Easter

Today we all met together for the third hour of church.  I sat there enthralled in the videos, quotes and messages that were shared.  I particularly loved this one, maybe because I love hearing Elder Holland …

This quote stood out as well,

"I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.  But the doom of that day did not endure.  The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.  Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.  But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.  No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come."       Joseph B. Wirthlin

I LOVE Easter.  I LOVE what it signifies.  I LOVE my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Uncle Drew

I know that Easter and Spring Break are all around, but so is March Madness.  :)

I just had to do one more basketball post.  :)

March Madness

I LOVE this time of year!  The brackets are filled out and teams are cheered on.  I love trying all the yummy Pinterst snacks as we watch the games.  I LOVE that the kids understand the game of basketball and get excited at various plays of the game.  I enjoy seeing a good coach run his team.  I enjoy seeing the underdog come out and take over a big team.

Jerrica filled out a bracket this year.  It’s her first year doing it, AND she is actually winning.  Money is on the line so the kids are quite anxious to be the winner.  Stephen pays out the winner, so he is quite anxious to KEEP his money and is trying desperately to win as well.

Anyway, just had to say how much I enjoy this time of year!  :)

Parent Teacher Conference

Am I going to survive Ashley?  Seriously, am I?!?

Last week I went to parent teacher conferences for the girls.  The first two were for the big girls.

“Rebecca is by far the top writer in our class.  Her writing skills are very advanced….”  “Kaylee is an incredible test taker.  She must love the challenge of a test, because she seems to always ace them…”

Then I see Kaylee’s drawing of Gabby Douglas that is hung on the wall, and I’m thinking these girls have got it going on!  :)

Then I go to Ashley’s teacher, and the mood changes.  A behavior report comes out.  The teacher wants to discuss AGAIN what the principal had called me about the day before…. :/ 

According to Ashley, she was standing in line minding “her own big fat business” and the boy in front of her turned around and spit in her face.  She then proceeded to punch him in the stomach for doing it.  When asked why, she said “because spitting is disgusting and now I have boy germs all over me”.  The principal then asked why she didn’t use her words and tell a teacher.  She then informed him that “Sometimes when you only use words, the person forgets what you are telling them but when you use a punch they are not going to forget to not spit on you.”

Oh that girl!  The principal gets such a kick out of her and just loves her.  (Probably the valentine she gave him a couple of months ago)  Both the vice principal AND principal talked to her together.  I guess she wasn’t a bit shy or scared and fully thought she was in the right for punching the boy.  She has such a strong personality.

I hope I stay sane with this girl of mine.  :/

Jake’s Swim Meet

Jacob is swimming for high school.  There are 30 boys on his team.  He has eight practices a week, which is killing me mentally and him physically!  This week he had his first high school swim meet.  He was a little bit nervous and wasn’t swimming in events that he felt comfortable in.  I bought him a new towel for good luck.

Stephen and I were both able to be there to cheer him on.   He is solid muscle and so fun to watch.  I couldn’t be prouder watching him swim against these big Senior boys.  We sure love you Jacob!

Kaylee’s Mall Party

The unsuspecting victim thought she was out for the night with her parents, going to a Greek restaurant….

However, we had a surprise in store for the birthday girl.  Can I just say that I love surprise parties, especially when they are actually a surprise!

  She is way into taking pictures and instagram, combined with the mall, I thought it would be perfect for 12 year olds.  I invited a few soccer friends, and then a few school friends.  We split into two teams so that the girls would feel comfortable in their own groups.  I had Kaylee switch teams halfway during the scavenger hunt because I knew she would want to be with both.

I had two very sweet friends help out with the teams.  I gave each one of the teams a flashy purse that had a mall directory, pen, scavenger list, change for candy dispensers, and then giftcards for some of the activities.

Here are a couple of candids….

 

We ended with blizzards from Dairy Queen at the food court. 

Kaylee had a blast!  Happy 12th My Kaylee Girl!

Random

This last weekend the boys both had basketball tournaments.  It was fun to have my mom and dad in town to watch the boys play.  It was a lot of running back and forth to the different tournaments.  Nathan had an incredible tournament.  He made 20 points in his first game and 21 points in his last game.  I so enjoy watching basketball!

