We made it all the way to April, but the flu came to visit our house. Julia made friends with the flu bug first. We didn’t figure it out soon enough for her to get the special medication. Later in the week Robby also caught it. It made sense because she clung to him for two days straight while she didn’t feel well. After a tough week we thought we were clear, but the next week brought Emily down with it. Luckily her diagnosis came quicker and she was able to get the special medication that makes recovery come so much easier. Honestly it seems like an illness that you just have to survive through, but we were blessed to see God’s hand through the two weeks and how he provided for us. Things just worked out so that we could meet obligations that were required. The biggest blessing was the Mama was able to remain flu-free. We have much to be thankful for!

Instead of spring photos we have spring self portraits by the girls. Emily made hers at school in art class and Julia got the idea from Emily.

(emily age 6)

(julia age 4)

In this case the photo doesn’t tell the story, but some times the story is necessary. Julia has a great imagination. She is always taking toys and repurposing them into new play situations. One activity she loves to do with Robby is to play with his iPad. They play Angry Birds together, but also a few educational games she plays on her own. Enough backstory . . .

Julia started carrying her favorite pillow around, which she normally calls "pilly", telling us that it was her pilly iPad. She said, "I’m going to play my new favorite game called Oswald." She sat down and started to touch the pillow like it was her own iPad and played a pretend game of Oswald talking to the pillow the whole time. A few days later she borrowed Robby’s iPad screen cover and placed it gently on top of her own pillow. She would remove the cover and play then returning the cover to the top when she was done.

Sometimes it is just fun to watch Julia play. And now we know we do not need to buy her an electronic device of her own. She will be quite happy with just her pilly iPad! 

We celebrated with a morning at church followed by a family time at Grammy and Granddaddy’s house. After lunch and Easter egg hunting we spent the evening watching NCAA basketball games. That would not be the normal tradition for Easter Sunday, but when you team is playing you fit it in too.

Grammy and the grand-girls

Granddaddy with the girls too!

It was a wet day outside so the egg hunt had to happen inside. It is a new experience to look for eggs hidden among pillows and toys, but they enjoyed it a lot. Since Easter, Julia has made her chocolate stash a place she likes to visit before Mama gets up in the morning. After three mornings of not eating her breakfast Mama finally figured out Julia’s morning routine. Julia seems to have inherited Mama’s sweet tooth.

Our church Easter egg hunt was an indoor hunt because of a wet morning. This would not dampen the fun though. The kids all wanted to help with the sign coloring. It was very colorful and amazingly still within the lines.

Julia was still hunting in the younger group and Emily was hunting for the second year in the older group. They gave the youngest of the older group a few minute head start so they didn’t get trampled on the steps.

Emily found her allotment upstairs. She enjoyed the hunt.

Who doesn’t love opening and finding all the fun stuff inside of the eggs. Even little Carson got in on this photo. He was not as interested in his first Easter egg hunt.

From the prize table Julia picked out this cute flower-top.

There is always an estimation table to guess at. Mama asked Emily which of the things she wanted to estimate on and she picked a huge container of cheese puffs. She and Mama counted and made our estimate. When it was time to hand out the winners, we had guessed it to the exact puff. Who knew we were such good estimators. Emily was delighted to win her puffs.

Our friends with the girls showing off their matching skirts. Mama made the skirts from left over blanket material. They liked being matching girls.

After all the fun was over Mr. Kenny offered to take Emily, Julia, and Aiden for an afternoon of fun. They went out and visited some horses and swung on a tire swing. A good way to end the afternoon.

To celebrate Natalie’s spring break Jolie, Grandma, and a bunch of kids came to visit. We were delighted and the girls were so excited. They arrived in the afternoon and Grandma and I surprised Emily with checking her out early from school. Nichole, Jennifer and the kids have never seen snow and they had been delighted with some snow in Gatlinburg. Still more came the day they arrived and we enjoyed playing at the park with the snow falling on us.

Snow here does not always last long and this snow shower ended before we left the park. Natalie gave Emily a ride across the park.

The "oldies" bundled up to stay warm.

What could be better than swinging while it is snowing?

Our silly kid slide photo!

We moved a few things around to make it easier to sleep and play. The under-the-bunk play space was just the perfect size for Mikayla.

The girls were excited to take their Daddy to the Children’s Museum.

Natalie is getting a lesson about how to make a call with a rotary phone.

Dylan is taking a trip on a rocket ship!

Posing with Anakin Skywalker. Who knew it was so easy to visit the outer reaches of the universe in one afternoon?

The kids enjoyed the train room. They even stopped long enough for a photo.

One afternoon we had a picnic at Norris Dam. We took the walk to the middle so we could see off both sides of the dam to compare. It was a cool picnic. Thankfully it was a sunny day and the sun kept us warm.

Of course we had to stop at Krispy Kreme doughnuts and enjoy a dozen or so. We were sad that the visit was short, but it was good to visit for the time we had. It will have to tide us over to summer when we will visit again.