Swimming lessons started for Parker. He is now in level 2 and the first day he acted like he didn't want to get his hair wet so he was really struggling getting comfortable, but by the end of the month he was doing really well and got close to doing both the front and back floats all on his own.
Parker has also been busy this past year taking piano lessons once a week. It has been an interesting adventure for both of us considering it is really hard to remember to have him practice. He has been coming along really well and on the 19th he had a piano recital. He played a duet with his teacher titled "Mickey Mouse March". It was really cute to watch and he did great. Madi has been going to his piano lessons with us and has had fun dancing and singing to the songs. Because of this, our little performer marched right up onto the stage at the end of the recital and sang the closing song with all of the other students. She was very excited and loves to do anything that her brother is doing.
Parker playing his duet with his teacher LuAnn. She is a wonderful piano teacher, thanks LuAnn for all you've done so far.
All the piano students singing the Goodbye Song. Starting from the right, the only ones I know are Madi (2nd one from right), Parker, Caleb and Annie (standing in front of Caleb).We also made the big step and got Parker registered for kindergarten. It is hard to believe that it is already time for him to start school, but I know he is so ready for it to begin considering he has been 5 since September. He has been attending a new preschool this year and has done really well. In fact he has even started learning how to read. He gets really frustrated when I am trying to help him so we have Lynn help him more, but it is really fun to watch him try to sound out the words. The preschool he has been attending has come up with their own reading program and it is wonderful. They are going to start testing their reading system next year in other preschools, but so far they have had great success. I just hope we can keep it up through the summer.
Madilyn was pretty busy this month as well. She started tumbling with a few of her friends and goes to that every Monday evening. We weren't able to stay and watch because they say it is too distracting for the kids, but she seemed to really enjoy it. Every once in a while I could even get her to tell me a few of the things they learned (i.e. the cat takes nap, superman, bridge, etc.).
One funny thing the kids did this month was "bob for toothbrushes". We were going through the process of getting ready for bed and we had sent the kids to the bathroom to start brushing their teeth. They had been in there for quite a while and were both laughing up a storm. Finally I went back to check on them and they had the sink filled with water and about 5 toothbrushes. I asked what was going on and they just smiled and said "we're bobbing for toothbrushes, mom" like it was the most normal thing to do. They were both completely soaked and we had to change pajamas and clean the bathroom, but it was really cute that they had come up with that activity on their own and were so excited.
Lynn and I had the chance to go to California from the 13th-15th for a Natural Products Expo. It was in Anaheim and we flew into Burbank and rented a car and drove down I-5 to Anaheim. The drive should have only been about 45 minutes, however we hit traffic and it ended up taking us about 2.5 hours instead. Luckily we weren't in a hurry and we didn't have kids to keep happy so it was kind of fun to view the city of L.A. at a slower pace. Once in Anaheim we found our hotel which was right across the street from Disneyland and then we went on a little walk to find a place for dinner.
On Friday we basically spent the whole day at the convention center for the expo. Lynn had a few meetings with some customers and I either hung with him or just wandered the show a little on my own. It was quite the interesting show with a lot of natural and organic products and interesting natural and organic people/hippies to watch. We saw everything from organic diapers, to soy chicken (which was very good), soy ice cream, organic clothes, toothpaste, chap stick, etc. One of the funniest products I think we saw was organic briquettes, thought that seemed a little overboard. That night we just went to dinner with a couple of his customers and then got back to the hotel and crashed. My feet were killing me.
Saturday we went to the show some more, picked up a couple souvenirs for the kids and headed back to Burbank. When we got to Burbank we were a little early for our flight so we drove around Burbank for a while, walked around downtown and found a cute little Italian restaurant to eat at, we sat on the patio by some hilarious elderly ladies and people watched for a while. As we were sitting there we also noticed a movie crew setting things up and we finally asked an older gentleman who seemed involved what was going on and he said him and his wife were acting as extras in some reality show. We had to leave before we could see them actually film, but it was kind of fun to watch.
The kids didn't seem to miss us too much while we were gone. They stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Dahle and then Saturday afternoon and night, they stayed with the Christensen family while the Dahle's went to work at the temple. Lanis even brought the kids to our house Saturday night and put them to bed so that when we got home we didn't have to move them anywhere. It is always a comfort to know they are good hands when we are gone. Thank you so much Grandma, Grandpa, Lanis and Val!!!
