Easter

We had such beautiful Spring weather for Easter this year.  On Saturday we did Easter baskets and a small egg hunt in our house before heading over to Chris Greene Lake for our ward party.  There was a very casual brunch and an egg hunt.  The day before had been fairly stormy (they actually released school half way through the day because of flash flooding and tornado warnings but none of that ended up happening here) which means that Saturday morning was clear and beautiful. I can't remember if I felt this way other places we have lived but here in Virginia the day or 2 after big storms are so refreshing.  I was actually a little chilled at the park and had to keep finding places to stand in the sunshine which probably made me seem like a bit of a loner but it was worth it.  There was a family visiting who are potentially moving here and I did enjoy visiting with them.  I even left the sunshine to introduce myself.  There was a really good turnout and it seemed everyone had a good time.  That afternoon we dyed Easter eggs. I am always conflicted with dyeing eggs.  I know we aren't going to eat them so I feel bad wasting them and don't buy more than a dozen to dye but then we all feel shortchanged and wish we had dyed more.  I just need to not worry about it.  

She accidentally found this egg. It's under the clock. She happened to be facing the wall and spotted it  which she thought was hilarious. You can tell Mark hid that one. 

We hid two large eggs like this, one for each of them and there was 3 dollars in it.  We only hid 2 other eggs for each of them each with a dollar in them.  So 6 total, 3 for each of them.  We knew they would get plenty at the activity and had some candy ones in their basket. Mark and I really didn't try to hide them in tricky spots but both Jared and Lydia talked about how hard it was to find the eggs.  It took them way longer than we expected. 

I felt that this year we did a really good job preparing for Easter spiritually.  The Come Follow Me outline had some good lessons and I found some different stuff online.  Lately I have been interested in traditions of other religions for these religious holidays.  I read a lot about Holy Week and tried to incorporate some of those teachings into our studies.  It was really enjoyable.  For as long as I can remember I have wanted copies of the old GAK pictures that have the summary on the back.  Last year Mark's sister Cathryn kindly passed her set on to me so we took out a corresponding picture for each day of Holy Week and talked about them on that day then displayed them all week. It was wonderful.  For my own personal study I read a lot from these sources which was very helpful in helping me focus and learn some new ideas and background. 

Eric Huntsman I especially like that he included different religious songs that I haven't been exposed to much. 

Mercy River They had lots of ideas for kids.

Church of Jesus Christ.org I was pretty impressed with all the resources on the church's website. 

We got an unexpected visit from a friend both Mark and I had at BYU Idaho.  She and her family live in upstate NY and were in Virginia for their Spring break. I saw some pictures she has posted on Instagram at a site just over an hour from us.  I commented on that picture and then she asked us what ward we attended because they decided they were going to stay the night in Charlottesville.  We offered our basement to them but they opted for a hotel.  I gave a few suggestion about our favorite things and then moved on.  The next morning shortly after we sat down in church someone came up begin me and it was her.  It was great to catch up with them. We ended up walking the Monticello Trail with them which Mark always wants to do but it never works out so he was thrilled.  Then we had them over for dinner at our house.  They are easy nice people to visit with.  Jared and Lydia got along really well with their 4 girls who are 11, 10, 8, and 6.  They both want to go see them in NY.  We met Karen in various history classes and all 4 of us love to travel and really try to travel with our kids so it was fun to share ideas with them. It was a great visit. 

Jared was so outnumbered, but he did great. Lydia was right in between their 2 youngest for ages and loved playing with them.  In fact we covered all ages from 11-6 between our kids.  

We enjoyed our traditional Easter treats and food, dyeing eggs and even a few art projects. It was a great Easter season. 

 

Bunny buns. I love this recipe so much.  An absolute favorite.  Karen saw them on the counter and mentioned that they always make them too. 

And these Cadbury Egg cookies. I forget how good they are until I make them for Easter.  

