City Works Day

Once a year our awesome city fills up the parking lot by the library with all of their working trucks.  It's little kid heaven: a street sweeper, garbage truck, fire trucks, ambulance, a city bus, police cars and motor cycles, a rescue boat, the list goes on.

I wondered how Noah would handle missing it this year since it's in the morning, but thankfully he also had something fun scheduled at school that day.  So Luke, Leah and I headed off for a morning of fun.

By the pictures it looks like the morning was all about Luke, and I guess it kind of was.  The easiest way to manage Leah was to keep her contained in the Ergo.  So I held her while Luke ran from vehicle to vehicle and I took pictures.  It was perfect!  Look that this cute bus driver!

 I had no idea that our police department has an armored SWAT truck.  I sure hope it doesn't get used often! ;-)

 The street sweeper was Luke's favorite.  He thought it was so cool that there were two steering wheels.

Easter

There was so much involved in getting our house ready that I was thankful Easter came along and 'forced' me to think about something besides cleaning, organizing and perfecting our house.

While Nate worked on Saturday the kids and I tried out the city's egg hunt for the first time.  The crowds of people were amazing, but so was the number of eggs Noah and Luke collected.  It was such a fun way to spend the morning!

We also soaked in as much cousin time as possible.

On Saturday afternoon we met up at Nana's house for egg dying.

And Easter Sunday we tried to (mostly) leave the Easter bunny behind and focus on the Savior.  I tried to get a picture of the kids, but Leah kept running off.  So I scooped her up and joined the picture. 

April's Bits

March ended and April began with me being in Utah for Gram's funeral.  With just a few exceptions like having babies and an overnight stay in San Francisco I really haven't been away from our kids.  And it's almost embarrassing how long it had been since I'd been on an airplane.  Yep, since having kids I've been pretty home bound with the occasional road trip and pretty happy about it.  But I have to say, getting away and actually being able to focus on my mom and my task of cleaning out Gram's house without interruption was kind of amazing.  

And, of course, Nate did great, with the occasional phone call or text just making sure he was doing things right. ;-)

I loved getting pictures of the kids happy and enjoying their time with just dad.

Noah's first turn at being catcher came while I was gone.  I don't know what it is about putting on that gear, but every kid feels like they've hit the jackpot when the coach says it's their turn.

Everybody stopped in at the hospital to see Kristina and baby Connor.  Oh, I was having a hard time keeping my jealousy in check!

Moving on, Leah found her reflection in the pots while I was making dinner.

Noah is usually at school when I run errands, so it was kind of a big deal for him that he got to ride the tractors at Lowes.  It's been a while.

Our house went on the market.  This was a tough decision but for sure felt right.  In the end we had ten offers after the first weekend and accepted one that was too good to pass up.  With a 60 day rent back after the close, we are hopeful to find something a little bit bigger that still feels like the perfect place for our family.

But getting your house ready to sell during busy season is no joke.  I was responsible for the majority of it, and it was a ton of work.  And it was often like two steps forward and one step back with our queen of curiosity and messes not far behind.

This fence will probably stand for forever.  Nate and Grandpa Pebley built it years ago together, and silly as it may sound, it's going to be something we really miss after the move.  I guess it's not the fence as much as it is a great memory of Grandpa, his skill, and his desire to always teach precision in your work.

We knew it was impossible, at least for us, to keep the house clean and have an open house so we headed to Tahoe for the weekend while it was happening.  There was still plenty of snow to play in!

Leah was not thrilled when her brothers rigged up a trapeze/zip line off of the bunk bed to practice for their circus performance and she wasn't invited.

But those brothers balance wanting to do their own thing with loving on their sister quite well.  I turned away from the shopping cart to grab something and came back to Noah and Luke smooching their sister in the meat department.  This is one loved little girl!

I don't get many moments like this anymore.  Leah loves to sleep.  In fact she'll lead the way into her room when its nap or bedtime.  But snuggling up in my arms and falling asleep is a thing of the past -- unless she's got a cold.  I held on to this girl for a while and just soaked in my not so little baby.

One day during spring break we finished off errand running with ice cream.  Luke ordered up a scoop of tart orange blossom and loved that it colored up his tongue.

Gram's Funeral

Sometime last December we were talking about our summer trip to Utah, and Luke simply said, "Mom, we won't be going to see Gram."  We went back and forth a few times, as I reminded him that yes we sure would see Gram, but I didn't know if we'd be staying with her.  After the third time of "NO MOM, we are NOT going to see Gram in Utah!" I asked why.  His response was silencing and a bit comical at the time: "Because Mom, Gram will be in the cemetery by then."  

O.K.

I don't know where that came from, and I don't assume that he actually had any insight other than Gram is old and old people die, but it turns out that boy was right.

