April 2014

April was the start to a super busy Spring for our family!  But that meant many fun times!!!

We started out the month with a trip to Chicago for Richard and I.  We went along as chaperones for the High School Choir.  We took about 95 kids to perform and of course...see the sights.  We were pumped that we were headed to one of our most favorite cities!  While we were in Chi-town, we got to go up to the SkyDeck.  Needless to say, my palms were sweating and I had to back out onto the thing...not looking down!  We also visited several museums and ate at many of our favorite restaurants.  And we made sure not to forget a stop at Garrett's Popcorn for a real treat!

The Spring always brings about the best time of year...the start of outdoor sports!  Owen played outdoor soccer this season with another team, the Black Knights, full of his buddies.  It was a blast!  Then t-ball started with the Avengers!  It is amazing how far this team has come since last year.  Owen absolutely LOVES baseball.  Harper also started back with the Critters for pitching machine softball.  Again, crazy to see how much better they were after a year under their belt.  Harper really enjoyed this season!

Next up was Easter!  The celebrations began with a class party for Owen.  Richard got to to this one. Owen and his classmates sang a song and danced...in complete costume.  And then they had an Easter Egg Hunt!

Easter continued with a Super Duper Awesome Surprise from Grandma and Boppy...a NEW 4-Wheeler!!!  It is just the kids' size and they absolutely LOVE it!  They both jumped right on and took off.  Richard started by running behind Owen with the pull cord, but that only lasted one round.  Now those two are all over the place at the Farm!

Of course, while we were sleeping, that sneaky Little Rabbit, the Easter Bunny, came to visit the kids.  He brought new, fun springtime toys!

Easter Mass is always one of my favorite times.  It is so fun to celebrate such a glorious resurrection and to be surrounded by beautiful Spring flowers and music.

We finished the Holiday with a celebration at Grandma and Boppy's house on Easter Evening...complete with my famous Bunny Cake!  After a fabulous dinner and dessert, the kids got to partake in a Colossal Easter Egg Hunt!  The rewards were sweet and profitable (lots of coins in those eggs)!!!

One of the coolest things Harper got to do all year (and she got to do a ton of cool things) was the reenactment of the Oklahoma Land Run!  They studied the Land Run for about 2 weeks prior to the big day.  They were divided into "families" and planned their route and learned how to stake their claim.  On that day, they all got dressed up, packed their wagons, and prepared their lunches.  Harper asked me specifically to make a glass jar of pink lemonade for her and her friends.  We even packed a real quilt!  It was so much fun to see Harper run to stake her family's claim on their land and then watch as they enjoyed their lunch and period-specific games the rest of the afternoon!  So cool!

April always brings about one of our favorite traditions...The OKC Memorial Marathon!  It is always a family event and we all put effort into training...after all...this race is the reason I RUN!!!  This year, we were downtown and ready to go, but the weather had other ideas.  The race ended up being delayed for over an hour and a half due to rain and storms.  But that didn't deter us!  We were all still really excited to cross the start line.  This year, Richard and I ran the Half-Marathon, Harper ran the 5K and Owen ran the Kid's Marathon (1.2 miles).  Boppy and Aunt Mel walked the Half-Marathon and Grandma helped Owen in the Kid's Run.  We had a great race and as always, enjoyed supporting such a great cause!

April has brought a huge milestone as my Baby Boy turned 5!!!  I can't believe that he is 5...where has the time gone?  We celebrated with a breakfast stack of donuts and a candle...of course!  For his party at school, he asked that I bring Thunder Basketball cupcakes.  They were a huge mess, but the kids LOVED them.  It was so cute to watch him stand in front of the class and listen to his friends sing Happy Birthday!  That evening we went to eat at Owen's favorite restaurant...Hideaway!  He got tons of cool gifts had a great helper to assist in the opening! :)  Grandma got Owen a super cool John Deere cookie cake and it was absolutely delicious!  Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Baby Boy!

This month was also Volunteering Month and Harper's class participated fully.  They did several projects during the school day with the younger kids and worked around the school.  One evening, several of her classmates and her teacher met up at the city park and planted flowers and cleaned flower beds.  Such a cool project to teach this very important skill!