March and April

Let me just say that the last six weeks of my life have been INSANE. It always happens that the craziest weeks of mine and the kids' lives fall in the weeks when Tom is entrenched in tax season. I always think I can pull it off and then the week before tax season is up I come just moments away from a panic attack. A friend even offered me some of her valium at some point. I politely refused. I've done this before, I knew I would survive.

The problem is that Isaac's scout stuff always comes due in April and since he is way into music and theater it is also the time of year when he has recitals, competitions, performances and plays. It is a little crazy. Now it turns out that my youngest also happens to be a musical dancing girl and now we have her stuff too. Add Easter, the fact that my children have all outgrown or outworn their clothes. (Isaac was literally down to one pair of shorts and 1 shirt that fit him last week.) and magazine deadlines and meetings and I was feeling just a little overwhelmed. People kept trying to call me at home last week and saying I couldn't get you. Yep, that is because I was barely home. And the disaster state of my house proves it! 

So, a few photos of what we have been up to this month. 

 A little Spilbeedog one March morning.

 With Tom's band playing in the background, Lia gets 2 feet up the climbing wall before succumbing to pure terror.

Isaac went on an orchestra trip to Disneyland to compete in the Heritage Festival. It was quiet in our house without him. His sisters were so excited when he came home they anxiously waited for him to get off the bus. This is the cutest picture to me.

Spring break came and I decided to take a hike with the kids. I had heard of this Lion's Mouth cave west of Cedar City that had petroglyphs. We set out to find it -- which took us much longer than I expected. There are no signs or marked path indicating how to get to it. Finally, we decided to head up the hill towards the rock formation. It was a much longer and steeper hike than I thought. Rebecca and I were laboring all the way up. Rebecca kept saying. "How did I get to be part of this family. I hate hiking. Nature hates me." It was actually quite comical. Meanwhile Isaac and Lia ran ahead of us like little jack rabbits scurrying up the hillside yelling, "Hurry, Hurry." And then finally "We are here. Where are you."

 

Becca and I finally made it. And the view from there was amazing.

And then came Easter. We dyed some eggs. Isaac got so artistic it was a shame to eat his eggs later.

                                                             Lia goes to the park hunt

                                                        The haul from Nana's house.

And then Lia gets ready to be in the Cedar City Junior Ballet Company's production of Coppelia. Lia only had a small part in this ballet but she worked really really hard for months and especially the week before the production. By Sunday she was exhausted and so was I frankly. But she loved being part of this bigger production where she got to dress up, go on stage, put on makeup and watch the big ballerinas sway by in their beautiful costumes.

Saturday morning both Isaac and Lia sang at different times at a fundraiser for a local family who lost their mother in a car crash. 


Isaac has joined honors choir -- the blessing and bane of my existence. He has to be there at 6:45. Which means I lose an extra hour of sleep but I don't have to fight him to be on time for school. Isaac actually sang a solo at this event but forgot to tell me so I only got 3 seconds of him singing. Turkey. Lia is also in her school choir.