Geocaching

We gave our family a GPS toy for Christmas and until today, we hadn't even taken it out farther than our back deck! Since it was a balmy 50 degrees, I took the boys out to find a cache this afternoon. It was an easy one and we found it pretty quick, but I think it was enough to get us started. There are tons to find just within 10 miles of our house! The boys were pretty excited and now maybe we will make our own cache for other people to find.
Before that, we cleaned the house & did laundry and got haircuts. Later, we had dinner at KFC, then did some home improvement shopping - I have plans! We played some Wii games and had ice cream before the boys went to bed. What a great day!

Harlem Globetrotters!

Since Ryan & Justin just finished their basketball season, our whole family has been playing ball and shooting hoops. Last night I took the boys to see the Harlem Globetrotters! I had only seen them do tricks on TV but I knew the boys would have fun watching the game. It was cool. Ryan really got into it and wants a new basketball so he can work on some moves. (I don't know why the 6 balls we already have won't work!) It was a fun night with my boys!

Happy Easter!

We've had a pretty normal Sunday except for the huge dinner requested by my family. Fortunately for them, I love to cook! We had ham, scalloped potatoes, deviled egg chicks, and rolls. We'll be having leftovers all week. Yesterday Ryan was a baking ninja! We made waffles from scratch, then the rolls for today, then this awesome bunny cake. Ryan really likes to cook and it was fun to have someone helping in the kitchen! Now we have to work on the cleaning up... The Easter Bunny hid tons of candy-filled eggs and brought bucket of treats for the boys. I think this is the first year I didn't get a picture of each of them with their stuff - does that mean I'm getting older and don't care, or are the boys just not as cute as they were? I'm sure it's me. We did have a very nice Easter Sacrament Meeting today and I am grateful for the chance to spend a little time thinking about the Savior and the Atonement and Resurrection. Seems like we almost skipped over all the important stuff this year. I learned a few things though, and I am so thankful to have the gospel and a little bit of understanding about Heavenly Father's plan for us. Todd also spoke and he did a really good job. Hope your Easter was full of nice things too!
Happy Easter Everyone!

More of our Texas Spring Break

We did a lot of stuff but only took a few pictures. We were just having too much fun to mess with the camera. We drove to Texas on Friday afternoon. Saturday we went to Six Flags Over Texas all day - too much fun! Sunday we went to the Stockyards - an old-style cowboy area of town where they still have a cattle drive every day right down the middle of the street. From there, we went to an art museum where they were showing a really great collection of Biblical art from the early Christian times. It was so interesting! Then we saw Horton Hears a Who! On Monday (we thought it was going to rain) we went to a neat bakery/cafe for breakfast then the Dallas Museum of Science & Natural History, and an I-max show (I fell asleep) and a planetarium show (I fell asleep again). Then we gave into the boys whining and went back to the hotel so they could swim. Tuesday it really was raining so we went to the Federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing and saw BILLIONS of dollars! (They don't let you get very close to it though!) Then we went to the Dallas World Aquarium - along with everyone else in Texas who wanted to stay out of the rain - it was packed! Wednesday we drove back home and just enjoyed the quiet. It sounds like we did a lot of things, but our days weren't so crammed that we couldn't relax. We like taking trips together but it's always nice to come back home and have a little more space to move around, "real" not restaurant food, and sleep in our own beds.

Texas Spring Break Slide Show

My Piano Men

I love that my boys are taking piano lessons! They had a recital on Sunday & I'm so proud of them! This was Justin's first performance and he was so relaxed and comfortable. He's a ham. Ryan doesn't like to play in front of other people, but he had practiced his song to death so he did great. Tyler picks up new songs very easily, then he likes to move on to another one, but he spent a long time perfecting and polishing his piece.
AAAAAAAARRRHRHHRHRGGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
That is the sound of me screaming in frustration at this marvel of modern life (my computer)! I've tried and tried and the video won't upload - don't know what I'm doing wrong.
So, if you call our house when the kids are practicing, you can hear them making beautiful music!

Pinewood Derby Day!

Friday was Justin's very first Pinewood Derby in Cub Scouts. After watching his big brothers build and race cars, he was so excited to have the chance to do it himself, he could hardly stand it. He designed the car, helped shape it with the Dremel, sanded it smooth, painted it green with a black lightning bolt on top, sanded the wheels and advised me on grinding the axels smooth, lubed the wheels, and glued on the weights! I am proud of how much of the actual work he really did! I only helped some and nailed in the axels for him (which I did wrong). But Justin's car did great! He got 3rd place in a group of about 10 although there were some kids there who had very spiffy cars - there's no way the kids did all that work! I was worried that Justin would be upset about not winning 1st since that's all he talked about, but he is a good sport and is already planning improvements to his design for next year. Watch out, scouts!