April Showers

We wrapped up all of that "March" nonsense this week, and wasted no time smearing April everywhere.

Last Saturday afternoon, Avey was set up to meet some friends at the same roller skating rink we tried out from the Wednesday before, so Kira drove her there and met some of the friends' parents, then brought Avey home. We then had the standard night of getting boys to bed and then we finished a movie with Hannah.

Sunday was a typical morning of getting kids fed and dressed and out the door. While they were gone, I made their favorite treat, muddy buddies, and then took care of myself with a shower. I then got lunch ready for everybody to have when they got home. Merritt was thrilled to see I had made mashed potatoes, and jumped around like it was Christmas Day. He had apparently had a full tantrum on the entire ride to church. Kira said that he had wanted his mittens, but that she didn't grab them. Because things did not go to his liking, he spent the 15-minute ride to the church screaming and crying, and then Kira had to keep him in the foyer so as not to disturb the meetings. Hannah went out to talk to him and was able to finally calm him down like Black Widow talking the Hulk down.

Merritt's Schoolwork

It was a standard afternoon of lazing around, a quick family night lesson and activity, and then bedtime. Hannah joined us for a few games after the boys were in bed.

Monday, Kira tried to let me sleep, but I guess I just can't deal with the guilt, because I got up to help get the kids out the door. The day was pretty normal otherwise with my working and Kira heading to her office for her day. She had several cancellations that day, which was kind of nice. Once she left for work, I took Apollo out on a long walk where he sniffed to his heart's content and I suffered through the piercing cold wind. We came home for the bus, and Apollo spent the rest of the day acting like we never take him anywhere...

Kira was home just after dinner to help get kids in bed, and then she and Avey stayed up late chatting.

Tuesday was my long day in the city. Kira stayed busy as ever working on various things for her calling and her license for her job (it's renewal time). Once the boys were home, Kira got Carver to get started on writing up what he did for his science project from last week. The project is done, but he needed a lot of motivation to actually make the presentation for what he did. We had a normal night of TV when Hannah came over.

I slept very poorly that night, and then had a ton of grading to do on Wednesday while Kira continued to work on license renewal stuff. It was rainy and gray all day, not helping with my energy.

Once the boys were home, Jesse showered right away to get it done with, and Merritt bounced all over the house, making sure to keep his lips moving the whole time. He was very excited to tell us that his classroom now has some eggs in an incubator, and so it's just a few weeks before they should hatch. He brought home a little growth chart that he can fill in each day to see about how big the little chicks are inside the egg. It's just a fun little thing they can do, but he treats it like if he misses a day that the chicks will turn into lizards or something.

Avey stayed after school for library club, so I picked her up after a quick grocery run. Kira kept Carver working on his science project by sticking right there with him, not letting him lose focus. He did a good job, too, seeming to finally feel motivated to get it done.

Avey's Egg Art

Hannah went to youth activity that night, but Avey decided to skip it. It turns out that the bowling alley they were supposed to bowl at was too busy, so they just went for ice cream instead, and Hannah just went home. Kira was on the phone that night with her mother, so Avey and I watched a little TV before going to bed early.

It rained all night and then into the morning on Thursday, so everything was wet and is still very muddy. I went into the city where classes went well and then I spent the afternoon grading. Kira kept busy again, and we remembered her grandmother all day as it was the anniversary of her passing.

Carver kept working on his science project that night, finally finishing right about bedtime. Kira then spoke with her friend on the phone for the evening, and Avey did her own thing, so I had the TV to myself, watching a new show that's interested me.

Kira again tried to let me sleep in on Friday morning, but I guess I felt like there was too much to do, so I got up like normal. While I drove Avey to school, Kira took the boys to school so that they didn't risk destroying their projects on the bus. Of course, they won't let Jesse take his yet because they don't have room in the school, so it's just going to sit here on our table for another week. At least it looks good...

Kira and I dropped the van off at the mechanic because we've had a check-engine light come on and then turn off again for about 2 weeks. It was then a standard day of grading for me, and Kira finishing up stuff with her license, although she did sneak in a nap. In the afternoon, Kira and I went on a little outing. She got some sushi from our local grocery store and ate it at the park while I kept an eye on Apollo. We tried to firm up our plans for our summer trip to Utah and got pretty close.

When we got home, I found a letter from the IRS that I'd been waiting for. They gave us about a third of the return we expected, and then told us to wait for this letter to explain why. The letter says that one of our forms said that we did not live in the U.S. for at least 6 months, and so that's why they reduced our return. I am almost positive that we lived in Indiana the whole year, so I figured I must have made some mistake on the form. I looked up my form, but I can't seem to find any information that is incorrect, so I have no idea what is going on. There is a box that you are supposed to check if you lived in the U.S. for more than 6 months, and I checked the box, so all I can figure is that the IRS just hopes I won't try to correct them. Of course, they make you call a phone number, and then that takes you 5 minutes to get to the right department, and then the recording says that they are too busy, so try another time. On my fourth try, I got through to a recording that put me down on a call-back list. It said they would call me back in 29 minutes. An hour later, I still hadn't heard from them, and realized they would never call. So we'll see what I can figure out next week.

Avey hung out with friends after school until I picked her up, and then the boys enjoyed the outside sunshine despite the cold wind until dinner time.

We called the mechanic to find that it looks like our catalytic converter is on its way out. I started to worry, because those can get very expensive. Luckily, ours is near the lower end of the cost, so they ordered the part and will replace it next week.

Hannah came over for a movie once the boys were in bed.

This morning (Saturday), Kira and I slept in, but I got up to feed the boys and then spread some grass seed to fill in our backyard. I do it every year, but then it thins out each year, and I think it's probably mostly due to grubs, so I'm making a plan to combat them this season.

Kira is planning on General Conference most of the day, and I'll try to keep the kids from descending into madness.