It’s that time of year again when strawberries are on sale for 69 cents and that final jam jar from last season sits lonely on the fridge shelf wondering when that last sandwich will be made and it services will no longer need rendering.

My kids had full participation this time around.  It was so wonderful to christen my new kitchen with this activity.  All that chopping, blending and mixing was wonderful with the warm sun peaking in the windows to remind us once again why we love San Diego so much.  We only made 5 jars so I imagine I see another afternoon like this in the near future if we are hoping for jam that will last the rest of the year.

Have you ever wondered why a PBJ made by someone else is always so much better than when you make one for yourself?  After making Hudson a PBJ with his own jam he says this to me, “Mom, this is the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  The strawberry jam tickles the peanut butter and makes is so delicious.”  There you have it!  You can stop wondering.

Our time with Jim and Nancy also found us at the Botanical Gardens and Science Museum.  The kids loved being there.  There was so much to do.

Building block towers was definitely a crowd favorite.

There is nothing like a homemade tornado.  Come to think of it.  I have two of those at my house.  Mine just have arms and legs.

There were more activities than I could count and we loved every one of them.

Being here just made me sad thinking about all of the people in the world who are terrified of math and science or think it is only for smart people.  Science doesn’t bite…at least not most of the time.

Wills parents came into town over Easter.  We had so much fun while they were here.  The kids are always so excited to see their Nana and Papa.  We visited the harbor, watched Conference, went out to dinner among other things.  Our trip to La Jolla was fabulous and no, we didn’t feel that 7.2 earthquake while we were there.  I know…it’s a shocker!  Anyway, we walked along the beach enjoying that salty breeze and the beautiful sights.

The seals were pupping so there was an abundance of little ones.  I couldn’t help notice one mama seal who seemed to have her flippers full trying to help her little guy out of the water.  He would get a foot from the beach and get pulled back in.  After awhile I started wondering if he was doing that to her on purpose.

Poor Will partly ended up in a tide pool after having a tough time with his bad foot.  He did manage to keep his stitches from getting wet and remained good- natured about the whole incident. Yes, I know Hudson is in his soccer outfit.  I let him dress himself that morning.  He did put on a matching outfit…technically!

Annie on the other hand about gave me a massive coronary.  There were several times where I thought she was going to go diving right off the cliffs.

We decided to leave our old house with a bang and do our 2nd annual Easter Egg hunt a week early.  It was empty.  After a few muffins and some juice we were set to go.  The kids went in waves looking for the eggs.  The backyard has plenty of room so it didn’t prove difficult hiding the 390 eggs.  Let’s just say each child came out with plenty of eggs filled with all kinds of goodies.

We played some old school sack and relay races.  I actually decided to stay with the same games from last year.  Why not keep the games a tradition as well as the hunt itself?

After all was said and done the kids got to relax for a little bit and enjoy their spoils.  A HUGE thanks goes out to everyone(you know who you are ladies!) that helped move, bake, decorate, and buy all of the Easter goodness that was.

Side note: I know I have fallen out of the blog-o-sphere…this is due to lack of internet as well as some random crazy things happening.  It will all unfold eventually…BUT, I’m back with more stories to tell!

After a couple of months of hard work and another couple of months of hardly working; my piano is finally finished!  It feels really good to have this piano marked off my list.  I enjoyed working on it when I had the time and I am pretty happy with the results.  Since the piano is so old it actually has real ebony and ivory keys, which I love.  I had to lock the perfectionist in me away while I was working on the project (I do have a tiny one and she has been screaming to get out).  Will keeps reminding me that it is 100 years old and that it will have dings and dents.  I would probably have just as many dings and dents if I was that old too.  I’m just gratful that Will’s sees the dings and dents as character and not flaws.  Oh, to borrow his colored glasses for only a moment…

I will say that if I ever have to laquer again, I will enlist help of someone else because I made a bit of a mess out of that step.  I just got too drippy and bubbly…I’m refering to the laquer not myself, even if those words have also been used to describe me on previous occasions.

If you get to see my piano and ask me about it, I will tell you I love it.  There is just something about things you get to create that makes you love those things even more…like children!!!  Okay, I digress.  Anyway,  I’m done.  So when I tell you it is perfect and I love it I am actually saying, “It’s not perfect, but then again neither am I…far from actually so I guess the piano and I are a perfect fit!”