Some fun new accessories for our backyard monkey bars arrived this morning. Adam installed them (with minimal help from me) and Annie couldn’t wait to test them out.

Maggie had her ballet recital this earlier this month. Due to the cornavirus, it was a virtual recital (which meant I got a front row seat).

We also had a DIY photo shoot.

Maggie looked adorable and was thrilled to scout locations from the back of a golf cart.

I was about a week late taking these photos and even later posting them here, but we officially have kids in 2nd, 4th, and 6th grades!

Here is the last known photograph of six-year-old Maggie.

Her birthday started with breakfast in bed, provided by Waiter Luke.

Annie joined in on the fun too.

After a bath, Maggie and Annie visited the Mom Salon for manicures and pedicures.

Maggie asked for pink, purple, and blue toes – with glitter of course (and Annie wanted the same).

Maggie wanted a “rainbow, leopard-print, unicorn” birthday and asked me to make her a dress with “just one shoulder” to go with it. She was so excited when this fabric arrived in the mail, it was perfect.

We got her a wiggle bike and she LOVES it.

Maggie was super excited that she got to pick all of her meals for the day. This meant pizza for dinner.

Of course there was cake too!

Maggie said it was the best birthday ever.

Thanks everyone for the video chats and love you sent Maggie’s way. It definitely made her birthday weekend a special one.

One of Luke’s assignments this week was to come up with three things he can do to help protect the planet. So I figured we’d share his ideas here too.

1. Recycle papers you don’t want or need anymore.

2. Don’t leave the water running while you brush your teeth.

3. Turn off lights and electronics when you’re not using them.

Happy Earth Day!

April is Military Child Appreciation Month. The kids’ school decided today was their Purple Up Day. So here are my “brats” rocking their purple.

Apparently the bunny did a really good job hiding the kids’ baskets this year. It took a while, but Maggie was the first one to find her basket. It was hidden inside her backpack.

Luke found his five minutes later, in the microwave.

After another 15 minutes, Annie found her basket.

The girls looked adorable in their matching pajamas.

Dave had fun adding a bunny into some of his photos.

We had an Easter video call with my family. Dave was very pleased with the display he set up for them to see when we joined the call.

After a nap and a long break from hunting, Adam found his basket (five hours after Annie found hers), hidden behind a book on the bookshelf. He said it was worth the wait.

So I was finally able to get my picture of the four of them with their baskets.

The older kids and I made a bunny cake while JoJo napped.

They had a lot of fun decorating it and Adam thinks we should make it an annual tradition.

I like that idea.

Earlier this week I got a special package in the mail from my mom with instructions not to open it in front of the kids. When I was able to peek inside, I found it packed with plastic Easter eggs. The eggs were filled with goodies and colored coded per kid.

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy and cold, but the weather today was pretty nice. So while the kids weren’t paying attention this afternoon, Dave snuck outside and hid them all.

The kids had a blast hunting for their eggs. It was a super fun surprise for all of us.

Adam’s art assignment for this week was to pick a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover and recreate it. He chose this one:

Adam picked out Luke and Maggie’s outfits and all of the props. Then he set up everything up and checked that it matched the picture. He moved things around until he was happy and then snapped the picture.

I think he did such a good job. It makes me want to have him recreate more Saturday Evening Post covers. Maybe this one?

JoJo got some super special mail over the weekend from my mom.

She put the hat on right away and said, “Let it go, let it go, one braid!” – which is JoSpeak for “I want to put my Elsa costume on please.” Not to be confused with “Let it go, let it go, two braids!” Which means she wants Maggie to put on her Anna costume and join her.

We’ve gotten a lot of use out of that costume and I love how much my kids enjoy dressing up.