Spring Break

 After spending a few days at home mid week, we took Daddy back out to the Acreage with us for the weekend. A lot of our time was spent watching General Conference and keeping our eye on the chicks hatching. We had a wonderful time, stayed up way too late, and ate some home cooked goodness.

The older kids pretty much rode their bikes from morning until night. They called themselves "Motorbike Daisy" and "Motorbike Dash". It was quite funny!

 Finley loved being out and about! The space to run and play is definitely cherished when we're there!

 We got to watch the boys play horse shoes. It was an intense match! 

 This moment with Gramma was too sweet not to capture. I could just eat those chubby toes!

 This guy often wandered to the chicken run to chat with the chickens. It was quite humorous to watch.

We adored our extra time with our favorite guy!!

My Gramma came out on the deck to wave us off when we left. It's an unsaid tradition. As we backed out I rolled down the window and the kids shouted "BYE!" as loud as they could while waving. Gramma always cries, which makes me cry. Finley continued screaming "BYYYY-EEE!" all the way to town until he fell asleep. Until next time....

Acreage Life

 We all loved our time at the acreage! The extra fresh air and space to run and be as loud as you want is always wonderful. The kids got nice and dirty and even snuck some water for mud pies in the sand box. I brought lots of extra clothes on purpose, knowing that they would spend a lot of their time getting messy.

 These guys love their Grampa!

The kids pretty much followed Grampa around the entire time. They "helped" him clean out the pens and enjoyed wheel barrow rides over and over again. 

 Hyrum gives a thumbs up to acreage livin'. He was in heaven in his giant rubber boots.

 The weather was to die for on our last day there. We spent the whole day out side, soaked up some sun on the deck and enjoyed chatting.

 Hyrum spent the entire afternoon practicing on his bike. He got pretty confident navigating the bumpy terrain and gravel. 

 Finners enjoyed some special time with Uncle Chris.

 Camilla reminded me of myself at that age. I had a little pink bike, some awesome 90's clothes and pink sun glasses. I spent most of my time riding my bike up and down the laneway, and looked a lot like her in this picture. Good memories.

I let them have one last ride before bed. As we walked to the house Hyrum thought it would be a good idea to push his brothers bike into the sticky mud. I ran toward Joseph's upset cries to find him stuck in the mud next to his bike with tears running down his cheek. I couldn't resist a picture to laugh at later. I set Finley down on the grass, held my breath, and tread as carefully as I could across the mud to rescue him. I found myself (in my dress boots mind you) knee deep in mud. We took the snowy route out, and I wiped his tears once we had reached safety. I turned around to find Finley sitting in the very spot I had just pulled the bike from. The boys stripped down outside and went straight for baths! It was quite the epic ending to the day.

Spring Hatch

 With Camilla on Spring break we decided to take a trip out to the acreage to watch the chicks hatch. Most of them ended up coming the day before we arrived, but one little egg waited just for us. When we got there it had just started "pipping".

 There was a little hole and we could see it's beak poking out. Hatching is a long process, but the kids had fun running and checking on the little egg between play time. 

 Camilla got to help Gramma move the chicks from the hatcher to the coop. They had a pretty good success rate with their own eggs, but only ended up with one yellow chick out of the bunch. It quickly became Camilla's favorite and she named it "tiny". Happiness is holding fuzzy little chicks!

 Hyrum and I snuck out before bed time to check on them and they were all happy as could be. He was tickled to crawl right in with them and hold a few. I tucked in the kids with a promise to wake them when the chick was about to hatch. I spent the rest of the night babysitting the egg and keeping a close eye on it. The hole eventually turned into a long crack as the little chick "zippered" around the egg counter clockwise.

I woke the older two when it got close to making it's way all the way around. Hyrum wiped his sleepy eyes, took one look, and then tucked back into bed. Camilla stood on the chair, wide eyed and excited, cheering the little guy on. It was quite exciting when it started pushing on the top of the shell and eventually popped out! 

 

 Camilla didn't want to go to bed after that. She had to make sure the little chick was alright and drying off before I could convince her to make her way back to bed. I sat and watched it until my parents got home and assured me that everything was normal. We named him pippin'. He stayed on his own in the hatcher until he was fluffy and walking well enough to join the rest.

Egg Champ

 We typically do all things involving eggs and bunnies on the Saturday before Easter, but a sudden change in plans left us doing some of it on Sunday. After church the children came home excited to champ eggs. This is a tradition from my family and something they look forward to every year. We didn't do it "right" this year, but the kids had fun smashing their eggs together. It got pretty crazy. At one point eggs were flying across the room after slipping out of excited finger tips en-route to smash the opponent. Miss Camilla ended up with the title of champ this year. The boys were good sports!

 

Happy Easter

 "He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives to calm my troubled heart.

He lives all blessings to impart."

