Happy Easter!

Here's some pics of us in our Easter BEST! My mom made all the girls their dresses (Thanks! They are SO cute!) I made their hats.






We took some pictures before church and then after we got home I went out with the girls to try and get a few more of just them. The bishop stopped by and we chatted for a second (about how excited I am to go get some plants for the backyard and garden--he just opened a nursery.) When he left (we were talking for less than 5 min.) I rounded the girls up to take them inside..the pictures were not working out (Esther was crying and Hannah/Wynnie were complaining!) As I turned to get Sophie I noticed she had something in her mouth (It still makes me sick thinking about it!) Anyway, she was sucking on a syringe...have I mentioned I LOVE this neighborhood...I guess I shouldn't say that you can probably find them just about anywhere..I should say I LOVE "people" (if you want to mess up your own life go for it BUT leave my 2 1/2 year old out of it! Throw your TRASH away...and just for the record my front yard NOT a trash can!!!) The needle had the cap on and didn't appear to be used (THANK GOODNESS!) but it still has me scared...I've been in tears a good portion of the night with all the what if's! We called the hospital and they told us we could bring Sophie in for testing if we were that concerned about it (shouldn't we be? my child was using someones drug needle as a sucker!) they also told us we could call the police and have them come out and look at the needle and see what they thought (We had already talked to our friend Paul who is CSI and he said he didn't think it looked used but he's paranoid and would probably have her checked anyway.) In the end we decided to go with prayer and a blessing. I'm going to call and check with Sophie's pediatrician in the morning and see what they say. I feel better about the Sophie situation BUT I'm still pretty annoyed with "people"! It did give us a good opportunity to sit down with the kids and talk to them about drug use and how we NEVER touch needles...and tomorrow Jeremy will finish our fence!

Here comes Peter Cottontail!

The girls had a fun time finding their Easter baskets and all the eggs the Easter bunny left.

The girls each got a new outfit and water bottle...and a little candy...although it was hard for the Easter bunny to leave them candy...I hear she's on a diet!

Easter Egg FUN!

Today we went to my mom's to color Easter eggs! The kids had a fun time (as always) coloring eggs (and making a mess!) It was fun to hang out with the family.

Sophie brought me this egg and then said oops and dropped it (totally on purpose) so she could eat it!

After coloring the eggs we had a Easter egg hunt in the backyard:

And of course my mom bought YUMMY, delicious, sugary, goodness...which I couldn't eat :(

Work in the yard

Today while we listened to conference we decided to work in the back yard...we are desperate to have it done...a sanctuary for us to go to to get away from our crazy neighborhood! We have part of the fence done (it's looking great!) and Jeremy made our planters for our square foot garden. So today we went out to arrange everything...it was real easy to imagine how it will be when it is done...now if we can just get it to that point! The girls came out to help...they like digging holes in the backyard! We were only out for about 10 min. and then, like every conference weekend, it started to snow! It was only REALLY lightly snowing but the girls said they were cold and needed to go in for hot chocolate. So we left Jeremy out to work and headed inside!

Here's some pics of Jeremy and the massive roots he has been chopping out of the fence line!

Hair cut!

Sophie thought Jeremy was in need of a trim so while he took a nap on the rug she cut his hair!

She was being SO cute...she has definately been watching Aunt Ellie...she would comb through his hair and then lift it up in her fingers and cut...very professional! Before you go thinking A) we are bad parents (letting our 2 1/2 year old play with scissors) and B) Jeremy's sporting a "cool" new haircut (a bald spot in the back) Sophie was using the TOY scissors from Hannah's doctor kit!

We did, however, sit down with her and let her know that she was NEVER to cut hair with real scissors...let's hope she listens!

What a JOKE!

I started this new (I REALLY hesitate to use this word but here it goes) diet a couple of days ago (I hesitate because it's not really a "diet"...it's more of a change in eating style. I'm not restricted in how much I eat just what I eat...and no it's not a NO carbs diet...although right now I am working to clean up my intestines--I have WAY too much yeast growing there so for the next 3 weeks while I "spring clean" my guts and get rid of all that extra yeast from 30 years of not eating right I can't eat any gluten or diary! After that I will de-junk my liver and as soon as it starts working correctly I will be able to have whole grains and dairy back...that is the goal!) Anyway, the whole reason I bring this up is as I looked at the calendar today I realized that I started all this on April Fools day (how fitting!) and after going to the grocery store with my 6 year old and having her beg for some Peeps I realized what a awful time of year to be stuck eating veggies! I want to look at myself in the mirror and say "APRIL FOOL'S...have a peep (or 2, or 3!)" BUT I won't (because I just looked in the mirror!)

