Easter and Spring Break Excitement

Happy Easter! We were all sick for Easter this year (except for Justin), so we are a few days late with this post. Here are some pics of the kids coloring Easter eggs:

Hunting for eggs:

We spent Spring Break up in Utah this year. We had tons of fun hanging out with all my family (except we didn't get to see Daniel). We went and saw Monsters vs. Aliens, hung out with the family, played in the backyard. But the biggest thing we did was throw my Mom a surprise birthday party with all her family and neighbors. Anyone who knows my Mom knows she is impossible to surprise, but somehow we managed to do it! Arianne, Mike Vause and I worked hard planning it for weeks beforehand. A special thanks to them for all they did! Jordan almost gave the surprise away - he told my Mom, "It's your birthday and it's a surprise!" When she asked what the surprise was Madison told her, "We're not telling you." Luckily I overheard and intervened before she could pry the secret out of them. Jordan also told her that she was turning a big number, but that in four years she was turning a really, really big number! You gotta love kids! Happy Birthday Mom!! We love you!

My Mom had to work on Monday and Tuesday. She felt so bad that she wasn't there to entertain us, so she kept trying to give us things to do so she wouldn't be bored. Little did she know, I (with tons and tons of help from Justin) was spending those two days baking her birthday cake! I got started both mornings as soon as she left and then we would hurry and get it all cleaned up and hidden away just before she got home. She kept teasing us for being so pooped when all we'd done is spend the whole day hanging out doing nothing!

It turned out pretty well I think. And it was so delicious! - Dark chocolate cake, marshmallow and dulce de leche fillings, covered in chocolate ganache and chocolate fondant!

Happy Birthday Mamah!

Today is my amazing mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom and Mamah! We love you!

Happy Birthday Granny!

Today is Justin's Mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Granny! We Love You!

I've been picture tagged...

Thanks Arianne! This is the 6th picture in the 6th picture folder on my computer...

This is Josh at 8 days old. What a cutie!

...and the 6 people I tag are: Stacie, Brenda, Dana, Emily, Jessica, and Melissa.

March Madness

The last few weeks have been crazy! Here are a few of the highlights:

Josh loves hats! It doesn't matter what kind of hat it is or who it belongs to, if he finds it he just has to put it on.

Josh also had his follow-up appointment for his ears this week. Everything looks great!

Jordan went missing for a few minutes last Saturday and this is where we found him - atop the block wall. Mind you, this is above my head. Apparently he climbed up this old chainlink gate:

I have done a lot of caking lately! These are cupcakes I made for Enrichment Night. They are chocolate cupcakes with marshmallow buttercream and chocolate butterflies. Dawn Esplin came over and helped me make the butterflies. We had a lot of fun making them and she was surprised at how easy they are to make!

This is the cake I made for Stacie Miner's birthday today (Happy Birthday Stac!). It is White Velvet cake with strawberry buttercream and white chocolate fondant.

I made another cake this week for a friend's 21st birthday, but it was kind of last minute and I was so unhappy with the way it turned out that I refused to even take a picture. Hopefully it at least tasted good!

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I took on another piano student this month - I now have three students (plus my own kids and hubby). I am hoping to find one more student to teach, so if you know of anyone who wants to learn just let me know.

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Justin and I also both donated blood last week. Justin donates blood and platelets regularly, but this is the first time I have donated in probably 8 years. Last time I donated I had forgotten to eat breakfast (I had an early morning class) and did not react well to giving blood - really I couldn't even sit up for hours without getting dizzy. Because of that I have been nervous to donate again, but this time I had no problems.

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This week was spirit week at Madison's school. Here she is on Crazy Hair Day: (it's kind of hard to tell, but there are 11 ponytails in her hair!)

Madison was also honored as a Straight A Student at her school this last week. Good job Mad!

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I am really hoping the next few weeks are a little calmer, but I'm not holding my breath!

Surgery Update

We are back home after Joshua's surgery. Everything went great with no complications! Joshua wasn't too happy before surgery - he had a fit when they wanted to put the little clip on his finger to check his oxygen level (of course a few minutes later he was wanting to play with it), he was extremely annoyed by the ID band they put around his ankle, and he was really not happy when I had to hand him off to the doctors. But even with all that, he still charmed all the nurses. They kept saying they might have to steal him and take him home because he is so cute. We are glad to have this over with and are really hoping it makes a big difference. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

Surgery

As many of you know, Joshua's ear infections have been back with a vengeance this winter. So tomorrow morning he is getting tubes put in his ears. I know it's a relatively simple and low-risk procedure, but I am still a little nervous about it. Although, it will definitely be nice to not have him sick all the time. We are also hoping it will help with his speech, since he is not talking quite as much or as clearly as he should be. I am also not looking forward to him having to fast - he can't eat or drink anything after bedtime. He really likes to eat and the first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is tell us he wants to eat. Luckily his surgery is first thing in the morning and we won't have to deal with a hungry, cranky boy for too long! Please pray for him - that the surgery will go well and that this will prevent any more ear infections - and I'll let you know how it goes.