Shakespear Shuffle

Spring Break 

Jeremy didn't have any extra time to take off of work so we didn't really go anywhere for spring break but we did all of our favorite local things & had fun at home.  

Of course the kids insisted we go to Branson.  I'm not sure what exactly the love about it so much but they do.  It was a beautiful day.

This is how Justy feels about chocolate frozen yogurt.

And this is how Dallen feels about pineapple frozen yogurt.

H & H kind of on a big brother date.  They wanted to sit across the restaurant in the cool chairs.

Eating flour off the floor is fun for anyone

One day we spent the entire day outside!  Literally from 9:30am to almost 6pm.

Oh how cool.

There were parks to be played at

And picnics to be eaten

And boxes to hide in

And sombrero's to wear

To end the day we went to our favorite Busiek Park to throw rocks in the water, have a bonfire, eat good food & use our dutch oven for the very first time.  We made the BEST apple crisp ever.  Really, ever.  It was less crispy & more just a big mushy mess but it was amazing.  We need to go back soon.  

We brought vanilla ice cream in our cooler & that may have been the best idea I've ever had.

 

St. Patty's day celebration was on Saturday because I forgot it was on Sunday but we probably would have done it on Saturday anyways.  Well anyway, we copied my SIL's idea & made rainbow cupcakes with gold candy on top.  The kids had a lot of fun making it with me.  It's interesting to have 4 kids in the kitchen helping-usually my limit is 2.  We had to do everything on the floor :)

Here is our green lunch-no one liked the jello or the pudding or my homemade cilantro-lime vinaigrette.  At least the mac n' cheese & cupcakes were a hit!

Jeremy was in charge of taking the kids on a leprechaun hunt at the cave park.  He hid 4 leaf clovers with clues on them all over the park & it eventually led to the leprechaun being captured along with the gold at the end of the rainbow.  It was fun!  The park was crazy busy & the kids were worried someone else would find our little guy first so they were extra speedy running around. 

This family is looking GOOD in green I think.  We need more of it in our wardrobes.

 

I loved having Hyrum home for 10 days straight & it's gotten me so excited for summer break when he can be home for months!  The first thing he did on the first morning of his break was read to Dallen for 20 minutes on the couch so I could clean up breakfast (ahem... & maybe dinner from the night before).  

Such a sweet boy.

There was no end to the wide variety of houses, caves, space ships, pirate boats etc. being built all week long. I am amazed at how often the kids build things out of our pillows, blankets, mattresses yet it's different every single time.  Amazing.

This weird thing happened one morning.  The kids (all 5 of them) played together perfectly for a few hours.  You don't know how odd that is & how happy it made me.  It's not that they fight constantly they just don't all play together like that like ever.  They're usually doing their own things or it only lasts for a little bit or they do fight or just a couple of them play together.  All 5 of them all morning long.

I TRIED my best to do school stuff & chores every day.  For the first half I did great & then the last few days I got lazy-oh well!

Another must was a sleepover.  It's funny because the 3 oldest always sleep together in one room & Justy sometimes joins them on the floor but there is something special about doing it in the living room :)  My roommies & neighbors at BYU & I used to do this all the time- drag our stuff out in the living room & we'd sleep out there.  It was so fun.

Another perfect day at the park.  Dallen learned to love the slide!

 

And it hailed.  A lot!

And we had our huge, ginormous Relief Society birthday celebration for church.  Being in Relief Society (organization for women) is really teaching me a lot & helping me do things I would never do on my own which is good.  But I'll be happy to go back to Primary or Young Women's any time any day!