News from April

April began with a few attempts at April Fool's day jokes.  I tried making an April Fool’s Day dinner that I read about on blogs from last year.  Something like this, with cupcakes for dessert (mini meat loaf with colored mashed potatoes and a cherry tomato on top).  The kids were mostly just confused about what was going on, but it was still fun seeing their reaction and figuring out what things were.  Ashley’s reaction was the best.  She is a very picky eater.  So she was delighted with a cupcake on her dinner plate.  She went right to work taking off the wrapper.  When she finally discovered it wasn’t actually cake her world just fell apart.  She collapsed in a pile of tears and wails.  It took some persuasion to convince her to try her peas.  I never thought I’d hear myself say “Eat more of your cupcake if you want some more peas!”

Easter was nice.  On a whim I bought some material and stayed busy during the week making simple matching skirts for the girls.  We dyed eggs, had Easter egg hunts, and had a nice Easter dinner with two other families before Bryan took off for Washington D.C. for a conference.   

Dallin is pretty good at balancing and can take many steps in a row, but he still prefers crawling.  He loves being outside playing with push toys, chasing after balls, picking petals off pansies, eating dirt, playing in puddles, etc.   

Ashley is breaking out of her shell, bit by bit.  I had to drag her out of the car for her annual doctor appointment this week.  But by the end of the visit she was actually conversing with the doctor.  Progress!  

Colby loves playing on his soccer team.  He has also been playing a lot of basketball in our driveway and is getting pretty good.  I volunteered him for an education research study today at Vanderbilt.  He was supposed to wear this cap with a lot of wires and electrical nodes everywhere that measured brain waves while he played a computer game.  He liked the computer game, but not the cap.   

Sienna is learning to sing “Bring Him Home” from Les Mis, with Bryan accompanying.  She likes writing stories, poems, and songs.