Our APRIL Highlights - So much Family Fun and Easter!

 April was such a fun month for our family! We had so many wonderful events and visits and really enjoyed the warm weather and being together. 

One of the most fun things to happen was we had our ultrasound to find out we're having a baby boy! We're all ecstatic. I honestly didn't care either way. I would have loved to have four girls and I was also excited to add a boy into the mix. Ashtyn really wanted a brother and Ben really wanted a son, though, so I was rooting for a boy and would have been disappointed for them if it had been a girl. We're all so happy to be having a baby and that he's a boy. 

Easter was a lot of fun! We had an Easter egg hunt at Lindi's with cousins from out of town and other family living in Vernal. The kids had a blast both helping me fill the eggs with candy and finding the eggs. I went with Rylee to help her, but she did not need my help. She knew exactly what to do and lost no time in filling up her basket. The kids ended up with way too much candy, but they loved it. 

After the egg hunt, we had the gender of our baby written on an envelope and let Ashtyn read out to everyone what we were having. She was so excited! She told me, "I thought it was going to be a girl, but I really wanted it to be a boy!" 

On Easter morning, the Easter bunny came and we made a little pregnancy announcement for Facebook. We also got to watch General Conference all weekend, which always adds such a sweet spirit to Easter. During conference, we made and decorated sugar cookies, decorated Easter eggs, did jelly bean sculptures, and drew and did some activity pages. 

That evening, we went to Lindi's for a barbecue. My favorite part was the potato salad I made, though Parker's favorite part was the sugar cookies. The kids had a lot of fun playing outside--it was uncharacteristically warm, reaching almost 80, and it felt so nice to be out in the warm weather. 

We also had a lot of fun visiting with family from out of town! At the beginning of the month, Melissa and her family were able to visit for almost two weeks and we had so much fun. 

We tried to let the kids play as much as possible. A few days, they got to be together all day. Often, we would do our morning stuff and then get together after naps. We had a hot dog roast, karaoke nights, a pizza party, a park day, a water day, and lots of just hanging out. We got to writing group in person, which was so fun. 

One day, we left the kids with babysitters and their cousins (which was so fun for them to get to spend the whole day playing together) while Lindi, Melissa, Ben, and I drove to the Jordan River Temple for Ben's cousin's sealing. They have a little girl and have been working towards this for awhile. It was a beautiful experience. I hadn't realized until we were in the temple how much I missed the peace and Spirit of the temple. We went to the cheesecake factory for lunch afterwards and I had a really yummy hamburger lettuce wrap.

At the end of the month, Jessica and Donovan came down for a short visit from Texas. It was really fun to see them and visit with them! Rylee was especially excited to see them, though all the girls loved spending time with them. 

April, Ben and I also had our 8th anniversary. We took the kids to spend the night at Makenzie's house and it was so nice to celebrate together! We relaxed together and learned to make steakhouse style steak. It was really yummy! 

Some other highlights from the month: 

A little jump spider that Ashtyn found. The girls and Ben all love jump spiders. 

I'm not quite as scared of them as I used to be. 

A cute picture of Rylee sleeping. We really wore our kids out by being outside so much, especially when their cousins were here. They were all falling asleep sooner and sleeping in longer.

When I took Rylee to the library once without her sisters, she was so proud to pick out and carry her own book. 

Gee, I wonder who wrote on the car ... 

This month, we started doing silent reading as a family after dinner sometimes. We just do it whenever we can and I love it. The girls are growing to like it. 

This was a picture of our family, drawn by Parker. 

This was one of the days I went to tell Ashtyn to turn off her reading light and found all the girls asleep already. 

Ashtyn and Parker love their gameboys. 

Grandpa Danny hatched some eggs in an incubator and the girls loved the chicks. 

For astronomy day, one of the activities we did was make the planets out of Legos. 

They are not to scale lol

For Earth day, the girls tore up and cut up paper to make some Earth pictures. 

Ashtyn loves Legos. This was when she was making Narnia. I wish I had gotten a picture of the finished product. 

Ashtyn's favorite activity recently has been doing Pixel art on Ben's laptop. She does mostly Pokemon, but sometimes does other stuff. 

For Superhero Day, the girls colored and put together these superheroes. They had a lot of fun, though Parker got frustrated because hers (the middle) didn't turn out how she wanted. 

This was when Rylee dressed herself up like a mermaid and it was too cute not to share! 

We had so much fun in April. It's almost a let down for it to be over. We are still excited for May though and the fun things we have planned! I am also already preparing for the baby, which is always fun (for me, I love planning and preparing :)). And we have a fun trip to see some of my family, which we're all way excited for! 

Our MAY HOMESCHOOL Plans

It is May! We've had some wonderful warm weather so far and it's only going to get warmer from here. I am focusing on some simpler activities this week, while also trying to do activities in some of my goal areas. 

Monday, May 3 

To start off the month, I want to do some mud painting with the girls. This is something I had planned to do in April, but it got cold and cloudy/rainy when I was planning on doing it. 

