I made something for me.

This chair in the family room had been in dire need of some sort of pillow for a long time. It turned out probably 2-3 inches shorter than I had in mind, but you get used to it.

Head Gear...

I had been upstairs for a moment, and when I came down I found Afton laying on the ground where I'd left her, only she was sporting this fetching hat.

Courtesy of one Emma Cruze.

Hunting

Due to freezing rain on the day we had previously planned it, the kids' egg hunt at Grammy and Grandpa's was held this past week. It was a hit as always, I don't remember the exact amount of cash each kid hunted this year, but no one went home disappointed. Lydia was allowed a 30 second head start before anyone else, then Claire and Josh got to join her for about an additional 30 seconds, then all of the big kids rushed the yard and it was over in a flash searching and gathering. Those kids are serious about finding those eggs. But none was quite so serious as Carter, who remained dedicated to finding the unfound egg with a $5 bill in it for at least an hour after every other kid had given up. His persistence was rewarded.

All together now...

Just one of the many (many) things I love about our kids. These magnetic letters on our fridge get rearranged regularly. Sometimes sorted by color, sometimes in the proper ABC order, sometimes completely random, but every few days they always come back to this: It's been that way since we got them, as far as I can remember.
At first just "Emma", "Ben" and "Lydia" were united with "Josh" floating off to the side all by himself. After some time like that, the kids had the bright idea to spell out "Joshua" instead so that he could be connected. Then of course Afton joined us, and luckily with a little creative use of the Q and Z she fit right in as well.
I love that they love each other. I want that to stay strong and defining through all their years. I want them to remember as they grow up how important it is to stick together, to support and help each other. They need to know that even if every other kid at school or where ever is coming down on one of them, at least four other people have got their back.
That's probably why one of our favorite go-to scriptures is Mosiah 4:14-15,
And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the devil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness. But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.
(Emphasis on the loving and serving each other.)

Little Sneak

Caught red-handed.

Not the first time.

Nor the last.

More Grosgrain Goodness

I want to win this!

For the birthday girls

For Emma's friend, Hannah: a messenger-style bag, with the flap made of a year-old abandoned baby blanket in progress. The snaps gave me trouble, as did the linen, and I should have squared off the bottom. That said, Hannah still liked it.

Not pictured: a spring bag for Lisa and a mother/daughter set of aprons for Julie. Both were given a couple of weeks late for their birthdays. In my rush to deliver I forgot to take photos. D'oh!

Happy Easter

Afton was not in the mood for photos, she only made into a couple of shots before retiring to the photographer's hip (which is a real shame, because her dress was pretty). We ended up with a really nice, sunny day. A nice break from all the rain we've been having.

Poor Fifth-Born Child

I haven't been taking nearly enough photos of her. I tried to make up for it the other day. Afton's interests and hobbies include drooling, grabbing her feet, eating her fingers, squealing, cooing, rolling over, kicking her legs, and going to bed at a decent hour (yea!).

As promised...Emma = Knitter

All of this school year Emma has been attending a twice-monthly, after-school knitting club. Her first project was this awesome scarf she made for herself (I've requested one of my own for my birthday). I'm so impressed with her. One of these days I need for her to teach me how. I'll trade her for my new-found (via Enrichment night at church) knowledge of crochet. It's addicting. I gave Lydia my first rectangle (as in, it's not really supposed to be anything, it's just the shape that came about when I learned) and called it a scarf too, in hopes that she'll stop snatching Emma's.

Cross stitching at Grammy's

Over spring break Grammy invited Emma and Sydney over for a slumber/cross stitching party. Emma loves to do things with her hands and is getting better and better at it. (I need to share her knitting work soon.) This was the second of such get-togethers (of many, hopefully!). Practicing a new skill was great, and she had just as much fun staying up late and getting a break from all the boys/little kids around here. The next day the three girls headed to the Apple Cake Tea Room for lunch, a quintessential place for females to enjoy a meal. Thanks, Grammy!

Lydia

My mom snapped these photos the day that Afton was blessed. One of Lydia's favorite things is wearing my shoes. Anytime she is in our bedroom she goes straight for the closet (or jumping on the bed). These are her favorite pair.

Josh = Five

Can that really be possible? Is my little guy actually going to kindergarten in the fall? It doesn't seem right (or fair) somehow.

Josh entered our lives in a big way (as in, a nine-pounds-nine-ounces kind of big way). As time went on, it seemed that his large size was some sort of foreshadowing to his large personality. Josh has always had energy. He was a wild and crazy toddler; always on the move, always bouncing, running, crashing, yelling. He was so different from our mild-mannered Emma and Ben that it took us awhile to figure him out. Once we did however, we grew to appreciate his passion. Now, at five years old, his outstanding characteristic is his generosity. When asked to share one of his grapes with Lydia he gives her six ("three for each hand..."). He often suggests that some object of his which is coveted by siblings "can be both of ours!" with genuine enthusiasm. He got a Gameboy for his birthday and over the next couple of days when I would have given him leave to be just a little selfish with it, Ben and Emma played it at least as much as he did. He is also full to overflowing with confidence, the boy does not know a stranger. We love every single thing about our Josh.

And so, we had a fun birthday with him. He requested a doughnut cake. "Doughnuts instead of a cake?" I asked hopefully (because that would be easy to make/buy). No, a cake that looks like a doughnut. With blue frosting. And sprinkles. Here's what we came up with.

I cut it out of a bigger rectangle cake. All that leftover cake was the perfect opportunity to try out making these Bakerella goodies:

They turned out super delicious and were a huge hit with the kids.

Emma and Ben made Josh this cool joshua tree shirt (ala various online tutorials, including this one). My only regret from our big trip out west a couple of years ago was that we never stopped along the side of the road between LA and Vegas to take a photo of Josh with one of the hundreds of joshua trees we passed along the way. Oh well, at least now he has a shirt.