Easter Week 2014

Easter is becoming one of my favorite holidays.  I just love reflecting on the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. 
We had a family night about Easter on Monday (April 14), but ran out of time to color eggs.  Mondays are busy with dance followed by family night followed by bedtime!

So we decorated eggs on Tuesday April 15 before dinner.  The kids loved it.  My sister Jamie has been posting pictures of her beautiful Ukrainian eggs all month, and we thought it would be fun to use regular dyes and sharpies to achieve a similar effect (but with less fire/wax/clothes-ruining-dye).  I had fun decorating my eggs and the kids LOVED it.

Daddy and daughters...

Mommy and her boy...

Megan let me use a curling iron to do her hair for school on Wednesday April 16.  I was hopeful she'd let me do it again for Easter Sunday, but she wasn't having it.  I think it makes her look so grown up!

Megan had the day off for good Friday and we had a busy day with a birthday party in the morning, playdates for Brooke and Megan, and enjoying the amazing weather at the park in the afternoon.

Then on Saturday April 19, we had a fun Easter party with Dad and Sally at their home.  They heated the pool and we all swam when we arrived for a few hours.  After a delicious and beautifully laid Easter dinner, we headed to the yard for egg hunting, the annual raw egg toss, and chatting in the fantastic spring weather.  I grabbed a few pics while we were outside (but missed Dad, Sally, and Tyler--the ones who actually live there!). 

Candy and Molly

Megan and Chloe

Dan and Brookie

Carrie and Jack

Shad and Amy

Zach and Hailey

Sunday morning the kids were up around 6:15, but we convinced them to snuggle with us til 7 since Jack was still sleeping.  The Easter Bunny left us yummy treats and the kids were so excited to find eggs (10 each) and their baskets.

Their baskets held a new little book for each girl and new goggles for swim season.

And I needed one shot of all of our beautiful eggs before they became deviled eggs for our Easter dinner :)

It was nice to have church at 11 this year since it gave us time to get ready and do a few pictures before church.  The sun was bright and I should have found a shadier spot...so we got lots of cute, squinty eyes!

My favorite of them all:

The kids weren't having anymore pictures, so Dan and I documented that we were there with our most compliant kid--thanks Jack! 

Then we came inside and took the most beautiful pictures of my boy.  I just LOVE them.  

4 months!

Our little boy is already 4 months old!  He is so much more smiley and social this month.  He loves to be talked to.  He is still so easy to please.  He is happy to be held, happy to be chilling in the hi-chair and observing his sisters, happy in the carseat, happy to be here.  He has started sleeping through the night more consistently (to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and waking up around 6:30) and he takes little catnaps when we are on the go in the mornings and snuggles with me to take a longer nap in the afternoon.  His eyes are definitely blue and he has his Daddy's long eyelashes.  He loves his binky and while he keeps trying to find his thumb, I keep trying to take it out and keep him a binky boy.  We'll see what happens there :).  He is swaddled for bedtime and is so snuggly.  He loves bathtime and is starting to splash around.  He is our big boy--16.12 lbs (64th percentile), 26.5 in (94th percentile) and we are loving watching him grow!

March 1

March 4--4 month birthday

Mantel Pictures

I hadn't updated the pictures above the fireplace since Candy was about 6 months old.  It was time to take some new pictures!
I love these kids.  I'm so glad I get to be their Mom and spend so much time with them everyday.

Jack on Mar. 1, a few days shy of 4 months old

Candy on Feb. 23, 2 years and 7 months

Brooke on Feb. 23, 4 years and 7 months

Megan on Feb. 23, 6 years and 4 months

I learned another new hairstyle in February.  I tried it out on Brookie and her best bud on Feb. 27.

Valentine's Week

Dan and I had an AWESOME Valentine's date on Feb. 7 to a fancy French restaurant.  We dressed up and thoroughly enjoyed being together and trying some delicious new food. Valentine's week itself was a little lonely this year as Dan was in Utah for work.  It was the first time in a long time that I stayed home the whole time he was gone (instead of going to visit my sister).  It wasn't so bad--things don't feel as empty when there are four kids in the house with me!

While Dan was gone, Jack tried out the doorway bouncer for the first time (Feb. 12).  He seemed happy enough there, but after a few minutes began sinking lower and lower so we called it a day. 

