april: e'erything else

All right, let's wrap up April. I don't want to rush it or anything, because it was a good month, but in the wings we definitely have a post about the time that Jack drove the minivan in May, so let's do this thing:

We bought a piano! After bustin' in to the church building on a regular basis for the boys to practice, Chuck and I scoured craigslist until we found one we really liked within our budget. Much thanks to a few of Chuck's co-workers who helped him load it after work one night and to a couple friends who helped Chuck unload it once he arrived home and to the Swensons for the use of the trailer - I think it liked being reunited with the truck ;). We put the piano into the bonus room, kicking off a room swap (Jack and Carma from the bonus room to the back bedroom, guest room from the back bedroom to the bonus room with the piano). It's so much easier for the boys to practice, and we often find them... and the littler kids... in there, randomly plunking away.

The first weekend of April was General Conference! I shamelessly copied all of my lds fb friends to get us through the two days - candy jars corresponding with certain possible talk themes (temples, service, families, prayer, etc) and rotating activities every half hour. Standing on the arms of the couches to sing along with the MoTab choir was an Izatt family original idea though ;). And on a cheesy religious note (the best kind!), Conference was just so beautiful and fulfilling - I honestly love when it coincides with Easter Sunday, because I feel like it's just so stripped down to the essentials without all of the extra fluff. And as always, I felt like several talks were given just for me. At our girls' day the weekend prior, we discussed a specific phrase pertaining to family dynamics. I was grateful and humbled when three or four different speakers specifically addressed and clarified the point that we were curious about. Pretty awesome stuff.

The boys patiently waited until Chuck got home from work that evening for an Easter egg hunt, and Chuck's hiding spots in the backyard didn't disappoint :).

The boys were pretty thrilled to be reunited with Uncle Cody at the end of March, and one day Jack was thrilled when Cody stopped by and spent time with just him! And I was thrilled to put Cody in charge of cutting up my bell peppers for me!

A month into the new library's existence and we're still big fans. The little two love the play area, and Jack insists on opening the doors as we enter and exit and carrying whatever Lego Star Wars/Ninjago movie he conned me into checking out ;).

Sometimes when Chuck works on Sundays he texts me to see how church is going. Sometimes I send him back pictures of my face that suggest I probably shouldn't answer that question whilst still in the Lord's house, haha. OH, and speaking of nursing (weren't we?), in mid-April I got to cross something off my bucket list that wasn't actually previously on it, but let's not get all technical: I nursed someone else's baby! A good friend had gone out of town on a much needed and well-deserved trip and left plenty of pumped milk for her little boy, who had taken a bottle before just fine - only this time he didn't. (KIDS, I tell you!) Long story short, I was so thrilled to help and it went really smoothly (until the point that Carma came into the room towards the end and got a little possessive hahaha) and it was really so cool to be able to be of service in that way.

OH, and another bucket list item hit the dust: eating sushi! Technically I tried some homemade sushi in high school, but I can't remember it super well. We had a modified girls' night in April - Nicole's sweet Myla was in the hospital in Boise for a few terrifying days so Paulina and Nycole and I busted Nicole out for a few minutes of fresh air and raw fish ;). And I didn't hate it! Both kinds were good, the extra cream cheese definitely helped, haha.

One day the two little kids and I stopped by to see my dad and have adventures in his fun backyard. Carma politely declined the blanket Grandpa laid out for her and opted to explore the bark... and bricks around the pond... and almost the pond itself... busy girl!!

While I was at my dad's house, the elementary school called to say that Will had fallen off the monkey bars and gotten roughed up a bit, including a bloody nose. I felt SO horrible that I was a half hour away and couldn't bring my sweet boy a new shirt right away. In a tender mercy, I was prompted to ask the nurse to call Clyde down and have him give his shirt to Will - I knew that Will would feel more comfortable in Clyde's shirt and that Clyde wouldn't mind wearing a shirt from the school's stockpile of extra clothing. Will's teacher emailed me a little later to let me know that Will was doing great, and I took this picture of the boys after school. I credit so much of Will's progress and general well-adjustment in life to his closeness to Clyde - both in age and relationship. Aaand now I'm crying, so let's move on ;)....

