cherry pickin'

This morning we drove out to Leona Valley for the opening day of cherry season. I don't think I've picked cherries since I was growing up and my family helped on the church farm. Good old Prosser.

I thought I remembered that we were supposed to leave the stems on the cherries, so that's what I told the boys, but when we went to pay we were told not to do that next time. Maybe every orchard has a different preference.

Anyone have any good cherry recipes?

Wesley at eight months

Ben filled this worksheet out at school and it gave me a chuckle. I guess when something isn't magnetic it is quite devastating.

And here's some artwork by Alex. He has come a long way since his preschool days when he had no interest in coloring and I couldn't even get him to hold a crayon. He told me that he had been watching a series in school called "Art with Joy". Joy must know a thing or two.

My Mother's Day

I haven't bragged about my Mother's Day yet. First of all, the women in my ward always get special treatment on Mother's Day. The men take over all of the callings for the day (organist, chorister, primary and nursery callings), and during the third hour all the Relief Society and Young Women gather together, have a short lesson or talk, and then enjoy fruit and tea cakes from Martino's.

This year the primary children all made little gifts for their moms. They wrote down some things they like about their mom and something they could give their mom. Ben told me he would make breakfast every day for a week (and he was up at 7 am each day setting the table), and Alex offered to make my bed for a week (he only missed a couple of days). Ryan was filling in as primary chorister that Sunday, so he also made a little gift for me. His had a little paper with a picture of someone reading in a lounge chair by a pool. It said, "this is where you'll be in two weeks." Of course I started battering him with questions, but he wouldn't say where it was. I kept saying, "Who is going to watch the kids? Are we going to have to drive very far? Is it somewhere we can even drive to?", but he still wouldn't tell me much. Finally he said, "You don't get it. It's not 'we', it's just you."

He was giving me a night away, by myself. It would be the first full night of sleep for me since Wesley was born.

So, a couple weeks later after finding a good deal on Priceline I checked into a hotel here in town (Ryan pushed for something a little more exotic, but I didn't want to waste any time just driving). It was exactly what I had pictured. I read, I watched TV, I slept, I read some more. So nice. Nice enough to become a yearly tradition maybe?

Prince Alex

In May Alex was in a play performed by the second grade. He was Prince #2 in "Character Matters", a cute play about fairy tale characters and some of the lessons they learned (Humpty Dumpty learned responsibility, etc.) He did a great job.

pick me up

So, I've heard this song several times in the last few months but today it came on in the car when I was having a little case of the doldrums. It gave me a little boost so I thought I'd pass it on. The video isn't great or anything, but just crank up the volume and I dare you not to dance around your house.