If she had the proper words to say,

I called up the boys' old school in Nebraska this afternoon for a few things. We'd ordered and paid for classroom pictures back in the fall, and at the time we moved, the composites were not yet created or printed. I wanted to make sure that we were still on tap to get them, and also to give the school our new address.

In addition, I wanted to make sure that we didn't miss out on these yearbooks. Especially for A.J., as these have been his classmates since kindergarten, and I really wanted him to have this special last memento. I ordered both of them, and the check then went out in today's mail. I spoke with the PTA gal in charge of the yearbooks, and she's excited about the pictures I'm emailing her. I had lots of pictures from many events this past fall: chaperoning the 2nd grade zoo trip, the Activity Center Family Night, the fall carnival, and the Halloween parties. I'm happy she can use so many in the yearbook. :-)

We miss the old school (it was our "home" six and a half school years!), but there are bright, wonderful things going on at the boys' new school, too. Their new elementary plans many more family activities - there's constantly something going on. This past Saturday, we woke early and all attended a Pancake Breakfast to kick-off the book fair and conference week. The boys both chose M&M pancakes, but Philip and I had plain ones. (M&Ms in maple syrup?!) The boys each picked out four books from the fair, and I flipped through several cookbooks, tempted.

They both had their conferences yesterday afternoon, and the news was just wonderful. You really just can't ever get tired of hearing teachers tell you your children are so incredibly bright, you know? Jack's teacher has run out of reading curriculum for him in the classroom, and she was recommending extra books and texts that are located in A.J.'s 6th grade classroom. (When we went to A.J.'s room for the second conference, Jack grabbed a recommended book from the shelf and sat quietly reading it at an empty desk. He almost made it through Chapter Two!) He's really enjoying cursive writing, and his teacher seemed amazed that his cursive handwriting is better than his left-handed printing. He's in the advanced reading club for the library, as well as the higher math club at the end of each school day.

A.J. is thriving as well. With the new methods of teaching and extensive testing, his teacher was amazed that he absorbs so much information without ever taking notes. Sometimes she doubts whether he's really paying attention, but she said he can always, always answer the question or recall what she has just said - even if his nose had been in a book just two seconds before. He's getting better about keeping his desk more organized (in his years of messy desks, I've never been able to understand how he can stand it. Now, however, he's straightening up, and it's great preparation for middle school next year when he changes classes every period.) His test scores are good, and he was very proud of his two most recent book reports (which were on display in the classroom).

We couldn't have been more proud! :-)

Also, last Friday, the 2nd grade classes invited parents to attend a small music concert highlighting many of the concepts and techniques they've learned. It was a lot of fun, and Jack was again one of the tallest students. (He's always on the back bleachers, I swear!)

( A few videos from the concert. )

Also, I'm surrounded by school pictures. Their last school took them each year in the fall, and then they created a composite class picture for each room. We ordered those, but I hadn't mailed them out yet. (I had intended to include them with our change-of-address and holiday newsletter mailings, but I never wrote those items.) This new school did the same in the fall, but they also took spring pictures just last week, as well as an actual classroom photo (the kids standing next to one another), and we received those pictures at their conferences. Now, we hadn't realized that they would take individual pictures again (the school only sent home forms about the class photo), so we took the boys for updated professional pictures at the mall. Now I have ALL of these photos to mail out at the same time - eeep!

Tonight, the school had a music concert for grades K-3. (A.J.'s concert was back in the fall.) We went, of course, and Jack did indeed have a speaking role. I swear, he couldn't have had any MORE 'T' words than he did, but he plowed through, missing teeth be darned!

(YouTube's compression of the video made it kinda blurry and hard to watch. Darn.)

( A few more. )

We went to a birthday party on Saturday for Jack's preschool friend Lucas at Papio Greens, and it was the very first time that either of the boys had played miniature golf. Since it was a "first" time, of course I had my camera. (But then again, don't I usually... even for second and so on?)

It was a HOT day. Lucas had just come from a T-ball game, and he was beet-red before the party even started. The kids jumped around in a bounce house for a little while, but I honestly think they were getting too hot in there. Jack was the one to begin asking to play golf, and then everyone else followed. He and Lucas led the line for playing putt-putt, and they had a good time. One hole was quite difficult (the ball had to go up a metal cone - nearly impossible for kids), and everyone after Jack just skipped it. He tried it forever though, and I even took a video clip of him.

After playing putt-putt, the boys all shared some birthday cake. It was too windy outside (we were on the patio) for his candles to stay lit, so Lucas had to pretend to blow them out instead. Jack and A.J. were more interested in drinking as much as possible than cake - they were thirsty from all that heat!

( Pictures. )

I hope that everyone had a lovely Easter Sunday, whether you celebrate or share the holiday. We had a relaxing and nice Easter ourselves - another great memory for '06.

The "Easter Bunny" prepared baskets for the boys last night just before Philip and I went to bed. Unlike last year, we filled the baskets with pretty much just candy this year (I was so good last year - what happened?!). We'd anticipated the boys waking up before us, so we'd hidden the baskets until later in the morning, along with all the filled eggs for hiding in the yard later on. I got up and showered, and then I woke Philip up. He showered and dressed himself and the boys while I finished getting ready for church. He and I also prepared a turkey breast and put that in the oven to roast while we were gone.