Gram had struggled for a while, but didn't let us know much.  She never wanted to cause worry and certainly didn't want a fuss being made over her.  My mom had been up to Utah to check on her and could see how hard it was for Gram to do the most basic things.  It took her over an hour to get dressed sometimes.  Lots of things were hard.  We just about had her convinced to come to California for a very long visit, but she got talked out of it.

So, Gram passed peacefully in her sleep.  The best way to go, right?

But she had the worst timing!  The funeral would have to be the same week Kristina was due to have baby Connor.  Our house was about to go on the market.  It was just a crazy time.  My mom left immediately for Utah to begin making funeral arrangements and to assume the responsibilities of executor of the estate.  Originally we planned for our whole family to drive, but after days of stress (both house and funeral related) it just made sense for me to fly by myself.  As much as I would have loved to surround Nana with her little ones, I knew that being able to focus on just her and give help without distraction was the best option to take.

And poor Nana.  She was the target of so much greed (and therefore unbelievable anger -- I mean it, you really wouldn't believe how bad it was) from folks who seemed far more interested in Gram's stuff than they did about all of the love she had selflessly given for decades.  It was just heartbreaking to hear such mean things said about my Gram from people who claimed to love her and had just attended her funeral service.  Losing your mama is hard enough, and my sweet mom had been taken through the ringer.  She is one strong lady.

The funeral itself, however, could not have been sweeter.  So many adoring sentiments were shared.  I delivered Kristina's beautiful words that she wrote, and then shared some thoughts of my own.  Gram would have been uncomfortable with the all the attention directed at her, but she is so deserving.

It just didn't seem right that Kristina wasn't there, so I burned up all of the data on my phone and face timed her in at the cemetery.  And it was pretty great that I snuck in some Connor time too.  Look at that cute boy smiling at his Auntie!

We spent the day after the funeral cleaning out and work, work, working.  The stats on my watch tell a story of a day where I literally did not sit down or leave the house.

But I was so glad to be there!  Helping, serving, and putting all of the energy you have into something is exactly how Gram operated.  In her prime, she would have done it faster and more efficiently I'm sure, but it still felt good as I worked to think, "I can work this hard, because I'm Gram's girl, and she is a part of me."

March's Bits

 Noah had a great time celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday.  Each one of these kids is so sweet, and I love that our paths cross at church and at school.

 Luke and Elyse didn't want to be left out of the picture taking.  They have become buddies as they wait for their kindergarten siblings at pick up time.

 Luke found a grasshopper when we were out shopping.  He thought it was incredibly cool, insisted on taking a picture to show dad, and then freaked out as it started to crawl up his arm.

Noah got his second trimester report card.  I just loved and appreciated Mrs. Chan's comments.  He is such a good boy.

 Leah loves being on the move.  One day as we were playing outside she went in the house, found her coat, and brought it out to me.  This smart girl knows in cold weather, you've got to have a coat.  Love it!

 Chasing her around during baseball games keeps us busy and distracted, but Leah is a girl whose exploring cannot be contained!

 Just maintaining her 'Rascal Baby' status right here.

 And see that box?  We're getting our house ready to sell.  So I've been trying to pack up the things we don't use much to clear out the clutter.  I love this girl, but she makes getting a project done almost impossible sometimes.

Nate declared it was Pizza Night one Saturday and got to work making dinner with the boys.

We celebrated Kate's birthday and Leah was so excited when Kate shared one of her birthday crowns.

I thought you didn't play baseball in the rain, but Noah's game just kept going until all of the innings were over.  We were soaked.  I was annoyed and Luke was happy as could be.

 I've probably asked a hundred times to not sit in this basket.  After asking Luke to please, once again, remove himself he responded with, "No, Mom I can't! We're playing Jesus. I'm James being a fisher of men like Jesus (Noah) told me to be."  Carry on then.

Family Math Night at Noah's school was a success and the boys loved their first try at Connect Four.

Leah had her first visit to the dentist.

Luke had his first cavity.  It's actually the first cavity for any of the kids in this family.  He is a cooperative, interested kid, but the unfamiliarity of the sounds and poking around in his mouth made for one scared, anxious kid.  Tears just streamed down his face as he tried to hold still despite being afraid.  So naturally, all of that warranted a sprinkle donut when we were done.  I love that brave little boy and his numb cheek so much!

Noah had a mole removed from his face.  This was while we were waiting for the topical and injectable numbing medications to take effect.  Life is good and waiting is never a problem for this boy when he's got an iPad in hand.

This is the after with skin glue on top of stitches. The doctor just kept saying he couldn't believe how cooperative and still this amazing six year old was during the whole procedure.  That's just Noah.

It's going to take months for the scarring to fade and even out with his skin color, but hopefully the whole thing will be hardly noticeable by this time next year.  Choosing to scar your kid's face is a stressful decision!