April, showered.

All right, settle in: it's time for a long-winded recap of random APRIL moments in the Izatt home!

And as you face the daunting task of reading the whole dang thing, Jack would like to remind you that sometimes the most challenging of circumstances are more easily overcome than you think:

 I have an exact no idea where he learned this.

 

April 2nd was Autism Awareness Day, wooo!

  Dutch Brothers sweetly marked the occasion by generously donating $1 to Autism Speaks for every drink sold that day. Super cool, right? So Kristen and Jack and I obviously had to hit them up for some hot chocolate :).

 

  Near the beginning of the month, we were treated to a quick visit from Chuck's parents, hooray!

 We fit in lots of fun: reading, playing games, Grandma and Grandpa and Daddy having lunch at school with Clyde, etc. 

OH, and also a car accident:

We got rear-ended by a van that got side-swiped by a blue car that got HIT HARD by a car whose driver zoned out/fell asleep/something and didn't notice that we were all stopped at a red light.

Blessedly:

* Chuck was driving. This is pretty rare when we're together, but I'm SO glad he was. I'd like to think I would have also left enough space between us and the car in front of us (thus ensuring that the chain reaction stopped with us) but who knows? Chuck's amazing.

* Chuck was with us! As were Grandma and Grandpa! If you're going to be stuck with all three kids in the van for a solid hour after a fairly startling incident, you might as well have four adults to help keep the kids calm and entertained.

* None of us were hurt. Terri and I both had some initial neck-type pain but we popped some ibuprofen and that was the last of it. [The driver of the blue car was injured and taken to the hospital but not too, too seriously.]

* There was minimal damage to the van. The black plastic underneath the bumper was cracked, but that's mostly just cosmetic. In fact, Chuck and I hadn't intended on getting it covered or fixed, but the other insurance company contacted us, sent out an adjuster and are mailing us a check. 

* One of the responding fire engines was from Station #1, the same station that hosted a tour for my Cub Scouts a few months ago. Remember how I had such good intentions of dropping off the thank-you card? Of course I still hadn't, so instead I handed it off to a nice fireman who said he would pass it along to that crew. Awesome!

Oh, we had a girls' night:

SOME people skipped out on running for this one, while I opted to run in the freaking wind and then show up... I'm hardcore. Such a good night though - we laughed until we cried (mostly at poor Paulina's expense, I just love her so much), and then we almost legitimately cried (necessary reminder that friends are there for the hard times too) and then we asked some 16-year-old kid who was there with his friends to take a picture of us. Epic night, as always.

Clyde Monster spent a few Mondays in March and April in physical therapy, hanging out with this great guy, Kevin.

Our quest to manage Clyde's Hirschsprung's disease remains a constant journey and we're very grateful for such kind and knowledgeable people to help us along the way!

 My Cub Scout Pack had its Pinewood Derby:

 I didn't make a car this year due to a lack of inspiration BUT my boys all worked hard and had awesome cars to show for it. Brother Murphy sweetly helped out a TON as always, handling all of the weigh-in details. Love him. And I'm so grateful for such a supportive Primary Presidency and Bishopric. I tried to brush off a compliment from the Bishop afterwards by saying, "Ehh, it's done." and he stopped me and said, "No, it's done well." I always love my calling as Cubmaster, but that helps me love it a little more :).

 

 Jack continues to climb on EVERYTHING and this day happily reached the lightswitch in the kitchen.

 On. Off. On. Off. Smile, clap. On. Off. OVER AND OVER :).

 

 For Stake Conference all of southwestern Idaho tuned in to a broadcast from Salt Lake, so my dear mom took pity on me and came to Nampa to attend it with the little boys and myself (Chuck was at work).

 She also made us delicious homemade whipped cream, wooo! (Lucky, since Jack had run us out of the canned variety).

 And since Sunday afternoons are kind of loong, so we had a little photo shoot; feel free to guess which pictures Will took :).

 

 Oh, to commemorate Earth Day and pass off a requirement, the Scouts did our annual trash pick-up around the church parking lot:

 Clyde got to tag along, which he (of course) loved.

  

 Cody came over one morning and spent some time with Will:

 Obviously coordinating uncle-nephew Avenger tattoos was on the agenda.

Clyde's school has a walk/run club on Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunch recess and parents are invited to come participate, sooo I've tried to make it over there as often as possible to walk and run laps with Clyde Monster.

And his little (girl)friends, of course: Danika, Bailee, Alli (who gave me the 'flowers' pictured), Hailee, Janeah, Keera (pictured), Aryn, Annamarie, etc, etc. My favorite is when they migrate towards the playground for the last couple of minutes of recess and seven different kids shout "Look at me, Ms. Jana! Watch me!"

We've continued to spend lots of time outside, which is fabulous.

 We signed the boys up for t-ball this summer which promises to be equally as hilarious to watch as soccer and basketball have been, so I'm excited :).

We got to borrow the absolutely adorable Aidan and Abby (see what I did there?) after church one day for a couple hours and Jack found a new best friend:

 Aidan is just a couple of weeks younger than Clyde and he loves having another boy in his girl-dominated primary class.

And finally, spring is a pretty slow time for me and my Savers-addiction; there isn't anything I really NEED so I try to avoid trips there, buuut on one quick stop in I found this gem and am resolved to wear it at least once a week for the rest of my life:

 Old school Vince Gill shirt, HELL(O) YEAH. Best two bucks I've ever spent.