Another wild and crazy spring break.

While other families head to the beaches of FL, GA and SC, the Stokers prepare for a traditional spring break of going nowhere. We did go to FL one year, but noticed that everyone else from our state had the same idea, so we stopped trying to compete for sand space. But as the vacation time approaches I begin to feel pressure to come up with a wowie plan to answer the question...you know the one..."Where are you going for spring break?" I ran some ideas by my kids to which they replied, "Do we have to drive? We don't want to drive.  We've already been there. Does that sound fun to you?" Gabe said he'd go somewhere if we could see family, who all live far away or are busy, so here we sit and everyone seems strangely satisfied to do so.

We kicked off our week with General Conference. We watched at church, our house and our friends'  house. Everyone just sat quietly and listened, no gimmicks, no bribes, no threats, no million snacks and games. Is it weird that this made me feel a little sad? A thousand young mothers are out there saying, "How about you watch with my 6, 4, and 2 yr. olds and I'll watch with your 14 and 16 yr. old." Anyway, it was a powerful conference and I'm motivated to be a braver, kinder and better person.

Next on tap was yard work. Nothing says spring like planting. I don't know how the "break" fits in there, but I always figure one enjoys their free time more if one works first. My two kids are great little workers and we actually had a pleasant morning in the yard. And look at these happy flowers, not to mention the tomatoes to feed the deer and the banana peppers to make me feel good about my vegetable garden.

Oh, and my peas are coming up. Yay!

Another important element to a fun Stoker Spring Break is having a clean room. Well, maybe it's mostly for a fun Stoker Mom spring break, but having a clean room once or twice a year won't kill a person.

Gabe's week contained some mandatory activities: dentist appointment, haircut, instrument practice and reading to meet that GA state 25 book requirement. He tried to sell me on less reading and more video games by telling me that reading was a waste of time and education wasn't that important. Maybe we can work on his sales technique next spring break. Bless his heart.

Rebecca helped with the food at the missionary zone conference, worked on her mask of Apollo for school, went teaching with the missionaries and prepared a talk for church this Sunday.

 Don't feel sorry for her though, she got to play with friends too, and she actually said teaching with the missionaries was a highlight.

4-square and chalk art

The highlight of spring break for Gabe was his "Lord of the Rings" marathon. I joined him on the last 30 minutes of the last movie. That's all I can take. So much pain and suffering for years and years with no resolve. Just give me that happy ending. But it's been fun to talk about the sacrifices and gifts of each character and what we can do in life. Wasn't Sam as crucial as Aragorn? A couple of questions Gabe would like answered are, "Why is Gollum so creepy, and did Sam know that girl well enough to marry her?

There were a couple of highlights for me, four-square and basketball with the kids on the driveway, and I do love me some Dancing with the Stars video clips. I'm following the Christian mom and para-olympic snowboarder closely. I may or may not have stalked Derek Hough on Youtube. I also watched "Hello Dolly" all the way through for the first time. It had all the elements of a great musical; lame plot and really good song and dance numbers. We ate pizza, and I made magic bars (which I ate) and did a few other things to make it feel like a party. But I noticed that indulgence didn't give me the happiness that I like to feel. I was surprised at what did. On Friday Gabe and I were out and about. I came to an intersection a ways out of town and a woman stopped and rolled down her window.  She was looking for the hospital. I gave her directions. She asked me if I was heading that way. I said, "No," and then I realized that I easily could, so I told her to follow me. After we arrived, I turned to wave goodbye. She rolled down her window and gave me a warm smile and the sincerest thanks. Then she said, "God bless you," and I really felt that He had.

So it sounds like I don't know how to have fun, but the truth is, being helpful is the most fun of all. So this morning I got Gabe up, and because I love him and wanted him to have a fun spring break, we went to this cute little historical church and cemetery which dates back to 1825.  We took rakes and loppers and helped the members of the "Hopeful Church Community Center" cut and burn brush that had been cleared. Judy told Gabe how strong he was, and when he saw a lady working alone because her partner had left, he took his trimmers and went and cut brush from her pile so she could put it on her fire. They gave us water and cupcakes and said, "It's fun to see who God sends to help us." What's not fun about that? And now Gabe's playing video games and Rebecca is at a birthday party and I'm playing on the computer. Good times were had by all.