Does having chilren mean you are constantly being reminded of how quickly time flies by? Pason is already at the end of his first year of school. He had his end of the year concert. He got to play the rhythm sticks for his class song. They were also presented with their kindergarten completion certificates. He has done so well an we are so proud of him!
So too many people were saying that Eli's hair was long enough for a pony tail and I had to give in and give him his first haircut. I hated doing it before his first birthday because now he looks too grown up, but it was a bit out of control. Isn't he handsome? Oh and the purple stains in the after picture are thanks to his first lollipop which kept him occupied during the haircut!
Hopefully with a little rain and a little sunshine we will be enjoying tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peas, and beans this fall. Pason also wanted to plant "really tall sunflowers that you can eat the seeds", so there are a few of those in there too! My strawberries are looking good and with our new rhubarb plant I see jam and pie in the future! Yum!
On Monday I went with Pason's kindergarten class on their field trip to ZooMontana. We got off the bus with our umbrellas out. I was thinking it was going to be a long, wet day. After about 10 minutes the rain stopped and we set off to see some animals. Our first stop was the bear. I have had nightmares about bears my entire life, and it just so happened that I had one of my "bearmares" the night before. Luckily the bear was at the back of the enclosure so we didn't get to close. Darn! We then saw a wolverine, red pandas, a sleeping tiger, bald eagles, sika deer, ducks, geese, river otters ,and bighorn sheep. Then it was lunch time. The peacocks were the highlight of lunch as they would come up right under your feet and eat any crumbs they could find. After lunch it was time to go to the barn where we saw horses, rabbits, goats, and chickens. Lets see... we can go to Pootsie's house and see horses and lambs, Witt's have got the chickens covered, and we have rabbits that like to hang out in our yard from time to time...so no big deal there. Net we went inside and saw several snakes (YUCK!), Spiders (double YUCK!), turtles, some huge coakroaches (Gagging!), and lizards. We also saw pygmie marmacets, a couple mink, and a chinchilla. After all that it was time for the kids to run around on the playground before loading up and getting on the bus, just as the rain began to fall again! It was fun to be able to spend a day with Pason and his class.
Pason and the Peacock
Too bad the zoo doesn't have a real elephant!
Pason and his best bud Bailey.
Pason's teacher tore her Achilles tendon playing basketball, but she was a trooper and made it on the zoo trip. Way to go Miss Griffith!
Yea! We made it through another tax season! We celebrated by going to dinner at Dos Machos. I had found a great coupon deal there so we all had dinner and dessert and tip for under $25. It is kind of a joke because every year E.B. gives their employees (who have busted their butts for the last 2 1/2 months) $25 on April 15th. I think it is supposed to cover their drinks at the party they have that afternoon, but Jared never goes (he says he's seen enough of his co-workers lately) and even if he did...lemonade isn't that expensive! So anyway, we try to go to dinner as a family for under $25. In the past we've done places like IHOP or Perkins (Pancakes are cheaper than steaks ya know!).
Friday we pulled Pason out of school a little early and met Jared's parents at Fairmont Hot Springs. We went swimming, golfed, swam some more, went to the Griz scrimmage, and did some more swimming. The boys did great in the water. I think we have finally broken the fear barrier and they are ready for swimming lessons in June! It was nice to get away. It it would have been nicer if Eli had slept at night. At least we got a little break thanks to Grandma.
Sunday we went to church in Butte and then headed home, probably even more exhausted then at the beginning of the weekend but at least it was exhuastion due to fun and not work.
Monday we decided we still had at least a tiny bit of energy left to burn, so Jared stayed home and we started on the list of all the things that need done at home. We cleaned out flower beds, stained half the fence, fixed the door, cleaned a few things out of the garage, took a load to the dump, set up patio furniture, went to the bank to start savings accounts for the boys (a 1% interest rate is still better than an envelope in your sock drawer, and safer too!), got a few things at Walmart, and cooked burgers on the grill. I think we made a tiny dent in our list!
So now life is back to normal... This week we start soccer for Carter, coach pitch for Pason, Jared has to go to Missoula on Thursday, and I have to make sure everything is ready for the ward activity in a week and a half. Gotta love it!
So, Sunday morning Pason and Carter were up looking for their Easter baskets before the rest of us were out of bed. We had sticky buns (that didn't rise very well) and scrambled eggs for breakfast and then Jared and I hid the 96 plastic eggs the Easter Bunny had left for us in the backyard. We had to brave the chilly morning for our Easter Egg Hunt because I wanted to use the Easter candy for the boys while we watched general conference. About a year or so ago I tried an idea from The Friend to help the boys during conference. At the beginning of the session we pick about 4 words for them to listen for. Each time they hear that word they get to pick a candy out of the bowl. It works great, but you have to be careful about the words you choose or they might be getting a treat every 10 seconds! Pason also decided that he was going to take notes. He wrote down words/topics he heard from, I think, every speaker Sunday morning. I must admit I wasn't as focused on conference as I should have been, but I had a good excuse. I had strep throat. I had starteed feeling like I was getting a cold Friday. Felt pretty yucky Saturday, and by Sunday I was ready to go to the doctor. Unfortunately because it was Easter Sunday, even the same-day care was closed, so I had to wait until Monday to go in. I wish I had felt better while my parents were here, but I am sooo grateful they were here to help take care of things. They had to leave Monday afternoon, but I was already starting to feel better by then. The really bad part is that Jared came down with the same thing Wednesday and had to miss a day of work Thursday. Not good at this time of year! Anyway, despite being sick, we had a really good Easter weekend. Now just a few more days and we can celebrate surving yet another tax season!
