Easter fun

Here are the kids before church getting their first look at their Easter Baskets. Since we had to be at church at 8:30 this morning, the kids waited until after church to hunt for their eggs. They were good about waiting! Not too much complaining. The Easter Bunny brought each of them a new book and a game for the family (Farkel Party). We played it this afternoon. It's quite a fun game that any age can play.Here they are after church (notice the hair doesn't look quite as nice :) ready for their egg hunt.Can't fool Calissa ...

Conner finding one.

Parker liked finding the high ones. Maybe he just liked standing on the couch!

Conner was the first one finished finding his 12 regular eggs and 1 large egg with $5 in it.

Lucky kids! I wish the Easter Bunny would bring me money (well really I'd like a pool in my backyard if I could have anything).

Calissa was done next.

Parker was the last since he had to find the "harder" hid eggs. We finally played a little game of warmer/colder to find the last few. The Easter Bunny did a good job of hiding the eggs.

We were able to go over to my parents' house for Easter Dinner. Parker made the cheesy potatoes and I made rolls. We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed spending time with family on this beautiful Easter Day. Happy Easter everyone!

A Great Week!

Well, no photos with this blog, but had to talk a little bit about the exciting week that we had.

1. Parker's team finally won their first baseball game! It was an exciting win as they beat the first place team. Parker had two huge hits to the outfield (3 runs scored), turned a double play and threw a few people out at first. The only problem is that they have almost two weeks off until a double header next Saturday. Hopefully things will turn around for them now that they have some confidence! Parker is having a good experience though.

2. Travis and I went to see Wicked in San Francisco on Wednesday night. As we arrived at the theater we noticed that the two standby's for Elpheba and Glinda were performing instead of the leads. I was a little disappointed since we spent a lot on the tickets, but once they started singing I realized that we were definitely getting our money's worth. They were fabulous! Everything about the show was perfect. We both loved it and I'm trying to talk Travis into going to see it again this year and maybe taking the boys. We'll see if I can talk him into it or not ... I think I can!

3. Spring Break is here. I've felt like I'm hanging on by my fingernails to life this past month. We've been so busy with baseball and subbing (and everything else going on) that I have only cooked a real meal about 3 times in the last month. I'm hoping to "regroup" this week and get my life under control for the mad dash to the end of the school year. Just in case you're worried about my children eating nutritious food, rest assured they are eating their dairy (fried mozzarella cheese sticks), protein (hotdogs and hamburgers), grains (frosted mini wheats), fruit (strawberry jam on their pbj's and fruit bars), and veggies (do french fries count?) for dinner. I'm promising my kids to do a better job of feeding them this week. It's hard when we spend every night at the ball fields. Travis is also taking off a few days so we can do some fun things this week as a family. Hooray for family time!

4. I gave a talk today on charity. Despite being asked last Sunday night at 9 PM, and having an extremely busy week, it was a blessing to be able to prepare a talk this week. As I studied as the week went on, I was able to ponder the topic of charity and try my best to be as charitable as possible. Did I fall short of perfection, you bet, but I loved being able to think about it and work on it. Hopefully I will continue to try to be better ... isn't that what this life is all about?

5. We had Easter. I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ who atoned for my sins and made it possible for me to live with him again someday. I'm thankful that I can repent and continue my lifelong path that will lead me back home to him. I grateful that he was resurrected so that I can be resurrected someday as well.

Baseball is Here - Parker!

Well, I forgot to take my camera to Parker's first game so the pictures had to wait till his second game on Saturday. Parker is playing short stop for the Major division Rockies. So far, they've lost both their games, but they're doing well. Hopefully they'll get a win this week. Travis is helping coach his team this year again and is enjoying it. Parker hasn't seen much action yet at short stop but did have a great play in the 1st game.

He very rarely misses a ball (which is why he plays short stop.)

Here's Parker on Opening Day. He's the 5th one in line (off to the side behind the 4th kid)

Here he is on Saturday during the Little League pledge.

I think you can probably pick him out in this picture!
Here is my handsome kid up to bat. Go Parker!

Baseball is Here - Conner!

We had Opening Day on Saturday for baseball and Conner played the first game of the season last night for the minor division Rays. He had a great first game. They came back and tied the game in the top of the 4th (it might have been the 5th) and then had two outs in the bottom of the inning when the light came on. So, the score reverted back to the end of the last complete inning and they lost. It was a victory for them though since they were able to come back. We were very proud of Conner. He played catcher for most of the game and his coach said that he's playing really well. He keeps a level head and enjoys being a big part of the team. He also walked once, struck out once and got one hit. Way to go Conner!Opening Day Parade of Teams

(Conner is the skinny one right in the middle)
Little League pledge at the first game.
Conner is 5th from the left.

My handsome kid!

Should be a lot of fun these next 3 months!

We're looking forward to lots of fun days and nights at the ballpark.

Miss Mess!

Here is Calissa's messy room. She loves to make messes and thinks that it's not a problem to have a messy room. She loves to get out things to play with and then get something else out, and then something else ... you get the idea. I always tell her she needs to put things away before starting something else. But she always says "but I'm still playing with that." This is definitely not the messiest her room has been, but it's pretty bad!Littlest Pet Shop, Stuffed Animals, Polly Pockets, Oh my!

(Somehow she tied several of her stuffed animals to Parker's Phoenix ball!)
Clothes, books, and bags, oh my!!
It's amazing we don't trip trying to get into her room at night.
I took these pictures after she had gone to sleep. The funny thing is that she has to sleep with things in her bed too. She always has toys, markers, crayons, books, magazine, scissors (safety), stuffed animals, dolls ... you name it. I don't think it would be comfortable, but she doesn't seem to mind. IN FACT I THINK SHE LIKES IT!


Poor mom and dad!! Hopefully she'll out grow it soon.

Conner the Bear

Question: How are Smoky the Bear and John the Baptist similar?

Answer: They have the same middle name.

Well, now you can substitute Conner for Smoky in the bad joke above. Last Thursday, he received his Bear badge in Cub Scouts. Now, all that growling that Conner used to do (thankfully, not as much anymore) can be put to good use. I guess he's always been a bear in training.

The paint on his face is part of the ceremony for receiving the Bear badge. I'm not sure how he reacted during Pack meeting (I had to pick up baseball uniforms while Mom went to Pack meeting), but he attempted to hide his face from the rest of us when he got home. A little em"bear"assed, it seems ... sorry, last bad joke for this post.

Fortunately, the paint washed off fairly easily (although I wondered the next day why our blue towel in the bathroom was red). He also received a gold arrow point for doing some additional requirements. We're very proud of his hard work -- most of which was done without growling.

Great job Conner!

Calissa's Weather Play Video

Here is the video ... we finally figured it out!