We loved being outside lots in April, and Clyde loved riding his new bigger bike, and Will loved inheriting Clyde's old bike. (spoiler alert: it quickly became apparent that even Clyde's old bike wasn't big enough for Will, so Chuck hit craigslist again and found another bigger bike so they now have the same size and their old ones are waiting in the wings for Jackers as he grows.) Carma still prefers a car to biking, even when she has to crawl in to drive.

Random exploring / conquering on a Sunday evening walk:

And some around the house pictures, including Grandma Pam holding Carma, wrapped up in a sweet blanket that my Grandma Carma made for me when I was a baby.

April was when I stopped watching the oh-so-cute Ashtyn and I couldn't help but dress Carma to match her that last day. She and her family have since moved closer to family in eastern Idaho and it's fun to keep up with her on facebook!

Oh, I was leaving the church with the kids after Cub Scouts one night when Chuck was there for missionary splits with the Priest's Quorum and found them posing for a picture. So naturally I snapped my own as well, resulting in this gem that if you glance really quickly at, looks like Chuck has his hand nestled into the crook of Andy's elbow, a la all the cheesy Regency romance books I read ... when it's in fact Elder Roberts' hand from the other side... but still, hahahaha.

At the end of the month, Will was so excited to celebrate his good friend Spencer's birthday with him at Wahooz!, but Clyde and Jack were less excited to be left home - so I rallied the troops for a Costco run with a happy ending of frozen yogurt swirl and a hot dog. I'm not saying I would never get sick of it if I ate at the Costco food court every single day, but I am saying that I wouldn't mind giving it a shot.

Chuck and I ended April with a lovely Ward Temple Night - on Bishop Swenson's birthday! A temple worker joked about refreshments afterwards and we all held back laughs - there were definitely cupcakes back at the church waiting for us ;). Bishop Swenson has put such a great emphasis on temple service and it was really neat to be there with so many ward members and especially with my stellar husband. 

And that was April!

april: UTAH trip!

In late April, we took a quick road trip down to Utah to see these two ridiculously good-looking individuals graduate from BYU:

So awesome! They were able to walk together with the college of nursing (Eden's degree, Quinn's is elementary education) AND carry Isaac and Leila with them. As they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas, a family picture was shown, along with a quote or scripture that the graduate chose. Eden and Quinn's was 2 Nephi 25:26 "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

Shockingly, the four Izatt children got a little squirrel-y during the proceedings, so we escaped outside a few minutes early. This proved to be the best move we made all day, because Will and Carma charmed the nice catering guy and he insisted we hit the buffet table ahead of time, like legitimately we kept saying, "Oh, we're okay, we'll wait!" and he kept saying "Please, go ahead!" so we did and OH MAN THE MINT BROWNIES. I'm not saying they made me question my decision to leave BYU after my freshman year and transfer to BSU... but maybe a little. BYU mint brownies are the stuff of legends and I definitely ate two. 

 And then we all headed back to Quinn and Eden's for a fantastic lunch and party, thanks in no small part to the amazing Pam Atkinson (Eden's mom) whose work ethic and generosity would have put Mother Theresa to shame.

All of the little cousins were in heaven with Uncle Cody on hand to play with!!

 OH, and did I mention it was Isaac's third birthday?? Eden and Pam A made an amazingly cute big cupcake for him to enjoy and awesome cake and cupcakes for the rest of us. The funniest part of the afternoon was quite possibly Isaac running rampant with the balloons and Quinn having to carry him over so we could sing Happy Birthday :).

Family picture! First time my mom has had all of us together for a looooong time:

 

 And a quick sibling picture. Man, it's a good thing my brothers have me around to pretty things up a bit ;).

 After the party, we headed back north to hang out with Chuck's sisters. Alas, the scenery along I-15 couldn't compete with three tiiiired boys:

But everyone was wide awake and ready for more fun when we hit Melissa's house! And as a bonus we got to see Aunt Sue and Lehi and Brei and Maverick too! The highlight for Will was being a team with Lily and Aunt Sue and crushing the rest of us at Apples to Apples. 

 MUCH thanks to Amanda for housing our crazy gang for a couple nights. Aren't James and Carma the cutest little babies ever? And don't Amanda and Chuck both look thrilled that I'm taking a picture right then? It was so fun to get to see both sides of the family on this trip; Chuck and Amanda got to talk and catch up a lot which is always fun for siblings.

 On our way out of Kays, we made a quick detour to see my BFSC Courtney and her new house!! They purchased a beautiful house that needed a lottttt of work and did most of it themselves, so cool. This was right in the middle of renovations and it was fun to walk through.

