This Week

I had a gig dressing as the Easter Bunny for my mom’s work party.

Things got a little confusing when I ran into the real Easter Bunny later in the week.

Eva’s birthday was on Tuesday.

Scotty took her to see the Minecraft movie, and then we had a dinner of her choice: chicken legs and plain bow tie noodles. Turns out, she doesn’t even like chicken legs (it was a weird choice), but then I found out she was trying to mimic lava chicken from Minecraft. 

Nicky had a Unified track meet that he has been looking forward to all year. Of course, his leg prevented him from fully participating, and his buddy, Jesus, hijacked his scooter. 

Turns out, Nicky’s boot makes Jesus nervous. He doesn’t like going near it. 

Nicky had his State theatre showcase and competition. 

I made some “break a leg” gifts for the performers (which feels sketchy with Nicky on crutches) and saw them off on the bus in the early morning. 

Zoe had her final choir concert of elementary school. 

We had my mom’s Easter party. 

Then we had Scotty’s mom’s annual egg roll. This year she had the kids roll eggs down an inflatable slip and slide.

Then we had Scotty’s dad’s Easter party.

Eva tried to stay up late to catch the Easter Bunny Saturday night, but she finally surrendered just before midnight. The Easter Bunny brought everyone new bath towels. I’m sure that deep, down in their souls, that’s exactly what they all wanted!

On Easter, we went to church. Then we came home and made resurrection rolls and lit our Immanuel wreath. Zoe started feeling yucky after church and fell asleep. 

The weather was nice on Easter so we hung out in the yard. We’ve had chickens for 10+ years, and I’ve never had one jump up on my lap before, but one did on Sunday and scared me to death!

At 4:00, we went to Scotty’s mom’s for dinner. I came back home to be with Zoe and brought her some food. 

After such a crazy week, we’re behind on all of our responsibilities, and our house looks like a tornado of plastic eggs and laundry came through. 

Uncanny

The other night my family painted portraits of each other. They were so bad and yet, so good. It’s pretty funny to see just how much a bad painting can resemble someone! You have to laugh and say, “It actually looks just like you! Sorry!”

You may be wondering which of these masterpieces is my handiwork. That would be this one - “Portrait of an Eva”

The Change

We got Nicky’s senior photos done over the weekend, and now I’m hard at work on his graduation announcements. This morning I was scrolling through my social media posts from this year. I rewatched some reels I made from

some of the big events like The Music Man and Moana performances. Lately, Nicky has seemed to change a lot. In just the past two months, his photos have taken on a new look. There’s something different about him. He grew his hair out kind of long after The Music Man, and he cut it back in February. That obviously changed his look a bit, but there’s something more to it. Is it because he’s an adult now? Is it because he has a mission call? Is this all indicative of his readiness to flee the nest? Probably. Yet, that’s not quite it. There’s just something different lately.

This morning as I was reminiscing, I finally figured it out! I was watching videos from Nicky’s Moana performance when it hit me! He has started parting his hair on the opposite side! I scrolled through the last several weeks of photos on my phone, and sure enough, sometime between February 18 and March 2, Nicky parted his hair on the right instead of the left after 12 years of parting it on the left, and that’s just who he is now. 

The funny thing is, he probably has no idea he even made this huge change (he’s currently asleep at 6:00 a.m. and we will definitely be discussing this when he wakes up).

How We Spent Spring Break - An Unromantic Tale

My kids go back to school tomorrow after nine days off. It’s amazing how screwed up the schedule can get after nine days. As I was going through my mental calendar of upcoming events, I couldn’t remember if my daughter has her after-school activity on Mondays or Tuesdays. Then someone asked me about a school performance for Zoe, and I realized that the performance in question is this week, but in my mind, it’s still about two weeks away. 

This week through July is going to be insane. My schedule is off the rocker. I’ll probably be a bit of a basket case for the next couple of months. Doing all the end of the year school stuff and sending a kid off on a mission (a kid who currently has an injury that is not improving and starting to really make me nervous) all at once is kind of a lot. 

Spring Break could have been the calm before the storm, but instead, it was just the first storm. Here’s how it went:

Saturday - Sunday 

Watched (or listened to) General Conference. 

