Easter Weekend & a Spending Fast Coming Soon

Easter was very relaxing and laid back. I slacked off on my Easter bunny duties this year because I thought the almost-2 year old got enough treats at her Easter egg hunt, so we just left a trail of eggs from her room to a small gift (some plastic food items for her kitchen). I felt sort of obligated to make a nice Easter dinner, but when I asked Brandon if he wanted ham/potatoes, he said he'd prefer that we make bbq chicken pizza ... and that's what we did. :)

On Saturday night we camped out in our backyard to prepare for conference (very King Benjamin-ish of us, right?) and here's how it went:

7:30p - read stories in the tent with a flashlight

8:00p - put Rachel to bed in her crib inside (we still wanted our evening, so we told her we'd come get her later to sleep in the tent)

10:30p - transferred Rachel to the tent and we all fell asleep ... sort of ... eventually

3:00a - decided we'd all sleep better and sleep in longer if we slept in our own bed, so we transferred back to the house

It was a good adventure and I was glad we were close enough to home to make the transitions so easily (I'm thinking this will happen only once per year and not twice). It also reaffirmed the beauty of Rachel sleeping in her own bed and not sharing ours.

The bits and pieces I caught of Conference were refreshing and needed. I felt like us women got spoiled with some great talks and that there was quite a bit directed to us on parenting and raising and teaching our children. I'm looking forward to reading the talks soon and getting further insight/inspiration about what I need to do personally to improve and do a better job as a mother and wife.

Ok ... new topic ... After being completely inspired by my friend, Cami, who did a SPENDING FAST for a month, I've decided to follow in her footsteps and give it a try. DO YOU WANT TO DO IT WITH ME? My friend, Mandy, has already committed and I know LuAnn is thinking about it. We're starting April 15 and going until May 15. There are no official rules or anything - you can set your own goals. The basic idea is that you pay your bills (please pay your bills!), and you cut back on everything else that you don't really need. Cami successfully made it on a $50/week grocery budget (wow!), but make it what works for you. I'll probably be blogging about my own journey (aka self-inflicted hardship) and I hope to learn something valuable. And just so you know, I'm not intentionally stocking up the pantry or anything like that, but I did already buy myself a reward if I complete my goal - it's a large picture (staying in plastic wrap until May 15) that I got at Ikea for my play room. And I'll probably go out to a nice dinner with my man May 16th too. So, let me know if you want in and we'll help support each other get through the month!

p.s. This morning, before I got Rachel out of her crib, she was just talking to herself (love that!) and then she started singing a song, which I am so excited for her to start doing more. (Usually she just fills in a word or two when I pause in a song.) But her singing this morning was definitely the "Happy Birthday song" and she sang it to Cade ~ "Cader" (my 15 year-old brother) first, and then inserted every other family member's name she could think of, "Happy Birthday, Papa ... Happy Birthday, Grandma ...". I just sat outside her door and listened and loved every second.