Life in April

April was a wonderful month for us!  We stayed busy with work doing some updates in the house and spent quite a bit of time outside enjoying the beautiful spring weather.  Here are some highlights from the month.  

The first weekend of the month my parents came down for a visit.  It was a nice time as always.  John and my dad got a round of golf in and my mom and I hit up some antique stores in a nearby town.  My mom was actually here for a few extra days because JoLene was off so my mom watched Elsie on Thursday and Friday which was fun for Elsie and she loved having extra time with her Grandma Bonnie.  Saturday April 5th I participated in my third 5k of the season-Freedom Run 5k.  It supported Story Country Freedom Flight and was put on in conjunction with Republicans of Story County.  Story County Freedom Flight helps to send war veterans to Washington DC to visit their war memorials.  I ran this race with my friend Heidi (I forgot to take a picture but you can see me (#53) in the picture on the front page of this Newspaper article-haha).   It was a good morning for a run and I ran this one in 29:41 and came in 25 of 68 participants (This was a very small grassroots 5k which took place in a park not far from my house.  

On Sunday April 6th we finally bit the bullet and turned Elsie's car seat to forward facing.  She was pretty happy rear facing and it is so much safer to keep them rear facing for as long as possible but unfortunately she outgrew the rear facing limits for her carseat at 2 years 4 months. She is happy as can be though :)  

We spent a lot of time in the evenings and weekends at the elementary school park just two block from our house.  On of Elsie's favorite things to do is the old school style Merry-Go-Round.  Instead of riding though, she likes to push it around.   

We started to move from indoor work at our house to outdoor work.  And there was a lot to do.  We raked up 16 bags of leaves one weekend and then Bev came over and we did 32 more bags!  Oh but it felt good to get it done.  Elsie and I were also excited to plant some things we we did a little cactus garden for the front porch and a little fairy garden for the dining room.  

Not only did Elsie do a little outdoor gardening, but got in some gardening with her new flower garden toy that came in her Citrus Lane box this month.  It was so cute and she played with it for 45 minutes upon opening her box.  

Makeing muffins and checking in to see if they are done yet.  

Lunch with Grandma Bev and Grandpa Dale with ice cream for dessert.  Lucky girl!

After the George Strait Concert, the next morning John made me breakfast in bed.  Looks like I am lucky girl :)  

Elsie's First Nightgown...getting so big!  

Checking out the little baby chicks at Theisen's.   

Another big change that came in April is that we potty trained Elsie!  Packing these away was bittersweet.  My little babe is growing up so fast! 

Lots of playing pretend with her stuffed animals and dolls.  Looks like Minnie joined us for breakfast one morning and he was helping her baby go potty :)

We had a lot of fun this year celebrating Easter with our families.  Check out all these Easter Related posts:
Blank Park Zoo Egg Hunt, Easter Morning, Easter Day and Dyeing Eggs, Easter in Minnesota.

The last weekend in April we went up to MN to visit family.  When we arrived my dad had a campfire going-first fire of the season :)  Even though it was 9:30 PM and well past Elsie's bedtime we had to sit outside and enjoy it for a while before putting her down to bed.  

The next morning she was so excited that she was going to Allie and Piper that she set the breakfast table for them :)  They however, were not planning to be there until later.  

Elsie also got a fun Easter Basket from my sister and family.  She was so excited about it that when she discovered it hidden she just couldn't wait for my sister to arrive.  

Also that same weekend we got to visit some of my high school friends and thier families.  We spent Sunday evening at Melissa and Jakes.  Also joining us was Josh and Liz, Chris and his girlfriend Laura, and Alan and his little daughter.  It was a lot of fun and it was a blast to watch the two kiddos have fun together and dance.  One of the most hilarious moments for me was Elsie came over to me and pulled out her ponytail.  I told her she needed to keep it in and she said no because she need to shake her hair while she danced-and then demonstrated what she was talking about.  Oh that girl! 

Elsie and Finn dancing! So much joy! 

Another wonderful month in the books!