Spring Weekend

We're halfway through April and still haven't seen much in the way of Spring around here, but last weekend we FINALLY got a couple consecutive warm days so we made sure to enjoy them while they lasted. (It was snowing all day again today! Gah!) Bridger and I had already spent most of Friday outside.  He insisted we have our lunch on the deck, and who can say no to a request like that!?  Dean ended up at the school until nearly 9pm with stage crew responsibilities, so the boys and I hit up the local park and had a great time playing, taking a nature hike, and seeing the ducks. We were also pretty grateful for the warm weather the next morning as we had the boys' first soccer games of the season on Saturday.

So Long Teeth

Last Wednesday we were gearing up for a crazy night.  We had Landon and Braddock's first soccer practices of the season, and Dean was going to take Tanner to a doctors appointment and then the two of them would be heading straight to the Church for Cub Scouts and Bishop responsibilities.  We were supposed to somehow squeeze in dinner and homework as well.  That was of course the plans until Braddock's bus arrived and he tripped getting out of his seat and hit the bus floor face first.  The bus driver beckoned for me to come on up and I helped Braddock up to then see that his mouth was bleeding.  I carried him off the bus just figuring his teeth must have cut his lip, but after further investigation I realized it was a lot worse than that.  His piercing screams should have been an indication, but he's been known to be dramatic in the past.  His top two front teeth were smashed in, and bleeding like crazy.  Dean immediately called the dentist while I held my frantic boy, admittedly feeling a bit frantic myself.  Luckily they were still open and said to bring him in as fast as we could.  We threw everyone in the van and traveled at lightning speed.  Even the receptionist was impressed at how quickly we arrived.  I guess that's what adrenaline will do for ya.  Braddock had screamed the entire drive, not even pausing for the prayer we offered.  But the prayer sure worked, because he didn't even wince after entering the dentists office.  Despite the awful circumstances we saw lots of tender mercies.  The last appointment of the day ended up canceling so they could take us right in.   After a quick x-ray that showed the teeth were indeed fractured, the dentist pumped Braddock with laughing gas, numbed him right up, and then had those teeth removed in a matter of minutes.  In fact Braddock actually ran out of the office when it was all over as if nothing ever happened.  In the meantime Dean ran Tanner to his appointment, we snagged some pizza and dropped the two of them off at the Church and managed to make it to the tail end of Landon's soccer practice before running back out to get them at the Church.  Braddock was a bit sore for a couple days, but he's even managed to eat corn-on-the-cob since and has adjusted just fine.  It's not something we'd ever like to repeat, but we are grateful for the little miracles that made things bearable.  God is definitely in the details.  And apparently if you lose your first two teeth that way, the Tooth Fairy brings you a $10 bill ring and a note for all your troubles.  She even let him keep his two teeth as a memento.

Science Extravaganza

Braddock and Landon had a big Science and Steam day at their school last week.  Braddock saw how Tanner and Landon had dressed last year, so he insisted he do the same now that it was his turn to participate too.  Landon opted out this time, but Braddock was cute enough for the two of them.  He apparently cracked everyone at school up.  Dean even heard about it at the High School.  This kid and his antics just never get old.

Backpack Baby

One night at dinner the boys were all telling Bridger how they wanted to sneak him onto the bus in their backpacks so they could take him to school.  After dinner he ran and found one of their backpacks and emptied it out and climbed right in.  One thing lead to another and pretty soon he was getting rides around the room by everyone.  Braddock wasn't quite strong enough and may have tipped over backwards a time or two.  Luckily it didn't hurt either of them and ended up just being super funny.  I also think it's hilarious how they all think they could actually sneak Bridger past me and onto the bus without me noticing.  What do Mom's know anyway!?  It's nice to know that although they clearly think I'm clueless, they really love their baby brother.

Chloe's Surgery

There comes a time in most puppies lives when they have to go visit the vet for some unpleasantries.  We took Chloe into get fixed April 5th.  It was just after hearing horror stories about a friends' bunny who didn't survive going to get fixed at the place we were taking her, so we were just slightly apprehensive about the whole thing.  To our relief things went perfectly.  She of course came home outfitted with a new accessory we had to leave on her neck for a week, but she healed up nicely and is back to her normal self now.  Admittedly a lethargic pup wasn't so bad for a couple days before she was back to her crazy, rambunctious self, but we love her anyway.  So much so we even got her this new kennel so she fits right in in the living room now...

Spring Break - Easter

The Easter Bunny managed to find us and we all got spoiled.  He brought books, treats, and toys and we got the boys some new shovels for their endless hours of digging that are sure to be happening this summer.  It's amazing how much they like to play in the dirt.  We enjoyed a slow morning together and then spent the day watching General Conference.  It was wonderful to sustain our new prophet, Pres. Russel M. Nelson.  Such a sweet confirmation we felt that he truly is the prophet of the Lord on the earth today.  

Sunday we spent watching Conference as well, but Dean was feeling pretty under the weather and we just kept things super low-key.  We did some crafting as we listened and kept our germs to ourselves and stayed home rather than going over to Mom and Dad's for dinner like we normally do. By time Spring Break was done Dean and I both had some pretty nasty colds, and Monday morning we woke up to 4 inches of snow!  Not quite the Spring Break we had in mind, but we were glad we had one last day to recoup before heading back to real life.  The boys enjoyed the snow and we just took it easy hoping to feel better soon.  We wrapped up the day reading "Harry Potter" and "Wonder" with the boys.

Spring Break - Decorating Easter Eggs

After a full day at the Children's Museum we quickly got to work to get our eggs decorated and head to bed so the Easter Bunny could come.  I'll admit, this activity stresses me out far more than I'd like.  The potential for a monumental mess is more than this momma can handle.  Maybe one day I'll learn to relax, but I was bit on edge until the eggs were all finished.  But despite how uptight I am we still managed to have fun and got some cute eggs out of it.  Dean and Tanner even stepped up their game and used a lighter to melt crayon dots onto their eggs.  We just can't keep things simple around here.

Spring Break - Children's Museum

This year our Spring Break was only a four day weekend.  We lost the extra days due to snow make up days.  That weekend was also Easter and General Conference so we had a lot going on.  Before everything got crazy we decided to take advantage of our little time off to go to the Children's Museum.  We haven't been in months and the boys were really excited to go.  Since our Spring Break weather was everything but springy we were grateful for a good, indoor location to spend the day.  We threw the boys in their swimsuits and started off with the water floor.  The boys could play there for hours.  We hit all the other floors and then ran home to let Chloe out and decorate Easter Eggs before the Easter Bunny came that night.  We also found out after getting home that Dean's Mom had fallen while we were gone and broke her hip.  It's gonna be a long process to recovery and we feel just awful for her.