Jared's 3rd grade school musical and school updates

At Baker-Butler the third grade classes study a lot of ancient civilizations.  They happened to be studying Rome when we were in Rome which was fun.  We had Jared send a few Marco Polo videos while we were there and they sent some back to him with questions.  It was a fun exchange.  Ancient Egypt was another one they studied and to go along with that the third grade musical is about Ancient Egypt.  At first Jared was not that excited but he ended up loving it.  He really enjoyed a lot of the songs and really got into the choreography they taught them.  Nothing complicated but it was cute.  He was happy to do both performances and did a great job.  He had a short speaking part which he quickly memorized and really participated in the songs.  His class was assigned to be mummies which he thought was great. I don't remember him being as excited for his previous school musicals so I was surprised he enjoyed it as much as he did.  It was fun to watch him enjoy something different than his usual interests.

Jared and Marcus

I recently contacted both of their teachers to get some feedback about class placement next year.  Their last day of school is June 07th which is only 45 days away and those aren't even all school days. I actually remembered to check their report cards within a few days and loved reading what they wrote about each of them.  It will be fun to share them with them especially Jared.  He and I both love those words of affirmation. I am very proud of them both.  

Lydia's teacher replied:
I know that Lydia will do very well academically in any 2nd grade classroom.  She has very solid skills in all content areas.  She will thrive in a classroom where academic and behavior expectations are clear but she has the freedom to make choices about her learning-one size does not fit all.

Lydia Report Card: 
Lydia is quiet and hardworking, yet there are many times when she enjoys working with others. She has done well consistently throughout the school year.  It is a pleasure getting to know her and  discussing the things she is interested in.  

Jared's teacher sent me the following: We love Jared and have just been so excited to see him thrive in our space! Jared loves his freedom-he has thrived in a space that he can move about.  Jared is great at managing his time to complete his independent work- so it doesn't make sense to micromanage where and how he works. He loves research projects and open ended tasks. I hope his next classroom has a maker space for him to keep up with his creations.  He really values leadership and responsibility.   

Jared Report Card: We love Jared's clever humor, he's hilarious and so much fun (he has the best laugh) its no wonder other students have discovered how awesome he is and want to be with him.  We are very lucky to have him in our class.  He is reading on a 5th grade level and meeting all our expectations for math he is very successful in his math group.  He is just below the benchmark for work study and could benefit from practicing his patterns at home. (yeah we never look at them... so we should do that sometime) 

It is interesting to read how different the teachers are, Lydia's teacher seems so formal and Jared's so young and fun.  Both have been fine for each of them but I have loved these two teachers for Jared.  I was really unsure about this style of classroom when I found out he had been placed in it.  He has done very well and had an excellent year.  I definitely feel like they use too much technology which was one of my biggest concerns but he certainly hasn't minded it.  He told me tonight that Mrs. Shafran is actually taking over for the Gifted teacher position, which is her dream job.  I didn't really care or try to get Jared in that class but with her in charge next year I would actually be really happy for him to go in there.  Oh well.  Jared fits the public school mold really well so I think he will do well in most situations.  Lydia too. I am sad that she has not loved first grade and hope she can have more fun and feel less bored next year. 

Spring, Marathon in a Month, .5 cent cone day

Spring has officially arrived in Charlottesville and it is beautiful!  And sadly getting warmer each day.  I know I am in the minority here but I have such a hard time enjoying Spring.  It is so very beautiful here with all the flowering trees but it just means bugs, humidity, and hot weather are coming.   I have loved my walk to work each day just enjoying the cool mornings and watching things turn green again.  I make Lydia and Jared ride the bus home on Mondays which they do not love.  Last week I surprised them with some fresh lemonade for when they got home.  I really enjoy doing things like this and feel like it works better when they get off the bus so it doesn't happen too often.  It helps keep it a surprise!  I don't have any pictures of the beautiful dogwood trees (they are white, pink, and yellow and so fun) but I did take some of Lydia on Sunday after church.  Purple is her favorite color and Mark, Lydia and I all love these redbuds.

