Whistle while you work!

Besides alligator sightings we have been up to awful lot around here. It has been nice to have the kids around a bit more lately as soccer and swim are not in session right now. We have been preparing for our spring break vacation and getting things ready for our move and enjoying the beautiful spring turning summer weather. Also, dealing with some computer problems (hopefully we can limp this baby along one more month!). And enjoying time listening to conference, the kids built a seriously huge fort with rooms and everything this year to listen in. I feel so blessed to be able to have living prophet and to be able to have the technology to hear him in my own home while my kids are busy, but listening, is wonderful to me. I am amazed at their retention. I believe there is no better place to feel the spirit than within the walls of our own home while being taught correct principles!

Dave and I were able to get away for a four day trip to look for a house in Colorado. It was a great trip and we have a home we are in the process of acquiring. I will post more about the house after we close in a few weeks. While there we also enjoyed lots of time together, some yummy food, and a nice hotel with a posturepaedic bed...I am sold. It was so comfortable! Although I will say that the house hunting part was a bit stressful for me, as we needed to make a decision, and I am not a fast decision making type!

We also filled up our bean jar for the last time this month. What is a bean jar????? It is my trick to get my kids to do things they wouldn't otherwise want to do...i.e. work. Our bishop likes to share an analogy of a tandem bicycle to a family. And how if one person is not peddling than it is more work for the others. So when my kids are "peddling" they get to put beans in the jar (with a picture of the bicycle on it or course). While I slacked with this at times, we have used it pretty much the whole time we have lived here and it works! Once it is full we get to go out for ice cream. And they dig that!

Amanda has been loving some extra reading time and has been trying to beat the school AR record. Not sure if she will pull it off, but regardless reading is it's own reward for her and that is awesome in my book! She has been a helping a friend from church by watching her kids while she has meetings before church on Sundays, which has been a fun first babysitting experience for her. Mom is there but not in the room and her girls are fireballs so Amanda really has to work hard to keep them entertained. She also was working hard this last Saturday at a service project, we participated in for earth day, raking and bagging leaves at a local cemetery.

(Sorry not the best picture!)

I don't think I have ever seen her so tired.

Maren worked super hard raking leaves as well, she had learned about earth day in school that week and was so excited to be a part of it. Although she wanted to plant trees. These days she is often seen running down our street kicking the ball to get those wiggles out after school, obviously hasn't had enough yet. Here are a few pics from this last soccer season, since I have been a slacker with blogging lately... She really had to work at keeping that foot down during throw ins (it is just too tempting to jump), but she got it by the last of her games this season.

Spencer is busy being busy. Love this picture of him (yes those are recorders he is using for his ski poles). He is so excited for our upcoming camping fun and can't wait for his birthday next month. He is also excited to move next month as we have told him about the dinosaur bones he will get to see, but have yet to convince him that dinosaurs are extinct. He is hoping to see some real ones at grandma's zoo! Spencer loves to help me pick things out at the store, and has been begging to try a coconut for months. So I humored him and we had a coconut, he loved helping to hammer it open and even liked the taste of the meat.

I have never considered my kids to be terribly obedient, I work on it with them and they get better. But I am telling you, Jacob is so so good! He loves to put things where they go...seriously! And you can tell it pains him when he doesn't want to do what I ask him to do. As he knows he should, and does mostly. I have to laugh when I put him in his booster chair, as I am a slacker and usually just put the tray on without buckling him in. He never fails to get upset and buckle himself in. He walked around with this hoe most of the two hours we worked trying to "help".

Such a great little guy.