Mikelle's Easter Talk

Mikelle was scheduled to give the talk in primary on Easter. We prepared her lesson together, and then she insisted on drawing pictures to match. We were running short on time, but she really wanted to so I finally gave it. I'm really glad I did. She drew the cutest pictures and I think it really helped with her learning about Easter. (sorry this is pretty braggy, it's mostly for all grandparents to see). Matt took a picture and video while she gave her talk (for the last part anyway). Sorry this may be boring, but again, it's mostly for grandparents.

"When Jesus died they put him in a tomb with a large stone in front of it. Soldiers stood nearby to see that no one tolle the stone away. For three days Jesus's body lay in the tomb."

(Soldiers guarding the tomb)

"Then in the morning of the third day, Jesus' friends came to the tomb. The saw that the stone had been rolled away. There was an angel in the tomb. The angel said, 'He is not here: for He is risen.' Jesus had come back to life. He was resurrected. Jesus's friends were very happy. He was alive and would never die again."

(An angel in the tomb talking to Jesus's friends)

"Jesus died so that we can all live again after we die. We have Easter to remind us when Jesus died for us and was resurrected. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us. He wants us to return to live with Him."

(Resurrected Jesus Christ)

Easter

Sorry this picture isn't too clear, my scanner is broken, so I had to take a picture of it with Matt's phone and then email it. So Walmart advertised free pictures with the Easter Bunny and a free 5x7 photo. I got the kids so excited about going to see the Easter Bunny...little did I know, that the Easter Bunny was not actually an Easter Bunny (a.k.a. a man dressed up in a bunny suit), but it was a card board cut out. When Mikelle realized the Easter Bunny was made of card board, and not "real" like previous years, she was a little hysterical. She did overcome it and cooperated enough to take this lovely picture:

It seems like there have been a lot more than usual of these little guys hoping around lately. I told the kids they were the Easter Bunny's helpers, checking up on them to make sure they were good. It worked pretty well until Mikelle threw a temper tantrum one day and there happened to be a bunny right outside our window looking in our general direction. I told Mikelle the Easter Bunny's helper was watching her, and she then started yelling at the bunny outside..."Stop looking at me, go away and stop looking in here."

Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny stopped by

I like how Tyrel holds his Easter basket

painting

Easter Bunny balloon from one of our neighbors

Trying to take a good Easter picture before church

Mikelle was the only one interested in a picture

Making Resurrection Rolls after dinner. The kids actually really like doing this and it was pretty fun. You can find a recipe here if you want to try it next year.

We also tried to teach the kids the real meaning of Easter using a lesson with 12 Easter eggs that my Mom made for us. The kids listened really well and loved opening the eggs and seeing how what was inside related to Jesus. I would recommend this if you wanted a cute lesson on the real meaning of Easter. HERE is a really kid friendly version, and HERE is a version for older kids, or if you want something right from the scriptures.

Easter Egg Hunt

A bunch of moms from the ward got together to have an Easter egg hunt at a park. Sadly, it was freezing and I think probably had record mile per hour wind. The kids still had fun though...for most of it; as you can see in the last picture with all the kids that a couple have had it...one of those including Tyrel.

My Best Compliment

I made soup one night for dinner, and all three kids ate (drank) all that was in their bowls AND had seconds. This rarely happens, that all three like something I make for dinner. I didn't even tell them to do this.

Something that Tyrel has mastered...moving chairs into the kitchen to grab stuff on the counters...

(see the cupcakes up there on the counter)

...specifically anything he shouldn't eat before dinner.

(I like the little tiny bite mark)

Another thing Tyrel is REALLY good at: getting everything as messy as possible while eating, and going around and finishing off everyone else's dinner that might have gotten left on the table.

Which leads to this:

Mikelle with her plant she grew at preschool. They are learning about spring right now.

And Mikelle with her flip flops she made at young womens with me.

Just a picture of Jonah

My cute kids

The Kids

The most exciting thing to happen to us lately is an update on Jonah's growth. We saw the endocrinologist (growth doctor) and he said he is very happy with Jonah's results from the last 3 months. He said Jonah couldn't be doing any better and he may not be the smallest kid in his class when he starts school the fall. So here are the results:

Height: 37.5 inches (10.1 percentile) up from 36.5 inches and 6.6 percentile in January

Weight: 31.5 lbs. (20.9 percentile) up from 29.5 lbs. and 13 percentile in January

(he FINALLY broke 30 pounds!)

Also, the kids have seemed to get along very well lately. They have been playing so cute together.

Jonah fell and hurt his toe and Mikelle went into full-on mother mode. She got him his sippy cup, a stuffed animal off his bed, and started reading him a story.

I like how Mikelle and Tyrel are looking at each other.

ring around the rosie

This cuteness makes up for the horrible temper tantrums they have all been throwing lately. There have been some serious attitudes, screaming, yelling, running away at full speed in the grocery store, doctor's office, church activities, ect... So, I have vamped up the discipline (lots of time outs, actually following through with what I say, and going to bed an hour early). I think it may be working. They actually cleaned up their toys tonight without any problems.

The first night I sent them to bed early they were screaming so loud I thought everyone in the apartment complex could hear them. Then they eventually fell asleep and I went in to check on them and found this:

Jonah climbed in bed with Mikelle