HAPPY EASTER! (Part 2)

Easter morning brought the traditional basket hunt. Callie and Brynn found theirs rather easily:


But Kyra hunted and hunted and hunted for a good 20+ minutes before she finally found it -- with some hints. Am I good at hiding baskets or what?

After the kids ate some candy: (and breakfast, too!):

We all got out of our bathrobes:

(I told Kyra I'd find SOME way to work that picture into the blog)
And into our new Easter dresses:


(She really does have arms, she just likes to do weird things in pictures!)



And went to church, where I didn't take a single picture.

After church we went to Tim & Brittany's for dinner. Tim did a much better job of blogging that, so click right here to see that. I only got a few pictures:


And of course, it would NOT be a Donaldson Easter without this:

a jello salad called "Bunnies on the Lawn"!

HAPPY EASTER! (Part 1)

So today we went over to Dennis & Marti's house and colored Easter Eggs with the cousins. Some pictures:





(Just checking to see if any Dotys are reading...)
Then Darrin & I came home to play Easter bunny. In our house, the Easter bunny hides your basket and you have to find it. As I type, Kyra's basket is hiding under a coat on our (new!) coat tree:


And Callie's is in a cupboard:

And Brynn's basket is hiding with the pots and pans:

(And yes, half the reason I am posting the locations of the basket is so that I can look it up a year from now and avoid the "Oh mom, you hid mine in the oven AGAIN!" debacle of last year.)
Part 2 will have pictures of Easter dresses and from the Donaldson family Easter dinner!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

So this week has just been crazy! Monday morning I hosted a Utah Doula Association board meeting at our house. Then I packed up and checked into a hotel downtown for the Midwives' College faculty retreat. Which would better be termed "marathon meeting" since we worked straight through our meals! Got home around bedtime Tuesday.
Wednesday was catching up on stuff around the house, helping in kindergarten, holding a prenatal with a client, and working on my assignments from the faculty retreat.
Thursday Darrin was home from work and we got ready for the BYU conference. That night was the first Seussical performance.
Friday was the BYU Computerized Genealogy Conference, where were were exhibitors/vendors.

Fran VanBruggen (a distant Donaldson cousin) was there and I got the chance to visit with her for a bit. Darrin also saw Sister Edmunds, who they knew in MA. Also met several people who use our software and love it.
Today I came up with a new marketing technique for the software. I was waiting in line in the women's room when someone asked about the software. Then someone else overheard us and asked questions. Before I knew it, I had THREE women very interested in the software and wanting to buy it. So for future conferences, Darrin will staff the regular booth and I'll hang out in the women's bathroom!
This morning Darrin started out the day alone at the conference. I stayed here because I had an event to attend!

Callie & Brynn performed magic tricks. First Callie cut a mobius strip in half - but still only had one piece!

Then Brynn made George Washington stand on his head:

Callie repaired a broken toothpick:

Brynn tried to do a card trick, but talked out loud to remind herself of the steps and gave away the trick when she said "now you switch the piles really fast when no one is looking"! As least she got a good laugh!

And finally, Callie made her friend Bob, the film cannister ghost, pop out of his house, scaring all the small kids in the front row.


Fortunately, Simon Cowell didn't show up and so there was only applause and certificates for all the performers in this morning's talent show!


As soon as the magic was over, I headed down to BYU to help Darrin through the busiest part of the day, then returned home and am FINALLY getting lunch at nearly 4 pm. Now all I have left to do today is laundry, make & clean up dinner, clean up the house so we are ready for Kyra's friends to come over for a quick dinner before tonight's stake dance, drive everyone to the dance, and give baths to the younger kids. I don't know how late Darrin will stay at the conference, but I'm hoping I won't do it all alone!

Seussical!

Some pictures from last night's excellent performance!





Two of Kyra's good friends: Mandy playing Gertrude and Troy playing Horton

And finally, Kyra with her friend Bill - The Grinch!

There's another performance tonight...

I'm on a roll!

Here's what we did Friday afternoon:



Kyra was in school & rehearsal all day and into the evening, the younger kids had no school, so we went to the aquarium. I amused myself by taking lots of pictures. Brynn was VERY proud of herself for being brave enough to touch the rays! They spent a good hour watching and touching them!

And today? Well, today, poor Brynn has been SICK!

She was up most of the night throwing up and spent most of the day like this on the couch. Poor kid!

Two posts in one day?!?!?!

I KNOW!!!!

So next week is this:

And if you don't want to miss this:

Give me a call & I'll fill you in on the details.

Spring is Springing!

The last few weeks I have been way too busy living life to blog about it, especially since it sometimes seems no one is reading. But here's a big update of all that has been going on.
Last Friday & Saturday we had the Utah Doula Association conference. I was not in charge this year, thankfully, but I am secretary/treasurer and handled registration, which did keep me pretty busy. I also headed up fundraising for a conference scholarship program, which paid for 2 people to come to this conference plus raised almost $300! It may not sound like much, but I'm happy with it, as it is enough to provide 2 scholarships for the next 2 conferences.



We've had parent/teacher conferences over the last 2 weeks as well. Everyone's doing well.
I've had lots of prenatal visits and some private childbirth classes in addition to my hospital classes. Plus a few events for the Midwives' College. I took Dec-March off from births and enjoyed the break, but now I am busy, busy, busy again! It's good but an adjustment. I am booked through July at this point!
We've enjoyed the nice weather, the other day we all walked to the library:


But the melting snow has revealed an ominous looking dip around our water meter!


Wednesday was a VERY busy day! First I held an online chat/lecture for one of my MCU classes, then I had an appointment to put in my passport application in preparation for going to this year's doula conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. I am really looking forward to this one. After that, we had Brynn's parent-teacher conference. Then I volunteered in kindergarten from 12:15-1:45 and went over to Callie's class to be the Art Mom from 2-3. Walked home with the kids and supervised homework until it was time for Callie's conference. Then we looked at the school art show (more on that later) and headed home for dinner. Then Darrin headed to the Family History Library while I handled cleanup, baths, finishing homework and off to bed.
This year I have been volunteering in Callie's class as the "Art Mom" where once a month I go teach the kids about an artist and a technique, then we do a project imitating the artist's style. It's really fun! There is a big art show every spring with parent teacher conferences, So Tuesday I spent a couple hours choosing the best project for each kid, labeling them and hanging them up in the cafeteria. Here's Callie's class display:


And Callie's best - a collage inspired by Matisse: (You can click on the artists' name to see the original painting.)



Another of Callie's, this one inspired by Van Gogh:



While I am not the Art Mom for Brynn's class, I can't help but show off some of her work from the art show. This one is inspired by Pollock:


And finally, this one inspired by Picasso:


So while it has been busy these last few weeks it has also been a good few weeks. next week promises to be even busier! I've particularly enjoyed watching my hyacinth bulbs grow and bloom on the window sill by my desk. They make the office smell so good!