You know how you keep thinking, 'Oh, if we can just get through (fill in any month), we'll be able to take it easy in (fill in another month--generally, but not necessarily the NEXT month).'
Yeah. We keep thinking that, too.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Looking back to my April calendar page, it looks absolutely BARE compared to May.
*Sigh*
April:
I think one of the most satisfying experience of April was reconnecting with old friends.
I found several friends from the past on Facebook in April, plus Darin and I reconnected with an old friend whose wife had divorced him.
I hate to admit it, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. In fact, we were happy for our friend.
We've known them since college days. They were neighbors and good friends of ours for a year or so. We had our kids almost at the same time. We spent some good times together, playing games, hanging out, helping each other. Darin and this friend knew each other from their mission. The wife was young.
Darin and I always really enjoyed our friend's company, but never could come to love his wife. She reminded me too much of my ex-sister-in-law. Selfish, demanding, vain. When we heard they'd divorced--from her in a Christmas letter--we were shocked, but not SHOCKED!
Anyway, it's been almost two years now since they divorced, and our friend is getting remarried to a FANTASTIC girl! He contacted us through his daughter through facebook, and we met he and his fiance for dinner. Their chemistry was apparent--something he had never really enjoyed with his first wife. It was WONDERFUL to see him happy.
We're going to their sealing on May 13th. We're honored and thrilled to be invited.
Of course there was Easter. Easter is hard when you're trying to lose weight. Suzanne is currently down about 17 pounds, with about 30 more to go to reach her goal weight. She gave herself Easter "OFF" and ate chocolate until it was coming out her ears. ;-) We also discovered a new way to dye Easter eggs that makes it EASY, COLORFUL, NON-MESSY, and FUN!!
For years we've dyed our eggs with onion skins. They're beautiful! I'll explain how in a minute. At any rate, this year I was at the story picking up my onion skins when we ran into a friend of ours. She told us about dying eggs with SILK TIES! Yes, you read that correctly.
Here's how to do both the silk tie and the onion skin eggs:
1. Buy a yard or two of inexpensive muslin fabric. Cut it into 8" squares or, if you're really ambitious, 9" circles.
2. Pick up onion skins from the grocery story. You should be able to take them for free. Just peel the dry outer skins from the onions on the rack. Ask permission first. Red or regular yellow skins (or both) work great. The yellow skins make the eggs brown/yellow/orange. The red skins make them deep maroon/blue. Tear the skins into small pieces.
3. Buy used silk ties at the DI or other thrift store. They MUST be 100% silk or it won't work. The more colorful and patterned, the better. Cut the ties into small pieces, OR cut large patterned sections out of the ties. The color and pattern of the ties will transfer directly onto the egg, so you can choose what kind of effect you want to create.
4. Begin with RAW eggs. For each egg, take a square of the cloth and place bits and pieces of silk and/or onion skin all over the center of the cloth. If you want to directly transfer a pattern or flower or something from the tie, cut that out and place it right in the middle of the fabric square. Place the egg on top of the tie/onion bits and gently gather up the edges, easing the tie/onion bits around so there is something in contact with (almost) every surface of the egg. Add more bits in the top if you need to. Close securely with a twist tie and place in a very large empty pot.
5. Once all the eggs are wrapped and in the pot, fill the pot with cold water. Add a couple of tablespoons of vinegar. Place the pot on the stove and heat to boiling. Boil for as long as you like to boil hard-boiled eggs and process as you normally would hard-boiled eggs.
6. When the eggs are cool enough to handle, unwrap the eggs and prepare to be AMAZED!!!
7. Shake the tie/onion bits out of the fabric squares and discard. Wash the fabric squares for use next year.
You want to see some? Whoa, NELLY!! Here they are!
April was also a month of fun experiences:
*Maren's first Soccer game of the spring season was held on the 10th. We WON!!! GO BLUE VENOM!!
*We attended a performance of "The Taming of the Shrew" put on by the Shakespearean Festival traveling company. They took Katherine and all the rest and plopped them down in Wild West America. Great fun! We all loved it.
*Our older kids began practicing for a Youth Extravaganza which will be held in July at the Weber University Football Stadium. We've been told President Monson will be there. It's a BIG DEAL--thirty stakes from the Northern Utah area. We're excited--for it to be over. HAHA. Just kidding. Sort of. ;-)
*Ian and Hannah both participated in Region and State Solo Ensemble. Both scored well and we're proud of them. Hannah played THIS Bach Partita (not quite as amazingly as this professional violinist); Ian played Sonata in B Flat by Rossini(better than this girl).
*Ian and Darin went on a rocketry scout camp in April. (Men + Boys) + Rockets = good times + mothers grateful to have their sons home with all their fingers.
*Maren and Suzanne went to Aunt Joan's Master Choir concert. She's been working SO hard to earn her Master's Degree in Choral Performance, and slaving an amazing choir that she put together from among her friends, neighbors, relatives and associates. She also included the UofU a capela choir and a string quartet. It was an amazing concert. Congratulations, Joan!
*Ian went to the dentist in April. No big deal, right? It is if the purpose of it was to get the Braces ball rolling--which it was. He'll be getting his wisdom teeth out in June and his braces on in July. He's SO excited! (Did you catch the sarcasm?)
*Suzanne joined a book club that USED to run by the ward Relief Society, but now just runs on its own. It's been fun, even though I don't always get excited about their book choices. But in April, Suzanne had the chance to do a reading! I read a very short story about going away and leaving my son on his birthday, and a longer retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. A seriously CREEPY retelling. I could feel the tension in the room as I read, and there was a very audible sigh of relief when it was over. One of the ladies (they're all older) said, "I'm going to have nightmares tonight!" But they all enjoyed it anyway. And THAT was my very first fiction reading! Fun!
*Oh, and Hannah has a boyfriend. ;-)
