Bouncing Blackham Bunnies

Belated happy HOPPY Easter from the Blackham Bunch! Much better than last year! We had the annual Easter Egg hunt and family party on the Westra side on Saturday, and got together with all the Blackham's on Sunday. 

In the days preceding the party, I enlisted the boys to help fill the eggs. Keaton and Colton really did about all of them! In addition to the usual edible inclusions, I like to buy toys, stickers and balloons as well. At this point, we have more older kids (hiders) and not that many seekers!

I brought the big jump rope, and it was a hit. I didn't jump myself, but I got a pretty good arm workout! Grayson got some fun action shots! We brought the jump rope to the Blackham Bash on Sunday and it was a bit hit there too!  Although Keaton did some different jumping on Clay and Courtney's tramp ...

Gray catching fun action shots again!

Sometimes I go a little overboard on Easter ... it's a little more like Christmas. Not this year. I ... (I mean the Easter Bunny) kept things pretty controlled. Callahan really wanted the DVD Frozen (I'm not kidding, he really did) and so I, and the other boys, finally got to see what all the Frozen fuss was about. It was a cute movie! Some candy, clothes ... and one more bouncy thing. A pogo stick. 

Just getting the wiggles out before church.

Saturday evening, while the Easter Bunny was waiting for littles to go to bed ... there was a shake, a little roll of the house. Gray and I looked at each other and asked "was that an earthquake?"  Yes it was. 3.2 in Tooele. The two little boys were asleep, but the older boys had felt it. 

So that was OUR Easter.

How was yours?

New York New York

Grayson had hit New York last year and said he'd like to go back. When Kolby and Jami planned a trip, Gray decided to go along, bringing the two oldest boys. Maga joined them too. I was invited ... but I'm not a New York type of gal.

... and they're off!

They left Saturday, April 5th. After Gray shared a few photos of them traveling, I wondered if all the pictures of the trip would have a similar theme (Gray's head in the corner, Callahan making a  funny face, Landon being a bit blurry...)

The actual reason for the trip, was for Kolby and Jami to see their friend Will Swenson playing Javart in Les Miserables on Broadway.  Will was a good friend of mine in high school too, and I would have liked to see him perform, just not enough to brave the big city! Callahan fell asleep during the production.

 The hit all the sites ...

... and enjoyed all the eats.

The "great white way" at the Shake Shake was a favorite.

I was impressed with all the pictures Grayson took, I put them into an album slideshow (NYC2014). Jami took a ton of photos, and I'm sure Pammy has too. I still need to look through all of them. It was a great experience for the boys ... now they just need to catch up on school after missing an entire week!

The Voice & What I'm Watching

I remember my mom telling me about "The Voice" ... that it was one of the shows she enjoyed. I used to watch American Idol, but it's been a few years. Now, I really don't watch "live" tv. I only watch while I workout. I had to wait until series hit DVD or Netflix before I could indulge. So I never watched any of the reality shows.

A couple years ago, the boys (Landon, Keaton and Cooper at least) did get very invested in "The Voice". I think it was season 3, the year Cassadee Pope won. While they were cheering for her at the end, she hadn't been their top pick early on. I remember them getting SO upset when one of their favorites didn't move on.

Since then, I've discovered a service called PlayOn/PlayLater, which allows me to watch anything I could watch on my computer, on the television screen (using my Roku box). Now that I could watch current programming while working out ... I have been. I'm still not live, I wait until the day after a show airs, when the network posts it to their webpage. I record it (I can skip over commercials that way), then stream it. Now I'm keeping up with a few shows ... Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, The Good Wife and The Voice. 

As I used to sing myself, I enjoy singing competition shows. I like the blind auditions, and the battle rounds are my favorite. I love duets and harmonies. At times, I maybe would like to purchase one of the songs on Itunes, but they only provide the winner's solo, not the duet version (which is what I liked).

I am SO glad I have the show recorded so I can skip over all the commercials. After only watching Netflix or DVDs for a few years, I have NO patience for commercial breaks! I get a little tired of the sad, sob story backgrounds. I feel like they must pointedly ask the performers expound on their tales of woe. I do think it is a little unfair how someone who does not get chosen for the show still gets a full spotlight, while some who make it, don't even get any air time (this will impact them in the voting rounds I think). 

I don't know who I'm rooting for this year ... or even if I'll stay watching beyond the battle rounds. I did recognize the very first person to audition in the blinds. I've been a fan of one of her YouTube videos for a while ... LOVE this cover!

Do YOU watch The Voice?

What shows keep you coming back?