Mother's Day

For Mother's Day weekend, we packed as much fun in as we could. Grandpa Slade's work was having a Family Fitness Day up at Weber High, so we joined in the fun with the rest of the family.

Ethan just LOVES Brooklyn!Alex & Braxton are good buddies too! It was so funny to watch these two work their way through the blow-up tunnel of fun.I'm so glad I have a toddler that can't quite climb these steep slides without my help, yet. It's the perfect excuse to take some turns myself! I must admit, this one even tickled my tummy too!Jase was so brave to participate in the rock climbing. Sometimes he's not too fond of heights, but he didn't seem to have any trouble on this day. He made it all the way to the top to ring the bell! Yay Jase!Now, it's no surprise to any of us that Brooklyn would climb this wall. In fact, she climbed it many times, and even figured out that if she let go of the rocks "accidentally on purpose" *wink, wink*, her turn wouldn't be over so quickly. She is the strongest little girl I've ever seen!Of course, Mike took his turn. It's been a long time since he's been able to do some rock climbing, even if it was just on a climbing wall. I was glad he got the chance that day!Andrew was not so sure about this adventure. If Jase hadn't have done it first, I don't think there would've been any way to talk Andrew into it. I took this picture before he had his turn, and he did not want to smile because he wanted to make it clear that his finger was hurting him too much to smile. I can't remember why it hurt, but I was sure proud of him for overcoming his fears and his finger pain to make the climb.To keep himself entertained as he waited for everyone to finish climbing the wall, Alex poured water on Uncle Levi's head. What an awesome uncle to let him have his fun!That night, as a Mother's Day treat for her daughters-in-law, Janice took all the grown-ups, and Alex & Braxton, out to eat. Grandpa's gift to us was staying behind, at Will & Heidi's, to watch all the older kids himself. We had a delightful time! (Sitting across from me, Mike even had a good view of the Jazz Playoff game that was showing on the T.V. behind us. Score!)On Sunday, we went to Grandma & Grandpa Larsen's house. They had the Airplane Teeter-Totter all set up, and the grandkids got lots of use out of it. They were often running back & forth between it and the Bounce House.

Here's a big "Cheese" from Tyler: Alex, Jaden, & Tyler shared a turn.

Adorable Baby Landon slept through most of the festivities, waking only for a quick meal, then returning to his slumber. How precious!

Sammy loves the rough & tumble play of the Bounce House!

So do Logan, Ethan, and Andrew! Aw heck, they all love it. Until one of them gets hurt. Then, the injured is rescued, takes a break, and usually heads right back into the maylay. They're such boys!Alex was grateful for the chance to play the pilot for Andrew & Ethan.Uncle Ben took a turn being the "totter" to Tyler's "teeter," while Jaden & Alex were pilots.Grandma Larsen knows how to get Ethan to smile for a picture! Eyes open & everything! As always, we shared a delicious meal together!

Justin loves to pull a silly face for pictures! We love you Uncle Justin!

This was sort of a Mother's Day present to myself. I was teaching Ethan's Preschool that week, so I decided to have the kids make handprint stepping stones for their moms. Of course, if I was getting one made of Ethan, I wanted one made of each of my boys' hands. I think they turned out wonderfully! My mom made the comment, "Oh, you'll have those forever!" which would definitely be my desire, but somehow things - especially things that I get too emotionally attached to - have a way of becoming "less permanent" when my curious & energetic boys are around them. So, just in case these happen to get destroyed somehow, I'll always have this picture of the them! :-)

Mike also bought me a new cutting board, and an 11 disc set of Mary Ellen Edmunds talks on CD, including one DVD. (It was the same gift I talked everyone in his family into getting for Janice. I knew it would be something she would enjoy, but I did admit that I was hoping to borrow them also. I love that my husband listens so well to me and fulfills my hearts desires!) The boys helped him make me breakfast in bed that morning. They brought it to me on the cutting board, and each wished me a Happy Mother's Day (or, as Alex said it, "Happy Munner's Day!) I felt so loved!

