The Leatherwoods: April 2009

Monday, April 27, 2009

Easter

I know, I know ... it was a little while back, but here are the fun pictures from Easter. We had a rainy day on the Saturday before Easter here in Utah (so lame). We had to make the best of it with an indoor Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Morton's for the little kids. Thankfully she still had plenty of little nooks and crannies where we could hide about a million eggs.

The big boys got no sympathy and hunted for their loot outside in the rain. We watched them from the kitchen window and laughed a little. Well, almost as hard as we laughed at Dave and Dad out there hiding the eggs in the rain. Jason and Brady got out of egg-hiding duties thanks to Jason's knee surgery and Brady's clumsy basketball playing (badly sprained ankle).

Here they are waiting patiently for the egg hunt to begin. London and T.J. had apparently already had a little too much sugar that day.

This was after the ward Easter egg hunt in the morning. Austin and Jackson were pretty bummed when they realized almost all of the candy was off-limits thanks to their newly installed jaw expanding appliances (getting ready for braces). Dave and I helped them out with all of their sticky gooey stuff. Wasn't that nice of us?

After I my initial reaction of "What in the . . . . ?!!" I realized this was a pretty cute craft project for a Kindergarten Easter party for 28 6-year-olds on a sugar high. I'm not sure what brave soul took on that project, but it was pretty nice of them. She loves the mask and wore it all over the neighborhood for a few days. Good thing she didn't cause any cars to veer off the road ...

The obligatory Easter morning picture wasn't going well until I threatened to eat all of everyone's Easter candy. That's when we got this gem.

Easter morning with their stash.

The Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Leatherwood's house. Again, inside due to the unseasonally freezing rotten weather. The kids didn't seem to mind.

Grandma Leatherwood likes to mix things up a bit with Easter egg hunts and the kids loved it. They got play-dough, bouncy balls, bubbles, chips, and cookies along with their candy-filled eggs.

I think between the ward Easter egg hunt, Grandma Morton's Easter egg hunt, Grandma Leatherwood's Easter egg hunt, and of course the Easter Bunny, we very likely had more candy around here after Easter than we did after HALLOWEEN!!! Surprise, surprise ... it was all gone a week later.

We had a nice Easter weekend spending time with family and friends. I taught sharing time in Primary on Easter Sunday and got to spend some extra time studying the life of the Savior to prepare for my lesson. It was a good opportunity to really reflect on his life and be grateful for his sacrifice for us.

I'm SO behind!

I'm so behind! We've had a fun month, and I haven't blogged about anything!. So here were go. First of all, my roommate from college and one of my favorite people, Faye, is having her first baby. My friends Heidi and Krista (also two of my favorite people) met me at her baby shower and we had a blast catching up and reminiscing and mostly laughing a lot. I have so many fun memories with these girls, and catching up with them was a lot of fun. I hate that we don't see each other too much anymore. I miss seeing them and laughing with them. Love ya girls!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Morton Bowl-A-Thon

A few weeks ago, we had our Almost-Annual Morton March Birthday Family Bowl-a-Thon to celebrate the abundance of March birthdays in my family, including my dad, Jared, Melanie, Jason, and Brady. We try to go every year, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. We missed the Wisconsin cheese-heads, but we had a good time. The kids (and Melanie) had a lot of fun bowling with the little ramps and bumper pads - good job Mel! The rest of us bowled like adults, and frankly I rocked. Actually, I did fine (125 points), but Dave, Brady, and my dad all beat me, though not by much (around the 150's). Dave got the action shot above by lying on the floor with his face (and my new camera) six inches away from where I was going to release the heavy slippery bowling ball at a high rate of speed onto the lane. Not a good idea Dave, but he is pretty proud of his camera work. Apparently he forgot how clumsy and accident prone I am. He's a brave man I tell ya.

Moab

A few weeks ago, Dave and Austin went on a trip to Moab with the scouts. They had a great time and didn't even complain much about the long drive (well not that much). Their trip happened to land on two of the rare good weather days we have had since Halloween, and they both came back a little sunburned, and the weather was apparently perfect in Moab (they rubbed it in since it was stinking cold up here - as usual). It is important to note that Dave packed himself for this campout for the first time in the history of our marriage. He is usually too insanely busy to pack, and I'm here wondering which cooler he wants, which clothes he want, and which fire-building implements he wants. And contrary to what I might have thought, he ended up with everything he needed, or at least he hasn't told me that he forgot anything (ha ha). Although I did notice that the bag with the toothbrushes and toothpaste looked mysteriously unopened. I did my part and picked up an abundant supply of beef jerky, granola bars, crackers, and trail mix from Costco - all of which disappeared in 24 hours. That's apparently what happens when you have 5 scouts and 2 leaders trapped in a car for 8 hours.

They left Friday night at 4:00 and got back home around 8:00 Saturday night. For those of you who know Dave, hiking around in Moab could not be more "right up his alley." They've both been talking about it ever since they got back, and as it turns out ... the whole family is going back down to Moab in a few weeks on a camping trip with some good friends. I've never been to Moab and from everything I've heard from Dave and Austin, I'm excited! Dave put Austin in charge of the camera on their trip, and he went to town taking pictures. I promised him a slide show on the blog, and here it is. Moab looks like a beautiful place.

