A cute one from Courtney

Yesterday, I made pancakes for breakfast.  This is a rarity during the school week (I am lazy most mornings) but we were low on cereal that the kids like (a.k.a. any unhealthy junky sugar cereal) and I knew they wouldn't go for the Fiber One or Kashi that was in the pantry so I thought I'd treat them to something different.  Anyway, the kids asked for syrup so Paul began looking in the cupboard for some and pulled out ketchup as a joke and said, "I found the syrup!"  The other kids laughed but Courtney didn't get it.  Her eyes got really wide and she said, "Daddy, you really can't see without your glasses."  It was hilarious!

Honk Jr!

What a fun night we had last night!  We got to watch Rachel strut her stuff as Grace in Honk, Jr. last night. It is the story of the Ugly Duckling.  Rachel's character is the snobby aristocrat of the pond who ultimately presents her "red band" (which denotes her title) to Ugly once he becomes a swan.  Rachel and the entire cast did an amazing job. 

She enjoyed participating in the musical with her best friend, Lauren, who played one of the ducklings.

Grace with Ida, Ugly's mother.

Grace gossiping with the other ducks on the pond.

Discussing Ugly with Ida.

Singing "A Poultry Tale"

Rachel (Grace), Maddie (Ida) & Lauren (Ugly's love interest-don't remember her name)

Abundant Blessings

So many blessings have been coming my way lately and I'm so grateful!  Yesterday, I got a postcard in the mail from a boy in my ward who just left on his mission.  He was in my primary class when we first moved here.  During a lesson that had something to do with missionary work, I challenged the kids to go on missions and gave them each a little postcard that said on the front, "My Mission Call Has Arrived!"  On the back it said, "Dear Sister Madsen, I received my mission call and will be serving the Lord in the _______________ Mission."  I asked them to keep it and mail it to me when they received their call.  Well, someone actually did!  Justin is now serving a mission in the Argentina Neuquen Mission.  The note that accompanied the postcard said, "Remember this?  You gave this to me nearly 10 years ago when you were my teacher in primary!  I've kept it in my scriptures for this whole time, excited for when I could give it back to you.  Remember that small acts of kindness are remembered by some, and the little things you've one for me have helped me to be who I am.  Thanks for everything!  - Elder Justin Zebley."  What a wonderful surprise!

It has been a joy seeing Rachel develop a love for the scriptures lately.  She is working on her young women personal progress and is studying the Book of Mormon daily to fulfill her goals.  It makes me so happy seeing her reading on her own every night in her room.  She actually loves it.  On Fast Sunday a few weeks ago, she shared a heartfelt testimony in Young Women about the scriptures and the help they give her to face her challenges.  I don't think I really started reading the scriptures on my own everyday until I was in seminary so it means a lot to me to see her making wise choices at such a young age. 

Today I had the opportunity to teach two classes:  gospel doctrine and young women.  I have never been a scholar of the Old Testament and I haven't read it from cover to cover since high school.  But I have substituted in gospel doctrine twice in the last month and it has opened my eyes to the wonderful words from Old Testament that we can apply to our lives today.  The lesson was on Deuteronomy 6, 8,11, and 32 and it was all about remembering our covenants & blessings and being mindful of the Rock of our salvation.  It reminded me that I should write down my blessings "lest I forget" so I'm taking a moment to do it.

Young Women was wonderful!  I teach the Laurels and they are at the point in their lives where their testimonies are really cementing.  During the lesson, three of the girls shared experiences that helped them gain a testimony.  What a beautiful spirit came into our classroom as they told their stories!  I felt like I was floating on air after church.  I learn so much from my young women!  They have to stand alone so often when they live church standards and it makes me so happy to see them gaining testimonies of Jesus Christ and living what they believe.

Then, to cap off the day, at our family scripture reading, Rachel and Spencer read Alma 5 which is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon.  Most of the time, I'm the reader because we're eating dinner.  But tonight, they both wanted to read and did a terrific job.  Paul and I were amazed at Spencer's beautiful ability to read the scriptures.  He has made major strides in reading over the past year. Afterwards, Spencer took the lead as the kids worked together to do the dishes without anyone asking.  These are the moments I live for as a parent! 