Tuesday, May 4 

For May the Fourth (be with you day), I wanted to do some Star Wars activities. I have a May the Fourth coloring page for them. I also have some mazes for Ashtyn that I can do with her and a printable where they can make their own star wars monster. We'll also watch the first Star Wars movie (with Anakin as a child), because that's the girls' favorite one. 

Wednesday, May 5 

I have always liked celebrating Cinco De Mayo! For our homeschool day, we'll watch some videos on YouTube about the history of Cinco De Mayo. Our main activity will be to make little Pull Piñatas together. We'll also have some festive food (maybe some nachos).

Thursday, May 6

Since Mother's Day is Sunday of this week, this day we'll spend the morning making some Mother's Day cards for Grandma's. 

Monday, May 10

To celebrate spring, we're going to color our own butterfly. I also have this printable with butterfly patterns they can copy if they want, or just color them (which makes it good for a wider age/capability range). 

Tuesday, May 11

I've been learning more about Game Schooling and I love the idea, especially for giving our kids basic math skills. I want to choose a couple days a month (and work our way up to playing more often eventually). We have quite a few games that the kids love and some that I want to introduce them to still. They will love spending the morning with me playing games with them. 

Wednesday, May 12

I try to plan a day at least once a month to get out playdoh. The kids love it, but it's a mess, so I don't usually do it unless I plan it. I saw an idea for an activity where you find different objects around the house and make "prints" in the playdoh with them. 

Thursday, May 13

I found some cute, fun yoga poses that are spring themed. I think the girls will have fun doing spring yoga with me. 

Monday, May 17 

For our art today, I want to do symmetry drawing. This is a simple activity that I think both Ashtyn and Parker will have fun with. 

Tuesday, May 18

I want to get outside for our activity today and make a maze using sticks. Ashtyn has been loving paper mazes, so I think she'll especially like this one. 

Wednesday, May 19

I found some gross motor cards online called mimic me cards. You try to get your body to do the same shape as the stick figure on the card. The girls love our animal cards and I think they'll like this one. 

Thursday, May 20

Today for our science activity, we're going to make hand bubbles from dish soap. I've actually done this before as a teenager and it was really fun and cool. I want to involve Ben, to help if the kids get frustrated not being able to do it at first. 

Monday, May 24

This day is National Scavenger Hunt Day, so of course we have to do a scavenger hunt. I thought a color scavenger hunt might be a little different from what we've done in the past and fun for the kids.  

Tuesday, May 25

Today is another game day!  

Wednesday, May 26

We've made origami books from a single page before and the girls really liked it. This is a printable I found that has different boxes and a little more structure. I thought it would be fun to try and I think Ashtyn especially will have fun with it.   

Thursday, May 27

Another experiment I want to do this month is the hidden colors science experiment. It's a baking soda and vinegar combination, but you hide the color under the baking soda, so it's a surprise when they add the vinegar! 

Monday, May 31

Because this is Memorial Day and also the day before Parker's birthday (so, a day I am going to be doing some things to prep for her party), we're going to take the day off of homeschool. 

Baby Oliver Preparations

On Sunday, I was twenty weeks and I am definitely nesting. It's actually nice, because this pregnancy I have been feeing really good. I remember feeling this way with Ashtyn, but my pregnancies with Rylee and Parker were both a lot harder on me. I had a harder time emotionally (hormones) and I had a lot less energy. This pregnancy so far has been great! 

Because I'm nesting and because I'm a planner, I wanted to make a list of everything I need (or want) to do, and decide about when I want to do it. I did this with Rylee's pregnancy as well and while I didn't do everything exactly to plan, it was nice knowing when I should (or could) do things in preparation for the baby coming. 

Deep cleaning

I always like to get some deep cleaning done before the baby comes (I've done with all three of my previous). My personality likes things to be clean and orderly; having my environment that way helps to lessen my stress. 

My list is to clean the walls, baseboards, doors, door frames, and touch up the paint where it needs it. I want to sanitize the light switches and dust the lights, ceiling fans, picture frames, and the tops of the cupboards. I want to vacuum out the tops of the air vents and clean the covers of each one, including the intake vents. I need to wipe down the blinds (they need it desperately), vacuum and wipe out the window sills, and wash the windows in and out. I want to wipe down the table and chairs in the kitchen, wipe out the inside of all the cupboards (and declutter/reorganize as I go), and wipe down the outside of the cupboard doors. I need to thoroughly clean the fridge and both freezers. I want to move all the appliances and furniture and clean out underneath/behind them all. I also want to vacuum all the furniture, especially the couches. I want to freshen up the mattresses (I put baking soda on top of them to sit for a bit and then vacuum that up, then rotate the mattress to try to lengthen the life of it. While I'm at it, I will wash all the sheets and pillows. The last thing inside is the bathrooms. I will vacuum out the ceiling vents, scrub the tubs, shower, and sinks, and deep clean the toilets and around the toilets. I'll want to make sure the basement is all cleaned out and organized (I recently went through it, so it shouldn't be a big job) and make sure all our decluttered stuff is taken to DI. Then finally, I'll make sure all the yardwork that needs to be done (including cleaning out the garage and deep cleaning the car) is finished. 