The boys were excited to find the goodies in their Easter baskets when we brought them out. I took some pictures, and then we loaded up in the car to get to church about twenty minutes before our usual time. I'm so glad we did, as the church was packed (the attendance estimate for our seven Easter Sunday services was right at 2000 people). There were crosses outside the front entrance, made from Christmas trees and covered with chicken wire, and we were supposed to bring a flower to tuck into the wire (decorating a symbol of both Jesus's birth and death with new life), and the boys added their flowers to one cross while Philip parked the car (the sky was so dark and the air so wet that he'd let us out in the drive-through loop). The boys and I went inside, and I caught the most adorable picture of Jack watching through the window in the Narthex, straining to find Daddy in the parking lot.

Again, I was so glad we'd arrived early. Even still, we found our four seats nearer to the back than we usually sit. There was no Sunday School today, so entire families were in the services together. Jack was boisterous, of course, but there were so many other children that it didn't really make a difference. He must've been told by Pastor David in the preschool chapel sessions how to respond, for every time the pastor said, "He is risen," Jack would answer, "He is risen, indeed!" And that was before the pastors asked the congregation to participate in that manner! Pastor David gave a children's message, and the boys went up to the stage quickly but ended up being the last ones to finally get seated (they kept walking around, looking for the best spots). When Pastor David was saying how long his grass had gotten, Jack piped in with, "You should pick it up and put it back to make it small again." The congregation laughed, and Philip and I exchanged knowing smiles.

Later in the service, while Pastor Glenn was giving the Easter message, Jack chose to speak up again. The congregation was very still, very quiet when Pastor Glenn said, "Do you have stones that you need help in rolling away?" And Jack shouted out, "No!" The congregation laughed for a while over that one, and I'm sure I blushed! I imagine Jack's telling the absolute truth, though - he's too young to have any real burdens in his life! :-) During communion, Pastor David blessed both A.J. and Jack, but after I took the bread and grape juice (I always skip the wine and opt for juice), Jack tried to go back to him, saying, "But I didn't get one." I explained to him that he wasn't old enough for communion yet,and he was fine with that. He loved singing "Create in Me," and he kept singing it even after we switched to a new song - silly kid. It's fun having him in church every once in a while, but I'm so thankful that he's usually in Sunday School, as I think his rowdier antics wouldn't be so amusing on a regular basis. ;-)

After church, we came home to the enticing aroma of perfectly roasted turkey. It looked like it could rain at any minute, so Philip headed out to hide eggs while I finished preparing our Sunday lunch. We had roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, green peas and corn-on-the-cob. A.J. asked for sweet potatoes, but I'm a horrible mom and forgot to buy them at the store. :-( Heather joined us for lunch as well, having come over to share in the egg hunt festivities (she also brought large bags of goodies for the boys). The boys cleared the plates, and I did the dishes before we all headed outside for the hunt.

We've always done a very large egg hunt and Easter party, and this year I just didn't feel like all the preparation. I think some of it was unexplained laziness on my part, and the rest of it had to do with just wanting a nice, quiet hunt with just our family (which, of course, includes Heather). After all, Philip wasn't here for Easter last year, and it was nice just having him back for this holiday. The egg hunt was slow and relaxed, and throughout the 20-30 minutes or so, I just kept thinking how nice it was to be so low-key for once. The boys hunted alone for a few eggs, then they would pair up for a little bit, and then they'd hunt alone again. The grass was very long, and it hid the eggs very well (lawn mission accomplished!). There was one particular egg - a green one hidden in the our bedroom windowsill - that seemed so obvious to we adults, but the boys walked past it countless times. It got to the point where we were flabbergasted that they kept missing it, especially when they would walk within a foot of it. It was so funny! Heather even poised for a picture right in front of it, ready to capture the moment when one of them found it, and they STILL kept walking by it! Finally, Jack and A.J. spotted it at about the same time, but Jack walked away with it, and we all laughed. Later on, I learned that Philip actually captured video of the last bit just before the boys found that egg - neat!

The boys filled their Large Berry baskets many times, and Philip brought out the Large Boardwalk for them to empty into before heading out to hunt for more eggs. I think we hid 122 eggs altogether, but I might be off by one or two. As it was, when it was all said and done, all of the Easter candy from the hunts they've been to this year (four for Jack, three for A.J.) fills to overflowing a Medium Market basket - that's a LOT of candy! Heather sported her Easter Bunny ears for the day, and she took several pictures as well. It never did end up raining, but it stayed very gray and overcast all day, and there was also a slight greenish-yellow tinge to the outdoor light. 'Tis the season, I suppose...

We had pineapple, peaches and Easter candy for dessert later on. What could be better? And though our yard was lush and green and beautiful - not a single weed anywhere in sight in our grass (and yes, we do treat it every year) - it was quite long and shaggy, and Philip had planned all week to mow it as soon as the Easter egg hunt was finished. He did that this evening, and it looks fabulous now, as it always does after the very first mow of the year. We all played outside for a few hours while he was doing that, and the boys had a friend over as well. Since it never did rain, it ended up being a pretty perfect day. :-)

( Easter in Pictures. )

Video Clip: The Elusive Easter Egg (there's no sound - Philip was manning our old digital camera, while I had the new one)