April

It's been so long since I have sat on the computer, my laptop is literally collecting dust. I have been so busy with my little daycare, running errands, caring for my own kids, cooking, laundry, and everything else I haven't had much time for the extra's. Not a lot has changed over the past couple months but for the record books, we better mention Easter and couple other happenings.

I have learned through test and trial that one way for me to ruin a perfectly good holiday is to fuss over a "big traditional breakfast." I am not much of a 'big breakfast' person anyway and I resent the cleanup once it's all said and done. I seldom have bacon and sausage in the house for this reason. I find that when I cook breakfast I usually use more dishes and pans than I would cooking dinner on an average day. This is why I am thrilled when I can whip up a slow cooker breakfast casserole the night before and wake up to a tasty almost mess free breakfast! It was the perfect way to start the day and is quickly becoming a favorite tradition.

Of course Easter Bunny left out some eggs for the girls to find, small ones for Danelle and larger more obvious eggs for Kaitlyn. The girls also had fun finding their baskets filled with a rabbit, colored outdoor bubbles, and a bunch of yummy treats. Danelle and I enjoyed egg salad sandwiches for lunch as part of our family tradition. After church, my mom invited us over for some Easter dinner. Poor Shayne had to work the day before and the day of which meant for a lot of sleeping Easter day, and him leaving again that night but we had a wonderful time anyway.

April was an eventful month. The week after Easter was Ellie's spring break. I planned and hoped to do several fun things with her, but the week went by fast and during which my Dad had a major heart attack. As far as heart attacks are concerned, he was a very lucky man to have everything fall into place just as if it were planned. Even when he went to the hospital, the heart surgeon was preparing for a surgery, and the operating room was already prepped. When Dad came in, they took him right in to put in stints. Dad had two stints put in that day and even though it was a major heart attack, he was back up on his feet and out of the intensive care unit the next day.

His heart attack couldn't have come on a better day that week for me too. I was not scheduled to babysit, Ellie had just been picked up to go mini golfing with her friend, I had dinner cooking in the crock pot, and Shayne wasn't scheduled to work until later that night. It was nice to be where I needed to be. I am happy to say he is doing well now and with some lifestyle changes, he can go on better than before even. We are grateful for this.

I think we redeemed Ellie's uneventful spring break when Ashley (Patrick's fiance') and I took Danelle to her first ballet. Ballet West II was performing THE LITTLE MERMAID, and Ashley was so cute and insisted on taking us for our birthdays. I loved the idea, so Saturday April 14th we went to the show. I didn't know what to expect, and it was different than the Disney version by a long shot, but it was magical and breathtaking all the same. We loved the show and it was a great ending to the week.

April is also a special month for our family because Danelle turned seven. We are having a family party on May 6th to celebrate with our family, but Shayne and I wanted to make the weekend special for her as well. Shayne and I go on date night every Friday and my mom is such a sweetie to babysit for us. This week, we surprised Danelle by telling her that we wanted her to come with us. At first, I think she wanted to stay at home and play with her friends but she soon gave in and we were on our way.

We let Danelle pick anywhere she wanted to eat for her birthday. No surprise, she chose Brick Oven. It has become somewhat of a tradition for her to go to Brick Oven on our near her birthday. We didn't talk about any grown up things, just things we knew Ellie might be interested in. Later on, we went to the party store and played around there, and finally Walmart to pick up her gift.

Danelle, Kaitlyn, and I go on bike rides often. Lately we have been going on a trail close to home but I noticed Danelle falling behind for a lot of it. She needed a new bike... something with bigger wheels so she wouldn't have to pedal twice as fast and still stay behind us. On our birthday date, we let her pick one out and bring it home. She was shocked and happy. She got a pretty 20 inch wheels blue bike. She handles it awesome and I know it will help her out a ton. Danelle really loved her individualized time with us and we enjoyed spoiling her.

This morning, her actual birthday, I made her a little special breakfast, lunch, and Nana and Popo came over with a cake and sang her Happy Birthday. I can't believe she is seven years old already. We can't wait to celebrate her birthday again in a week with our family in our joint party for Ellie, Kaitlyn, and Shayne.