Sunday

We picked up Nicky from the school at 11:30 pm after his Performing Arts trip to Disneyland. He couldn’t walk! He’d injured himself on the first day of the tour and didn’t say a word to us. We took him to the ER because he was supposed to go skydiving the next morning, and we wanted to see what was wrong with his leg. They did an X-ray and an ultrasound and diagnosed him with a “muscle strain or contusion.” They cleared him of broken bones and blood clots and sent us on our way with instructions to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon if it didn’t improve significantly within a couple of days.

Monday

I worked a few hours really early in the morning, and then we headed to the airport to watch Nicky skydive. We had been there for a few hours, and Nicky was 20 minutes from take-off when they had to call it off for wind.

Scotty went golfing, Nicky stayed out with his skydiving friends, and Eva went birthday shopping with her grandparents so Daisy, Zoe, and I went to Red Robin for dinner.

Tuesday

I worked an early shift (when the kids are out of school, I go into work between 5:00-6:00 am so I can get some hours done while they are still asleep). Then we went to see Minecraft. Daisy has been testing out contacts, and we had a follow-up appointment with her eye doctor. 

My friend Christie always brings her own salt shaker to the movie theatre, and she gave me one for my birthday. It specifically has “popcorn salt” in it. 

Wednesday

I worked another early shift. Then I had a virtual appointment with my doctor. Nicky and Zoe had orthodontist appointments. Zoe needed a spacer taken out. Nicky had to have his permanent retainer removed for his mission, so he got fitted for a removable one. The orthodontist asked him where he is going on his mission, and lo and behold! Nicky is going to the same mission the orthodontist served in! Dr. M is so excited and ended up texting us later to engage in more mission talk. 

Nicky finally admitted this day that his leg was really bothering him and didn’t seem to be improving, so right after his ortho appointment, we took him to the orthopedic hospital. They fitted him for a boot for two weeks with three wedges in the heel. He removes a wedge every five days. 

Baby’s first steps 

Thursday

Once again, I worked an early shift at work. Chick-fil-A had free breakfast (with purchase), so my kids met me there at 10:00, and we enjoyed chicken minis and hash browns. Nicky went on a date (with his new boot and scooter… oh! And a girl). The girls and I went shopping for clothes for family photos. After hitting up Target, Walmart, and Ross, we ended up finding everyone’s clothes at the DI. 

Nicky went to work that night and was pretty miserable, but he only had to work one hour. 

Scotty went golfing, and I was very tempted to go out for dinner, but I forced myself to cook at home. While I was prepping dinner, a container of Koolaid powder spilled all over the kitchen floor. After I got that cleaned up, I was making meatballs, and I dropped the hand mixer and raw ground turkey flung everywhere. It was all over the cupboards, floor, dishwasher, and counter. While I was rinsing a rag, I knocked over a glass cup and it shattered in the sink. So when Scotty came home from golfing, I left the house for a while.

My shoe a few days later when I realized it still had meat residue on it

Friday

I had some lab work done and then treated myself to McDonald’s without kids. Then I took Nicky to the orthodontist to pick up his new retainer. Nicky was super miserable and depressed about his leg.

We had family photos in the evening as well as Nicky’s Senior photos. Scotty took the girls to Panda for dinner, and Nicky and I went to Los Tapatios. Mexican food helped heal Nicky for a brief moment. 

The graduate

(Don’t worry, he has arms!)

I’m hooked

Zoe and Eva went to my mom’s house at 10:00 and slept over (they had texted her and asked to sleep over, and I had no idea). 

Saturday

We did a lot of chores. Nicky got a blessing for his leg from Scotty, his friend Cameron, and his grandpa (who happened to be with Cameron at the time). We picked up the girls from Grandma’s sleepover, then Eva went to a birthday party. Nicky, Daisy, and Zoe went to see their cousin’s play. Scotty and I had exactly one hour without kids, so we went to Los Tapatios (birria tacos two days in a row? Yes, please!) 

Scotty mowed the lawn. I pulled two garbage bags of weeds out of the garden. While I was weeding, my gardening chair gave up the ghost (I bought it 20 years ago at a yard sale for $4). 

Oops!

Eva taped a bunch of cardboard boxes together (one of her favorite hobbies). Then she made some signs that said “Jesus hearts you” and went around the neighborhood taping them on people’s doors. 

Sunday

We went to church. Nicky, Daisy, and Zoe sang with the youth. Technically Scotty did too. 

I made a bunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and splattered butter on my dress. Scotty watched the Masters. I went to a stake camp meeting. We went to Scotty’s mom’s house. Nicky took some medication that messed him up. It made him sick and gave him a headache. 