  We headed back to Quinn's for a couple more hours of bonding time and eating yummy leftovers from the party:

 And of course we had to break in Isaac's new water guns (from Sheets, I think?). Shockingly, the real battle ended up being between the two biggest boys, one of whom was carrying my daughter!! (spoiler alert: she loved it...)

And then it was time to head home! Except... a couple nights before we left Nampa, I saw a tweet by one of my favorite authors about a book signing in Provo. Chuck readily agreed that it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up and I responded to the tweet because I'm cool like that AND THEN BOTH AUTHORS FAVORITED IT and I pretty much felt like the coolest person ever:

It was so perfect! I waltzed in, there was no line, bought their newest books (happy early Mother's Day to me!) and got them signed. I kind of lingered after that, watching another person ask for a picture and wishing I had the gumption to do the same... and then the sweet and observant Josi Kilpack said, "Jana, did you want a picture too?" HECK YES! So awesome. If you need some clean romance books in your life, here are the amazon links for both Sarah Eden and Josi Kilpack. I've read almost all of their novels and a decent portion of the anthologies they've each contributed to and heartily endorse their books*.

And that was our Utah trip! Spoiler alert: we returned to the Beehive State in May... and June... and July... for equally fun adventures, so get excited for those. Congratulations again Quinn and Eden, we are so proud of you!!

*Okay, there's one of Sarah Eden's that I couldn't get on board with but she's writing a follow-up that I believe... and pray... will alleviate my heartache and general despondency... and Josi Kilpack's culinary mystery series was a little harder for me to get into, but well worth it - I've never been so invested in the love life of a fifty-something widow as I was in Sadie's by the end of the series, haha.

april: Clyde's first Pinewood Derby!

Clyde was pretty psyched for his first Pinewood Derby in Cub Scouts and I'd be lying if I said Chuck (as a, you know, dad) and I (as a former Cub Scout leader/organizer of pinewood derbies) weren't pretty excited as well ;). Brother Murphy provided his services helping the boys cut out their cars, and then Clyde got to work creating his Minecraft-themed masterpiece:

 I'm not one to usually tout my brilliance (that's an absolute lie) but I came up with the idea to print off Minecraft swords for Clyde to color and then modpodge onto the car. It's possible that I've missed my calling in life as some sort of Pinterest trailblazer...

It was a really fun afternoon; the Cub Scouts invited the Activity Day girls to participate as well, so there were lots of races to watch and enjoy. The crowd went wild when sweet, tiny Alyssa Cunningham won race after race to be crowned the overall winner on the girls' side.

 And Clyde (Isatt?) did awesome as well - he ended up getting third place on the Cub Scout side, as well as having the Fastest Run Overall. 

Here are a couple videos Chuck got, one of Clyde's first race against his buddy Deion and the second of Clyde's race against eventual overall winner Andrew. Enjoy Will in the background - all three of our younger kids were ON SOMETHING and keeping them juggled and away from the racetrack and semi-quiet was tricky...

 And here are medalists! Clyde got third place, Andrew got first place, and Noah got second. Cute boys!!

april: Sunday School adventures!!

One of my callings at church is youth Sunday School teacher and holy moly it's fantastic. Sometimes I worry about being too outwardly thrilled about it because I worry Heavenly Father will be like, "Hmm, Jana seems pretty happy and comfortable in that calling, and I'd like to see her grow and learn more, so let's switch things up a bit" buuuuut then I remember He also knows the thoughts of my heart not just the ones I vocalize, so I might as well vocalize away :). I seriously love my calling and the lessons I have the opportunity to study and especially especially the youth I teach.

I'd been praying and pondering how to connect with them better and received some pretty great inspiration - one on one time with the girls in my class, outside of the church setting. I call it an 'adventure' and find a time they're free and I'm free and we jettison off to exotic locations around Nampa and get a bite to eat or a snack or a treat and chat about whatever on earth they want to. Do you even know how fun and enlightening it is to tell a 15 year old girl to just talk? So great.

My maiden voyage was with Kiki. We ended up with kind of a hat theme as we perused Savers and Target - I mean, who are we to fight the fact that all three of us look amazing in fedoras??