Easter

Okay, I really thought I had posted about Easter, since I thought it all out in my head, and probably went to do it several times. Sadly, now I can't remember what I had planned to write. I'll just tell you what I know from the pictures I took (Lucky for me I take so many pictures that there's not much I won't remember):

It's tradition in our little family to have the Easter Bunny come to our house on Saturday, so Sunday can be all about the Savior. Some time around 7 am, the boys were awakened and we asked if they wanted to find their Easter Baskets. To which Ethan replied," Why don't we get dressed, eat breakfast, and then look for our baskets?" Oh, he is sooo Mike's son sometimes! And yet, even Mike said, "No way! We want to find our baskets first!"

This year the Easter Bunny brought very little candy (at least, compared to last year it was very little), but included a few gifts as well. Alex and Ethan got big bouncy balls, Ethan also got a Slinky, Andrew got Spokey Dokes for his bike & a journal (which he LOVED as much as receiving his own Book of Mormon), and they all got a small book. Mike got styrofoam gliders to play with with his boys, I got a Hula Hoop (I've always wanted one! - my current record is 40 minutes straight), and we got a Jumprope to share.

(I should just smile normally instead of trying to make my face say, "I'm so excited to get a hula hoop!")All Mike hoped to get was a hollow chocolate bunny. I'm glad the Easter bunny came through for him!All Alex liked of the Peeps were the heads and the tails. We'd find the poor decapitated, tail-less bodies lying discarded on the floor sometime after Alex was finished with them. For while, Alex had no idea that it was delicious Jelly Beans making the noise inside the eggs. He just thought they were great noisemakers. Now I wonder why Mike ever thought to show him otherwise. This year, we held an Easter Egg Treasure Hunt. Instead of getting loads more candy (we're really trying to be healthier with less treats overall), the eggs held clues to where the next egg could be found. Each boy was the leader for one Hunt, though the prizes were to be shared by the whole family. I loved how well our boys let each other be involved with the whole hunt - taking turns finding each egg! Andrew read all the clues, then they raced together to the spot it described.The prizes were the Bedknobs & Broomsticks DVD, Alma in King Noah's Court (a Liken scripture story DVD), and a duffel bag and LED Flashlights for our 72 hour kits. I was happy to find that the kids were pleased with all of the prizes. This may be the new way we do it every year!

Easter fell on Conference Weekend, so we were home, in front of the T.V., for most of the weekend. We were, however, able to have the Slades (and Longmores) over for Easter Egg dying, the last session of General Conference, and a simple Easter Dinner. Alex worked on hand painting this single egg for more than 20 minutes straight. Dipping and painting, dipping and painting. I don't think I've ever seen him do one thing for that long!I think this picture was taken during a song or something, judging by how many people are NOT paying rapt attention to the T.V. screen. :-) Legos during Conference are a Slade tradition. During the Saturday Sessions, we played Conference Bingo (a tradition from my childhood), and our new game of listening for key words or topics that determine which snack we could eat. This time, since I went way overboard on yummy candies last October, I kept the snacks more simple and healthy: Pretzels, Goldfish crackers, Raisins, and Assorted Mini-Candy Bars (you gotta have one candy option!) During Sunday's Morning Session, we worked a little on the Conference Booklets that the kids were given in Primary. During the Afternoon, in addition to playing with Legos and coloring, the kids listened for five key words. If they heard one of them, and told Grandma, they were given a ticket. At first the game was that if they heard all five words by the end of Conference, Grandma would give them a special gift at the end. When all the kids had heard all but one word by the end of the first talk, it quickly turned into a competition to see who could have the most tickets by the end of Conference. Some talks were so centered on the topics (i.e., Missionary Work) that we had to make a new rule that you could only claim a word three times in a single talk, so we could hear the words of the talk other than the key words.

I thought this would be a good time to capture some couples shots. I love the one of Will and Heidi! Heidi took the one of Mike and I for us. :-) Henry sacrificed the safety of his white shirt to allow Alex to come near it with a pen. I love what uncles will do for the sake of entertaining their nephews!This Jello-Lego Man was made from the mold that was my souvenier from Legoland. Andrew asked me to take this picture of the library book he was reading: Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School. His favorite problem from the book was "elf+ elf = fool." We also threw in a few extra "to-do's" in our day. Grandpa gave Levi and Braxton haircuts.

And afterward, Henry and Levi gave our boys flips - over, and over, and over, until I finally told the boys they'd worn out their uncles enough. (Oh they are so patient! We are so blessed!)