April Fool's Day

I can't resist a good chance to pull a prank on my boys.  These were my last-minute April Fool's Day jokes:

I switched the boys' jeans in all of their piles so they all ended up wearing pants that didn't fit.

I swapped their pink medicine out for yogurt.  

Henry's lunch looked back at him!

We had the missionaries over for dinner.  I talked up the brownies we'd be having for dessert, several times telling the boys that they had to eat so much dinner to get a brownie.  These were the "Brown E's!"

Best holiday ever!

Conference goes on

Every six months, I am once again shocked to find that this Ellis boy, now 5 and almost 6, is still completely fascinated by Conference.  

This year he played with the chart for a few weeks after.  He wanted to cut out EVERYONE from the 70s and auxiliary presidencies to play with them.  This was great scissor practice for him, so I let him do it if he would do it on his own.

He ended up making an entire "Conference Center" and filling it.  When this was full and he still had a few guys to cut out, he put them on a separate paper and called it "the Tabernacle" (naturally, because that is where the people go who don't fit in the Conference Center -- and you'd better believe that one of the apostles was there in the Tabernacle to watch over that group).

When our neighbor Molly came over in the middle of the Conference Chart fun, she couldn't resist taking part.  It's fun to have the guys go up to the podium!  I was in the kitchen and overheard Ellis telling her all the names.  When he said, "Dieter F. Uchtdorf," she busted up laughing, like it was the funniest name she had ever heard.  I think Ellis realized how funny the name was too, and they were both cracking up.  Then he searched for all the funny names, and they spend a good while laughing and laughing.

The Company I Keep

These are the people I get to spend my time with, pretty much all day, every day.  After careful review, I don't think I would choose anyone else to spend my time with.  They are pretty fun. 

We have MANY moments of fighting, yelling, teasing, crying, chasing, and wrestling.  But sometimes this happens: a morning snack in the SAME chair, just because.

Occasionally, we pose for brother pictures.  Seriously?

Sometimes Henry and Ellis are gone, and it is just Sam and me at home.  I think Sam likes this individual time to play and sort of rule the house. Usually I am getting stuff done, and he just does his thing.  He likes to get out LOTS of stuff and "set it up."  He loves gathering items and putting them in bags, as if for a trip (lots of fun to unpack these bags).  He also loves gathering items and then asking me to choose my favorite of each type (car, guy, animal, etc.), and then he gives me my favorites as a present.  He also LOVES dressing up in costumes and accessories of all sorts.

Sometimes we have beautiful book moments.

Sometimes we make discoveries together or review our favorites together.  Sam seems to share Ellis' love for people and loves learning from Ellis the names of famous musicians, artists, scientists, etc. from books like this one.

And sometimes my boys will pose for a Mother's Day photo with me in the hammock they gave me as my Mother's Day gift.  Sometimes this involves a fair amount of bribes and/or threats.

And sometimes our attempts end in a tickle fight.

Why Chicago may not be the ideal Spring Break destination

When we arrived in Chicago from our Utah trip, Henry said, "It feels like the airplane was actually a time machine. We have gone back in time to winter!"  Yes, friends, this was mid-April.

We also returned from our trip to a house full of guests -- the Ludlow family coming to visit for their Spring Break!  Somebody forgot to tell them that it was still winter in Chicago.  

(Needless to say, it took me over a week to unpack from our trip.)

We were too busy playing to unpack!  We had fun playing with the Ludlows and celebrating Easter together.  We felt bad that they came to have a "Spring Break" trip in a place that felt like winter, but at least by the weekend it started warming up a bit.

We did the traditional Iverson egg roll off.

And the kids had all sorts of fun together, developing their theories and priorities as they relate to what Easter is all about.  

Boy, was it exciting to have so many cousins in our house searching for Easter baskets!

Seth reading the letter from the Easter Bunny

Clayton

Caleb

Ellis

Seth

Henry

Nate

Jessica

Lucy

You counted right . . . 9 kids!  I was surprised that the Easter Bunny could find 9 places to hide baskets on the main floor of our house! 

 It really was a little warmer by Saturday morning . . . but Henry prefers this attire most of the time.

Caleb found the first "money egg."  He's a diligent seeker.

And Nate found the counterfeit $100 bill that I found sitting on the shelf at Target.  He was too smart for my trick and recognized the fake.  But he wanted to keep it and try to see what would happen if he spent it -- good luck with that, Nate!

Why Spring Break needed to happen in Utah

First of all, I found ridiculously cheap tickets to fly to Utah.  This was after my Mustache Bash trip was already planned, but I really wanted to take the boys to Utah.  Secondly, Ben was going to be busy during Spring Break week and wouldn't be able to play with us adequately.  Thirdly, Chicago is WAY too cold in early April.  And winter had been going on long enough.  We had no choice but to scoot out of here!

The boys were champions on the flight.  It helps when they are old enough to be fully captivated by small portable electronic devices (which can now stay on during take-off and landing... huzzah!).

We also had the most kid-conscious flight attendant ever, who brought us chocolate to help get through the flight, as well as a special drink for the kids he called "pilot's punch."

This right here is why I wanted to take my boys to Utah.  

 They got some special one-on-one time with my grandparents, who played outside with them and prepared Easter eggs to dye together.  My grandpa limited them to "only 12 eggs each."  :)

The weather was lovely and so very rejuvenating.  I'll say that it thawed our hearts.

This is on antelope island with Ben's parents and Andrea's family.  We're going to pretend like it wasn't teeming with mosquitoes.  It really is such a pretty place.

 Grandpa time.

 Henry sang, "I'm on top of the world," his current favorite tune.

 Mountain men.

 It was fun to be with cousin Zach.

 Utah views.

Sam-o was pretty sure he didn't like anyone or anything on this trip.  But he sure is cute.

 Um, yes.  Reason enough to hop on a plane right there.

 Sunset

Utah is such a good place to spend time outdoors.  We enjoyed a little hike with Grandma Lori up Adam's Canyon (wearing coon-skin caps, of course).

Utah is also a good place to eat Lucky Charms and pancakes for breakfast.  Every single day.  

 And who doesn't enjoy a good cousin photo shoot?

I know at least the photo bomber enjoyed himself!  

Somehow I didn't get any of the other Jackson kids in my pictures.  I guess we'll have to go back soon!  Hey, why not in a couple of months?