My Laplap-makin' man!

April 25

I love when this guy cooks!  Not just because it's a break for me (although that is a big perk) but because he just jumps in and uses whatever he has on hand and turns it into something fun.  Well, this time we had on hand some maniok (aka casava).  And as all of you know, you can make laplap with maniok!!  So that's what he did.  And what's more... he went to our banana tree, which started out about 6 inches tall when Brett gave it to me for my birthday last year and is now about three feet tall, and used the leaves to wrap the laplap mixture in while it cooked.  It's by far the closest thing to laplap I've had off -island.  I know it sounds silly to say it this way, but I love that he's brave when he cooks.  I don't think there is anything wrong with cooking with a recipe (which is my preferred method) but I also love that he just jumps in and tries things out.  I love him all day, my laplap-makin'-man!

    

Backyard camp out!

April 22 - 23

Matt and I have talked more about wanting to take the family camping.  I'm all for it, except that having a toddler (or 3) makes me really nervous while camping.  Who knows how they will sleep, they can wander off or fall in the fire or get stabbed with a stick.  So when Matt suggested that we try camping out in the backyard to see how the kids did sleeping everyone was delighted.  

 

We roasted hotdogs and had chips, lemonade, and watermelon for dinner.  Oliver loved being outside, frequently making happy sqeaks and squawks throughout the night.  He pulls himself up on everything these days, but I thought he was so cute to see his cute face while I was setting things out on the table for dinner.  I get the feeling that he is desperate to be a part of everything.

Then we introduced the Littles to s'mores.  I'd gotten the cookies with chocolate on one side because that seemed like a great way to make s'mores with little people, but it didn't work very well,  They just wanted to eat everything separate.  Oh well. 

       

I got these three red plastic chairs at a yard sale last summer thinking we were on our way to having three little people to use them.  When I came outside and saw them all sitting in the seats (Oliver had a little help from his Daddy) it made me stop and think about how grateful I am for our family.  Bigs and Littles and especially my main squeeze.  Life is pretty darn good.

    

We played some Bocce Ball for a while which was so fun.  Matt and I could trash talk and then kiss for forgiveness, Kate and Daniel loved throwing the balls, and Oliver crawled all over the backyard.  The evening was a little chilly but  not bad.  It was wonderful to be outside.

 

It was a Friday night, which means MOVIE NIGHT!!! (that's how Kate says it... with multiple exclamation marks!!!).  We had air mattresses set up for every one and had Kate and Daniel's tents from Christmas set up over their mattresses - a fun little touch to make it even more fun.  Matt had suggested that we watch "An American Tale" for the movie, which ended up being just perfect.  Daniel doesn't sit still for full length movies, but he was tired enough by this point that he did just fine, snuggling with his Daddy for part of it.  I've always liked the song "Somewhere Out There" from the movie.  It made me teary to watch our little people and thinking of how they are watched over.  

We guessed that it would rain during the night and we weren't sure how Kathryn Elaine would do with that.  Matt and I both looove to hear the rain on a tent so we really enjoyed it.  Kate ended up doing fine until it rained again early in the morning.  She called out to us and we told her to come snuggle under our blankets.  A few minutes after she came over Daniel was at the foot of the air mattress.  We listened to the rain and Matt told an Old Joe story to the kids.  We were quite startled when we heard a "Hello?" from outside the tent.  Tyler poked his head in and smiled.  He was borrowing Matt's car for a date.  We chatted a minute with him, finished the Old Joe story, and then headed inside for some hot chocolate and breakfast.  

I'd say the backyard camp out was a success.

Bike buddies

April 18

We'd wanted to take all the Littles on a bike ride for a while and Matt got an infant seat for the back of my bike recently, and we were finally able to do it!  I was nervous about having Oliver Mac strapped to the back of my bike because I still get a little nervous when I have to unclip my shoe when I stop.  I took him for a few loops around the cul-de-sac and felt ok about it.  The weight distribution is going to take some getting used to, but how could I say no to this little face...! 

 

There is such a great trail just down the hill from us called the Murdock Trail.  The problem is it is just DOWN the hill from us.  That means when we're coming home we would have to go UP the hill (and it's a good hill we'd be coming up).  I didn't want to risk tipping over with Oliver on my bike on the way home, nor did I want to walk up the hill in my bike shoes.  So we drove down to the church next to the trail and set up there.  Look at these little people!

