April 2019

April started out with a new poster...

And new letter board quote. (A few days later than normal because we got home from Spring Break on April 1st and then it took a few days to get back in the swing of things.)

Logan and I had dentist appointments. We had been having the kids see regular dentists at the Kaiser Sunnyside office because the closest Kaiser location that offered pediatric dentists was far away and our kids did fine with a regular dentist. Well apparently they just made our office an official pediatric dentist location because Logan was the first patient to get to use the new prize machine. They were so excited about it that they let him get two prizes. (And apparently that zebra finger puppet is his new favorite toy because when he had his turn to bring the snacks and something to show and tell for preschool later in the month, that was what he chose to bring. 😂)

I had finally accumulated enough points to get a free frosted beverage from Chick-fil-A. I had been wanting to try the frosted key lime drink, so I redeemed it while Logan was at preschool and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We have 3 forsythia bushes in our yard. The first two were in full bloom in March, but this one hit its prime a little later.

We made Up houses for my turn to host joy school. These kids have little patience for gluing things, so I actually glued everything for them before school, so all we had to do was add their fingerprints for the balloons. (Sydney wasn't there this week, so it was just these three.)

When I saw Woodberry Way was hosting a quilt along for her Chamomile Quilt, I decided to join in. I'm making a BYU football quilt for Corbyn.

I had been seeing pictures of the cherry blossoms on the waterfront and wanted to make sure we got to see them before they all fell off the trees. It had been pretty rainy, but we had a break in the rain Saturday afternoon after the second session of conference, so we headed into Portland. I was worried they would already be past their prime, but they were still amazing.

Sunday morning I made Waffle Love waffles for breakfast.

While listening to conference I finished up this Enjoy the Ride Scooter from Wood Connection (that I bought before we moved from Utah). It was my April project for my Project a Month in 2019. I painted it in the colors of our room and put it on our dresser. 

I also finished up my first 5 blocks for the quilt along.

We moved FHE to Sunday night because Corbyn and Peyton were starting track and field on Monday (and Wednesday) nights in April and May. Logan makes the cutest chorister.

Having track on Monday night means we're back to eating dinner in the car in between dance and track. I usually take the boys to Costco while Peyton is at dance (unless I can get there earlier in the day) and then Rog meets us there after work to take Logan and the food home. Rog and Logan eat at home, but the rest of us eat in the car. I'm going to try to put together a post of what we eat on these days, so I can look back on it as a reference. Most weeks I've been buying those chopped salads kits and splitting them between me and Rog to go with whatever else we are having.

The kids didn't have school on the Monday after conference, so I took them to see Dumbo. We had watched the animated version Saturday night while Rog was at the priesthood session of conference and we all agreed the live-action version was much better.

Corbyn had a low-grade fever starting Sunday morning that had continued on Monday and Tuesday. He was fine if I kept him on ibuprofen, but I kept him home on Tuesday because he technically still had a fever. While Logan was at preschool I took him to Target to get some more Lego organizers since the gray bin was overflowing and he needed a project. Of course I ended up finishing the job on Wednesday when he was back at school. 

Wednesday Logan took his turn with the fever. His was higher than Corbyn's had been, but didn't last as long. They both had a bit of a runny nose after their fevers disappeared, but nothing major.

24 weeks. I had decided that I wasn't going to wear maternity jeans this time around because I can't stand them, so I lived in dresses and skirts for a few months. (I bought a pair of maternity jean shorts that are tolerable, so when it started warming up I switched to those.)

Peyton made paper with her class and Mrs. Christensen asked that I come help with it. It was interesting to see the process.

Corbyn had his first (and possibly last - who knows if they'll continue it after scouting ends) Pinewood Derby. His car was not fast, but he had fun building it with Rog. And he was pleased that his car won Best Video Game Design (even though all the kids won some sort of an award like it). His car was inspired by Kingdom Hearts.

That night we went to McDonald's and got sundaes (strawberry or chocolate) to celebrate him.

That week I finished 10 more blocks for the quilt along (and got a little creative with the picture I posted).

Every year these plants baffle me. They look like something from Alice in Wonderland, but I can never figure out what they bloom into because whatever it is, they look completely ordinary when they bloom.

Tracy took her turn hosting joy school with the letter v. They did a volcano craft and a vegetable craft. She had a bunch of different vegetables, but the only one Logan would put on his paper was tomatoes. He regularly eat peas, corn, edamame, tomatoes, avocado, and cucumber, but I guess the only one of those she had was tomatoes. She had taped v's on the floor. (I guess Logan didn't understand he was supposed to be sitting on his v.)

