Good Women Needed

My friend, Robin and I were asked to help the Beehives decorate the Relief Society bulletin boards at church.  I brought a quote, picture of Jesus with the woman at the well, some cardstock, and flowers.    Robin brought darling spring hats with tissue paper flowers.  The girls went to work decorating up the quote and bulletin boards.  I think they did a great job!!  I had to leave early to go to my dance class.  Robin shared the above picture of the finished product.  The girls were so cute and signed their names on the chalkboard along with mine, "Sister Riel."  Louis Riel was a famous Canadian, so we get called the Riel's ALL THE TIME.  We are the Reil's, but I will happily answer to Riel any time.

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender.  There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind.  There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined...

...We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith.  We have enough greed; we need more goodness.  We have enough vanity; we need more virtue.  We have enough popularity; we need more purity."  ~Margaret D. Nadauld

I just think these centerpieces are so cute!

They brought sunshine to my soul that was still suffering from the snow.

Doll Baby

I found 8 pictures on my camera that Noé took of Ali.

I love the little look on her face and her pursed lips.

Well done Noé!

Window Seat

I was walking by our front room and saw little feet sticking out from the curtain.

Peek-a-boo!

I've always wanted to have a big comfy window seat to curl up and read on.  Hiram's bum is so tiny that he fits on the window ledge.  He was just watching for the school bus to come and drop off his siblings.  I love to hear him say, "My friends are home," or "My kids are home!"

Special Weekend 2 of 2

We had 4 lovely days celebrating Easter weekend this year!

On Good Friday we had the Montminy's over for an egg hunt and a delicious Easter feast.

Notice the snow in the background.

Notice the lack of snow in this background, ha!

Two weeks after these pictures were taken all of the snow finally melted in our yard.  The weather keeps teasing me though with warm days followed by chilly days, it likes to torment me!

Ali wanted a basket too!

The kids did great and found 89 of the 90 eggs, I gave Hiram a hint and he found the last one.

Rita is so pretty, and I'm glad she still likes me even when I don't have time to do my hair and make-up, ha!

On Saturday we watched the morning and afternoon sessions of our General Conference, then Len and Kaleb went to the Priesthood session (and sub-spectacular beforehand).  On Sunday we watched the morning and afternoon sessions of General Conference.  I am so thankful to have a modern prophet that communes with the Lord and guides His people today.  We have 6 inspiring sessions every 6 months that fill my soul.  On Sunday we also finished our new Easter tradition- reading from "Celebrating A Christ-Centered Easter."  I LOVE this book and am looking forward to using it every year.  I also bought "Celebrating A Christ-Centered Christmas" and I can't wait to use it this December.

On Easter Monday, the kids woke up to see that the Easter Bunny had made a visit.  I love that the Easter Bunny can visit our house Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday and he always knows which day of the weekend will be best to visit each year!

He brought us 64 chocolate-dipped Oreo's,

and 32 chocolate suckers, yum!

Along with candy Kaleb got a Darth Vader Hotwheels car,

Noé got Suzette and Mini La Sweet Lalaloopsy dolls,

Gavin got a Luke Skywalker car,

Teague got a Yoda car,

Hiram got a Chewbacca car,

and Ali got Blossom and Petal Flowerpot dolls.

When Ali went down for her nap, the big kids dyed eggs.

They turned out so pretty!

This one was my favorite!

I just bought this frame to display Leonard's parents' picture in year-round, but I think it makes a great Easter decoration.  I am so grateful that Jesus Christ atoned for my sins and was resurrected.  I am so grateful that after I die I will be resurrected too and will be with all of my loved ones.  What an amazing gift!

Special Weekend 1 of 2

The weekend before Easter was a special one for our family.  On the Saturday evening, Noé and I attended the Women's Session of our church's 185th General Conference.  We got to hear uplifting words from members of the General Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary presidencies and from President Henry B. Eyring.  I love attending these meetings and am so glad that Noé is old enough to attend with me now.

