April 2008

April seemed to be a pretty quiet month for us. The LDS General Conference was during the first weekend and Lynn's family was all here for that weekend so the cousins had a lot of fun playing together. Grandma Peggy also had the annual Easter Egg Hunt for the family on Saturday. The kids each had a fun time looking for their color of egg and got spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa. Following the kids egg hunt, Grandpa hid eggs for the adult in the backyard. It is really sad how child-like we all become when searching for Easter eggs. Thanks for the fun Easter Egg hunt Grandma and Grandpa!

Parker and Madi patiently waiting for the egg hunt to begin. And the race is on....

And finally the prizes! Lynn and Madi trying to get her kite to fly.

Madi was still involved with tumbling throughout this whole month and had a lot of fun playing with her buddies, Porter, Lexi and Annie while she was there. We also had our first day with Madi staying dry all day!!! We were so excited and called Grandma Mullen and everything, however it only lasted for 2 days and we are still working on trying to get her potty trained now. Here I thought I could have potty training figured out after one child. hah, hah!! I really think Madi was sent to us just to prove me wrong on everything I thought I had figured out as a parent. We are so glad she is a part of our family.

On the 16th, Madi and I went to lunch with Kris, Audrey and Claire. All of the boys were at school so we went to lunch and did a little shopping. It was a lot of fun to visit with Kris and at one point Madi was trying to get my attention while I was talking with Kris. She finally got so frustrated with me that she grabbed my chin and said "Mom, look at me!" I don't remember what she needed to tell me, but it was just so cute how determined she was to get my attention.

Parker started outdoor soccer for the first time this month. It was a cold and stormy experience, but all-in-all I think he had a lot of fun. He had games every Tuesday and Saturday and was supposed to have practice every Thursday, however it seemed to rain or snow almost every Thursday so they only ended up having 2 or 3 practices. One funny moment that happened at one of the practices was when Parker's team was sitting in a circle trying to decide on a team name. All of the kids were mentioning names like "The Tigers", "Ninjas" and other tough sounding names. Then Lynn said they asked Parker what team name he wanted to have and he said as proud as ever, "The Blueberries!". Surprisingly, the team didn't choose that name, however we all got a good chuckle.

Madi enjoyed her treats while watching from the side line. Watch out for the Blueberries! Thank goodness for those oranges.

During each game, Parker really liked to follow the ball and just circle around it, but didn't really like to get into the middle of the action too much. It was really fun watching and we all had some good laughs at all the little comments made. At one point Parker's coach told him it was his turn to sit out during the quarter and with great enthusiasm, Parker's response was "Awesome!"

Parker and all of the Southwest Street boys - Caleb, Stewart and Sam.

This month was filled with a lot of fun activities. We had a few nice days and we tried to make it to the park as much as possible. We also went to the Cache Valley Fun Park with Keely (Ewan, Jude, and Silvie) and Alyson (Joshua and Paisley), Ikea with Grandma Dahle and Jannis, swimming as a family at Mt. Crest, lots of soccer games, piano lessons, a missionary Primary Activity for Parker (and Lynn got to help with a Paraguayan booth), Baby Animal Days, lunch and playing at the Dinosaur Park in Ogden with Carley and Catherine, first golf game with Val and Lannis for the season, and Kindergarten Club.

I was able to get pictures at a few of these activities as you will see below.

Baby Animal Days:

Every year during the Baby Animal Days we are usually up in Idaho Steelhead Fishing, however this year we didn't make it up fishing, because the weather we never quite good enough to make the fishing worth the drive. So lucky for us we made it to Baby Animal Days for the fist time and even luckier, we got to go with Julie's pre-school class so we didn't have to deal with all of the people and craziness. The kids had a lot of fun. Madi really got into touching the different animals and Parker enjoyed observing from a distance.

Madi holding her first bird. She was anxious to jump right in.

Parker a little unsure of this whole activity. However I think he really enjoyed himself, because he still talks about it whenever we pass the farm.

Madi enjoyed petting all of the animals except she wasn't too interested in the bunnies.

Here are all the kids listening to the instructor about the pony. More proof of Parker feeling more comfortable being one step behind.

Dinosaur Park:

Catherine and Carley are my good friends from high school and we always try to get together a few times a year. It seems to be getting more difficult the older our kids get, but we did find a day to meet in Ogden and let the kids have some fun with the dinosaurs. We walked through the indoor museum first, they had a lot of really neat exhibits, however they didn't seem to keep the kids entertained for too long. Parker's favorite part was the mammoth skeleton. Madi did really well while we were inside the museum, but once we got outside she was very nervous. They had great reproductions of the dinosaurs outside in the trees and bushes and had speakers throughout the trails with noises of dinosaurs. Apparently the noises were too realistic and Madi kept saying she was "too scaredy" and "go home". We finally made our way to the playground equipment and once she got busy playing the noise of the dinosaurs faded out and she was finally happy again.

Parker admiring his favorite display: The Mammoth.

Parker, Carson, Madi, Adam and Alivia (in the bottom corner).

But then again Parker is also a huge fan of the T-Rex - Look out Parker it's going to get ya'!

Thank goodness for the swings. We finally got a smile out of Madi.

Giddy'up!

These mural boards always make me laugh. Madi's fit perfectly.

Kindergarten Club:

Kindergarten Club was an activity put on by the school district for all of the upcoming Kindergarten children and their parents. Lynn had a Young Men's activity so Parker and I headed over to the school while Grandma and Grandpa watched Madi. At the school, they gave us a nice packet of activities to work on with Parker, sang some songs and introduced the kids to the kindergarten teachers and the principal. It was a great first introduction, even though Parker was a little unsure of the songs and loudness of it all. It will be interesting to see how he does once school starts.

Below are some of my favorite pictures taken during the month of April:

My two super-heroes. They even went to the store dressed like this.

Lynn hung up our swing downstairs and the kids absolutely love it. For about 2 weeks after it was put up, all I heard from Madi was "Mom, com'ear a secnd". And of course she needed a push or two.

One of Madi's favorite thing to do is ride the backhoe with her dad. Making pizza with the Johnson kids. Porter, Garrett, Parker, Lexi and Madi. Notice their interesting shapes and amazingly enough, they actually ate them and liked them.

When Madi wants a nap, she really wants one. Give her a blanket and her thumb and she can go to sleep about anywhere.

Little miss independent.