I saw that Kona Ice was giving away free snow cones for tax day at a location pretty close to Peyton's dance, so while she was at dance, I took the boys. (We shared with her when we picked her up.) And speaking of taxes, I did our taxes without any help from my mom this year. The part of our taxes that has been complicated in years past has ended, so I have no excuse not to do them myself. I am an accountant after all!

If you're gonna be a runner in Portland, sometimes you have to run in the rain!

Favorite Book Character Day. I put this off until the night before, but their costumes turned out nonetheless. It helped that Peyton borrowed robes and a tie from the Martyns for her Hermione costume.

Corbyn was Geronimo Stilton (complete with a tail).

I took Logan to story time at Barnes and Noble and then we went to the Disney Store after to do the egg hunt in the store. I thought it would be ridiculously easy, but it actually was pretty challenging which made it more fun. You pay for the map and stickers, find the large eggs hidden around the store (putting a sticker on the space on the map as you find them), and then when you find them all you get to pick a Mickey or Minnie egg. Inside the egg is the final sticker. They do something similar at Disneyland, so it was fun to be able to do it here.

A couple years ago I made this Coconut-Lime Buttercream Frosting and I was dreaming of making it again, so I did. I made a half batch of my favorite sugar cookies to go along with it. These sugar cookies always turn out so perfectly for me and every time I make them I feel like Phoebe (from Friends) who makes the best oatmeal-raisin cookies in the world, but doesn't make them a lot because it's not fair to the other cookies.

One of the doctors at Kaiser is doing a study on the glucose tolerance tests used to determine if you have gestational diabetes. I was randomly assigned to do the 2 hour test. I had to go in fasting, have my blood drawn, drink the drink, have my blood drawn after an hour, and then have it drawn after 2 hours. I was thinking I'd still have to do the 3 hour test if I failed this one (like you do if you fail the 1 hour test), but after talking to Melissa (who works in the clinic), I discovered that if you fail the 2 hour test, you are just automatically declared to have gestational diabetes. Fortunately I passed! I did it on a Friday morning when Rog was able to work from home, so I didn't have to take Logan with me. I had a free chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A, so I treated myself to that after I finished.

That afternoon I took around some Easter treats (I made these with orange buttercream frosting, but just shaped into balls not eggs.) to the sisters I minister to. One lives very close, but the other two are 15-20 minutes away, so by the time I finished, Logan had fallen asleep.

After the kids got home from school and Rog got home from work (a little early), we dyed Easter eggs.

Then we dropped the kids off at the Yates' house for date night swap. They ended up dying eggs there too!

It was Pizza Week in Portland, so we stopped at Blackbird Pizza to try their Elote pizza. It had roasted corn, cojita and mozzarella cheeses, cilantro, with a spicy Adobe pepper lime aioli. It was so good! I wish it was a regular pizza they offered because I would definitely go back for it.

Then we went to the temple to do sealings. It was our first time doing sealings this year and it was interesting to see how the wording has been changed. Our sealer was great and shared some wonderful insights into the changes.

The next morning was our ward Easter egg hunt.

Corbyn was a master egg hunter this year and got way more than anyone else I saw.

They were all pretty happy with their haul.

And their painted faces too.

After the egg hunt we drove down to Woodburn for the Tulip Festival. It was a beautiful day and we figured it would be busy and we were right. By the time we waited in the long line of cars to get in, we only had about 45 minutes before we had to leave to make it back by 5:00 to watch the Yates for date night swap. But we made the most of the time we had. We had never been there when the tulips were in their prime like this and they did not disappoint!

It had been rainy all week, so there were lots of puddles for the kids to splash in.

After watching the Yates and getting the kids to bed, I stayed up way too late making cinnamon rolls for Easter morning and carrot cake for our Easter dinner, so I neglected to take a picture of the Easter baskets before I went to bed. Each of the kids got a coloring book (Star Wars for Corbyn, a princess unicorn one for Peyton, and Mario for Logan) and a regular book in their basket. Logan got Otter Loves Easter! because he is currently obsessed with the Otter books by Sam Garton.

Peyton got the third Narwhal and Jelly book, Peanut Butter and Jelly.

And Corbyn got the fourth Narwhal and Jelly book, Narwhal's Otter Friend.

Logan got more Crayola Color Bath Dropz and Mr. Bubble bubble bath. And Corbyn and Peyton got new bath towels. 

Their first towels without hoods!

I got some new mascara, an eyelash brush, and caramel M&Ms.

Rog got a new belt, new dress socks, and a chocolate bunny.

I used Mel's new cinnamon roll recipe with the filling and icing from this recipe (my former go-to recipe). They were divine! We also had maple bacon.