Funny kids

A new road just opened up by us called Pioneer Crossing. T.J. and I were on it the other day when he asked where all the pioneers were. I explained that they lived a long time ago and talked a little about the pioneers to him. He said, "Well, if the pioneers are dead, how can they be crossing the road?"
At the Qquirrh Mountain Temple Open House, there was a player grand piano playing hymns as we exited the temple. T.J. wanted to know who was playing the piano, so of course Dave told him it was a ghost. T.J. wanted to know, "Dad, is it the Holy Ghost?"
T.J. was changing himself out of his wet swimming suit today and into his pajamas when he took a few laps around the living room completely naked. I chased after him and said, "T.J., you can't run around naked. Get some clothes on!" He gets all indignant and says. "Mom, I'm NOT naked ... I have sunscreen on."
T.J. came running up to me this morning and said "Mom, I want to play knock-knock joke." I said, "Well good luck with that. You should probably wait until your father gets home becuase he's better with the whole knock-knock joke thing." T.J. said, "No I'll do it." I said okay, and he ran off. So a few minutes later there was a knock at the door. I answered it and it was T.J. laughing hysterically. I was a little confused and said, "What's up T.J.?" To which he responded, "We played it mom. We played knock-knock joke, and it's so funny." Apparently knocking and then laughing when people answer is now called "playing knock-knock joke."
London wanted me to buy her a new movie at the store today and I told her "no." She, of course, started in with the "Why not?" and "How come?" and all of that. So I just said, "London we don't have enough money to buy every new movie that comes out!" So she said, "Well, why don't you do some jobs and save up your money?" To which I responded, "London, are you serious? You want me to do jobs and save up my money so you can have a new movie?" She said, "If you work hard mom, you could do it."
I told T.J. the other day that he had to clean up some toys he had gotten out before he could have the piece of candy he wanted. So I said, "Come on, let's just hurry and clean it up. I'll help you." So he comes over for a minute and we pick up a few things and then he just walks away. I said, "Hey! Where are you going?" And he said, "You don't need my help mom. You're a big girl. You can do it all by yourself."
T.J. always wants me or Dave to lay by him at night while he falls asleep. Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. Tonight, we were busy with other things, and T.J. was in there calling for me, "Mommy, come lay by me." I said, "T.J. I can't right now but I love you." So he said, "No Mommy, don't love me ... just lay by me."
I think my kids might be getting a little too much "election" exposure this year. We were at Partyland the other day having fun looking at costumes. Dave found a Barack Obama mask and put it on. London was not amused and told Dave, "No Daddy! Don't be him. He makes bad choices." You got that right London.
T.J. got into trouble yesterday and I got after him for it. He says to me, "Don't get mad at me or I'll call you a big red chicken." Huh?
I've been thinking about going back to school, and we were asking the kids what they thought about it the other day. So Dave says to Austin and Jackson, "What do you think mom should be? What should she study in school?" Austin gave some perfectly reasonable responses like "teacher" and "writer." Jackson says, "Mom, can you be a really famous football player?" You bet Jacks. You know what Dave's response was? "Jackson, have you ever seen mom run?" How rude!
So T.J. is pretty much potty trained, but we're having a few issues with number two. So, I walk into the room today and clearly caught him in "the act." So I say, "Uh oh T.J. Guess what?" And he says, "Uh ... I don't know. Maybe you smell something?" I definitely smelled something.
I went to put T.J. in his car seat the other day, and he said it was too hot. I said, "I'm sorry. What should I do?" So he thought about it and said, "Can you blow on it for me?" So I did, and then he said it was only warm and happily got buckled up.
Austin needs to have a wart burned off his finger. Jackson happens to be an expert on the subject after much experience a few years ago. So he reassures Austin by saying, "It doesn't hurt too bad ... maybe like London scratching you about 5 times .... or maybe 10." Thanks Jacks.
In the midst of a Saturday full of errands, we agreed to take the kids to McDonald's to play on the playground and have some lunch. They were all excited, but I think London most of all. She jumped out of the car at McDonalds, ran over to me, and in her most dramatic fashion ever said, "Oh thank you mom! I just knew we were a happy family."
We always tease London about eating like a bird, and she really does. But it may be getting a little out of hand. Last Sunday when I handed her the sacrament tray of bread, she said matter of factly, "No thanks mom. I'm full."
The week of London's 5th birthday, Austin, in family prayer, makes a heartfelt plea that London will "understand the reponsibilities of being 5." What a good brother. Now if someone could just explain what these "responsibilities" are ... maybe I'll ask Austin.
Jackson broke the personal, family, and possibly world record the other day by thoughtfully saying in his prayer NINE TIMES: "Please bless us to have a good time." Wow! This kid is seriously concerned about having a good time.
London was playing her computer game this morning and after passing off a level, she was really proud of herself. I was happy for her and told her "Wow! Good job. You are really good at that." She was really excited about her accomplishment and my praise and exclaimed, "Mom, I did such a good job. Maybe I should be in a parade."

The Leatherwoods