Watch me...

There was this one time that I told Mark that I was gonna take the van and go get some free dirt from the city and he said I would never do it...maybe because he had just hauled two loads and it was...quite a bit of work.

So I said...

Watch me.

General Magnussons

One of the reasons I miss Arkansas is that the Magnussons still live there. Jessica Magnusson is one of those people that I look forward to just parking myself on the couch and talking about everything or anything that pops into our brains. She is irreverent and hilarious. She is extraordinarily cool and has style to spare. I admit I idolize her a bit...

I am always thrilled when they come to visit. And despite my tendency to want to just hang out and chat with her, we tried to find some fun stuff for the kids to enjoy. 

We popped into Deanna Rose for a look around. I didn't realize that it was opening weekend, so there were lots of extra people...dressed up as school marms. 

It was the boys' job to guard the door and the baby. You can tell that they are really loving this schoolhouse presentation.

I took Anna to feed the "baby" goats while the others went fishing. I've learned my lesson when it comes to who is really expected to put worms on the hooks and take poky fish off the hooks.

Me. That's oo.

Then we settled in for General Conference listening.

Saturday session:

Sunday session:

In between absorbing the words of the Prophets and Apostles, we did a bit of eating. 

It's surprising how quiet it is at the dinner table when all the crazy people eat outside. 

To recap...

I miss the Magnussons.

I prefer bossy goats over worms and fish.

We fall asleep during conference because we are flat out sleep deprived and living on the brink of total exhaustion.

Picnic tables are a viable option for a peaceful meal.

Best kind of lesson

Monday night is Family Home Evening night. We come home from school, get the homework done, try to play outside for a few minutes, make dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner (ha ha ha) and then if we can pull together the last few drops of energy left between us, we have Family Home Evening. 

If we are especially perky, there is a lesson and a song and a scripture and a homemade treat, with somebody to announce the whole shebang.

If we are inches away from collapsing from exhaustion and overstimulation, we read a few scriptures while we munch on graham cracker/frosting sandwiches. 

But if your really lucky, dad will do the cookie lesson. You know the one....it's the awesome one where each ingredient represents some part of the gospel and in the end you mix it all together and put it in the fiery furnace of tribulation and you get....COOKIES! Oh, and a testimony. 

We get to sit back and be adorably chubby.

Because soon we will have cookies.

Easter morning

Kinda makes me wish I were a kid again.

Two chubby babies!

Easter 2013

There was THE HUNT

Perhaps more appropriately renamed THE PICKUP

Wow...that looks tough.

But we showed.

I took photos of each of those Hufford pups....mainly because I have a feeling we will need photographic proof of whose basket is whose.

Anna, I want you to know that I tried very hard to convince you to get a pink basket...but you insisted on the white one. INSISTED!

I have a feeling you are going to change you mind in the years to come...

A sneaky little feeling.

Sweet sleepy Ever.

Tall creepy bunny with exposed neck skin.

Then we have THE EGGS

\

And a sleeping baby....so much better than a crying baby.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Easter best

I really don't know how it happened, but on Easter morning we had everyone dressed and ready to go with time to spare. Maybe we had super late church? I don't know and I don't care....

We jumped on the opportunity to get a couple photos of the six sweeties in their Easter finery.

The bookends: Ethan and Everly

]

Laney posing with her basket.

Anna with her tight cheeks.

Megan feeling embarrassed to smile.

The three big girls together while we wait for the boys to come out.

Miles and miles of cheeks

I like this one because it shows their personalities....

And I couldn't resist this one with Anna's funny smile and Laney's signature wink.

Laney's 5th birthday

I did this thing....I promised the kids that they could all have a REAL birthday party this year.

Like with friends and balloons and games and gifts.

I'm not great at this stuff, but Laney was at one of her friends birthday parties earlier in the year and the look on that girls face....

The LONGING....

I knew we had to do that for her so she could feel that feeling of being the special one.

So we booked the local skating rink and we invited all the shorties.

Mathew spent most of his time on his bickies.

And we learned to be very grateful for skating assistance contraptions.

I loved seeing Laney with her friends....

And with her little sis...

We whipped up some owly cupcakes

And we partied! She was the center of attention! And I loved it.

I love her.