'hoppy' easter

So it looks like I actually have two weekends to catch up on here.

This is a funny picture I took of Tosh with some huge malted milk balls in his mouth. I've gotten used to his short hair again. Boy, it is nice not to have to chase him around with a spray bottle in the morning.

Tosh's asthma has been horrible this past week. We've been doing albuterol treatments with the nebulizer and took him to the doctor on Friday to get a steroid treatment and antibiotics. I guess they listened to one part of the lung to determine pneumonia and the doc said the he sounded like that (bad) all over his lungs. He isn't contagious or anything, but what a challenge to keep him down and not running all over the place (especially when he feels fine other than a tight chest). He has thrown up from coughing so hard a couple of times... he seems to finally be doing a little better today. While I'm talking about sickness, Liv had an ear infection this week as well. Looks like one of her tubes has fallen out... I'm sure hoping she won't need them put in again!

Last Saturday after General Conference, the kids decided it was warm enough to swim (too cold for me, thanks). Here is Hewitt's first flip of the season:

This is the only shot I got with all four kids:

Liv inherited this swimming suit from her cousin--it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen:

I ran some errands by myself last Saturday (bliss) and when I came home from the store, I hardly recognized the young man that came out to help me carry in groceries... I guess that Burke was asking Tosh how he liked his hair cut while they were swimming and then requested the same! Burke hasn't had his hair buzzed since he was three years old! He got a good reaction from me :). Here is a shot of Burke at the piano (a common thing these days). He works really hard at all of the songs in the "Star Wars" book and is really getting pretty good.

Hewitt has made a couple of Power Point presentations at school this year. He came home the other day and asked if he could make one on my laptop. This has pretty much become his new obsession and what he tries to spend most of his time doing. He has created over 96 pages, some with sound and animation. He started out writing about himself and his interests and then started creating a book with characters, etc.

A big highlight of the week was having Rob's sister and her family here with us. Aunt Sue and Uncle Zach are beloved by our kids (Tosh never left Zach's side once) and we had so much fun with their twin 10-month-old boybies, August and Kiefer. They are crawling all over the place and such cuties!

I was pretty horrible about taking photos while they were here, but here is one that we took on Friday morning before they left:

Sue and I covered some canvases in paper for Liv's room (I had previously painted something on them, but the paper flowers are way cuter). This was a fun and fairly easy project thanks to Sue's instruction.

Rob and I finally got around to hanging some things in our bedroom after living here for 2 1/2 years... Thanks again to Sue and Zach for giving their input on where things should go (Sue made that cool ceramic guitar by the window for Rob last Christmas).

I took Burke with me on Saturday morning for my run. He biked next to me and we did about 4 miles or so. It was so much fun, and I'm hoping he'll want to go with me often.

That afternoon, we dyed Easter eggs and then went to Mesa to attend the wedding reception for Rob's cousin's son (Jordan Fisher). We were in and out of the Fisher's house pretty quick (not used to taking four kids to a wedding reception). We hit the dessert table and then got out of there before Liv and Tosh could start jumping on the trampoline and climbing on their jungle gym :)

Fun with eggs:

At the reception (from Rob's phone at dusk):

We had a quiet Easter. Especially for me since I stayed home from church with Tosh. Here are some shots of the kids during the egg hunt:

Tosh found the golden egg!

In addition to candy, the kids got some Nutella, swimming noodles, and the new "Muppet Movie" for Easter.

The other night Burke was talking about his upcoming birthday and told me that he wanted the Muppet Movie and an ice cream maker for his birthday. He is SO my kid!

This next photo of Hewitt with the fake grass on his head makes me laugh. I didn't even notice he had done that until I looked back on my camera!
No cute Easter picture of the four kids this year... but I did snap some of Liv looking 'fancy' before church just like she likes. It was kind of nice to prepare Easter dinner and dessert in a quiet house yesterday afternoon while Tosh was resting and everyone else was at church. I tried a new chocolate cake with a yummy frosting/filling made with cream cheese, brown sugar and whipping cream. YUMMY! My cousin Bob joined us for ham dinner with his dog Carmella, of course.

Friday, was my mom's 71st birthday. I think of her everyday, but especially with her birthday and Easter this weekend. I sure hope that they have chocolate cake in Paradise :)

This next week also marks the one year anniversary of my mom being diagnosed with cancer. I feel like I have been on some sort of emotional roller coaster this year. I have felt so many different things including grief, sorrow, gratitude, and peace. In general I haven't really felt like myself for awhile and I miss that. I was talking with Rob yesterday and was trying to put my feelings into words and it's as if my heart doesn't have room for as much happiness or joy that I can usually feel-- like there is too much sorrow in it's place or something. I know it takes time.

I am grateful for supportive friends and family members--especially Rob for his love and patience with me. I know I haven't been easy to live with. I also want to express my gratitude for the gospel message of love and peace and the wonderful promise of the resurrection. I believe that the Atonement of our Savior is real and know that things will all work out.

Happy Easter!