A whirlwind week in photos

We had such a fun (and EXHAUSTING) week! First of all, the weather has been beautiful, with the perfect amount of sunshine and rain. Everything is so green! Spring is my favorite time of year in Missouri, because I feel like I live in a forest! This is part of the view off our back deck.

Next up, I made some decisions on the basement remodel. After going to MANY stores, I've bought a nice collection of things that coordinate and I'm excited to get them all put together. I need to make my final decision on the carpet, because I keep changing my mind every few days. But at least I decided on a color scheme, and I think it will look really good with the furniture.
And the thing that kept me VERY busy this week . . .the girl's end of the year dance recitals. Ryan was out of town most of the week, and I spent hours and hours every day at dress rehearsals, re-doing hair buns and make-up and helping with costume changes. All the practicing paid off when the girls had their final performances on Saturday. They were in two recitals, so the entire day was spent at the Performing Art Center. Brevan also had a soccer tournament this day, so after watching the first dance performance, Ryan took off with Logan and Brevan. I was sad to have to miss Brevan's last game of the season, but I guess I didn't miss much action. Brevan had broken his glasses a couple days earlier, so he couldn't see! We are headed to the optometrist today for a new pair of glasses.

Brynlie took cheerleading and hip-hop this year. She is so fun to watch, because she has some great moves! Ryan and I are always in awe because she certainly didn't inherit her dancing abilities from either of us!

These are two of Brynlie's dance friends, Dani and Chloe. They were in two dances in the recital; "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (hip-hop version) and "Peanut Butter Jelly" (a cute cheer dance).

Lindsey was just downright adorable in her Snow White costume. She took ballet and tap this year. Her ballet dance was "Snow White's Magical Adventure" and her tap dance was "Workin' in a Coal Mine."

Some of Lindsey's dance friends . . .Cate, Lexi and Aeva.

After the final performance, Ryan surprised each of the girls with a dozen roses. That night as I was tucking Lindsey into bed, she said, "Daddy gave me beautiful flowers. And he told me the flowers were as beautiful as I am!" I bought the DVD of the whole recital, but I won't get it until later in the summer. I took my camcorder so I could get a little bit of the performance to upload to the blog, but (being the scatter-brained mom that I am) I forgot to charge the camcorder battery, so it wouldn't work.

Another thing that kept me insanely busy this week was Primary. Last Sunday we interviewed all the Primary kids by asking them questions about their moms. The kids gave some very funny and sweet answers to questions such as: "What does your mom do during the day?" and "What is the funniest thing your mom does?" I assembled all the answers into a cute booklet this week and gave a copy to each of the moms in the ward. I am also in charge of Sharing Time this month, and I have to teach Cub Scouts because our leaders can't be there this month. Busy, busy, busy!!

After an EXTREMELY chaotic day of church yesterday, I had the most wonderful Mother's Day ever. Brevan gave me this stepping stone that he'd made at school. I placed it in the perfect spot in my garden out front.

Ryan gave me this jewelry box. He put a lot of thought into my present and went to many stores before deciding on this one. What a great husband I have.

Brynlie made me about a million cards and love letters, hid them and had me go on a treasure hunt to find them. I have the sweetest kids in the world and I love being their mom! The best present they gave me though was the 3 HOUR NAP after church! Ryan and the kids quietly cleaned downstairs and let me sleep as long as I wanted to. Oh, they also made me my favorite breakfast before we headed to church in the morning . . .homemade waffles and bacon.