Fun Easter Weekend!

Its time to catch up! Easter weekend we had a lot of fun! On Saturday, I had a choir rehearsal from 9-11. When I got home, we got everyone ready and we headed down to the LaVell Edwards Stadium for BYU's 1st annual easter egg hunt! It was pretty crowded. They had all sorts of fun stuff to 'win' in the hunt, like football tickets, tour of the locker rooms, membership in cougar kids club, BYU memorabilia, and of course candy! Merrilee got a pretty good loot of candy and some BYU sports cards and a BYU rally towel! Alice just had fun playing on the field! :)

They were giving away free tickets to the baseball games going on that day, so we snatched some up and headed over to the baseball stadium across the street. We watched a few innings, but then the girls were getting really tired, so we took them home for naps.

She was SO tired, but was extremely well-behaved!

The girls love to play together while in their double stroller.

On Easter Sunday, we went to church, went and took pictures of the girls in their pretty Easter dresses that Grandma and Grandpa Brewer so generously gave them, then went over to Grandma and Grandpa Brewer's for Easter dinner. I left dinner early because I was singing in an Easter program that evening. It was a fabulous day filled with love, food, but mostly the spirit of Easter...the hope and joy that comes through Jesus Christ!

The next Friday after the kids were in bed, Ben and I had 'date' at home and dyed eggs (better late than never!). Ben is a pro! He had to teach me all the awesome techniques. His turned out way better than mine!

Ben's are the ones front and center...I'm telling you he's pro!

It was a great Easter season! Now we're looking forward to having tons of fun this Spring and Summer! :)

Family

This past weekend, we watched 8 hours of  the Semi-Annual LDS General Conference via the internet (we don't have a TV). Oh how inspiring it was to hear men of God give council and guidance to people across the globe! Naturally, I went in with some general and personal questions seeking guidance and answers. I came out of it with guidance and answers and a new sense of commitment to my faith and most especially my Family.

Was it just me, or did a large portion of the speakers seem to speak upon the subjects of Family, Children, Parenting, Teaching in the home, etc.? As I browse over my notes, it doesn't seem that these themes were the MAIN topics of a lot of the talks, but sure were tied in or referenced in a lot of them (or maybe I just was listening for/needing to hear these themes.)

There are so many worthwhile things to be doing with my time. As I think about how I spend my time, my priorities are revealed. I might have good intentions or a willing heart for the best priorities, but how I spend my time REALLY reveals where my priorities are. After conference, I realize I may need to re-prioritize some things in my life, especially my family!

One could rationalize that since I am a stay-at-home mom, I AM focusing on my family. That may be true to some degree, but am I spending my time wisely in order to optimize my time teaching, playing with, valuing my family? Well, I have some new goals about how I spend my time at home with the girls and my time with Ben. After all, as Elder Ballard said...The most important cause of your lifetime is your family! :)

Here's some cute recent pics of the girls just doing what they do best...

Showing off her "pretties"

Showing off her books

Fun at the park!

St. Patty's Day pickle! Yum!

Playing Ponies together.*sigh* So cute!

Daily Music

I just thought I'd make a quick record of my musical happenings lately.
Listening
My daily listening usually consists of "Toddler Radio" streaming from Pandora. Some Faves...
- "The Wheels on the Bus"
- "Itsy, Bitsy Spider"
- "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Singing
I am usually singing toddler songs all day long with Merrilee. Some of Merrilee's Faves...
-"Twinkle, Twinkle"
-"Clean up! Clean up!"
-"ABCs"
-"I am a Child of God"
On Thursdays I get to sing grown up music with the Orem chorale. Last Thursday we performed a masterwork, Mozart's Requiem. It was pretty fabulous.

Teaching
-I still sub in elementary music classrooms every now and then. Fun stuff!
-3 piano students
-2 guitar students
-2 babies and a husband ;)

Playing
-Recently, I've started trying to practice/play piano everyday...currently working on some Rachmaninoff piano preludes.
-Since I've started teaching guitar, I guess I better learn how to play! I've been trying to practice/play everyday. Currently working on different strumming/picking techniques.
-I have been released from being the primary pianist at church, now I am the Ward Choir pianist.

Sometimes I think I don't have enough music in my life; I mean after majoring in music and then being a full-time music teacher I literally had a "Career in Music". But after just now recording my music happenings as a now stay-at-home wife and mother, I realize music is still very much a part of my daily life and I am still blessed to be able to share this gift of music with others (most importantly my family!).

