Jumpin' in the Rain!

Today, we're having a glorious rainstorm.  Nothin' like a good trampoline party in the rain!  Irelynd and Zander were assigned to run out and put a few things away.  Drake put on his jacket and joined them.  Then the girls went running out.  I yelled across the house for Jason to look out the window at our crazy kids, playing in the rain.  A few seconds later, there he was out there, being crazy with them.  Now super wet and in need of a cozy blanket . . . and maybe some hot chocolate . . . they are tumbling inside.  I must go tend to the masses.  :)

Like Father, Like Daughter

So first off, I'll admit it:  I am married to an old man.  Yes, those are Jason's reading glasses (*chuckle*).   I guess Jovi's been watching Jason, because she showed up in the kitchen a couple days ago with his glasses on and a Louis L'Amour open.  Jason loves Louis L'Amour books.  I know kids love to copy us, as adults, but I'm sure, half the time, they really can't figure out what is so cool about it.  I can imagine Jovi's thoughts:

"Okay.  Now I've got on these glasses that Dad always wears when he looks at books.  They're not as awesome as my sparkly sunglasses, but I guess they're okay.  Except everything looks blurry.  I'm actually not really sure why he wears them at all.

"Oh well, I'll try opening this book like he does.  Hmmm.  No pictures.  Boring!  What does he do for so long, looking at these dull pages?  I guess it doesn't matter, though because I wouldn't be able to see pictures anyway with these dang glasses on. 

"At least I look cool like Dad." And she's absolutely right.  I'd say she definitely looks as cool as Jason does.  :)

I love them for their personality

Do these look familiar?  I had a huge patch of red tulips in my front yard, and I kept thinking, "I need to cut some of those that bring them in."  But then there was that big storm, which included much wind, and all the pretty petals were gone.  As soon as I saw the empty stalks, I was at first sad that I had missed my opportunity to cut them and bring them in.  But then I felt really guilty.  Why should I only bring them in if they have pretty red petals?  Those poor stalks are the support and life of that flower; just because the petals are gone doesn't mean they're worthless.  I felt so bad for them.  And guilty that I only valued them when they were red and showy.  So
I brought them in.  I love them for their personality.   

Happy Easter!

 Cutest Easter Bunny EVER.

We had a glorious time coloring eggs this year.  We used food coloring to dye them, as opposed to the Paas packages.  I was very satisfied with the results - if anything they were too bright - I think I will use fewer drops next year - but it was really cool.

I think Drake was my most creative dye-er this year.  He did stripes, painted polka-dots with a paintbrush, tried layering the color, used wax for one dip, then wiped it off for another . . .  He was quite clever. 

 

Amari is cute, as always.  All of her eggs were severely cracked by the time she was done.

Zander wanted all of his to be dark blue and green.  (And we had a lot of those, since we ended up with 19 experimental colors.)  Then, after he was done, he insisted on giving almost all of them away.  He's such a giving sort! 

me, just for posterity - I had to prove I was there.

Jason made a delicious dinner for us.  :)  Here he is, cooking with his mp3 player. 

We purposely dyed eggs while Jovi was napping, but she LOVED the egg hunt!  I color-coded the kids this year, and told them what color they were allowed to find, so I could do different levels of hiding places.  So I picked bright pink and yellow for Jovi, and she took it to heart.  I tried to get her to put an extra brown and grey one in her basket, and she flatly refused.

We had cool fishy eggs this year.  Zander got all the sharks, Drake got the green pufferfish, Irelynd got the blue and white starfish, Amari got the clownfish (nemos), and Jovi got the bright pink starfish and the bright yellow pufferfish.  It was slick, I tell you!

Jason helped with the hiding = awesome hiding places.  I did Amari and Jovi's - they took much less skill.  (Jovi's were all just in the middle of the yard!)

Chocolate bunnies are much-beloved: notice the tiny gnawing marks?  Unfortunately, this wasn't Jovi's bunny; she swiped it from Amari. . .

