April showers bring...snow?

So, it snowed over Spring Break again this year. I think the problem with spring break is the name. If the school district called it "Random Break in April" or "No school for a week, just for the heck of it," I might have lower expectations. But when I think "Spring break," I picture sunny skies and swimming at a beach or something. Well, we may not have gone somewhere really warm, but we had a really good spring break, nonetheless. And there were even a few nice days once the snow melted.

Visits with family, a late-over with neighborhood friends, Happy Meals and the McDonald's playground, lots of wii and movies and books, kite flying, sidewalk painting in a windstorm, a ward breakfast, even a little sunshine here and there. Best of all, Jef took a day off work on Friday, and we got some yard work done and went swimming at the Legacy center (a feat which I would never have attempted without him there, and which the children LOVED.)

We also had a great Easter/Conference weekend last weekend and got to see all four grandparents and a good chunk of Aunts, Uncles, and cousins in the same day. We are proud to report that after several meltdowns last year, this year we survived 3 family Easter Egg hunts with minimal fighting and no tears - we avoided all non-family egg hunts all together. The Easter Bunny was kind enough to drop a little note to the kids asking them not to fight, which may have also helped our cause. The said bunny brought the kids each a swimming suit and a book. Last year they each got a little toy, and I was worried that they might be disappointed, but they actually all seemed to love their presents and even seemed excited about their books. Sometimes the stars align.

Other stuff that's happened recently (it sounds like we do all kinds of fun stuff, but it's really just because I never blog anymore and then try to cram everything in one post):
Jef celebrated his birthday. Jane had her much anticipated 1st grade program - she's been practicing the songs and dances for weeks now. Taylor had his 3rd grade biography fair - he was Dr. Suess. Jane had strep throat and between that and spring break has only gone to school one day so far in April. Logan is somewhere between taking a few steps and really walking all over - he has also reached the important milestone of being tall enough to reach the toilet water. Jonathan bolted about 300 times in sacrament meeting yesterday and surpassed his record of making it just out the door before we caught him and got all the way to our car. (Hey, it's hard to run in a skirt, and he is very, very fast.)

And speaking of cars, we got a new one. I'll let Jef write the eulogy for the Expedition since, in truth, I don't miss it nearly as much as he does. After a year of owning it, I started having minivan withdrawals, and we traded it in for a Sienna, which I love. Those of you who suggested this in the first place are probably rolling your eyes at our slowness to see the light. But we did have some good times with the Expedition and it's swing-opening back doors (and Jef's truck has the dings to prove it.) It did have a lot more leg and shoulder room, but we traded a little squishiness in the back seat for ease of loading kids (thankfully, some our kids are finally moving past the carseat phase - someday we may even get to let one sit in the front seat.) My favorite feature of the new car is the gap between the middle seats and the back row that allows the kids to get back there without having to fold any seats down! Jef is really, really missing the truck engine, but he has been very graceful about the fact that his wife's dream car is a minivan. In the meantime, he is hoping that someday we can upgrade his old pickup for something a little more to his taste.

Well, that's all I have to say now, here are a few pics:

The kids on Easter morning with their new books and swimwear

Logan, very happy about his new bunny.

Dying Eggs

I threw this one in because it's pre-hair cut. If you will notice in the bunny picture, he later got a buzz.

Theodor Suess Geisel

They will do anything to take a nap in our bed - even get along!

On her way to the first-grade program. Her class did the Mexican Hat Dance