Sweet Brookie.  At 4 1/2 she can be challenging at times, but very capable and fun overall.  She has a special spot in her heart for her brother.  I love watching them together.

Oh that Candy.  She's definitely acting like a 2 year old these days but she keeps us laughing.  She also loves her brother but has to be constantly reminded to be gentle.

Look at that face. What Mom?  I wasn't going to swing him...really I wasn't!

Dan's sister posted a picture of a cute Valentine's hair-do, so I copied her for Megan on Valentine's day.  Then, when I was watching our best buds in the morning, I did it 4 more times.  It was fun :).  Ashley watched my kids later in the day so I could go enjoy Megan's friendship party.  I love watching her interact with her classmates.  She is always so excited to show me where she sits and what they have been working on.  She is very comfortable in her classroom and loves her teacher.  I'm so glad she is happy there. 

Candy, 2 T girls, and Brooke.  Pretty cute.

I keep trying to get a picture of Jack smiling at bedtime, but it's been a challenge!  For some reason, anytime I try, Dan is not home and I can't keep him smiling AND looking at the camera.  Ah well.  Our best try from Feb. 15.  Dan made it home after church on Feb. 16.  Yay!

100th Day

Megan's 100th Day of Kindergarten was on Feb. 10, 2014.  It got pushed back a bit after our two "ice/snow" days a few weeks back. 
All the kindergarteners needed to wear a shirt with 100 of something on it.  Megan decided she wanted a peacock with 100 feathers.  Her primary teacher last year would wear these peacock feather earrings and Megan thought they were the coolest things ever. 
I think the shirt turned out pretty cute.  I printed a peacock out and traced it onto the shirt with a pen and then went over it w/fabric paint.  Then I cut a piece of felt the same size as the feathers of the peacock and sewed 5 rows of 20 feathers onto it.  Then I just safety pinned the felt piece with all the feathers onto it (so I'll be able to remove it for washing). That's a lot of feathers in a little area! 
I think it's amazing how much she's grown up since August.  She had a great 100s day!  They did a parade in their shirts, wore "100" glasses and a "100" hat and colored a paper with 100 things on it.

Meanwhile back at home, Jack was smothered with love from his sisters.  Brooke especially has a soft spot for her baby brother and loves to hold him.  They were both kissing his little cheeks, but I couldn't catch them at the same time :).  

"Chatsick"

Candy has been extremely fascinated by my makeup lately.  She almost always finds her way into my bathroom when I'm getting ready and asks for her own "chatsick".  So I wasn't too surprised when she'd been quiet for a few minutes and came out looking like this on Feb. 8.  She was pretty proud.
 And I was reminded of when Brookie did the same thing a while back.

Aquarium

A new friend in the ward is homeschooling this year and set up a homeschool field trip to the Downtown Aquarium.  She invited anyone who wanted to join in.  And for the field trip rate of about $5 per person, I couldn't miss it!  We carpooled down with our good buddies the T fam and had a blast (though we did miss our Megans who were at school--poor things).
We walked through the indoor exhibits and then went outside (the weather was perfect!) for lunch and to go on rides.  Ashley and I traded off riding rides and sitting with the babies and it was a blast.

Brooke (who hasn't smiled for the camera in a year and a half) was in a rare posing mood and was actually a willing photo participant.

This is some sort of rare African cat who was out on a leash for the kids to look at.  A little random for an aquarium, but Brooke and Kenzie happily sat for the photo opp.  Candy actually did go sit for about a second and a half but her fear of animals kept her from sitting for too long.

We rode the ferris wheel that overlooks downtown and the freeway.  

Candy (who pretty much hates rides) clung tightly to my neck the entire time, occasionally peeking down that the ground before burying her face again.

 The carousel was definitely the favorite.  I think the kids went on it about 10 times. 

Jack's spot for most of the day.  Little cutie.

Brooke and her best bud, Maddie.

Candy and I.  Candy is NOT a fan of sitting on a giant fake animal that goes up and down while spinning in circles.  But she would sit with me holding her tightly on the stationary bench on the carousel.

Brooke the scuba diver!

Candy wasn't tall enough to get her face up there, so I took her pic behind it :)

Riding the train...

Even the babies got to go on the train...

A little dance session during lunch when "Call Me Maybe" was playing.  The video is even better.  Those girls were really jamming.

Sleepy boy as we got ready to leave.  I love those little toes.