 

I gave my first talk since Mark was called as Bishop on Sunday.  I was admittedly surprised to be asked.  I figured the other Bishopric members would not ask me but let Mark ask me.  They each take a month at a time and I thought I was sort of being saved for a back up in case he couldn't find anyone.  Not because I am so great at speaking it was just what I thought would happen.  My topic was how the new Come Follow Me program looks for our family and what blessings we have seen from it.  This was an awesome topic for me.  I enjoyed preparing and even giving my talk probably more than any other talk I have given. Definitely in the top 3.  I actually felt that I had personal experiences to share and really felt strongly about the topic.  It was one that I felt I really understood which is often not the case.  I ad really try to apply it to my life and my family.  I reached out to quite a few friends and family members to hear how it worked for them and loved reading their replies.  It was such a positive experience and I think it was relatable and helpful to people.  I was worried that my talk would be too long with the new Sacrament meeting schedule but the timing was right on.  It was really interesting to hear the other speaker's talk.  From what I understood we had really similar topics but we approached it so differently.  It was great to hear two very different talks.  It would also be great to go another 2.5 years before speaking again!

Last week was our first week for Marathon in a Month. So far Lydia and Jared are doing great.  We are 7 miles in. When I brought it up with Jared he was incredibly excited to do it. I thought we might skip it this year as we were well into the month and neither of them had mentioned it but no, they still want to do it which I love.  We have run around one of the lakes at Forest Lakes, the new track at Baker Butler and the little track at Broadus Wood.  Lydia has run three miles and biked the rest which is fine.  We made a goal for her to run twice a week and I hope she will do more.  I am still running 3 times week so I have only ran with them once.  I do cheer them on while they run though. I signed up for the midnight race in Iceland on the Summer Solstice so I have to somehow stay trained until mid June.  It will not be very fun.  I am running 3 times a week and doing 3 miles, 4 miles and 5 miles.  I am signed up to run the 10K for the race which is my favorite distance but it will be a struggle with the weather getting warmer.  

Mile 1! Before

After

That first mile can be brutal.

Monday was .5 cent cone day at Kohrs Brothers.  We love this day!  This year we went to the store off 250 which is a solid 25 minutes from our house.  The other one is off 29 an only 9 minutes from our house.  The line was so much shorter at this store and never got very long while we were there.  Its hard to even call it a line.  We were just outside the door and got our ice cream in less than 5 minutes.  We drove by the store off 29 later in the day and the line was super long.  I am not sure we saved any time driving over to that store because it is far away but we did not have to wait for our ice cream so it either even out or we did save some time.  They are really fast at the one off 29 but it was nice to not have to wait around.  Mark was able to join us which was great.  I looked through the last 5 years to see if we had gone each year and we have.  5 consecutive years.  We are loyal .5 cent cone goers!  It was fun to look over the pictures and hard to believe that we have been here for 5 of them.  I was aware that we would reach 5 years in Charlottesville this July and impressed we have made it each year.  Traditions, I love them!  We will see how long our streak lasts, I am feeling pretty good about our chances. 

2015

Lydia is 2 and 3 months and Jared is 5 and a half. 

2019

UVA National Champions

Now that I work at UVA I feel much more connected to the school.  It was fun to go to work during the tournament and hear people talking about the games.  They really had to fight hard in their last 3 games.  After their humbling and embarrassing defeat last March not many people really believed they could make it to the championship but they pulled it out and actually won!  It was really fun to be here while it was happening.  The game was broadcasted at John Paul Jones Arena which is just down the street from my parking garage.  I flipped back and forth between channels during the first half of the game and then ended up watching all of the 2nd half and overtime.  It was so great to see them win!  A lot of people at work were kind of complaining because the school in Texas had canceled classes from 5:00 Monday though all of Tuesday but not UVA.  Personally I applauded them for not canceling class.  I am well aware that winning is a big deal especially given their circumstances and that is was the first time but would they close down school if the women's team won?  The tennis team and baseball teams have won national championships and the school didn't close to my knowledge.  I also feel like, its a university; not canceling class shows that while sports are great and good they are not the most important thing.  It made me proud of UVA.  I also loved how students and community members reacted.  There were many articles talking about how calm and just happy everyone were.  There was no looting or real vandalism.  Two couches were burnt which is weird but apparently a long standing NCAA college tradition for wining or losing teams.  I was so happy for positive press for this town I love so much.  Way to keep it classy Cavaliers and company!