We had fajitas for dinner and then we went to a Palm Sunday fireside and the kids (and Scotty) sang the same song they sang in sacrament meeting. 

When we got home, we had a family lesson about self worth. Then we made everyone go to bed. 

——————

You’re probably wondering how Nicky got hurt. If you’ve endured this long post and have the desire to read more, here’s the quick story.

Nicky was in line for a ride at Disneyland, and he was sitting on the handrail. Lesson #1: Don’t sit on the handrail. 

A girl pushed him, and he fell backwards. Lesson #2: don’t push people!

When he fell, his feet were tucked under the lower bar, and it caused his calf to rip. He then walked on his injured leg for the rest of the trip even though he was in pain, and he didn’t tell his parents. 

Currently (April 2025 Edition)

Reading: nothing. I can’t focus enough to read right now.

Wearing: a Beatles sweatshirt and black stretchy pants.

Annoyed by: every noise made by any person in my family. Don’t chew, breathe, or speak anywhere near me right now. 

Craving: warm bread and butter.

Buying: clothes for family photos. 

Eating: Easter candy. I haven’t had much sugar lately, so I’m hecka sick, but those bunny-shaped SweeTarts were really good. 

Suffering from: reflux due to the aforementioned Easter candy. 

Watching: awful TV shows and documentaries that make me lose faith in the world and make me think the worst of humankind.

Dreading: spring break. It’s technically already started, but I have seven more days of it, so there’s still plenty of dread to proclaim. I have nothing left as far as entertaining kids. For the past 18 years, I’ve worked so hard to keep them busy, and I just don’t have it in me anymore. 

(Update: there are now three days left)

Proud of myself for: nothing. I’ve pretty much sat on my couch for three days straight. 

(Update: make that seven days)

Enjoying: nothing. Wow. Am I in a funk or what?

Drinking: water, Diet Dr. Pepper, and an occasional bottle of kefir or a protein drink. 

Sick of: cleaning. I’m so tired of doing the same tasks over and over again. 

Cooking: bacon for a BLT pasta salad. 

(Update: that salad was disappointing).

Avoiding: yard work. I didn’t get any early crops planted in the garden. Everything is a mess.

Looking forward to: seeing Jersey Boys in a few weeks.

Singing: “It Is Well with My Soul.” (I had to Google to know which words to capitalize in that song title). 

Laughing about: discovering tonight that our friends have been paying for our Walmart deliveries for the last month and a half because Scotty used their credit card to order a delivery to the hotel during Brocation, and their card was made the default card on our account. We’ve had extra money, and I haven’t been able to figure out why. Mystery solved! I’ve been subtracting the purchases from our budget, but we haven’t actually been paying it… our friends have!

Embarrassed: that I love watching The Baldwins. 

Wishing: that there was an app that could scan my body and tell me every diagnosis I need and whether or not the medications I take are helping me. 

Making: BINGO cards for me and my friends.

(They weren’t as amused as I thought they would be)

I’m still here (and ten other random facts)

Fact #1: I don’t know how to blog anymore. I try every few days, and it doesn’t work!

Fact #2: This was Zoe’s great idea…

Her logic is, why put someone’s actual name on a bracelet when it might change?

Fact #3: Speaking of Zoe, she worked hard all morning on April Fools to prank the family. 

Fact #4: This wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be:

Fact #5:

Crock Pots.

And I love buying them from the thrift store. I will never turn away a good Crock Pot. 

Fact #6: Yesterday I took Daisy to the eye doctor, and there was a mini Jesus hidden in the room (it’s a TikTok trend).

Then today at the orthopedic specialists office, we found another Jesus.

I decided to leave Him a friend.

Fact #7: Why were we at the orthopedic specialists? Because Nicky injured his calf. We initially went to the ER, and then after a few days, it was starting to get more painful so we followed up with the specialist.

He will be in a boot for two weeks and has to miss the rest of tennis season.

He’s pretty devastated.

But I took him to Costco and bought him a cheesecake to help lift his spirits. 

Fact #8: We went and saw the Minecraft movie, and I realized Jack Black and I have the same hair.

Fact #9: Other devastating things… on Monday, Nicky was supposed to go skydiving. We had been at the skydiving place for about three hours. He was all harnessed up and set to take off in 20 minutes when they called the other plane down because of wind. We waited an hour and a half or so, and then they called it off entirely. It was so sad.

Fact #10: My kids are currently on spring break. Our big plans have mostly consisted of doctor appointments.