Baseball Boy

We are all about baseball right now!  Spencer has two games a week and he's really enjoying it!  I was worried he wouldn't like it but he does!  Hooray!

Trike-A-Thon for Two

I took the girls to their annual pre-school Trike-A-Thon to benefit St. Jude's Hospital.  Caitlin and Courtney made many laps around the park with their bikes.  Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch and the twins played with their nursery school mates on the playground.  I rushed them a bit because I also had a luncheon to go to at my friend Michele's that afternoon.  By leaving just a little early, we were able to make both events.  It was a gorgeous day to spend outside with friends, young and old!

Caitlin whips around the slide at breakneck pace!

What a pretty girl!

Hanging on for dear life

She's a beauty!

Round and round we go!

Slowing just enough to pose for a picture!

She's getting serious about it!

Cute quotes

A couple of funny quotes from the kids:]

Caitlin and Courtney roped Spencer into playing the boy Polly.  When he went to pick up his girlfriend Polly for a date, I overheard Spencer say, "Hello, gorgeous!"  It was too cute!

Rachel (while sipping a water bottle): I've never heard of Nia Gara water before. Have you?
Me (laughing): Um, do you mean Niagara? As in Niagara Falls?
Rachel: Oh!

Spencer's baseball coach: Whose mitt is this?
Spencer: It's mine.
BB coach: But it says Robert on it. Are you Robert Spencer or something?
Spencer: No, that's the autograph.
(It is a mitt we bought at a garage sale with someone else's name written on it. Apparently, Spencer thought it was the name of someone famous. I have now sharpied Spencer's name on his mitt.)

Spring Break Vacay

We went on our spring break trip over Easter weekend. We decided to go to Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. They are barrier islands off the coast of VA and MD. The first day we were there, we took a private boat on a tour around the island. It was so cold and windy on the boat that the kids were hiding their faces to keep warm. The beach was a little chilly but once we got walking in the waves looking for shells, we warmed up and enjoyed our day. We found tons of awesome shells. In fact, Spencer saw a huge conch shell and ran into the waves to get it. He was soaked. It was definitely not swimsuit weather but we loved it anyway.

The second day was even colder and foggy so we decided to go inland and went to the NASA museum. Right as we got there, they were having a mini rocket launch so we had fun watching that. Afterwards, we went to Barnum and Bailey's Circus. When we arrived, a man asked us if we wanted two free tickets right on the floor. He had some extra ones that he didn't need. So we took them, bought the other four tickets in the top tier (cheap seats) and when we asked the usher where to sit, he decided to take us to the VIP seats so we could sit together! Talk about our lucky day. The kids enjoyed watching the lions and elephants and all the other acrobatic stuff they had.

The next couple of days were beautiful! We enjoyed hiking around the island, visited the lighthouse, spotted beautiful birds and searched for the wild ponies that live on the island. We also watched general conference in our hotel room on Paul's laptop. It was a great conference!

Our last day was beautiful on Chincoteague but when we arrived at the beach 3 miles away, it was foggy and cold. We still played at the beach for a few hours.

All in all, it was a great trip. It was nice to get away from it all. I love the beach. Paul tolerates it because he knows it makes me happy. Isn't he a great husband?

We took a boat tour around the island
It was so cold that the kids were hiding to keep warm

Our family with the lighthouse in the background

At the marina in front of "The Spider."

C & C on the balcony of our room

Swimming in the pool kept all of us entertained.

Butterfly stroke~How in the world is it done? I can not do it but Rachel's a pro!

The kids loved swimming

Cute kids on our first day at the beach

Chillin'

Yes, she can write her name! Yay!

I love Rachel's look of dismay as the wave destroys her creation!

Sweet--"I love you mom!!!"

Digging can be so much fun!

Cute Caitlin

Isn't the view gorgeous?

Running in the surf

I love this pic of all the kids

We took the kids to the circus one day.
Spencer saved sand on our last day at the beach

On our final day, it was very foggy. I had to keep up with the girls so they didn't disappear into the mist.

I love my girls!

It's me with one of my favorite backgrounds!

Rachel and I explored the island and enjoyed watching all the birds.

Aren't they beautiful?

A view of the wild ponies from one of our trail hikes.

Here's the beautiful lighthouse!

Rachel from the lighthouse