(music here)

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Flames Game

 Tonight Daddy took Hyrum to his very first NHL game. They watched the Calgary Flames play. It was a great Father/Son date night. They had to come home a little bit early since Hyrum was super tired and the game went late. All in all, a great evening!

Egg Decorating

Today we spent the day together. I got up nice and early and put the turkey on for dinner. We went and cleaned the church for one last Saturday this month. The kids have gotten good at their jobs and it's so nice to go together. The family that works together stays together! 

Once we got home, Daddy did some bike maintenance on all the bikes and took the older two on a big ride around the pond. They were excited to go out with him. Hyrum did pretty good for a newby! He almost rode into the pond and only hit one stop sign. He was brave and kept up with everyone though!

While they were out I prepped a few things for dinner. My BUN-nies were a pinterest fail, better luck next year perhaps! 

Hyrum picked out these napkins for our special dinner, and I love them!

The turkey cooked wonderfully! Daddy carved it up for us and did a great job!

We had a pretty good spread, and one hungry boy!

After dinner we colored a whole bunch of eggs.

This artsy kid got pretty into it. I tried to catch a picture of his tongue sticking out while he worked.

Camilla's enthusiasm was contagious!

Joe could have colored a whole dozen if I'd let him! He put some nice red scribbles on all five of his eggs.

Easter Prep

 We've been busy getting things ready for Easter! We are excited to spend time with friends and family this weekend! I am also super glad it's spring break. We will still have early mornings, but I won't have to pack anyone's lunch. 

A Moral Force

Today was a tough Mommy day. I was feeling stuck and couldn't remember the last time I'd left the house alone. I was getting tired of things being undone shortly after I'd cleaned or washed. I was feeling inadequate because I had yelled over something silly that morning. This whole motherhood gig just isn't as easy as I had envisioned it growing up. The demands are never ceasing. Finley has croup and is up through the night. Sick kids are hard. I wasn't getting anything done because all he wanted to do was snuggle. Mr. Stannix has been up to his ears in work and I've done a lot of bedtimes solo. I think the lack of sleep has caught up with me finally. 

I put Finley down for a nap while the boys played in the backyard and then I slumped over my kitchen counter and scrolled through my phone for something uplifting. I happened upon a really great talk (here) by D. Todd Christofferson that touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes it's so hard to feel valued as a mother when no body seems to recognize the good you are striving to do each day. His words were exactly what I needed to hear and I wept as I read this paragraph.

"Her ability to perform feats of lifting, bending, and balancing with her children was near superhuman. The demands on her were many and her tasks often repetitive and mundane, yet under neath it all was a beautiful serenity, a sense of being about God's work. As with the Savior, she was ennobled by blessing others through service and sacrifice. She was love personified."

-D. Todd Christofferson

The words comforted me as I read them. Somebody understands, I thought to myself. It was a good reminder as I struggled with the mundane tasks of motherhood this afternoon, that I am doing God's work. What I do is important even if it isn't recognized. I prayed to have the grace and love to push through and be a good example to my children. My boys came in from playing and caught me wiping away tears. Neither of them said anything, but Hyrum wrapped his arms around my neck before heading downstairs.

"In all events, a mother can exert an influence unequaled by any other person in any other relationship. By the power of her example and teaching, her sons learn to respect womanhood and to incorporate discipline and high moral standards in their own lives. Her daughters learn to cultivate their own virtue and to stand up for what is right, again and again, however unpopular. A mother's love and high expectations lead her children to act responsibly without excuses..."

-D. Todd Christofferson

I could copy an paste the whole talk on here, I loved it so much. It brought me out of my feelings of self doubt and sadness and helped me remember how divine this role of motherhood is. As I plugged away at dishes and cleaning the rest of the afternoon, I tried to do it with a grateful smile and a sense of pride. Afterall, this is God's work, and with the way the world is these days I am grateful to stay home and be a moral force in the lives of my children.

"Will what happened in cradles and kitchens prove to be more controlling than what happened in congresses?" -Neal A. Maxwell

Mamma's Barber Shop

 The big boys have been in need of haircuts for a week or so. This morning I finally got around to pulling out the clippers. A piece of licorice helped quiet the complaints and they both sat great while I buzzed and snipped away! I like my little men with a nice clean cut.

 When I had them pose for a picture, Finley had to jump in too. It was cute. They lined up that way all on their own. I adore these little men.

 It's taken me a little while to figure out Joe's hair. We've always just left it long and crazy and I loved it! Now that it's getting thicker, and he's getting older, he needs something more "grown up". This time I left the top long and only trimmed up the sides. I think it suits him more.

 They spent the rest of the morning playing superheros. They were pretty handsome little superheros if I do say so myself.

Cami girl went on her first school trip today. She was pretty nervous and kept asking me if she had to go. I wanted to tell her she didn't and she could just spend the day with me instead, but I knew it would be good for her. The primary choir at her school is participating in music fest this year and has a few performances. She came home all smiles and said she loved it! I'm proud of her. I can't believe how big she is!