Let's go fly a kite!

Today our ward held the 2nd annual (in five years) kite flying day! We all met at the park to fly our kites and eat a little lunch! It was a fun afternoon...even if there wasn't very much wind! The kids had a fun time flying their kites and playing on the playground.

We left early so Jeremy could come home and work on the fence. Since it IS his birthday I figured I should let him do what he wants...and he wants the fence up! It's coming along great! We have one whole side almost done!

Here is a pic of Jeremy's work station:

I'm so glad we have that bathtub he can use as a saw horse!

We are now trying to plan out where we will put our garden! Wynnie and I watched a video on square foot gardening and while they were out "helping" Jeremy her and Hannah made this box for our garden. I'm pretty impressed at how well she listened and remembered!

Getting ready for Easter!

Today while we were out visiting Grandma and Grandpa the kids helped them decorate their tree with Easter eggs! Easter is going to be here before we know it (I sure wish the weather would get that memo and warm up a bit for us...I'm tired of the cold!) At least it was warm enough for us to be outside...and who doesn't have fun when Grandpa gets his ladder out?

the MUMMY house!

Here's Wynnie's latest creation:

It's a MUMMY house. I LOVE the masking tape mummy...that girl is SO creative!

Hannah's tooth!

Hannah finally lost her other bottom tooth! It's been REALLY loose for quite a while and today while she was wiggling it it started bleeding so I grabbed it and YANKED it out. It actually came out really easy I just held on to it and tugged a little and it fell out! Now if she can just lose her top two she will catch up with all her friends!

I took the girls (Sophie and Esther) to the doctor today (for their well visits--I know, I'm a little late!) Sophie has been so unpredictable lately (a real powder-keg: fine one minute and lashing out the next) so I wasn't looking forward to the whole doctor experience. When I had scheduled the appointments (almost 3 weeks ago) I planned on sending Jeremy with the girls so he could deal with it but he went and got sick (he has strep) so that left me to handle any outburst from Sophie (and I just knew there would be at least one!) Sophie must have known that I was worried about how she would act because she was on her best behavior for the whole appointment! She was really a little angel...she talked to the doctor and let him examine her...without complaint (which is the important part!) and she handled the shots like a champ! I was REALLY surprised. She just sat there and let the nurse give her the shots...she didn't cry, didn't flinch, I think she may have even smiled at the nurse! She had been wanting a band-aide (they checked Esther's iron at the beginning of the appointment so Esther had a band-aide on her toe and finger and Sophie kept asking for one. I told her "You'll get a band-aide...your not going to like it BUT you'll get a band-aide soon") I don't know if that is why she sat there or if we were just having a really good Sophie moment but it was nothing like I had imagined! Now Esther on the other hand...she passed out when they gave her her shots! She's done it a couple of times before. When she's in a lot of pain she will hold her breath and then she will just go all limp...it's kinda scary! She started holding her breath as soon as the nurse gave her the first shot (she had to have 4...poor baby!) The nurse kept saying "Come on baby breath" but Esther waited until the nurse was all done with the shots then she took a deep breath and her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she passed out! I immediately shook her and said "Esther!" then she opened her eyes and started crying again! The nurse was really concerned she kept asking if Esther was ok and telling me that she has never had anyone do that before. Since I have experienced it with Esther before I wasn't as concerned...I still hate it when she does it...I hope she grow out of it soon!

{side note: I think Esther is going to overtake Sophie soon with her weight. At this appointment Sophie weighed 28 lbs and Esther weighed 24 lbs!}

Home

Last night for FHE we talked about the difference between a house and a home. We explained to the girls that a home had your family, love and helping. Today I had an empty box sitting on the counter (ready for the trash) and Wynnie took it (she LOVES making things.) She came to me later (after A LOT of work) and showed me the home she had made. She told me all about the family and love and was able to tell me most of what we had learned the night before. It's nice to know that they are learning. Sometimes as we are wrestling the girls and going through the actual motions of FHE I wonder if they are even listening or "getting" any of it--it's nice to know that they are!

I'm Lovin' it!!!

My mom didn't have to work today and the Thompson boys are off track so she made plans with Hannah to bring Brew, Evrett, and Wynnie to eat lunch with Hannah at her school. Well, we woke up this morning to snow (I guess winter isn't quite finished) and my mom HATES to drive in snow she also had slept on it and (I believe) had her wits more about her and realized that she didn't want to wrestle all the kids in Hannah's cafeteria! She asked if we could take Hannah out of school and she would take all the kids to McDonalds for a lunch/play date (a venue much more suited for kids running around being crazy!) So we had a fun afternoon with Grandma, Grandpa, and the Thompsons!