The next day I showed up to work at 8:00 my scheduled time and it was so dead.  I saw almost no one for the 1st 3 hours I was at work.  It was so boring.  I was happy to leave at 12:00 but still glad classes and events went on as scheduled.  I am sure some faculty throughout the school canceled classes but there was no formal announcement from UVA which I think is appropriate.  I knew there was going to be a welcome back celebration at JPJ Tuesday afternoon but the thought of driving down there and finding parking was just too much for me.  As I was driving home I passed by the airport as I always do and saw the cars parked for the charter airplanes.  I had a burst of inspiration, we could see the team at the airport!  Its 4 minutes from our house, has tons of parking and no traffic.  We met up with a group of fans and watched the plane land and cheered for them as they walked off.  It was perfect.  I, like many females I know around here think Coach Bennett is quite attractive and seems like such a good, humble guy I was happy to cheer him on.  Lydia was not really interested but Jared and I had a fun time.  Jared had them going to the championship and then losing to Duke in his bracket.  This was one time he was pretty happy to be wrong.  It has been great to be here for this event.

Their buses are waiting in the background. We didn't know where they would land/exit exactly so we waited in one spot and then heard from an airport person that they would be at a different gate so we ran over there and had fun watching them exit and cheering for them.

That is Coach Bennett! 

Wahoo-Wa! 

Spring Break in AZ conference in VA

Mark took Jared and Lydia to Arizona to visit his sister Kristi for most of their school Spring break. Since I mistakenly took off UVA's Spring Break I did not go with them.  I enjoyed 4 lovely days here in Charlottesville. I actually ended up working 2 extra hours each day which is good because I need to build up my time bank again.  I had a great time and so did they.  They spent most of their time playing outside in Kristi's big level, grassy yard.  There was some swimming but it was actually cooler out there than expected so they didn't last long in the swimming pools.  Lydia and Jaselle, Kristi's oldest are just 4 months apart so it was fun for them to have some time together.  They went to Jaselle's horse riding lesson which Lydia thought was great.  They also spent a mon=rning at Chuck E Cheese which is not a place we frequent.  Jared and Lydia have only been once before and it was way back when Lydia was not even a year old so she really had no memory of it. They loved it.  Mark enjoyed visiting with Kristi and other family members, meeting up with one of his very good friends from Turlock for brunch, and attending the temple.  They were able to fly out of Charlottesville so I dropped them off Wednesday morning before I went to work.  Sadly all the flights getting back to Virginia were over sold or had long standby lists so they had to fly into Regan which is not as nice to drive too.  I went and picked them up Saturday afternoon.  We were relieved they made it back on the day they planned on and happy to be together again.

While they were gone I made our conference cinnamon rolls and cleaned our Jared's room. I ended up with 2 full garbage bags mostly from under his bed.  The amount of sticks he had under his bed was pretty ridiculous.

It was a mess but I thoroughly enjoyed organizing his room and getting rid of stuff. 

As part of our FHE before they left we had made some temple predictions and made a list of topics we thought they would cover in conference (to use for our treats).  

I was really excited to hear about Budapest.  It's a place I still really want to visit. 

I had mentioned Japan to Mark but didn't write it down, too bad. Japan is also a place I really want to visit. 

I don't often set a fancy table but I really should more because I really enjoy it. 

Jared opted to stock pile almost all his snacks until the end of the session.  

His bowl was overflowing by the end. 

We were really happy to be together again and enjoy General Conference together.