We talked and laughed and loaded up on clearance Easter candy (for Kiki) and peanut butter M&Ms (for me) and diapers (for Carma, she may have gotten the short stick...). Kiki has had my heart ever since I met her on our Oregon coast youth trip a couple of summers ago and it was so great to enjoy her giggliness and fun spirit for a couple hours. Such a doll.

A few days later an opportunity popped up to sneak out with Braenna for an adventure! It was good timing since there was randomly a standoff in her neighborhood and police were encouraging people to evacuate their homes... so off we went! We hit up Savers where a couple large polar bears were hanging out in the entrance way and Braenna proceeded to break all of my animal safety rules and just went up and touched one.

Things may or may not have gotten crazy after that; there was a parking lot demonstration of Burpees that was pretty stellar, and then I had to force Braenna to order an orange creamsicle shake so that my apple turnover wouldn't be lonely, and then we DROVE THROUGH THE STANDOFF AREA because "someone" was "sure" it was "over" and then we hung out in the dance studio parking lot and talked in depth while also scaring Llyam to death. Braenna has a lot in common with me circa the year 2000 (aka when I was 15) and it was so great to have a chance to really talk about life. Love her.

My super cute Michael from Sunday School finally remembered to tell me when his band concert was, so I got to sneak over to that one night. In the lower left picture, he's the kid second from the left playing the... brass instrument... (man I wish Chuck was here, former band geek that he is...). Michael was awesome and the other Cunningham kids came to sit with me and we had all sorts of fun!

And finally, Chuck and I got a date night out on the town in mid-April to watch Jared be awesome in Hairspray! Very well-done community production, and as a bonus it was choreographed by Ashlee Christensen, who the boys started piano with a couple of weeks later. She's amazing.

[i don't want to alarm anyone, but we are just cruising through april. Chuck counted out the months for me earlier... on his fingers... to lovingly point out how far behind in blogging i am... which i'm taking as carte blanche to ignore laundry until i'm at more respectably behind ;) Let's do this thing! ]

april: School fun!

Once upon a time in April, there were some fun almost-end-of-the-year school festivities that require documentation.

Starting with Jackers and preschool! He attended the developmental preschool for a couple weeks while they continued to evaluate his speech progress. He had a great time and insisted on wearing his Toy Story shirt everyday! Fun. The good news is that while he still prefers not to say words "correctly", they are confident that he will someday. Works for me!

The PTA did another fundraiser at Wendy's, so we gathered the troops, plus Deion and Alexis, and headed over. Chuck and I decided to splurge on Frostys since Miss Overcast was workin' the machine ... and then they also brought out smaller free samples of Frostys ... so rest assured that these kids got plenty o' sugar ;).

Best Frosty maker in town!

A couple weeks later it was time for Literacy Night at the school, where there are fun reading-related activities in every grade's hallway (we were happy to be reunited with Mrs. Keene at her bingo station!) and some of the teachers and staff dress up as book characters. Miss Overcast was an adorable Lorax and Miss Wiltrout was a very convincing Queen of Hearts.

One of the kids chose these glasses as a prize and we couldn't leave the parking lot until everyone had a turn hahahaha.

Clyde's class had the amazing opportunity to do a special project with the new library - they took several field trips and studied about the old library and the new library and did projects and papers. At the end of April, families were invited to a special presentation night - so cool!!

We got to take a special behind-the-scenes tour of the new library, including witnessing the book sorter in action which was pretty sweet. Clyde had already had the tour on one of their field trips, so it was pretty cute to see him walk ahead of us like he owned the place ;).

After the tour, we headed back for the presentations. A few students were chosen to read their papers aloud - they wrote proposals for the old library building. Clyde went first and then also participated with two groups sharing other research and a cute skit that had been previously filmed.

The local newspaper did a story and the school district highlighted the evening on their facebook page (some of the pictures here courtesy of that page! Thanks!). This was such a fun night to see Clyde and his classmates be able to share the results of their hard work and we're grateful for Miss Wiltrout for all of her efforts and innovative teaching ideas.

On a final note, at one point Clyde was supposed to ask his parents our ideas for the old location. He failed to do so, and ended up improvising at school that morning before he turned it in - for his mom's idea he wrote "choclate store - woman love choclate".

I can't decide if he meant 'women' or if he legit refers to me as 'woman' when I'm not around... but either way, I'm thrilled that he's figured this love/addiction at such a young age. It can only benefit his life in years to come!!