April Update

1. I did make it through all the tubs of outgrown clothes, toys, and books. Ram commented on how much better that area of our garage looks. I also made it through the books in the playroom. (Most of those books are about Star Wars or Legos.) We discovered several duplicates there once it was organized! We have a huge give away pile. I hope to sort that all out and either deliver it this week or organize it to deliver for our vacation.
2. I am just at the beginning of planning our summer vacation.  Since I don't do Facebook it is a little more involved to e-mail or (gasp!) even make phone calls to make sure we get together with everyone we want to. I am excited, but poor Ram will have to work and not get much of a vacation. My parents are downsizing so helping them I may not get much of a vacation either. But it will be more fun to declutter at their house than it is to declutter at my house.
3. I am also planning for the Lambs summer. With all Lamb 2's therapy last year we did not do much. This year it looks like Lamb 1 will do basketball camp, Lamb 2 will do tennis camp and a science camp, and all 3 Lambs will do VBS and swim lessons. Add in our vacation and the summer is going to fly by.
4. I finished the church library project and boxed up all the give away stuff today. Another lady from church volunteered to deliver it to a local mission. They are excited to not only get Bibles, but also our old hymnals and several various other Christian books. I am excited that they want our books that we no longer use.
5. In January I attended a planning meeting for an event our church is hosting this week. It's hard to believe the date is already here. This week will be a busy week ironing tablecloths, baking, preparing to speak to the ladies for a few minutes, and finishing up other last minute details. Thankfully we only have to host this every 6 or 7 years!
6. I tried a new Paleo chocolate cake recipe before making it for this event. I liked the cake, but not the frosting. Does anyone have a good chocolate frosting recipe to share? I would love for it to be dairy free, but I'll settle for gluten free that tastes good.
7. Lamb 1 has had a lot of homework for Cub Scouts recently. He can barely keep up with practicing piano and Cub Scout homework even though he is homeschooled. Last weekend he was doing other Cub Scout homework so he didn't even begin his pinewood derby car until Friday night. Weigh-in was Saturday so he quickly painted it before he went to bed. He finished it in the morning before he turned it in. That was cutting it too close for me. We look forward to the Pinewood Derby this week.
8. Lamb 1 has another orthodontist appointment this week. His front teeth are finally coming in so I'm hoping this is the end of his orthodontist appointments. It might not be, this might be just the beginning of orthodontist treatments!
9. Last night we went to an informal get together with a few of our neighbors. It was so strange to be making s'mores and kids running wild outside in April. We did need sweatshirts because it was evening.
10. The last library book club book was Little Town on the Prairie. The librarian invited some fiddle players and a fiddle maker to book club. It was interesting. I took some Shutterfly books I made of our trips to DeSmet, SD and Walnut Grove, MN. It was fun to share that with others.
11. Ram mowed the lawn on Friday for the first time. It wasn't in desperate need of mowing yet, but he wanted to try out his new lawnmower. The lawn looks a lot better after he mowed so perhaps it needed to be mowed more than I realized. I owned a house before I met Ram and this is my/our second lawnmower so I guess it was time to get a new one.