The broadcast starts at 6:00 pm MDT, so that is 8:00 for us.  We met earlier though with the ladies from our ward and the Riverside ward for a lovely potluck dinner and service project.  For the service project we put together baby kits for St. Mary's home.  "St. Mary's Home is an Ottawa-based social service agency that provides a full range of programs and services for young pregnant women, young moms and dads, and their infants and young children." (taken from their website).
 

On the Sunday evening, we went to our Stake's Musical Easter Devotional.  Gavin got to sing with our ward's primary choir.  My baby love is growing up!

I brought Kaleb and Noé with us while Len stayed home with our little ones (the devotional ended way past their bedtime). 

*We started a new Easter tradition this day too that we really enjoyed and I will share more about in my next post.

Plan C

In March, Len took Gavin out for our parent-child date night.  Gavin thought long and hard about what he wanted them to do for this outing.  He finally decided that he wanted them to go swimming at our nearby rec center.  Len looked it up online to see how late the pool was open, only to discover that it was randomly closed that night, ugh!  After more thoughts and discussion they decided to go bowling.  Soon after they left they called me from the bowling alley to say that they weren't going to do that after all as lane bowling was only open for 10 more minutes, as their league bowling was about to begin, seriously?  We like our dates to have two parts- an activity and food.  Gavin decided this time that he just wanted to go window shopping at the new Toys 'R Us in our neighborhood and then get some doughnuts and hot chocolate from Tim Horton's.  That's what they were finally able to do and they had a nice evening together.  However, I've been told by Gavin that when he and I have our date in September, he wants to go bowling.  Let's do it Gavin!!

Ali @ 10 months

Ali is 11 months old today, so I'm just a month behind on this blog.  I can't believe in just one more month she'll be celebrating her first birthday.  She is such a joy!  Leonard and I cherish each of our children.  I would hope that every child would be adored by their parents, but lately I've been thinking about all the children that aren't.  It just breaks my heart!  I think many people don't know how to give love because they weren't loved.  I will just do my best to love all those that I meet, because love is contagious!

At 10 months old, Ali has learned to shake her head "no" and does it daily when I put her hair up in a pony. If I don't put her hair up, it completely covers her face like Cousin Itt from the Addams family.  She's very chatty and likes to sing with me.  She loves to play with her siblings and is so excited when Daddy comes home from work each day.  She is starting to climb up the stairs, and we have to use her seatbelt in her high chair or she climbs out.  She has learned to clap her hands and wave and it is the cutest thing to watch her use her new skills.  We sure love you Ali!!

FHE Train

Gavin was in charge of our activity after our Family Home Evening lesson, and he chose building train tracks together (big surprise!).

The kids did a great job of working together and driving trains all over their completed projected.  I can't remember why Kaleb was being grumpy, but I caught his sour face on camera.

We were there too (pajamas and all).

Now they're all smiles!

I wish I could keep this time when they are all little living under our roof forever!  I hope that even when they grow up and leave the nest, that our relationships will be bonded for all of time.  And that's why we do FHE each week (we do a song, prayer, scripture, lesson, activity, and treat).  I just love these peeps so much!

Bathtime

This girl is so chill in her little bath tub.

And her hair is just out of control!

Green Pancakes and Ham, er Sausage!

St. Patrick's Day fell during March break and we had the Montminy's over to spend the day with us.  I made each of the kids their own bag of popcorn for snack time and they thought that was so cool!

For dinner that night I was inspired by Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, but instead I made green pancakes (with green pistachio pudding and green whipped cream to top them), and then regular colored eggs, sausage, hash browns, and orange juice.  My kids love it when we have breakfast for dinner!

Of course, we had to take pictures in our silly St. Paddy's props!

I remember buying this little hat last year and putting it in front of my big prego tummy.  I think Ali looks quite cute in it, it's just her size!

 

Hope you had a great day celebrating the green!