Ellie at six months

Hatching the Eggs

Arbor Day Celebration

In Which Grant Spits Lovingly

Elle had her six month check up this week. She weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs 1 oz, which put her in the 30^th percentile. She was just over 26 inches long which puts her in the 70^th percentile.

Saturday after our weekly t-ball game we went to the Palm Coast Arbor Day Celebration. It was terribly hot and humid. But the boys jumped in a bounce house, released their own butterflies out of little envelopes and Jackson made a bird feeder out of a pine cone, peanut butter and seeds. So it wasn’t a total waste of energy.

Saturday night Brian’s publisher took Brian and me out to dinner at a restaurant with a great view of the ocean. Their daughters offered to watch our kids. And I was brave and left Elle with them. I haven’t left her for very long with anyone but Brian and she doesn’t always like that either. All the kids were very well behaved but Elle seemed very excited to see us when we returned.

During scripture study this week, we were talking about how the Lord answers our prayers according to His will. Jackson said, “That's why when Grant prayed that I would have a wiggly arm, it didn't happen.”

I had a great mother’s day today. Jackson sang to me in Sacrament Meeting (Grant was too shy) and everyone commented on how great he did—they could hear his little voice above everyone else’s. Grant made me a bouquet of flowers in Primary and Jackson made me a great book at school.

One Liners:

Still awake long past his bed time, Jackson said, "After I take a nap, that's when I'm attractive."

Grant: "If you eat too much, you get fat, and then you die, and then they have to drag you home."

Singing to Grandma, Grant got a bit mixed up: "Teach me all that I must do... Next time won't you sing with me."

We turned on the TV on Saturday afternoon, and about a minute later, the screen said "The End," and credits started rolling. Jackson said, "That was a short movie."

Grant: "Every time I spit at my baby sister, she laughs!"

Elementary Splash in Science

My new haircut.

Elle

In Which Jackson is Terrific

Friday afternoon Jackson walked away from the bus holding something behind his back and had a huge grin on his face. He was awarded the “Terrific Kid” award from the Kiwanis club. There were 3 others in his class that also got it. He slept with the trophy that night.

Brian started a new blog. www.BrianMcMillan.blogspot.com. So he’s had fun getting it all set up and running. But he’s been taking my material for our updates and posting it. So feel free to skip sections of the update. But I want to record it here for posterity’s sake.

Jackson: “If someone is exclamationally strong, they’re really strong.”

Grant: Jumping in place, he says, "This is how you hexercise. Hexercising makes you eat faster."

After sprinkling a cup of water on the lawn, Jackson came back in for a refill from the bathroom sink. “I didn’t get the whole yard,” he explained.

Jackson got a Bernstein Bears book from the library that shows you how to make paper airplanes, tape an untied balloon on it and let go, supposedly sending the plane flying. While we were making the airplanes Jackson said, "Let's go down the street and see if anyone's having a paper airplane contest."

Saturday after our traditional tee ball game and Lowes Build and Grow we took the boys to a park so they could ride their bikes around. We grabbed a quick dinner and headed to the beach. We saw a very large crane perched on a rock, so Brian and Ellie took a little walk to get a closer look. We also saw two pelicans fly right by us and a man gutting fish. It’s great to see the Florida wildlife. The boys were told to stay out of the water (we didn’t bring any swimming gear). But as to be expected they both had to ride home in their wet underwear draped with Ellie’s blankets to keep warm.

New Clothes!

Spring is here!!

Easter

Taking a boat ride.

In Which Girls Are Welcome.

Jackson was on spring break this week, and it was great having him home and getting to sleep in!

Wednesday we went to Orlando to the temple. It’s just under two hours away. Brian and I switched off going to the temple and watching the kids. Grant was really excited to see the water fountain out front, and they each got a small Book of Mormon and red pencil from the distribution center. They took turns “reading” from them.

Thursday I took the boys to an Easter party at the library. It was really crowded and they tried to play group games that didn’t work so well. Some of the games were more for adults than kids. Jackson did play a version of hot potato with an Easter egg, and he jumped up and down with excitement every time he passed it. But we got a few pieces of candy out of the deal and checked out a few books.

One of the books we got was The Bernstein Bears: No Girls Allowed. It’s about a boys club. Jackson and Grant have been pretending to have a boys club. Jackson made a sign for the door that says, “Grant and Jackson’s club, Girls welcome.”

Friday we took a little boat ride. Brian is writing about a new service where people can take a trip on the Intracoastal Waterway and learn about the water and plant life. In order for him to fully cover it, he went for a ride and we went along. The boys got pretty bored by the end, but it was a beautiful day and we learned a lot about the vegetation. Unfortunately we didn’t see any fish or dolphins to Jackson’s great disappointment.

Saturday we colored Easter eggs and made them into monsters. There weren’t any big spills, so it was a success.

We had a great Easter morning. The boys loved finding hidden Easter eggs and spent the day coloring in their new coloring books and made a plan to use their new sprinkler tomorrow. We ended the day with dinner with some friends.

We were able to watch General Conference at home this weekend. The boys were awesome, and we were able to watch all of it almost interruption free!