A Tribute

Last week we got some heartbreaking news... The girls' pediatrician suddenly and unexpectedly passed away! He was only 39 years old (survived by his wife and 4 young children)! This news is devastating. We just took the girls in to see him a few weeks ago. Dr. Nielson was a great man will always hold a special place in our hearts!

He helped save Merrilee's life when she was only 8 days old! He saw her, took her stats, and said we needed to go to the hospital right away. If we would have waited any longer, Merrilee might have died! (Her oxygen levels were in the 60%s and "normal" is in the 90%s! She was so dehydrated it took them 2 hours just to find a vein to put an IV in her to get some fluids pumping in her body...FYI she had RSV and pneumonia...poor baby) He visited us and Merrilee at the hospital every day and was so kind and reassuring.

Dr. N was large in stature (very tall) but had the most gentle, loving touch with children.  Every "well-child" visit and every "sick-child" he would make me and the girls feel at ease.

The then Alice came! When Alice was born, Dr. N was already at the hospital doing his rounds, so he checked Alice out and came in to offer his Congratulations to us. Then, when we started noticing Alice's little eye and other minor things, he was so helpful in getting us with the right people and getting the right tests done.: eye doctor, physical therapist, oncologists, etc. He would call us occasionally with lab results, or just to check up on how things were going during some of the tough times.

Dr. N always seemed so genuinely concerned and caring for our two little ones and us. He was the best pediatrician we could have asked for through all of the rocky stuff and happy stuff with our girls. I am having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that we will have to find a different pediatrician for our girls...one who does not know us or the medical history etc. In my eyes, Dr. Nielson  is truly irreplaceable! Dr. N, you will truly be missed!

smartphones

We have officially entered the world of smartphones. Yes. Its true. We have never really seen the point or need for a smartphone. What? Is it supposed to make you feel smart or something? The thing that has really turned us off of the whole smartphone thing is seeing people EVERYWHERE (the mall, the park, the grocery store, in the car, sitting in a room full of company, etc.) with their eyes glued to their phones instead of their kids, the road, the people around them , the beautiful scenery, etc.

 But alas, our phone contracts ended and if there was ever a time to get a smartphone, I guess this was it. We got our new phones and totally felt overwhelmed. Was a phone supposed to do all these things? I mean, I was used to a phone that made phone calls and basic texts. I actually had to press buttons! Now I can gently slide my finger across the screen and it seems like the whole world is at my fingertips. Ben and I have vowed not to become "Those" types of people that are always on their phones. I can see how it can be addicting to search apps, play games, or check Facebook or email almost constantly...but we aren't going to give in!

There have been some positives to the whole smartphone thing though. We LOVE the lds gospel library app. Its so easy to just whip out our phones and look up a scripture or read a conference talk throughout the day. Also, we are loving the camera features. Instead of having to remember to bring our old digital camera places, we don't even have to think about it and we have nice cameras in our pockets that have better resolution than our digital camera anyways! And the cool part is there are tons of apps for photo editing right on the phone! Genius! We are starting to like our smartphones now. But somehow I am starting to miss the feeling of  holding my little old trusty cell and putting pressure on those buttons to make it work. After all, it helped strengthen my fingers for piano playing! ;)

Some cute pictures of the girls recently taken and edited from my phone.

Merrilee with her cousin

So, if you ever see Ben or I glued to our phones, please tell us to look up! :)

A Toddler's Artistic Endeavors

Lately, Merrilee has shown a lot more interest in coloring.  We permanently keep out some paper and crayons that she can get whenever she wants to color. Luckily we have not (yet) encountered any problems with drawing on walls, eating crayons, etc. Merrilee is a very obedient and structured little girl (Thank you Merrilee!).

The other day she was coloring and I asked her what she was drawing....she said "Around!" I've never demonstrated how or told her to draw circles or anything like that. Its amazing how children learn by exploring! Well, she figured out how to draw "Around" on her own...

And then, just yesterday, she brought me this picture...

I said, "Tell me about your picture." She said, "Yummy Cake! And fire!" Oh the mind of a two year old! I love it! I think she was thinking of her birthday cake (with candles) she had almost exactly a month ago...Rainbow chip. Notice how she makes use of all the space on the page. :) We have started an "Art Gallery" on the wall on Merrilee's level. Some of these creations are combined efforts, and some are completely from the artist herself.

We are proud of our little budding artist! Maybe sometime soon I will feel like being an overachieving mom and actually get out some paints, or maybe we will start with markers. :)