I volunteered to help out being the chorister for the Primary kids in our church on Sunday.  I went down and dug in my singing time bag for something to use.  As I looked at all of the stuff and ideas I have, I realized that I should do a post and share some of the ideas. 

I chose my big mouth with the cardboard covered teeth that have songs on the back of them.  The kids love pulling the big fat teeth out. 

I’m actually working in the Relief Society organization of our church right now.  Last week we put on a big birthday dinner.  The decorations turned out so cute and the dinner was delicious!  At the end of the program and dinner we let the sisters make gratitude journals.  We also made extra for the young women in our Ward.  I made one for Kaylee, since she is 12 now.  I always smile as I listen and watch women working on creative projects together.

 

I finished one book and launched into another really good book.  I was surprised when mom was here, that she had already read it.  Have any of you read this one?

We finished the weekend off by eating at Texas Roadhouse with my parents, my brother and his girlfriend.  Lots of laughter and delicious food.  I sure could use one of their rolls and cinnamon butter right now!  :)

Enough of the randomness, on to another week!

Birthday

My sweet Kaylee turned 12 today!  Oh how I love this girl of mine!

Family, grandparents, friends and a list of special things that she can do

because she is 12.  Today was awesome for her!

Pi Day

Pi Day is always fun.  The kids eat loads of round foods, including pie.  They do projects and crafts that relate to pi.  Yet, the favorite tradition each year is the Pi T-shirt. 

On the front of the t-shirt it says, “A Peace of Pi” and on the back was a big peace sign with the pi number in it.  I think March 14th will always stand out to my kids because the school makes such a big deal of the day!

Stephen LOVES pie.  Rebecca came home and said, “Mom we had 13 different kinds of pies on the food table.  I thought of dad and how he would have been in heaven to see it.” :)

Jerrica and Her Dad

Stephen started working from home a year before Jerrica was born.  She has grown up having him here, around her every day.  They are VERY close with each other and anytime Stephen is out of town, it is Jerrica that misses him the most.  She LOVES her dad!

She takes treats into him.  She climbs up on his lap to read with him.  She draws pictures for him.  She is just totally smitten with her dad.  I in turn think that she has Stephen wrapped around her little finger.

Our Hands

These hands of ours are busy everyday doing activities that we enjoy.  Jerrica constantly has a book in hand that she is reading to her dolls or siblings.

Nathan just received his Life badge.  He has a slew of merit badges.  All he needs is a few more camp outs and his Eagle project.  I’m so glad that he has a fire under him right now to get it all done.

Ashley is always writing a story or drawing a masterpiece.  Her hands constantly have a pencil wedged in them!

Stephen is always tapping away on his computer trying to earn money to support all of us.  We sure appreciate how hard he works!

 

Ipods and phones are always being used to play games and communicate with friends.

 

Jacob is swimming for high school.  They practice EIGHT times a week!  He was jumping out of the van for a practice and I told him I wanted a picture of his goggles.  “Mom, you can find a picture of goggles online”  I replied that I sure could, BUT they wouldn’t have HIS hand in the picture!  :)

 

I don’t mention the piano as much as I should.  It is a BIG part of our days around here.  From Jacob all the way down to Ashley, they all play.  They each practice 30 minutes every day.   It is expected of them and they know they can’t do other things if they don’t.  The piano is always going and they are getting to be quite the pianists.  I love listening to their songs.

 

That’s a glimpse of our hands.  We are busy and we are grateful to be busy!

A Book and Silly Girls

Jerrica found this book at the library last week.  The girls were having a blast sticking their faces in it.  The expressions they would make, fit the illustrations so perfectly!

It was filled with so many more fun illustrations.  We laughed and giggled until our cheeks hurt. 

What a creative idea for a book! 

AND what a Perfect Title!

Flowers

Two of my sisters have lost little boys.  I have always wanted them to know that these little boys are not forgotten to us.  So every year since they have passed away I have had flowers sent to my sisters on each of their boys’ birthdays.  Daxston’s is on Christmas Eve, and then last Friday was Jordan’s birthday.  It has been 14 years since he has passed away.   I can’t believe it has been that long ago.