Spring DIRTY-ing!

We started the day Spring CLEAN-ing. My house is in desperate need of a good scrub! I have been busy and had a case of the winter BLAH's and have basically just let it go...so today was the day I was to catch up on my cleaning (we were almost suffocating in the dirty laundry that has piled up all around the house!) About mid-day I got a call from Mechelle wanting help cleaning off her back porch. Apparently the spring cleaning bug has bitten her as well (actually she suffers from a bad case of spring clean fever...I think it may be terminal...she is ALWAYS cleaning...and no one gets things cleaner than Mech!) She offered us lunch--grilled hot dogs...how could we say no? So we headed down to her house for some hot dogs and some clean-up fun!

The kids had a fun time with their bike helmets...they had been lost out on the back porch and we found them during our clean up. They put them on and wore them as they played in the backyard!

The kids were having fun in the dirt! They would shovel it into their pails and then carry it to the top of the play set and dump them out! Esther became a victim of this senseless dirt dumping as she fell asleep in the swing and the wind carried the dirt to cover her! I went over to take a cute picture of her sleeping in the swing and she was covered in dirt! I asked Wynnie and Bruce if they had put dirt on Esther and they told me No that they were just dumping it off the top of the play set...with grandpa's help Wynnie determined it wasn't their fault it was the winds fault!

Sophie did a good job of getting herself dirty! I was visiting with my mom and when I looked over Sophie was on her belly rolling around in the dirt! Where is this girls mom?!?!?

As we put the girls in the bath and the water turned to mud it was apparent that although this day started out all about CLEAN it definitely ended up DIRTY!!!!

IKEA

Preschool was supposed to be at my house today, however, yesterday I got the IKEA ad in the mail and they had these stools on sale:

We need new stools for the kitchen....so we planned a field trip...to IKEA!!!

It was a lot of fun! Mechelle, Marnae, and I (and our kids) headed down this morning at 8:30 am! We met one other mom down there (none of the others could come...which just means we will definitely have to plan more trips!)

We didn't get home until 3:30pm..it was a full day of shopping, visiting, and fun! The kids got a little cranky at the end (OK 3 or 4 or more of them were screaming their heads off...we got some looks! We were TRYING to leave...it just takes an hour...that store is huge...and it's a maze...they like to trap you in there!) But it was still fun!!!

This is what your car looks like when you leave IKEA:

And this is what your kids look like:

Let's make some MUSIC!!!

A couple of ladies in our ward started a music group for our kids (Music Makers.) It is SO fun...the kids have a blast going each week. They learn new songs, dance around, play instruments, and learn finger plays. I'm so glad they started this group! It's a chance for us to get out of the house and have some fun with our friends! The kids look forward to it each week and come home and sing the songs non-stop!





I had to take a video and show how cute the kids are when they dance around...enjoy!


Thanks Suzie and Marnae!

Fun with Science!

Hannah has been getting ready for the science fair. She decided to grow crystals and has been working on her project for a couple of weeks now. Today was the BIG day. She did an awesome job! Here's some pics of the process.

Hannah was supposed to do the project by herself (as much as she could...we helped her with the boiling water but she did the rest) Notice in the pictures how Jeremy is keeping a watchful eye on her...it was SO hard for him to just stand by and watch! I had to keep reminding him that it was Hannah's project...he wanted to jump in and do it himself...not because Hannah was doing a bad job just because it was science and he wanted to be involved...I told him we could grow him some crystals later!

SUN....

Oh, how we have missed you!!!! It was so nice to be able to play outside today and enjoy the sun! It is nice to have spring finally here! The kids enjoyed playing on the swing set at Mechelle's.

The girls were all having fun going down the slide--making trains.

They kept calling for Bruce to come join them but he was busy throwing the toy car around on the rocks! He told them that he was busy fixing the car--such a boy! Pretty soon the girls left the swing set to help Bruce "fix" the car--anything you can do I can do better!

Bobbie and my dad were out working on the boat (both of them VERY excited that it is finally almost boating season again!) So of course the kids had to climb up and take a look at the boat!

When they got back down Sophie grabbed a paper towel roll from the ground and started "spying" everyone..."I see grandpa...I see Wynnie...I see Mommy..."

Something Green!!!

After all the cookie making we headed out back to play on the swing set and enjoy the nice weather!

While we were out back we found this lizard! Actually it is Mechelle's tenant Shane's lizard. He brought it out to show the kids. They all loved it...Preston was giving it kisses and Hannah even let it climb on her back--amazing considering a few weeks ago she was scared to death of a few butterflies!