 

We had a great ride.  Oliver is so close behind me that he can, and did, whack my back through the whole ride.  I had to stop several times to tilt his helmet back because it had slid down over his eyes.  I sure love this guy I'm standing next to!  Life is always good when he's around. 

Dinner

April 7

Dinner turned out pretty tonight. I don't get nearly as stressed as I used to about cooking dinner, but it is still something I feel like I'm trying to improve every day.  So... when something turns out yummy or pretty I figure it is worth remembering :o)

Choices and consequences

April 13

I was walking into the house through the garage yesterday and saw pen lines drawn all over the door, wall, and garbage can.   About a week ago I had followed Kate to her hiding spot in her room (in the corner between the crib and the wall) and saw that pen and been scribbled all over the walls and crib.  I asked Kate about it and she said she and Daniel had done it (bless her honest little heart).  So, today was clean up day.  We started in their room where they were introduced to the magic eraser.  They thought it was kind of fun for the first minute, then Daniel said, "All done."  and headed toward the door.  I explained that they had to clean all of the pen off these walls and in the garage.  That's when this picture was taken, during the long drawn out, "Noooooo..." that Kate said in response.  They actually did a pretty good job cleaning up. 

Big sister

April 19
I was working on lunch when Kate got home from preschool so I asked if she could feed Oliver.  She jumped right in to help out.  This may be her new after-school job :)  

I was a little comforted watching her feed Oliver and seeing her mouth open as each spoonful got close to his mouth.  It is almost impossible not to open your mouth as you feed him.  She did a dandy job!

Thanks, Kate!

St.George tournament

 March 18 - 19

We headed down to St. George for baseball tournament in March.  That time of year it is nice to head down to warmer weather.  Since I'm playing catch up so this tournament happened about 5 months ago I don't remember a whole lot of details except that it was super fun!  We stayed in a cool old house across the street from Brigham Young's home.  Shanine worked out all the details (she's stayed there a few times before) and it worked out great.  There were four different units, each with their own bathroom and kitchen but they were all connected so the kids were able to wander through easily.  It was quite fun to have Emily and her friend Spencer, Amy and her friend Allysa, and two other families of boys on the team.  

Matt and I drove down with the Littles and stopped at a park to eat lunch.  We'd brought sandwich makings with us.  It was so pleasant!  We ate at the park where Grandpa Cornishes pioneer statue is in Hurricane (picture further down in the post).  Kate and Daniel had a great time playing outside since it's too cold to be on a playground at home.  Oliver and I hung out while we watched Kate and Daniel play.

   

Here is the statue by Grandpa Cornish.  What a remarkable person he seems to have been.  I'm very much looking forward to meeting him and Grandma Cornish.  I wonder how much they are able to observe or be involved in our lives...

After dinner in the park we headed over to see some baseball!  The Littles were so thrilled to be out running around.  

We all had a good time chatting and munching.  Emily and Spencer came over and helped with the Littles and to set up the tent.  They got extra points for coming over to help :)  When the sun went down it actually got quite chilly.  Daniel was able to get comfortable with a blanket and a bag of chips (where is his mother?).  How darling is this boy?!  

The games were great. They won the tournament, which always makes for a jolly time afterwards. Emily and Spencer took Amy, Allyssa out for ice cream afterwards.  I just love watching them. Sometimes I wish there wasn't such an age gap so the Littles could do things like that with their older siblings.  It is just a joy to see siblings choosing to spend time together.  They are such good kids.

It was a late night for these little people.  They all conked off on the drive home.  

   

Matt, Kate, Daniel, Oliver, and I were all in one room.  That makes for a tricky morning.  Kate woke up first which woke up Daniel.  To try to keep them from waking up Oliver, Matt told them a word story.  It was a fun morning of stories, giggles, trying (and failing) to sneak into the kitchen for a snack (because we were going to go to breakfast all together to celebrate Amy's birthday), and lots of chatting as people got ready.  Really, it was such a fun trip.  

