getting dressed

This morning I asked Spencer to go upstairs and get himself dressed for school. Chase followed and came down sporting this:


I am impressed he was able to zip up his fleece jacket all on his own though. It's a good look for him, no?

And you gotta love his little "knock-knees" that he inherited from me.

Poor kid.

A new pet

So I'm trying not to laugh too loud as I type this, but this afternoon Spencer came home from school and informed me that he brought a ladybug home from school to be his pet.

I looked around for the lady bug (didn't see it crawling around on his hands or arms) and so I asked, "Well, where is this ladybug?"

"In my backpack."

"Uh, in your backpack. Seriously?"

And sure enough, when I unzipped it, it was crawling around on top of his lunchbox inside his backpack. What? (insert laugh)

So I asked him where we were going to keep this new pet and he said, "I have it all figured out Mom, come take a look!" and proceeded to walk me to our front yard.

So where is it's new home?


Here, have a look:




perhaps you need a closer look?




And yes, that is grass in there for it to eat. My kid has thought of everything...well, everything except for a name. He told me he'd think about that later. Right now he's hungry and wants his after school snack.

The sun.

It's pretty remarkable what a 90 degree day and two hours in the sun can do to a kid who doesn't nap...

Before:



After:



LOVE it!

Easter Weekend

It started out a little rocky with Aaron feeling under the weather on Saturday morning. We even had to cancel family pictures we'd had planned for a month... but by the evening he was feeling 100%. So weird!

So Saturday night we dyed easter eggs


Sunday morning the Easter Bunny paid us a visit (thank you dollar store. I love that we have three kids and most things come in packs of three--all this loot for $16!)



Then went to church and celebrated the real reason for Easter. This is the best shot we got of the children...oh how I long for the day when they can all look at the camera and smile at the same time!


Our neighbor was out and so for the first time ever, we have a picture of the five of us on our way to church.


After church we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. Prime rib, potatoes, vegetables, deviled eggs, rolls, salad and cheesecake for dessert. It was fantastic! I love my Moms attention to detail, as the centerpiece was all edible. The kids were freaking out and truth be told, so were the adults with the cadbury cream eggs.



My momma


The best part of our day was getting to share it with my cousins who I never get to see. My cousin Daniel, his sister Katie and her family are here from Utah and it was so nice to visit and let the kids play. The kids seriously had a ball!


Cousin Tucker is so much fun! My children wanted to go home with him. Seriously.


How adorable is Tucker and Katie's 6 month old daughter Grace? I wanted to keep her, and I'm not joking.


Cousin Daniel wasn't any fun though ;)


Oh and as if my kids weren't spoiled enough, my Mom invited them over last week for a special grandma surprise. Upstairs waiting for them were new beach shovels and buckets filled with goodies, including a DVD and book: The Velveteen Rabbit. They enjoyed an afternoon of fun with Grandma. So nice.





And it wouldn't be a holiday without a shot like this. Though I can't feel good about posting this without explaining that the Easter holiday is busier than Christmas for an organist. He was up at 3am this morning and that is after a Good Friday service all day too! I love you Dad, but I still had to post this.


Oh and this is the only shot I got alone with my husband this weekend. Nice, huh? Thanks babe.



Happy Easter everyone! Today I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and for the gift of families. Things aren't always easy and I'm not claiming that my life is perfect, but I'm grateful for a family to share this life journey with and for the knowledge that I know we can live together forever someday. I feel so blessed.

Bring it on!

Round 2: Easter egg hunt, that is!

We had a test run today and the kids had a ball! Thanks friends for such a fantastic time!




(I know this is totally washed out, I so need someone to teach me editing)


My 3 little chicks

Where has the time gone?

My kids had a favorite back in March 2007



and here in April 2009 you can see that the favorite hasn't changed all that much...but haven't these children of mine?


This picture was taken a few hours ago and it wasn't staged, just as the first one up top wasn't planned either. Tonight I was standing at the kitchen sink, and looked over just in time to see this pileup happening on my family room couch. I instantly felt a pang in my heart as I had a "deja vu moment" recalling that this scene had happened in this same spot just two years before.

I had to grab the camera. My children have grown so much.

In some ways this makes me happy as I love this current stage and all their "growing-up" cuteness I get to experience, but at the same time the Momma in me just wants my babies to stay babies. Am I making any sense?

I guess what I'm thinking is, "Where has the time gone?" Sigh.