A Little of This and That in April

April is, quite possibly, my favorite month of the year. The weather can be a bit temperamental (thunderstorms, rain, and snow are all possibilities), but the daylight stretches out on both ends, everything is in full bloom, and there are always some near-perfect days mixed in with the others. I always wish my birthday was in this month, but luckily, Mike's birthday is, and so is our anniversary, so we always have plenty of reasons to celebrate.

This month found us:

Attending . . . the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference. Mike's dad was one of the speakers, and he spoke about the resurrection and specifically mentioned Mike's sister, Alisa, and her strong testimony of life after death. All of Mike's siblings were there, plus many of their spouses and children, and it was a sweet and tender moment for all of us.

Breaking . . . a window. Isn't this a childhood rite of passage? Maxwell has been really into rocks lately and loves to break them open to see what they look like on the inside. His preferred method of breaking involved throwing them down the outside stairwell. Unfortunately, one of them went awry and crashed through a window instead. I think it kind of traumatized him.

Going . . . for walks around the neighborhood. I love this time of year when it's still light after dinner. The boys put on their pajamas, and we go on a little walk before bed.

Observing . . . Beverly Cleary's 100th birthday. Can you believe she's one hundred years old? What a rock star. I especially loved watching this interview with her--she's so candid and witty. In honor of the day, we read one of our favorite chapters involving Ramona, "Ramona and the Clubhouse."

Appreciating . . . the beauty of spring. It always come with a price because all of the flowering trees set off my allergies, but I'll gladly pay it.

 

Planning . . . dates. I've mentioned before that Mike and I swap planning our weekly dates each month. April was my month. We went out to dinner with his parents and siblings, attended the temple, ate sushi with my brother and his wife, went out to dinner with my family, and went to the play, Peter and the Starcatchers. (Wow, I didn't realize until right now how many times we went out to eat in April. Usually it's not so much.)

Letting . . . Max sell paper footballs and lemonade on our front lawn. He pretty much did it all on his own, and even though I was tempted to take over, I realized it wasn't something I actually wanted to invest my time in. It wasn't the most eye-catching lemonade stand you've ever seen, but he had so much fun with it, and he made a little money, too.

Wishing . . . Mike a happy birthday. I gave him an InstantPot, which was a bit of a gamble because he hadn't asked for one, but he loves it. And of course, he celebrated with pie instead of cake. Would you expect any different?

Reading . . . lots of easy readers with Bradley. His reading is really taking off, and I've been meaning to share some of his recent favorites with all of you. I also finally got The Nightingale from the library again and made it through the whole thing this time. And I read Heart of Darkness for book club and have no desire to write a review on it.

Attending . . . my brother's and sister's graduations. It was so much fun spending the day on BYU's campus with my family, celebrating my siblings' achievements, and walking down memory lane. I can't believe it's been nine years since I graduated myself.

Sitting . . . at soccer games. I don't think any of our kids will ever be sports stars (even on the second grade team). Mike and I just aren't into sports enough for that. But both Aaron and Maxwell love playing and have improved a lot this season.

Consoling . . . Bradley because he's not playing soccer. He found out that Aaron and Max and his cousin, Charlie, and his good friend, Garrett, all played soccer when they were three, and he took it very personally. He just can't understand how he can be four (and a half!) and still not have played on a soccer team. (He'll get it once he's a parent: the thought of adding one more game to an already full week for a three-year-old who would probably lose interest and enthusiasm after the first game was too much for me.) I decided to wait until kindergarten before putting the younger ones in organized sports. However, with Bradley's fall birthday, kindergarten is still more than a year away, and I'm pretty sure I'll have a mutiny on my hands if he doesn't get to play soon, so fall soccer it will be.

Spending . . . time with my family. They were here for the graduations mentioned above, and spent a few nights at our house. Clark took an instant liking to Papa Dave, especially when he played his ukulele. Aaron, Maxwell, and Bradley tried to get their game fix with Aunt Angela and Grandma B, but I think it only made them wish for more.

Losing . . . a tooth! This was one of the more exciting things that happened this month. At seven-and-a-half and in the second grade, Aaron was the only one in his class that hadn't lost a tooth. Every few weeks, I'd ask him if any of them felt loose, but no. When we were at the dentist at the beginning of the month, he said Aaron's teeth were getting really worn because they'd been in his mouth for so long. But finally, one evening, Aaron said one of his bottom front teeth hurt, and by the next afternoon, it was out. He was so thrilled.
 

Making . . . a decision about school next year! After checking the mail in hopeful anticipation every day for over a month, we finally received notification that both Aaron and Max had been accepted into the gifted program. I'll write more about what we decided in a future post, but just having decided on something makes me indescribably happy.

Capturing . . . Flit and Barrel's antics. I can't get enough of these two.

Chatting . . . with Suzanne about how we make more time for reading. If you missed Episode 5 of The Book Blab, you can watch the replay here.

Watching . . . Aaron's dance performance at school. They have a grant with a dance company, and so every student gets to take dance for one semester each year. It definitely leans towards the interpretative, which makes Mike roll his eyes a bit, but I think it's pretty cool how they use their bodies to tell a story.

Celebrating . . . our eleventh wedding anniversary with the stomach flu. Mike and I were supposed to get away for a night by ourselves but had to postpone our plans when Bradley started throwing up. But really, can you think of anything more romantic that watching your husband clean up a gross amount of vomit? Made me think I married the right one.

What were you up to in April? For more glimpses at our daily life, follow me on Instagram.