It's nice having 12:00 church because we had plenty of time to open Easter baskets, have a nice breakfast, and get ready for church. We grabbed one of our neighbors to take a picture before Rog had to leave for church. 👌😍

We only had sacrament meeting and Rog spoke. The kids also sang, Tell Me the Stories of Jesus, although the music leader hadn't given them warning or specifically practiced it with them. 😂

For our Easter dinner we had funeral potatoes, Honey Lime Fruit Salad, and a Costco ham. I had planned to make rolls, but ran out of steam.

We are excited that next year the Hobbs will be here and we can do Easter dinner with them. I am particularly excited that I won't have to make everything myself. 

After dinner the missionaries came over to meet us since we had two new missionaries in our ward and they were trying to get to know the ward. We had our carrot cake with them.

This week I was supposed to finish my last 5 blocks and make my cornerstones. I didn't get the cornerstones made, but I did finish my blocks.

Shannah Tanner hosted joy school with  the letter w.

They made weather windsocks.

Rog left Monday afternoon for a quick business trip down to Southern California. He got home late Tuesday night, so I saw him that day, but the kids didn't see him again until Wednesday morning. Kinley Martyn has a habit of leaving things at our house when she plays here. I may have mentioned this before, but probably over a year ago Rog started taking pictures wearing the things that she forgets and sending the pictures to her parents (as a joke). Kinley left a pair of clip-on earrings and since Rog wasn't here to take a picture wearing them, Corbyn insisted that he fill in.

A few months ago when Peyton brought home her class newsletter, it said that grandparent's day was on her birthday, so we told the grandparents and my parents and Rog's mom made arrangements to come. Then the next month Mrs. Christensen sent home a note saying she had made a mistake and grandparent's day was actually in May, but that grandparents were still welcome to come on April 26th. 

My parents came the Wednesday before her birthday and Rog's mom came on Thursday. 

My mom had brought some things for an Easter egg hunt, so the kids got to do that when they got home from school on Thursday.

Thursday night there was a service project to help the Connors put in a sprinkling system in their backyard. Rog took Corbyn and my dad to help while the grandmas took Peyton and Logan to pick out a birthday present from Grandma Dixie. (I was at tap.)

Friday was Peyton's birthday. She requested Costco muffins for breakfast.

She opened her presents from us before school. She got 2 Gamewright games - Trash Pandas and Wig Out (want), a light-up star clock for her room (need), some pajamas and summer clothes (wear), and volume 2 of the Disney Princess Comic Strips Collection (read). She opened her presents from her grandparents that night. From the Riries she got a Kiwi Crate Subscription and from the Phillips she got a couple art sets (that she picked out) and the game Bellz!.

I reused the banner from her My Little Pony party since she was having an art theme for her birthday and a rainbow of colors goes with art in my mind.

 

That morning they had a Volunteer Appreciation assembly. I left Logan at home with the grandparents and went alone which was nice. Peyton's grade sang a Thank You song.

I came home from the assembly and made the giant cookie and rice krispy treats for her party. We ordered Panda Express for lunch and I sent my parents to pick it up. We all went to have lunch with her at school (except Rog). 

I took this picture and looked at it to make sure everyone had their eyes open, but in the bright sun I missed that I had gotten my finger in the corner. It looks much worse in color hence the reason it is in black and white.

When recess and lunch were over the grandparents took her back to her classroom.

Corbyn had recess and lunch after Peyton, so we made him a box of Panda for his lunch when we were done eating. He must have been embarrassed holding it because he hid it under his sweater. His class had earned a pajama and fort day, so that's why he's wearing sweatpants. And he likes to play in the shade, so that's why he's wearing a sweater. It was a warm day, so I was hot just looking at him!

 

The kids aren't allowed to bring in treats on their birthdays at our school, but they can bring a non-food item to share with their classmates. I had asked Peyton if she wanted to bring something and she said she didn't care, but that she'd like to bring stickers or something like that if I could find them. The day before her birthday my mom and I checked at Target and found these adorable stickers. There were 2 sheets in a package (with 6 sections on each sheet) and of course there are 26 kids in her class, so we had to buy 3 to have enough for all of them. They were a little more $$ than I wanted to spend, so my mom suggested that she buy the 3rd pack to give to Peyton as a birthday gift. She shared a couple from that pack and got to keep the rest.

After lunch we went home and I decorated the giant cookie and rice krispy treats for Peyton's party. I also got everything set up and finished decorating. The grandmas helped too. The kids get off the bus at 2:55 and we had the party at 3:30. Rog was able to come home early to help out.

  

We had 8 canvases that I was trying to use up, but she wanted to invite more kids than that, so I ended up having to buy a pack of 7 (smallest value pack they had), so we still have some left.

