went to the Corbett's for the day where the kiddos played outside the whole time with tadpoles, chickens, went fishing, found toads and frogs, snacked a lot:), and just got to be kids while Laura and I got to catch up, played outside w/ the kiddos, jumped on the trampoline together, did some review, then cailey started getting chills and was sick again:(.

April 13- watched alex, cailey was sick all day and watched 8 Little House on the Prairie episodes!, baked/decorated/party prepped lego things ALL day long when I wasn't helping Cailey, Kinsey went on a field trip with AHG and to soccer practice, loved how well kinsey and ephram played together 'away' from cailey, and sent them with brian to the playground for a while.

April 14- kinsey and cailey's soccer games, swimming lessons for kinsey and braden, caught up with kelly during swimming, prepped things for the party with braden and kinsey:), kiddos helped clean up the house, cailey and brian ran errands together, kinsey went out to dinner and to a sleepover with caroline, cailey went to a sleepover at the Morgan's, had braden's super fun lego party with his buds, and LOVED watching how all the boys included ephram in everything.

April 15- woke up early to the sound of little boys' voices, made lego bananas and waffles, kids played outside on the trampoline, church, lunch out with the klick's and papa's, walked around the mall with the fam, cleaned the house together, brought the morgan's some goodies with braden, got the kids a big ice cream surprise from dairy queen, cailey played in the sprinkler at the morgan's, was SO happy to have my girls back home, early choir, awana, choir (with some playground time at bayleaf in between), and went to Journey for the connect party with the williams.

April 16- piano lessons, school, cleaned under girls MESSY beds, gymnastics for kinsey and braden while i stayed home and played with carter and ephram, lots of coloring and manipulatives, played outside with ephram, writing class for cailey, and late bedtimes.

April 17- school, cleaned girls MESSY closet, games with ephram, went on a bike ride, did a coupon run to HT, cleaned the garage, played piano with kinsey, brian did History with big kids, and enjoyed a cool evening after a hot day.

April 18- great school day...early finish, story time w/ manipulatives with kiddos, no nap for e, kids spent the afternoon outside PLAYING/looking for bugs/riding bikes/doing chalk/bubbles, etc, played games, had a nerf war and dance to star wars and William Tell Overture, and kiddos voted on (and watched) Star Wars for a family movie night.

April 19- another great school day, tons of playing outside and playing games together, cleaned, read lots to ephram, baked with braden, had the morgan's over for dinner, lots of laughing/shooting/talking/kiddos playing/stair races, and had so much fun we planned it again in two nights!

April 20- watched alex, field day, klick's over for lunch and play, caroline stayed for a playdate, caught up with cheryl, took braden to braeden's party, ran errands, went to kelly's shower, brian took kiddos to soccer practice and to see papa's new puppy, came home late to make pudding and bake a cake:).

April 21- picked strawberries, cailey's soccer game, swimming lessons, lunch out with kelly, washed/cut tons of berries, baked, made kabobs with kinsey and braden, kiddos played outside, had a SUPER fun night of laughing and cards with the morgan's while the kiddos played outside in the dark/games/etc.

April 22- day of rest:), games, church, choir, awana, making grand prix cars with brian, ephram got some great mommy and daddy play time while the other kiddos were at choir, and rested:).

April 23- piano, cold/rainy day, school, gymnastics, took cailey to writing class and hung out at McD's with the boys during it, made a cake with braden, kinsey had a playdate with caroline for the day, found out james d was missing:(, very burdened to pray, went to CFA for customer appreciation dinner, went to scout cake bake and the kiddos played tons of games, prayed for james, packed for china grove.

April 24- woke up with a sick ephram so brian decided to work from home and stay with him, went to laura's, James was found, almost ran over a coyote, kiddos played all day while i caught up with laura, lots of outside play in the COOL air, watched downton abby with laura, and did lots of laughing!

April 25- said goodbye to welch's, picked ephram up from brian's work, school, lazy playful afternoon, went to small group for the first time where the kids had a BLAST playing and we met some new friends, and had a BIG thunderstorm at night so woke up with the oldest and the youngest in the bed.

April 26- school, baked, cleaned, played, snuggled, listened to cailey practice Beauty and the Beast on piano for over an hour hoping to master the first two pages, played math games with kinsey, read a ton to ephram, picked up some new books for the kiddos, and they did History with Brian.

**want to remember how encouraging ephram is daily telling me, "Mommy you are the goodest cook ever" or "Mommy you are so pretty" or "Mommy you are my BEST friend!" and always saying, "I need a mommy hug!"

He also said, "Mommy, I know how to snuggle.  First you do nosies, then you do kissies, then you do BIG squeezies and hugs."**

April 27- school, karen and her kiddos came over for a quick play date before they had to fly out, ran errands, AHG, bought things from Storybook Safari which is closed now:(, went to soccer practice with the kiddos, playground time, brian and braden went to the CFA campout, went to CFA for ice cream for the other kiddos and said hello to the big boys, other three helped me bake strawberry bread until really late, and had a blast hanging out together.

April 28- heard about the campout from braden, spent 3 hours watching soccer games starting at 8am, braden and kinsey had swimming lessons, got dinner going, kiddos played all afternoon and ephram helped me cook, morgan's came over for another fun night of dinner and cards:)!

April 29- church, picnic with the fam on the front lawn, played outside with the kiddos, lazy day, kids played outside all day, watched their grand prix at awana, took ephram to winston's and hung out while the boys played and big kids were at choir.

April 30- school, met molly and kelly at the Y to walk, klick's came over for lunch then gymnastics, kinsey went home with caroline for a playdate, boys played at McD's while i took cailey to writing, listened to lots of beauty and the beast on the piano, no scouts, pizza night:), and brian did a great History lesson

**want to remember how ephram always says, "you are my BEST friend Mommy" or "you are my best mommy"...always encouraging!