not a mundane monday

I hope you all had a blessed Easter celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior.  We enjoyed church, a  nice time with family, and today are home (hooray for no school!), recovering and getting ready for the week.  This morning I noticed these stunning spirea blossoms popping out their first blooms.

And the kids are spending time in their brand new sandbox that Andy put together for them...well actually for me since I'm the one who really wanted it.  Our old 'sandbox' was a tiny shallow spot under the swing set, and I was convinced the kids I needed it for summer.  It's proven extremely useful so far--I would highly recommend one.  Andy's a bit afraid it will be a giant litterbox for the neighborhood animals, but I'm convinced otherwise.  Having spent countless hours in my giant 'sandpile' growing up, I have a feeling it will be useful and constructive outdoor play.  A worthwhile creative activity for growing kids.

Speaking of creativity, my almost-7-year-old developed this ink & quill pen set.  She harvested the ink from a magic marker and found a color-coordinating feather to write with.  Who needs pens?

And today is my last day of having a 2-year-old boy in the house.  I'm soaking up his sweetness.  After locating a semi-presentable outfit, we were trying for some nice birthday shots.  He proved to be very coachable ("Don't say cheese, just look natural...").  And he was very..ahem.      Natural:

  Next I enlisted the big kids to make him laugh.  When I told Calvin (who was tickling his neck) to get out of the picture, he simply ducked behind Jude's head to disappear...

My plan was almost working.

And lastly is a shot of my graceful floating dove.  Not pictured are Jada's new tricks:  Lifting her stubby little arms up high when we play the SO BIG game with her...and just yesterday she climbed up half of a stairway before anyone noticed.      !      Apparently she's doing stairs now. . .

May you all have a blessed week...keeping both feet on the ground.