April Showers

 April showers bring May flowers. Time flies when you are having fun. Laughter is the best medicine. Happy wife, happy life....

I actually believe in all of these old proverbs. I live them out; my life is proof. As I look back through April, I feel overwhelmingly blessed. It was so fun and full and fast. It was all proof of these old proverbs.The first weekend in April Douglas and I kicked it off big and loud at a Luke Combs concert in Indy. Luke Combs plays the soundtrack to our summers, our suppers and our truck rides. The kids love him as much as Doug and I do. Doug had mentioned he was coming to the area, but we had ball games and to-dos on the calendar. Wouldn't be the responsible thing to do. Three days before the concert I told Alexa to play Luke Combs Radio while I started supper. His new cover "Fast Car" came on and that was it. We had to go. A quick call to grandparents gave us the "go ahead and have fun"; tickets and hotel were booked before bedtime. Doug and I have been to many concerts but never one for someone in their prime or on this grand of a scale. Luke was so, so good, and I am so glad we went ahead and had fun.The start of Easter Break was all about the kiddos and something they have been excited to see--The Mario Movie. Getting the Nintendo switch for Christmas has made us big Mario fans. Doug and I knew all along that we were going to go see it, but we might have played the parent card and used it as incentive to pick up sticks and clean the basement all week. Bribery works! I had a clean house and yard and my babies got to see Mario! The boys (even Theo) were obsessed and Em loved it too. It really was super cute. Our Easter was wonderful. God blessed us with the most beautiful weather and a day full of family. Last year I heard the quote, "The Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing." This quote has stuck with me all year and this beautiful day was the perfect reminder that this life will not always be sweetness and love and happiness, but because Christ died and rose again, we know there will be all of those things. That is such a loving promise from such a loving God! After church we headed for Grove to celebrate with the Jansens. Yummy food was eaten, kickball was played (you can't have a Jansen gathering with out an extreme game of something), and eggs were hunted. But the most exciting part of the afternoon came when Bennett was asked to be Zach and Abby's ring bearer for their upcoming wedding! When they first asked him he said he didn't know...but he was also busy finding eggs and not remembering what a ring bearer was. When asked the second time, it was an ecstatic yes! He tells everyone he sees that he has an important job soon, and I secretly can't wait to see him all dressed up. In the afternoon we headed back to our house to host my family. Nana had been busy cooking and prepping too. More yummy food was had and then the biggest Easter egg hunt of all time happened (only a slight exaggeration). Nana decided to go "quantity not quality" and the kids had a blast. Theo was literally out of breath from excitedly yelling "nother one" and quickly ran out of basket room. He did the old try to carry as many as he could act and every time he bent over to pick one egg up, another fell out of his arms. Pure sweetness. By the end of the day we had eaten too much chocolate cake, opened 100 eggs, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The weekend after Easter was Wicked Weekend!! For Christmas we surprised Nana, Em and Paisley with Wicked tickets at the Fox and the day was finally here. First though, a yummy lunch at Fountain on Locust. The Fox Theater with my girl never gets old. I knew Em was going to love Wicked. It came out when I was in high school, and I have such fond memories of seeing it with Chorus, sitting in the very back row when I took Doug to see it, and belting every word as I jammed to my burnt CD of the soundtrack on my way to visit Doug in college. Needless to say, I cried. Mostly because I got to experience it with my daughter. Plus it was so darn good. The next Friday was a girls' night out for Em and I. We headed to O'Fallon right after school with her best buds Anna and Clara and their mom Christy. Christy and the girls had invited us to a True Girl event at a large church there. Think Christian mom/daughter/friend concert/conference. Emery loved the music, the funny skits, spending time with her friends...and spending time with me! I find my self constantly thankful for this daughter of mine--she is empathetic, completely content, funny and helpful--everything I need her to be everyday. As she gets older, I am enjoying more and more of this special time with her.    Sprinkled all throughout April, Auggie and Bennett have had soccer. Since I have been busy living my best life, I only got to see one game. Bennett is our soccer star scoring 5 goals this particular Saturday. B is so fun to watch do anything because he puts everything he has into whatever he is doing. He might end up being our athlete because the kid also hates to lose.  Remind Doug and I next year to pass on spring soccer. Its not the soccer's fault, its the everything else going on and the freezing cold weather that seems to pop up every Saturday. April has been winter coats one day...And life jackets on Uncle's Chucks boat the next. We had a taste of summer at Chuck's house this month when the sun chose to shine; I have a very strong feeling lots more lake days are in our near future. We finished out April somehow more busy than we started. Emery Kayt had a piano competition this past Saturday. Girlfriend played two pieces by memory and got a superior! She is never nervous and just rocks at anything music. When I grow up I want to be just like Em.  Also on Saturday was Em's first softball practice, Bennett's soccer game, Auggie's soccer game, and Auggie's Angel's double-header. I think this is the busy-ness that older parents have been warning us about. But it is all fun! The kids were winners all around and were only able to do all the things because of Nana's help and Douglas's best dad ever-ness. Because I wasn't at any of it!Instead I was busy seeing the sights, walking the city, eating all the food and talking until late in the night with my best pal forever, Kaci. We booked a trip to Cincinnati way back in early winter (before a single thing was on my April calendar). At the beginning all we had planned was to see the musical Hadestown Saturday night. We added a brunch food tour, the American Sign Museum, sight seeing in the city, yummy drinks and even more brunch to the agenda. The food tour was my favorite-it was just us with our tour guide David, and he showed us all the best spots in Cincinnati while treating us to delicious local food and becoming our third best friend. I loved Cincinnati and already have plans to take the fam to see a Reds game and be their tour guide. Kaci and I have been best friends since 2004 (that 20 year mark is creeping up,) and while I don't see her near as often as I would like (I mean I want her to live next door), when I do get to spend time with her I laugh more, I learn more and I love her more. 

In April time really did fly because I was having fun. Time and time again laughter was the best medicine. I am always a happy wife (thanks to my awesome husband)... and I am really hoping that April showers wind and cold bring May flowers. The old proverbs ring true once again.