We were so excited to celebrate Harvey, but not as excited as Harvey was. My friend Krista said she’s never heard him talk as much as he has this week to talk about his birthday. Common phrases are, “It’s my dir-day!” and “I’m bigger now!” and my favorite one was when we asked him what he wanted to eat for his birthday dinner and he said, “Apples!” when we pressed him for what else, he exclaimed, “Nothing! Just apples!” Maverick leaned over to him and whispered, “What about sushi, Harvey?” He turned to Maverick with as much energy as he could muster and said, “No, Maverick! It’s MY birthday and WE’RE having apples!” Andy was brave and said, “What about apples, wings, and pizza?’ And he said, “N…. oh okay yeah.”
We began celebrations for Harvey by dropping off cupcakes at his class on Wednesday, followed by pizza and apples for dinner and then leftover cupcakes for dessert. It was also his lucky day because they had a little petting zoo at his preschool on his birthday including a fluffy cow, a pig, and some chickens. We let him open presents before school and after dinner to spread out the fun. He loved all his presents, but he was pretty dang excited about the Mario and Luigi costume he got. He also got a watch from his Grandma that he was so proud to wear. Today is our last day to celebrate this little dude. We’re having (per his request) essentially all of our LDS neighbors over to feast on burgers and hotdogs and sing happy birthday to him. He really is so fun and I’m really going to miss this stage.
This past week we got to go to Maverick’s baseball game and Beverly’s kindergarten play. We had to divide and conquer Thursday night because Mav had a game when Bev’s play was scheduled, but Beverly did a fantastic job.
Photo by Alex Winters The 17 cicada cycle is going on right now. They look a little different than the annual cicadas and they sound different as well. They emit a higher toned whirring sound. Andy thought for sure it was a truck nearby, but when you hear the sound all over Evans you realize it’s these bugs we’ve never heard before. 
Andy getting ready for a day at the hospital… with all the essential gear and his little sidekick. 
I volunteered an 8.5×11 painting of an LDS temple at our RS service auction. I finally got it done. She was very happy 
We have some great friends. We were able to go to an escape room with them this Saturday. I felt a little bit like a fly on the wall because there were too many helping hands but we had a blast! 
My first attempt at Flan. It tasted delicious. Next time I’ll sift it a few more times before pouring it on top of the sugar layer.
Aside from juggling kids’ stuff, working out, and keeping the house in order, I’ve been working on a novel, painting a few things, and listening to a book while doing it. I’m in the middle of reading the Shadow and Bones series, which is a good entertaining read. I just finished listening to “The Power of Vulnerability” by Brene Brown and I’m now listening to “More than a Body.” I feel like every man and woman should listen to this. It makes you more aware of the hands at work to objectify the human body (mostly women, but also men). There are some points in there I’m trying to learn from and some I have questions about, but I love the premise that we really shouldn’t put so much focus on the outside appearance when each individual has so much more to offer than how they look. It is not our responsibility to be a decorative item in people’s lives, but instead if we can put our self worth and attention on things that matter, imagine the possibilities! Imagine how much more you’d be able to accomplish if your mind was clear of insecurities on how you looked while doing something! Imagine the time and money you spend on your appearance that could go to great and more purposeful endeavors. The authors fully realize that we don’t live in a society where we can completely ignore how we look, but we should choose to adorn ourselves in things that make us feel confident for ourselves, not for others. If you enjoy getting a pedicure, then there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you think you need to get a pedicure in order to show your feet in public, then we need to take a pause and reassess why we feel the need to please others by our appearance. I personally feel like I have a long way to go to build my personal confidence when it comes to removing my value of appearance and focusing on what really matters, but I think I’m heading in the right direction. I also find that when we focus less on the importance of appearance, we tend to be kinder and more accepting of those that are different than us.
I’m excited for this coming weekend. Andy has gifted me a Yoga retreat for mother’s day and I get to see my best friend from Jr. High, High school, and college: Holly Petty! She has been my friend through some really challenging times and has seen me at my absolute worst and somehow still loves me. I can’t wait to come back and report on this weekend. It is also being run by two of my other good friends, Lindsay Durrant and Anica Dehart. I think Anica intends this to be the first Yoga retreat she hosts of many!