OUR JERUSALEM DINNER:  always the kids' favorite part of Easter.  Here we have falafel (I homemade it this year, instead of using the box variety - much yummier!), cheese, pita bread, grapes, nuts, olives, and lentil soup (decidedly un-kosher; ham just makes it taste so much better!).

Here we have a better view of my nice pitas, which turned out so much better this year than last.  I've decided the secret is to let them rise for awhile after you flatten the dough, before cooking. 

And cheese and tomato and cucumber salad.  And the falafel again.  Fun times.  The kids especially love washing their hands before in a basin, and eating on the floor on pillows, (with their hands).  Good Easter for the Brown Family.  

I like Irelynd

It's been fun this last month going to the temple with Irelynd almost every Saturday.  (We feel so blessed to live close enough to a temple to be able to do that!)  You can't see very well in this picture, but when we get close to the temple, she starts glowing.  She loves to run up and touch the outside of the temple, sit on the bench, and just sits with a jubilant smile the whole time we are inside.  Irelynd feels the spirit so easily;  I want to be more like her.  She is always begging to go more often.  What a good influence she is on our family! 

Just look at that happy face!!!

And she even puts up with two little brothers!  Actually, it's more than that - she glories in being the big sister, and makes up games, activities, and adventures whenever they have time together.  And don't even get me started on the little girls.  They are kindred spirits.  I think I will leave that for another post.

She also really loves her Great-Grandma Brown, whose health is failing recently.  This past week, we went to visit, and Irelynd fed Grandma some pudding and played her some songs on the piano and sat by her and hugged her and held her hand.  I think Grandma really loves Irelynd, too.  Let's face it:  WHO DOESN'T LOVE IRELYND?  I don't know!  Thanks, I, for YOU!

Jovi is so dang cute. . . and she loves Megan

The main purpose of this post was to show Valerie how cutie-patootie Jovi is.  She recently asked about her in detail, apparently sincerely interested.  So here you go!  :)  Whenever I point a camera at her, she does this. 

Or this.

And also I wanted to say how cute it is that JOVI ADORES MEGAN.  For those of you who don't know, Megan is Jason's little sister who lives in Provo.  She is our most frequent visitor; I think that might be why she is so beloved of Jo-Jo.  (She's also super patient and pretty and fun and nice and fast.)

And here she is on Megan's lap again.  She saw her at Grandma Brown's and immediately LEANED.  Congrats, Meg!  You have earned the love!

Amari likes ketchup.

The funny thing about this post is that I think there is another one with the same title.  I just walked into the kitchen and found her like this - downin' the ketchup like it was a bottle of soda.  And then a couple days later, I find this:  a bowl of ketchup to eat like a bowl of cereal.  In case you're wondering, no - I don't just keep ketchup out on the counter all the time for her to get into.  Another addiction (sanctioned) in our family is Drake with chicken nuggets, for which he is constantly getting out the ketchup (and not putting it away!).  Thus, Amari's near-constant access to said KETCHUP! 

In Loving Memory, Greg Bryan Frandsen 3/24/1951 - 6/4/2004

Today, my Dad would have turned 60 years old.  He passed away seven years ago.  He was such a great man.  From him, I learned how to work, to have a positive attitude, and to make every day count.  He had an unwavering testimony, so much love in his heart, and confidence and a zest for life.  His family was the most important thing to him.  Whenever I am overwhelmed with a problem, my first impulse still is to call my dad.  I wish my kids could really know him.  I miss him so much.

Dr. Zander

What is it, Doctor?

"It's a rash!  This is an angry one."  (Zander's actual words.)

Happy Valentine's Day

To all those I love: I hope you have a wonderful day! Thank you to all of the people who have shown so much love and support to me and my family. Will you be my valentine?

Jovi Dancin

I think this baby is oh so cute.

She makes life worth living.

Why I appreciate Zander

Here I am, enduring one of the worst days EVER.  Surely nothing can make it all better . . . little did I know Zander had been sneaking around, working some chuckle-inducing mischief in Amari's room today.  I walk in to her room to find this:

Okay.  I know it doesn't logically solve any problems, but for me today, it made everything better.  Z can always make me laugh . . . mostly without even meaning to!  And that's why I appreciate Zander so darn much.