~ April adventures

Here is a random compilation of some photos from April... 

Who needs a jungle gym when you have perfectly good fig trees in which to pretend that you are Indiana Jones?

(Nope, we haven't let them see the movie, but please note the green snake... aka, Calvin's "whip," his "Indiana Jones" hat and khaki pants...)

Kizi even took her book bag and attempted to read in her perch...

... and I love that Caleb is climbing in his sturdy... Spiderman slippers?? Ummm... okay!

Our ward (church congregation) held a great Easter egg hunt at the park near our church building. There were some fun activities and a very sweet lesson on what the true meaning of Easter really is. 

THEN, the egg madness ensued! Here are some action shots of the kids in hot pursuit of the eggs...

Kizi and her loot (above) and Calvin (below-- with kind of a weird smile)... Calvin's bucket was literally overflowing, the little overachiever... the thing that cracks us up is that none of our kids are all that interested in candy anyway... it was just the thrill of the hunt that was the best part, I think!

Our friend Leanna and one of her cuties, Emmers (Emery)

Caleb's loot

I was surprised that no one barfed after about 30 solid minutes of lovely 

centrifugal-force shenanigans...

and here is a cute shot of Jonathan and Caleb gettin' some 

quality snuggle time

and of course, we have to include some photos of our 

fantastically artistic eggs

(umm... I have no idea how we got the funky cracks and spots, but hey, they turned out pretty cool...)

I had to include a shot of one of Kizi's favorite things to (help) make...

Saturday morning pancakes!!

And I love this one... Sunday afternoon, crashed out with Daddy...

It must be spring, cuz the horses are

shedding!!!!

(can you say "hair everwhere!"? Tbttth! )

This is Poco having a snack after I've gotten a pile of hair off of him

The boys often have baseball games on the same days as Kizi's softball games... thankfully Jonathan has been able to take them to their games when they overlap, and they're all at the same school complex fields anyway. This is Calvin chillin' after one of his games, having a little quiet time, a snack, and watching kids run around during Kizi's game...

And one of my spring favorites...

Calvin, Caleb and Kiziah waiting for the bus in front of our home...

and enjoying the flowers and nicer weather to boot.

~ Kizi's LOVIN' softball!

The boys are easily discouraged by how tough baseball has been, but not Kizi... she thinks softball is a kick in the pants and has a great time. There aren't many things cuter than little 1st and 2nd grade girls with pink bats that say "Girl Power" on them trying to play softball! They're getting better at figuring out what exactly they're supposed to be doing and where to go when the coach is calling out positions ("third base" and the girls would wander out towards the vicinity of first base instead) 

One of the best moments (which has been repeated often) was when one of our girls, Sophie, was the first baseman and hugged the girl on the other team who made it to first base! Now THAT'S sportsmanship!

Kizi has a hard time remembering how to stand when she's up at bat... she usually ends up in a stance that is very similar to her Irish dance first position...  :)

Here's Kizi's very first base hit! YAAAAY!

  

I love how she's standing just like the parent third-base coach here...

Go Red Sox!

~ goin' private

Well, my fellow blog-stalkers... 

it's time to make yourselves known. 

We think the time has come to make our blog private. 

Don't be shy... let me know if you want an invite... 

~ out of hibernation!

Yes, it's true. I've finally emerged. 

Like the sun and the flowers...

Old Man Winter and I do not see eye to eye. I think my neurotransmitters just go dormant in the winter. 

But spring has finally sprung and I'm out of hibernation and embracing life again.

So... I'm back to "me" again, and as Martha says: 

"it's a good thing." 

Look for more posts from earlier this year as I finally get caught up... coming presently...

~ the boys' first baseball game

Thank goodness for Tivo. 

We don't watch much tv at all, but we missed part of 

General Conference 

(the twice-yearly, twice-a-day for two days, worldwide broadcast for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) 

the first Saturday of April, because the boys had their 

first baseball game!

Jonathan thought it was very funny that I was pretty nervous. I don't care about who wins, I just really wanted both boys to get

a hit and some catches

and to feel good about being part of a team. 

Well, he thought it was pretty funny-- until, after a couple of exciting plays in a row, he suddenly became overklempt (choked up, for those of you who don't remember Mike Meyer's old skit on SNL). Kind of just hits you when it's 

YOUR kids out there.

Caleb getting ready to hit, and Calvin to the right.

Caleb, our left-handed hitter.

Calvin, in a photo that captured probably the only time he actually held the bat up right, the little darling. Bless his skinny, Lego-loving, physics-minded, non-physically gifted little self!

Caleb, SO CUTE as the catcher.

(wearing a right-handed catching mitt even tho he's left handed, but he didn't seem to mind)

Proud Dad!

(hiding his tears behind the sunglasses he doesn't like because somehow he lost his Maui Jims.)

Still smiling after the game... 

and Caleb got the team ball. (Is that like MVP or something?)

We've also discovered the joys of Wallery's terrific pizza parlor for the after-game festivities!

~ goin' to the birds...

Meet Peri and George.

Jonathan and I had parakeets in the early years of our marriage, and sadly, the last one expired shortly before the boys were born. We thought birds would be a fun and enriching Christmas gift for the kids, especially since they had become increasingly enamored with the parakeets where we buy our dog food. 

So we got them these little birdies. It was the best gift at Christmas! 

(and they already knew we weren't going to get them a Wii or any video games so this made for a great surprise.)

I think we had George and Mary on the brain because we had just watched "It's A Wonderful Life," so we named them George and Peri... short for Periwinkle, which is her color exactly (and happens to be my favorite color as well). Not terribly creative, but it suits them.

Fortunately they adore each other, we adore them, and while I can't use the word "adore" again, they are certainly warming up to the kids. Almost every day the kids ask to take them out of the cage. They are very sweet and gentle with the birds, and it's interesting to watch them learn how they need to move around the birds so as not to scare them.

This is George gently nibbling on Calvin's ear while Peri watches.

The first time Calvin had both birds on his shoulders he looked at me and said in his best Pirate voice,

"AARRRR!"

Caleb with Peri and George.

Crazy bird kids!

Kizi with George and Peri.

Their cage sits on the kids' craft table in the sunroom, just to the right of my desk. And this video clip is a short sample of the sweet serenading I get to hear often throughout the day. George especially does this really cute trillling sort of warble. I'll try to also get some video of them preening each other-- my fav. It's so cute how they take turns ever so gently nibbling the feathers around the other's face and neck. They seem to really love each other.