One downer about the trip is that the only pictures we took the whole time was from the airplane on the way home because the sunset was beautiful. I need to realize that it is possible to take pictures of other things besides our kids.
The day after we got home, we got a phone call from my mom that my Grandma Mullen had a stroke. She survived, but can't move much of her right side now and has a hard time speaking, but is getting better. It is kind of sad to see that she made it through, but still nice to have her around for our own selfish reasons. She is 91 years old and just ready to be done, however she is such an example to me in my life because of the positive attitude she always seems to have. In fact, my dad was talking to her about some funeral plans and he asked her what song she would like to have and she responded with "Que Sera, Sera (whatever will be, will be)". This is such an appropriate song for her because that has been her attitude throughout all of her life throughout hardships, MS and everything else. It has really made me take a look at my life and strive harder to have more of a Que Sera, Sera attitude as well.
Something I don't think I have shared before is that this whole last school year, my friend Julie and I have been swapping kids once a week with each other so that we can get some work done. She has three kids Garrett, Lexi and Porter. Garrett and Parker are about 5 months apart and Madi and Porter are about 6 months apart and all of them are the best of friends. The kids all play so well together which really makes it nice and easy to have them over. This week we colored Easter eggs with them since Easter is coming up. They all seemed to have a lot of fun and made some beautiful eggs.
It is very difficult to get five kids looking at the same time. This is the best we could do. From left to right: Porter, Lexi, Garrett, Parker and Madi.
Here's another picture of the kids in the snow earlier in March. Parker is the one that refused to look at the camera. From left to right: Madi, Porter and Lexi.
On Friday the 21st, the kids and I decided to go up to Island Park to visit Grandma Helen since things weren't looking to good for her. On the way up we stopped in to visit Jim and Kris, then Grandma Helen and then spent the night at Mom and Dad's. Lynn didn't go because of work and a Court of Honor he needed to be to on Saturday and it was a really quick trip, but I was glad we made it up to see Grandma a couple of times. She seemed to enjoy watching the kids be them crazy selves and we Island Park still had about 4 feet of snow so we even got in some sledding.
This is the snow piled up from my parent's driveway and it had melted some before this was taken.
Parker and Madi getting ready to go down the hill!
These two pictures are to show how deep the snow really is. That is the roof of a house down the street from my parents.
Mom and dad stopped in with us to see Grandma Helen on the way home. Madi was exhausted and did NOT want her picture taken. For those of you who know Madi, you will understand why I am trying to hold her there for 3 seconds while we get the picture. It was the best we could do.
When the kids and I got home from my parents, Lynn and I went to dinner with Val and Lan and then got ready for Easter. The kids actually slept in on Easter and we had to wake them up so they could find their baskets before church. They were really excited to find them. Madi got a bubble bucket, puzzle, books, Hello Kitty Band-Aids and some small candy and toys. Of course the only thing she was really interested in was the candy. Parker got a Hot Wheels track, books, Spiderman Band-Aids and candy. They both looked really cute in their new Easter Church Clothes and seemed to have a fun day. That night we had dinner at the Dahle's and read the story of Christ's death and resurrection to the kids. We really struggle to get Madi to pay attention for even 30 seconds when we read scriptures, but Parker seemed pretty interested. I am always grateful for this time of year and the reminder of what Christ did for us so that we might live again.
I know this wasn't the best picture of the kids, but I love the look of adoration in Madi's face as she looks up at her big brother.
The next weekend was our 2nd Annual Mullen Girls Shopping Trip. We left on that Friday and Amie watched the kids for me until Lynn got home from work. I rode down with Candace and we met up with Mom and Kris in Bountiful. From there we went to Taiwan and a fabric store and then we met Mick at Ikea and had lunch and shopped. After Ikea we went and put our name on the list at the Cheesecake Factory and made good use of our time by going to Taipan. After dinner (which was very delicious and well worth the wait), we got some Cheesecake to go and headed to our hotel. I don't know what time we ended up going to sleep, but we stayed up really late talking and packing on the calories right before bed. :)
The next morning we just ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed up to Park City. We found some really good deals and I think literally shopped 'til we dropped. I didn't get home until about 8:30 or 9:00 and Lynn already had the kids in bed. It was a really fun weekend and as always I bought way too much stuff. Lynn and the kids seemed to have fun, they went to the movie "Horton Hears a Who" and had some great bonding time. He said the kids never even asked where I was; always great to feel appreciated.
From left to right: Mick, Mom, Candace and Kris
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