I actually made paintbrush rice krispy treats for one of Peyton's parties before. Remember which one? Hah, of course you don't. Or maybe you do? Rog didn't! It was for her Rapunzel Family Party back when we still lived in Utah and she was turning 4.

I find that these gift bags are the perfect size for so many things and they frequently have them in the dollar section at Target, so I like to keep them on hand. I already had all these colors to have a rainbow of party favor bags. It would have been even better if I had green, but I didn't.

 

We filled them with a Crayola Crayon Lipsmacker (I found them in a pack of 8 at Target), a window art set (from Walmart), and some suckers.

 

I made a little tag to go on them.

Peyton makes friends so easily and invited girls from our neighborhood, her school, and both wards we've been in. (Starting at the bottom left and going back and around - Elsie Tooke, Wren Tutt, Summer Tanner, Peyton C, Peyton P, Corbyn, Emery Martyn, Camille Ogden, Kinley Martyn, and Ella.) We started out the party painting canvases. 

It was fun to see what they came up with. That Minnie was Logan's. Rog drew it and then helped Logan paint it. We thought it was funny that he wanted to do Minnie and not Mickey. Maybe it was because it was Peyton's party. Peyton's is the rainbow without a blue sky behind it.

As they finished painting, they made bracelets out of beads. I had purchased a pack of letter beads to go with the other beads we already had. I should have purchased two packs because we ran out of E's and many of the girls were sad they couldn't spell their names. They went out to jump on the tramp after they finished making their bracelet. We had to drag them back in to have drinks and treats and do presents because we were running out of time before their parents were going to be back to pick them up!

Peyton got so many fun art sets from her friends (and a few other things).

I always love planning these parties, but kind of hate the actual party chaos, so I was relieved to have it done. After the party we went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. A giant ice cream cone for the birthday girl!

Then we opened presents from the grandparents, played Bellz!, and went to bed.

Saturday we all went for a walk in the morning. Then we went to Biscuits Cafe for lunch. My parents had a flight home that afternoon, so I took them to the airport while Rog and his mom took the kids to the park. 

It was our anniversary, so Dixie watched the kids. There was a fundraiser for the kids' school going on at 5 Guys, so we got them dinner there and we went to Stanford's for dinner. The weekend we came to Oregon to buy a house, our realtor took us to dinner there. I had the best pulled pork sandwich of my life and I had been looking forward to getting it, but they had changed their menu and it was no longer on there. So I had to try something new. I got their fajitas and they were excellent as well. It's a nicer restaurant that we normally go to, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that their food is always good. Last year when I cut a poem in vinyl for Shannah Tanner, she gave us a gift card for there and we finally used it. We also had a coupon for buy 2 entrees, get a free dessert, so we shared a piece of cheesecake (covered in berries). 

After dinner we got the kids to bed and then watched Crazy Rich Asians and worked on our puzzle.

On Sunday we had spaghetti with chicken parmesan for Peyton's birthday dinner. After dinner we had the Yates over for some birthday cake. Peyton wanted a lemon cake. I made one from scratch and it was pretty good, but not amazing. I was actually pretty worried about it because the layers were really skinny and I thought maybe they hadn't risen like they were supposed to, but it was fine. As I was making the frosting I was pretty sure there would be a ton left, but I didn't want to half it and not have enough. I was right, so the next week I ended up making a few things to use it up. (I'll talk more about that in May's post.) I decorated it with a rainbow of sprinkles.

That week all I accomplished on the quilt along was cutting all the strips of white for the cornerstones and sashing. Cutting is my least favorite part of quilting, so this was actually a pretty big thing to get done for me.

Rog's mom had a flight home early Monday morning (like 5:00 am early!). It was great to have her and my parents here even though it didn't end up being grandparents day after all!

Kristen took her turn hosting joy school with the letter x. They did a little x-ray craft, but spent most of their time playing at the park because it was so nice that day.

I usually take my laptop and work on blog posts or other things while I'm waiting in the car for the kids to do their track. (They didn't have enough sign up to have a group in Clackamas, so we have to drive all the way to Portland and it wouldn't be worth it to go home and back.) I often turn my phone into a hotspot, so I can have internet on my laptop. This week my phone was almost dead when we got there, so I turned on the car to charge it. I really did mean to turn the car completely on, but I only turned it half on and I ended up killing the battery. Rog and Logan had to drive all the way there to give me a jump. 🙈Fortunately this happened on a Monday and not a Wednesday. On Wednesdays Rog is usually helping with the young men and it would have been a bigger deal for him to have to come save me. 

And that was our April!