ANYWAY, to my surprise on Friday I had a bouquet delivered to MY doorstep.  At first, I couldn’t figure out what was going on.  Then I read the card and realized that my sister, Kristy had sent ME a bouquet thanking me for the yearly bouquets on this day.

Isn’t it gorgeous!  What a thoughtful Thank You.  Sure love you Spillane’s!

Library

When I married Stephen he had library cards from Las Vegas to Hawaii.  Everywhere he had lived and been, he had gotten a library card.  The man loves to read!

So it was no surprise that we would frequent the library with our kids.  We have been going to Storytime since the boys were little.  Jerrica and I still make our weekly Storytime trek to the library each week.

Sometimes I browse around and find books for the other kids that I think they will enjoy.  I try and keep a list on my phone of book recommendations.

After our nightly routine, the kids are allowed to stay up in their beds and read. 

      

We are so lucky to have libraries filled with books for us to enjoy.  There is nothing like going to a different place or time period and being around a variety of characters that become instant friends.  LOVE it!

Chocolate Bunnies

Saw this on Pinterest tonight and it made me smile…

It also made me want some chocolate…

The Talks

Last week we had a blizzard blow through the Springs.  Part of our church was canceled because of it.  So instead of three hours, we just had the first hour.  I told the kids that I wanted each of them to prepare a 2 minute talk to share with the family that evening.

Ashley was WAY into this.  She begged that we could do this for church EVERY week.  When it came time to share our talks, we went youngest to oldest.  I smiled as Jerrica forgot most of the parts to her story.  Ashley pretty much performed her talk.  Rebecca then shared a story from the Friend magazine in a very organized, Rebecca manner.  Then Kaylee got up for her talk.  Tears came to me as I remembered the experience she shared with the family. 

She told of a time when her and I were coming home from a soccer game, and as we got into the Springs a blizzard was making the road conditions horrible.  We were worried that we wouldn’t make it home because of the icy roads.  She then talked about the prayer she offered on our behalf for our safety as we drove.  She went on explaining to the kids that when we did arrive home and pulled into the garage, how I stopped her from jumping out and asked if she would once again pray with me.  I had wanted to express gratitude for making it home safe and also pray for those still out on those treacherous roads.  She concluded with how special that second prayer was to her and how she learned that we need to be sure and thank our Heavenly Father.

I remembered the incident and the two prayers.  I remembered thinking to myself that I needed to express gratitude in my prayer that night, but then on second thought decided to do it right then with Kaylee.  It was that second thought that proved to be a teaching moment.  How many times do I miss those second thoughts that really stand out to my kids?  A lot I’m sure!  I am so grateful for those that I don’t miss and the impact they make on my kids.

Random

It’s time for another random post! 

Jerrica lost another tooth.  Literally LOST it!  We couldn’t find it anywhere and there were lots of tears thinking that the tooth fairy was not going to come.  I distracted her by having her write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining the problem.  I LOVEd her picture she drew on the front, along with how she spelled “fairy”.



I found this link to a very talented lady that is sharing the “most funnest” journal pages.  I have saved them to disc and am excited to print them up in a couple of journal books.  Check them out HERE.


She has them filled with quotes, cute borders, and awesome prompt ideas.  How sweet of her to share all of that work!

I’ve been reading like crazy because we are heavily into sports right now and there is always time as I wait here or there.  I finished this Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity .



What a glimpse into India!  I was amazed at how widespread the corruption is in the hospitals, markets, police, slums … no one has money in the middle and lower classes.  Everyone is constantly collecting extra money under the table to just do their job, because their real job doesn’t pay enough. 

The author of this book is incredible!  She is married to an Indian man and her research for the book and writing abilities are amazing.  I couldn’t put it down.  Then I went from a slum in India to my current book now that is set in a dump in Cambodia.  I really need a happy light read after these!

Speaking of books, two different blog readers suggested these children’s books.  They were right, we LOVED them!  If you get a chance to buy or pick up these titles, they are so fun to read with the rhyme and illustrations. Here is a link to one of them -Waking Beauty



The Circus Ship also by Chris Van Dusen is such a clever story woven with beautiful rhyme.

AND one last random, favorite thing.


My friend, Kim brought a bag of these over and I downed them in no time flat!  Why do they only sell them at Easter, and why are they never in stock?!?!?!?