YouTube videos 

I have a BookTube channel that I want to get some videos ready for in advance. I can set it up to where the videos publish on their own and all I need to do is keep up on comments. I usually do one video a week and I want to have September through November recorded, edited, and uploaded (privately, set to post publicly on the date I want). I took December off from YouTube last year and plan on doing the same this year. 

Write as much of my first draft as I can. 

I am currently working on the first draft of a new book, a Cinderella retelling. I would like to write 500 words a day, Monday through Friday, on it until I have the baby so that I can have 50-55,000 words done on it before the baby comes. I am guessing that the draft will be between 70 and 80,000 words total, so that gives me time to take a month off after the baby comes and still have time to get the last 30,000 words in before the end of the year. 

I also want to get my first novel, a Rapunzel retelling, to beta readers before the baby comes. If I could get it to them in the summer, I'd be happy. 

Set up baby stuff 

We have our co-sleeper to set up, clothes to wash and put in the dresser, a second hand swing and exersaucer to clean, some things like a new breast pump to buy, and to get baby blankets and diaper stations to get readily accessible. I also want to make sure I have things like hair things and shampoo in the other bathroom, since I learned from Rylee that I will want to shower and get ready while the baby is asleep in my room/bathroom. 

Prepare for holidays

Because we're having the baby in September, I am wanting to do some prep work for some of the upcoming holidays. I want to make the invitations and decorations for Ashtyn's birthday, plan our homeschool month activities for Halloween and Thanksgiving, and make our paper gratitude tree for November. These are things that I am not sure I will have time to fit in after the baby comes that I still really want to do with the older kids. 

I am not currently planning on doing any prep work for Christmas. I think by that time, I should be back into a pretty good routine. 

Birthing kit ready

Because we do home births, we gather supplies and sanitize certain needed items for the birth. This takes some time to go through and organize everything, gather the things I need and don't have, and go through the sanitizing process.  

Freezer meals 

This is my favorite part of prepping for the baby! I have some favorite meals I make (like chicken nuggets, waffles, and lasagna). I also like to make some treats to have around after the baby is born, like my favorite chocolate chip cookies or homemade ice cream sandwiches. I love that time after the baby comes, when I can just sit and hold the baby and enjoy the food I've made without having to make any new food. 

For dinners, I plan on making spaghetti, meatballs, chicken parmesan, hamburgers, sloppy joes, lemon chicken, cilantro chicken, marinated chicken, marinated chicken thighs, taco soup, chicken and mushroom soup, chili, lasagna, tacos, bean dip, white chicken enchiladas, beef stroganoff, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, bacon wrapped chicken strips, chicken and broccoli cheese bake, chicken and broccoli macaroni and cheese, and sweet and sour chicken. I will also have chicken legs and steaks in the freezer. 

For lunches, I want to make some loaves of bread, chicken nuggets, chicken quesadillas, chicken taquitos, beef taquitos, frozen burritos, and frozen individual pizzas. 

For breakfasts, I plan on precooking bacon and sausage, waffles, pumpkin muffins, banana muffins, blueberry muffins, and rolls. 

For treats and snacks, I want to make chocolate chip cookies, inside out chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, homemade ice cream sandwiches, zucchini bread, cinnamon rolls, and brownies. I also want to have some breakfast and protein bars, jerky, corn chips, and some organic candy around. 

I also have some things I want to make sure I have plenty of in stock, like strawberry jam and my homemade salad dressing. 

The meals should last me two to three months. It will cost me about $450. I plan on batch cooking whatever I can. I can cook much of the chicken and hamburger at the same time. I can also make a big batch of things like waffles, hamburger buns, tortilla shells, and refried beans. Many things I like to put in the freezer before cooking, like the meatloaf, because it helps it not dry out and it makes it very easy to prep. 

Last minute things 

There are a few last minute things I want to make sure I get in before the baby comes. These include getting a haircut, taking books back to library, reorganizing the toys and things I've already decluttered, keeping the house clean, switching girls' clothes to their fall clothes, typing up and printing the kids' schedule/instructions for whoever is watching them when I go into labor, packing the kids' bags, stocking up on food like cheese and milk as well as nonfood items, installing the carseat, setting up a baby monitor, repacking our diaper bag with the new baby's things, and downloading apps like a white noise app, a contraction tracker, and a breastfeeding tracker. 

That's my master list of what I want to get done. Like I said before, if I don't get it all, that's okay. I will definitely prioritize some things over others (like making some dinners and getting the co-sleeper put together). Here is the schedule I have in mind for getting it done. 

May 

Deep Cleaning 

Record Videos 

Holiday Prep

June 

Edit YouTube Videos 

Find Beta Readers 

Buy Baby stuff 

July 

Upload YouTube Videos 

Birthing Kit Ready 

Set up Baby Stuff 

Buy a second deep freezer 

Bag up ice 

Freezer meals 

August 

Freezer meals 

Hair cut 

Last minute things 

I want to have everything vital ready and done by the end of the second week of August. I will continue to work on anything else left as my due date approaches. I have delivered close to my due date in the past and am expecting to do so this time, but it's always safer to have things ready three weeks before.