Cats out of the bag

I mentioned on Instagram recently that I was really nervous because I had been asked to accompany two sisters while they sang in church on Easter. Well, I appreciate anyone who said a little prayer in my behalf, because it went really well. Unfortunately for me, that little performance gave away my secret of piano playing and suddenly I'm the primary pianist and a substitute Sacrament meeting pianist. I don't mind at all helping out in the primary, in fact I would have volunteered to help out much sooner if I had known that the primary president was also the pianist, but Sacrament meeting is a whole other ball game. I was very tempted to say no when the lady who plays the organ texted me this week to ask if I would play, and even more tempted to say yes when the one other lady in the ward who plays the piano (primary president) offered to play for me if I really didn't want to, but I decided that it was something I really needed to do. I was completely nervous the whole time, and have no desire to do it again anytime soon, but I'm actually quite proud of myself. The kids were excited to see me up there today too, which is one of the main reasons I said yes. I don't want them to ever be afraid to share their talents, and I can't think of a better way to teach that than by example.

  The rest of the week has been fairly quiet thankfully. Most of the time when we go to the beach during the week it is just at the bay here by our house which is nice but not quite the same as being out by the ocean, so on Tuesday I made the kids do two days worth of school work so we could take Wednesday off and go to the "big beach." I was met with quite a bit of resistance from one dramatic tween, but the next day she couldn't say enough about what a great idea it was! Life would be so much easier if she would just believe me when I say it will all work out and be worth it! Josh was bummed that he missed the beach on Wednesday so we made sure to go again on Saturday and got to meet up with Melissa and the kids for her birthday. (Beau was in Japan). I love that we are getting so much cousin time, but really the more the kids get to know each other, the harder it is going to be to say goodbye.

I know both of these pictures were already posted to Facebook, but I just love them, so I'm posting them again.

This girl has suddenly become very brave in the water and it makes me incredibly nervous!

Happy Easter

Wow. So, apparently I'm not so good at the once a week blogging thing. I really am trying though. Our day to day is pretty much the same. School work and beach, or if the weather isn't cooperating we go to Barnes an Noble or just hang out at home.

We did have the great opportunity to drive down to Fort Lauderdale last weekend for the temple open house. My kids have never been inside a temple so I was really excited for them to go. We made a fun weekend out of it and stayed with Beau and his family. The kids had a blast, of course and were really mad when we told them it was time to go. The adults even got to sneak away Saturday night for a movie. Having a live in babysitter is SO awesome! Life changing, really.

Not even a little rain was going to stop them from swimming!

And I would be completely ungrateful if I didn't mention today of all days how much the Savior means to me. Because of Him, I have these four eternal blessings to call my own. We didn't plan a lot in the way of Easter activities this weekend because Josh has been on call for the last two days, but last night the kids and I sat down and watched a couple of the Mormon Messages then read in the scriptures about the resurrection and had a really nice talk about what it means for us. It was really wonderful to see the understanding in them and know that they are already gaining their own testimonies of him.

We had to be earlier than usual for church this morning so I wasn't able to take pictures until we got home and Laila just wanted to go inside and eat her treats. Also, after we got done Samm said "wait mom, we have to take a picture of you!" I kept telling he no, but she kept insisting, so I gave in. Then she said "now do your most beautiful pose." I'm not sure if this is my most beautiful pose, but she seemed satisfied with it.

After a much needed nap for both mom and Laila, we piled in the car again and drove to my uncle Tony and aunt Patrice's house. Thy only live about 20 minutes from us, so we are hoping to get together with them again before we leave. My aunt Melissa was in town visiting with her family, so it was really fun for the kids to get to meet new relatives. They had a lot of fun with their 2nd cousins Bohdi and Skylar, and they got to meet their Great Grandpa Hug. He and Samm really hit it off.

Oh, I almost forgot. Macy decided this week that she was tired of brushing her hair so she asked me to cut it like aunt Krista's. And since I am equally as tired of the crying when I brush her hair I didn't hesitate to say yes. I was a little worried at first that she might be upset or think she looks like a boy, but so far she has been thrilled with it. And I think she looks adorable!