What kids really mean...

I'm by no means a great parent, I've got quite a ways to go before I'm winning mother of the year awards (next year I might nominate myself), but I have learned a thing or two from my kids.  Some of this stuff has taken me a while to figure out such as...
1.  When my girls tell me to watch a new dance move, what they really mean is "watch my move the whole time and if you even blink, I'm doing the whole 5 minute routine over again."  I've learned to keep my eyes on the dance until it's over.
2.  The S word is stupid - such as, "Mom, Jake said the S word"
3.  The F word is fart. Thank goodness it's not the real bomb!
4.  When my kids say they brushed their teeth awesome, then that means they need to go rebrush them because they are still an orangeish hue.
5.  When Abby says she cleaned her room, it just means she rearranged all the junk on her floor.
6.  When Hannah says she wants to hold Claire, then that means we only give her to Hannah when she's already crying because that's undoubtedly what is going to happen anyway.  Bless her heart, she tries, but somehow she can't figure out how to hold her still, and Claire doesn't like it one little bit.
7.  When Annie says she's ready to go, then that means we'll arrive at our destination with Annie sans shoes. I've learned that one the hard way not once, but twice this week. I need to go deposit some flip flops in the car.
8.  When my kids say how cute Claire is, they're right!

So here's to me learning and getting one step closer to my MOY award.

Clay Bay

Unbeknownst to Kate Ricedorff, she's given our little Claire Bear a new nickname - ClayBay. I called her Claire Bear when she was at our house and she looked at me and said, "Clay Bay?" That's Claire Bear without the R's. It was cute and she's been ClayBay ever since. I loved all of these pictures and just needed to post them all.

Happy Easter

What a great Easter we enjoyed this year. Last weekend we went down to Mesa for the semi-annual beans and bread tradition between conference sessions. But we added Easter on to the fun because of Mom's surgery the next week. As always it was a real treat getting to hang out with family, listen to the words of our church leaders, eat yummy food and laugh like you only can with family. The kids hunted for eggs and, as become tradition, the little 4 year olds raced.

Then this weekend (the Real Easter weekend), Drew, Cyndi and Koe and Jarred's family came up to have Easter with us. Koe spoiled my girls, the kids played hard and slept little. We went to Watson Lake and hiked a bit, colored eggs, hunted the eggs, ate a ton and visited til we were exhausted.

Sunday morning, I'm happy to announce the Easter Bunny found our house. The kids were up bright and early. Church is at 8:00 am and the kids were not about to miss out on any Easter fun. They got themselves dressed and fed and only then could they look in their baskets. I know I'm mean, but, really, they got themselves ready super fast - genius. As always the Easter bunny brought tons of candy and swimsuits for the girls. Jake announced that he hates getting a swimming suit so he got goggles.

Then it was off to church where the talks and lessons were great and just what I needed. Then it was home to enjoy our afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Platt, nap, eat candy and all things fun on Easter.

It was a wonderful weekend and I'm glad we could share it with family.

Now, I have posted tons of pictures, but they are in opposite chronological order from how I took them. I'm feeling too lazy to re arrange them, so just for today, our brains will be challenged a bit.

Claire in her Easter dress - beauty!

The 5 kids before church

The kids checking out their baskets

Coloring eggs with Oliver and Simon. I was disappointed in their lack of creativity in their coloring. I expect a better effort next year!

The cousins at Watson Lake

Our family at Watson Lake

The 4 year old race. Keelie won hands down (Joe's been training with her for this big run) And according to Hannah, Annie won because Keelie started early. Ya gotta love the competitiveness.

The cousins after the hunt, including Kelli's kids. My kids' candy was devoured within about an hour of the hunt.

So there it is. Happy Easter. I love my Savior and his sacrifice for me, the Atonement and the chance I get to be resurrected and hopefully someday return to live with my Heavenly Father.