march pictures

Puzzle day where Layla did every puzzle we had.

Ellery has been great at reading to Layla.  This is a joy that I never anticipated.  Elle gets her reading done, and Layla gets read to.  How great is that?!

I have recently been into making pavlova- and when I was assigned to make dessert for Sunday dinner with the Matthews, I decided to practice my merengue.  Brian and I each decorated one and asked the kids to judge which they thought was prettier.  This was torture for Ellery, as she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.  But, I mean, you can tell who wears the face of defeat.  Can't win them all, Bri.

 Teacher Appreciation Week was in March, and I did another door- this time for Ellery's class.  It was a lot of work...but fun and it turned out like I had hoped.

The Art Extravaganza was also in March.  Here is Mack showing off his work of art!

And Elle with her cute little alien guy.

March Maddness was serious business around here- as you can tell by McKay filling out his bracket.  It was quite stressful for him.  He got second place in our family, and was thrilled to have beaten Brian.  Duke delivered for me- which means I get to pick myself out a prize.

St. Patrick's Day green dinner.  I randomly picked up those green drinks for the kids, and Brian quickly noticed that they were called Fruit Shoot.  He had quite a good time coming up with all sorts of jokes with that.  The kids, of course, think he is hilarious and I am constantly having to remind him that they repeat the things that he says and does.  I don't know how it's so hard for him to remember this when it comes to potty humor, but it's a real struggle.

In preparation for hosting a dinner for Missionary Month, we got out all of Brian's New Zealand stuff...which turned into going through Brian's box.  It was cute walking in on them surrounding him looking at all his treasures.

It can be boring sometimes with the kids in school all day, but if I get this girl into some water of some sort, she is good to go.  This day we did a cooking show and she helped me chop fruit for dinner, and then she spent an hour doing the dishes.  

This is the first funeral I did in my new calling as compassionate service leader.  It was for a veteran in our ward who died from ALS.  His wife isn't a member and this was a great way to show her support and love.  She was really happy with the luncheon and the patriotism that was displayed.  This happened to be the same day that we hosted some young women in our ward for Missionary month.  Brian was supposed to do my friend Tamara's epidural- he just happened to be on OB on her induction date- but I asked him to trade for an early shift, since I had this funeral, plus feeding the girls that night.  It was a good decision.  I was at the funeral luncheon for several hours, while he was at home taking care of dance and groceries and cooking most of the dinner.  

I didn't get a picture of the table- in which I used for the first time ever, Brian's New Zealand stuff he brought home from his mission.  But it turned out cute.  We had a lamb roast (which was a bit on the rare side), root vegetables, sliced white bread and a fruit salad.  All of which are as close to New Zealand family dinners as we could come up with.  And of course pavlova for dessert.  

I must say, this was extremely stressful.  I was at the church cleaning up until 6:40, and the girls arrived for dinner at seven.  It put a lot of stress on Brian, and really we just weren't as prepared as we would have liked to be.  But there was nothing we could do about it, and the girls got fed and it was a good experience for them... I hope.  They were sweet.  In the pic above, we were doing a Tim Tam slam.  

This is quite the hairdo, a result from  her "Ugly Day" hairdo at preschool.  She thought it was fantastic.

Layla has swimming every Thursday.  We usually play with Jana and her kids afterwards.  This was a fun day at the park.

Waking this child up in the morning is my first difficult task every day.  He is not a morning person, Monday-Friday.  This is the "lay on top and squish him" method.  It is mildly effective.

I love when I drive by the school at the right time and see this cute girl and her friends at recess.  Often times if I pull over, she will be near the fence and run over to say hello.

My parents, Layla and I went to lunch at Masa.  I had heard good things about it, so I dragged my parents there as we were running errands together.  It was a really long, unanticipated wait, and the food was not good at all.  We laughed about it during and after, but I also was really annoyed.  We live and learn, I guess.

I cannot keep this monkey off the counter.  It's like her little perch.  Here she is eating the flesh off of mango skins.  She really is a monkey.  And sucking the leftovers from mango skins is something that gets her very excited.  Excited enough that simply sitting on a stool is not acceptable.