April: literally everything else

Oh man, we've made it to the final April post, hooray! This post is brought to you by Target... because I love Target. As do my kids! Which is apparently why I took all four of them with me one day. I think it was a Friday afternoon and I really wanted Milano cookies? Carma fell asleep so I carried her through the store... painstakingly slow because I have a certain route I take that ensures I hit up every clearance endcap... anyways, it basically broke my back but oh well. Carma woke up in the check out line and FREAKED OUT until I opened the box of Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast (legit a clearance buy that looked intriguing...) and gave her one. Yes, a piece of frozen garlic toast. She fell in love and continued to savor it on the drive home. Whatev, girl. You do you.

We met my dad over at Lakeview Park on Saturday afternoon between conference sessions to get fresh air and chicken nuggets and all sorts of fun! Grandpa brought bubbles and kits and blow-up shields and food and it was wonderful :).

One FHE found us all piled on the couch staring at Chuck's phone (looking at family history - we are possibly related to like 14th Century royalty, no big deal) so I thought to myself, "PRIME opportunity for a family picture!"

AND IT WAS! What's that - everyone looking? Smiling? Eyes open? Just the right amount of pixelation (possibly not a real word)? Clyde adorably flashing a peace sign as I have awesomely taught him? If we had a mantle this would honestly be framed above it.

In our never-ending quest to become farmers, we planted one peach tree and one apple tree in the front yard and despite some possible overwatering issues, we are holding out hope they will grow and be fruitful and delicious. If they wither away, we will pull them out and never speak of it again. (Remember our cherry tree? Me neither.)

Random outdoor fun. Carma wanted to climb a tree at the church because she's a little Izatt girl like her aunts Melissa and Amanda before her. The tree on the bottom right is because EVERY TIME we saw such a blossoming tree as we drove around town we all sang "Popcorn Popping" much to Jack's delight.

Picture of Clyde Monster before the BSU scrimmage because he's just so cute!

Old school picture of me and my brothers because we were just so cute! April got kind of rough for my tender little sister heart and I spent one night pretty distraught about my inability to fix other people's problems...aka make decisions for them ;). So I found this vintage shot of me and my cute three brothers and used it for my fb picture for a while - and then it turned out the next day was "National Siblings Day". (P.S. I feel like we've talked a lot as a society about Hallmark making up holidays but not enough attention goes to facebook making up holidays - was "National Siblings Day" a thing before fb? I feel like it wasn't...)

Now that Will is 8, he can officially go with Clyde to 'tween' activities at the library, hooray!

Such a supportive wife.

April brought some craigslisting - we sold Carma and Jack's toddler beds and got them twin beds instead! My babies are all grown up. I was pretty psyched, I had envisioned matching white wooden bed frames AND I FOUND THEM. For a super good price. Granted, it was a bit of a drive, but Chuck took care of that, and also they've definitely been well used by kids but as luck would have it, they're just coming here to also be well used by kids so we're good ;).

Jack and Carma both started sleeping better so I'm thrilled. Other random pictures - Jack wearing his Darth Vadar shirt next to Darth Vadar (at Target, because that's my happy place...), Jack looking for letters of the alphabet in the checkout line - obviously I endeavor never to take my kids to the grocery store but when I do, this game is the only way I stay sane. They find the ABCs one by one and it keeps them occupied and (bonus) other shoppers think I'm a good mom haha. Also does anyone else love Fred Meyer for putting out fruit for kids to much on throughout the store? I'm legit obsessed with it AND their 'lunchbox size' apples for 99 cents a pound.

How can a child be SO cute and SO mischievous at the same time? On SO little sleep?????

Quick round of Clue. How cute are Jack's and Chuck's matching hats??

Oh man, one day I was supposed to call Holly but I wasn't ready yet so I sent her this super hot post-plasma, at Costco selfie with a promise to call in like 15 minutes. And then I preserved the picture for posterity because hello, who looks that awesome and wind-blown in the middle of Costco?? ME.

Sometimes you glance into the backyard at just the right moment to catch Chuck's turn at dead man. Best part was that since his eyes were closed he had no idea I took these pictures ;).

I'm probably a bad person but one of my favorite things ever is watching toddlers try to carry stuff. Isn't it just so hilarious? I figure it's payback for how ridiculous I look trying to carry her when she's throwing a tantrum haha.

Random trampoline fun... aka Chuck lobbing balls and trying to hit the bouncing children haha. One little ball got stuck up in the rain gutter and Carma was recruited to retrieve it... which was hilarious in and of itself - she kept locating the ball but leaving it there.

And I may have grabbed this picture with my super cute husband. Always looking to flesh out that modeling portfolio, ya know?

One day I went into Target (I KNOW, I'M THERE A LOT) and left Chuck and the kids in the van... and came back to this. My instagram caption was "When Mom wants to talk about your new tattoo" hahaha. Oh we love our little expressive artist!

Four little blue-clad siblings on trampoline - we should probably take a moment to appreciate the various hues represented; I thought it was impressive haha.

Oh man. Chuck and I made a midday Walmart run and Carma was not having it - she wanted to carry the bubble bath, she wanted to drop the bubble bath, she wanted to throw the bubble bath, etc. So I grabbed her to head out to the truck while Chuck and Jack finished shopping only to find it locked and myself sans keys... so Carma and I rednecked it up and hung out in the bed of the truck for like a half hour haha. Blessedly I had my phone (and Carma's hijinks) to entertain me and Carma had a booster seat and a box of dirt to entertain her! Collectively I think we provided entertainment for other shoppers as they came and went - is there a Walmart Bingo square for 'weird people camping out in the back of a truck" ??

April concluded with a Saturday afternoon spent at Grandpa's house - started in the backyard checking out all the cool fountains and trying to get Chips the bunny to hang out:

Carma made friends with this little guy. They had a nice talk and ended it with a hug hahahaha.

And then it was time for some fishing! Grandpa's koi all managed to avoid our (non-hook) lures, shockingly ;).

My dad always has the coolest little toys and contraptions - this time it was a helicopter thing that shot up into the air. We had tons of fun chasing that around his culdesac! 

THE END OF APRIL!