I Actually Took Pictures!

Life has been craaaazy lately. I’ve been so busy with work, kids, and life in general (did I mention I have another big test in about four weeks? Yeah…I need to start studying for that) that my phone hasn’t been out a whole lot. I did want to document our fun Easter weekend, though. It started out with a couple egg hunts and ended with Fiesta shoe box parade float making and pie (can it end any better?)

At the beginning of the neighborhood egg hunt.
There were tons of eggs!
She was able to fill her basket pretty quickly. Unfortunately for her, every single egg had a temporary tattoo in it, which we avoid putting on her because they irritate her skin. She still had fun collecting them, though.
Cheesin’ it up for Paul.
I spent a good portion of my Saturday morning making these signs (there are seven all together) for my grade level Fiesta party. I made the signs on poster board, glued them to cardboard, and then dismantled a Fiesta banner to use for the bottom.
This was another thing I did on Saturday: strawberry pie!
We also had an egg hunt to take part in at the ward Easter party. They took a different approach. The kids collected as many eggs as they wanted, but all of them were empty. Then they turned in their eggs for a goody bag.
Abigail had a blast!
Joseph didn’t collect eggs (well, he did find some of the harder hid ones meant for the older kids), but he had fun hanging with us and his friends.
Easter baskets!
My handsome boy!
She was excited to get this plushie.
Paul taped things off, Abigail helped paint, I did the little drawings, and Abigail started to add stickers.
Joseph got a Beyblade in his basket, so he spent a lot of time battling this afternoon.
Abigail loved watching them spin.
With her finished float.
Paul used twisties to hold down the unicorns. He made holes through the box and secured them kind of like they secure toys in boxes.
This is a beautiful Easter diorama that we got from Paul’s former foster mom, Barbara. I love that she thinks of such thoughtful gifts for us.
The literal fruits of my labor (and some sugar, whipped cream, and pie crust, haha).

Pictures of…Plants :)

This past week I did not take any pictures…at all. No pictures of the kids, nothing. Luckily, Paul took some pictures of some of our plants that we’ve (and I use that “we’ve” very, very loosely…Paul has done everything) been growing. The garlic and potatoes were kind of an experiment. We’ve grown tomatoes every year, but this is the first year we’ve successfully grown them from seeds and transplanted the seedlings into larger pots. They haven’t been too happy with the cooler temps, so we’ll see if they start taking off once it starts being consistently warmer. The potato plants prefer cooler temps, so they’ve been growing like crazy and the garlic right along with it. Garlic mashed potatoes, anyone? 😉

We’ve got garlic growing!
We’re probably going to have more potatoes than we know what to do with (this is one of multiple containers).
The tomatoes have not been sure about the cooler weather we’ve been having. They much prefer warmer temps!

As for what our family has been up to, we’ve all been pretty busy. Paul has been busy at work getting his guys settled into their new office and making sure everything is up and running the way it’s supposed to be. I’ve been busy at work because it’s always busy, but now we’re really gearing up to review for STAAR (the end of the year standardized test), so life is…crazy. The kids have been handling having two full-time working parents like champs. I’m trying to be better about asking for help and Paul has been amazing at stepping up to the plate (sometimes literally on days I’m rolling in right at dinner time and he’s got it either completely prepped or ready and waiting). I’m so blessed with my eternal companion!

Time To Chill!

This week provided a much-needed time to chill for 3/4 of the family (Paul still was working). I did a little bit of work right at the beginning of break (mainly report cards and a bit of lesson planning), but for the most part, I made myself not open my computer. We also had the time change back to Daylight Savings Time, so the kids’ sleep schedule (mainly Abigail) was a bit off. We didn’t really go anywhere or do anything out of the ordinary. Normally I’m itching to take the kids somewhere and do something with them, but after the last couple of months, I was ready to do…nothing. I’ll make it up to them over summer break. 😉 The weather also was a bit wonky-donky (some days were warm and sunny while other days were cold, windy, and rainy…today included). I’ve just got today and tomorrow left before reality hits me in the face in the form of Paul’s alarm going off at 5AM and knowing that I actually have to get up (instead of rolling over and snuggling down in the covers like I have been doing). Just nine more weeks! 😀

Going down the slide. She asked me to take her picture so that she could see how good she was getting at it. 😀
It’s hard to see (and Abigail knocked it down with a rake before I could get back to photograph it better), but there is a spiderweb here, with a spider in it. If you look slightly above and to the right of the leaf, there’s a white smudge. That white smudge is a mass of web that is hiding the spider. I walked up to the web (I could see it from the back porch) and the spider was more in the center of the web. As I got closer, it scurried up and into the mass of web (it was kind of cup-shaped, so it hid the spider well). Nature is amazing!
I’ve been eyeing this Ms. Marvel bag for a while and it finally dropped in price to where I felt I could justify getting it. I also grabbed one for Tracie, since her birthday is coming up. 😀
These two have been friends for probably 6-7 years now. They don’t get to hang out too often, but when they do, they seem to be able to pick up right where they left off.
I was on my way home from getting the car washed after a busy morning with the kids (I left them home when I went to get the car washed because I knew they’d be happier at home than at the car wash, haha) and I realized I hadn’t eaten anything…and it was almost 2:00. I swung through a drive-thru on the way home and splurged with a shake. This is me finishing up my meal in the car so that nobody (*ahem* Abigail) would ask where there’s was. 😉
Paul is getting me really set up with a home office. He brought up the idea of setting me up with a monitor so that I could have two screens open at once. This is a game changer. This way, I can have one screen open with my grade book and another screen open with whatever program I’m pulling grades from. It’s way more efficient than having to click back and forth between tabs!
This is Paul’s new set-up. He gave me the monitor he had been using and got himself a new one. This is helpful for him when he’s working from home (he often needs to have several tabs open at once, so it makes way more sense to have separate screens instead) and makes online gaming more fun.
Blowing bubbles. I love that she still loves the little things!
Hey, look! It’s the resident tween!
He heard me whispering about “such a rare sight to see one in the wild” and how I “needed to document its presence.” 😉
Paul got me a desk pad (kind of like a giant mouse pad). It’s nice to be able to rest my wrists on something softer than the desk and it’s pretty!