Best picnic spot ever

April 12

We decided to go for a picnic today after picking up Kate from preschool and running errands.  I didn't have a specific park in mind so I just asked Google what the nearest parks were to our location and I picked this park behind the Orem Library.  It'd a good park, fun slides and such, but as I drove up I realized that we'd found the best park ever!  In the parking lot next to it were several large trucks and machines.  Daniel and Kate were both thrilled.  Daniel looooves to watch the trucks but actually gets a little nervous when they are close to him (can't blame him, really.  They're huge!).  So Kate ran back and forth shouting about what the different trucks were doing and Daniel mostly just stood there and watched.  It was fun to watch them.  I love days like this.

Easter and Passover Seder

Here is this year's Easter Egg Hunt Bunch.  We gathered at Caroline's house on the Saturday before Easter (March 26).  She has such a great back yard and house with fun things for the kids.  She also has a real talent for making activities meaningful and fun.

The eggs were hid in the backyard and the kids were chomping at the bit to get out there and get some CANDY!  I love watching the cousins interact with each other.  Josiah volunteered to help Daniel and Alexa ran off hand in hand with Kate.  

     

Kate and Daniel were both very focused on getting eggs.  Daniel wouldn't take his eyes off of one egg he saw while I was taking his picture :)

     

Oliver Mac was delighted to play with the plastic eggs.

     

As I was saying before, Caroline has a knack for making things fun.  This was an activity she'd found where you hallow out real eggs, fill them with confetti and then play Duck, Duck, Goose.  On "Goose" you smash the egg on the unsuspecting soul before you take off running.  The kids loved it!

Daniel was sitting next to Matt, who I thought was monitoring his candy intake.  He was, technically, monitoring what he was eating, he just wasn't limiting what he was eating.  His strategy was to get it all over with now... eat it all now and be done.  

I've wanted to go to the Passover Seder that BYU puts on for a long, long time.  It's been part of my greater desire to understand, appreciate, and celebrate the Easter holiday.  By celebrate I don't mean having cuter decorations or better treats in the baskets (though I'm not opposed to decorations or treats), but that I want to celebrate the atonement (suffering for our sins, dying on the cross, and being resurrected) of Jesus Christ as the greatest act of love ever shown.  I feel like I've missed the meaning and purpose of this holiday and I am on a mission to change that.  I'm excited.  T

BYU has been holding a Passover Seder for 40 years. We were finally able to make it happen this year (April 8).  

Here we are at the Seder, waiting for it to begin. :)

Matt was really interested in coming to the Seder, too, and we talked more about what we knew about Passover before we went.  To be honest, I felt like I knew way to little about Passover.  I'd been to a partial Passover a few years ago with our friends, the Stevens, who's mother was a Jew.  I found the whole experience very interesting.  This year (as it is every year, I think) it was lead by Jeffrey R. Chadwick, a Passover specialist.   Here are a few things that I learned that have stuck with me:

1.  The Passover is a celebration of the origin of the Israelite people.  I am a part of the House of Israel, so I can consider the Passover as part of our family history.  We are as much descended from the Israelites as any Jewish friends are.  

2. There needed to be a way to help the Israelites to remember what the Lord had done for them.  Everything in the meal, even the order of the foods eaten, was symbolic of something.  The word Seder means "order," so the Passover Seder means "The Order of Passover."  It is really quite remarkable that this tradition has lasted for thousands of years.  There is power in symbolism, it's just unfortunate when what they symbols represent are not recognized or accepted.  

3.  Some aspects of the meal had to change, such as no longer eating lamb.  Because the lamb had to be slain in the temple and the temple had been destroyed.  So, no more lamb.  But there was a lamb bone to represent the lamb that used to be eaten.

The Matza (unleavened bread) that they ate because there was not time for the bread dough to rise when they were thrust out of Egypt.

The whole Passover Seder is a very long event, going on for hours.  There is a booklett, the Passover Haggadah, that is used so as not to forget or skip any part.  Bro. Chadwick said something that really struck me.  He said that Israel became lost not because they didn't know where they were, but because they forgot.   He ended the evening by explaining that the Savior was at the Last Supper - a Passover Seder - and used the ritual foods to institute the sacrament.  He began with what they knew and taught them new truths.  I've been thinking about the sacrament and the temple and the ability of symbols to teach me new truths if I will let it, if I will "always remember" the Savior.  I look forward to going again and learning more.  It was a lovely evening with Matthew Jared that has provided much food for thought since.