Easter Sunday

We started the morning with some church!  The girls had new dresses and the boys had some sharp new ties.

 When we got home we ventured to the back yard to find Easter baskets!  Rylee's basket accidentally got tipped over.  She was devastated.  Her cad-bury mini eggs went everywhere in the dirt.  Luckily for her though, I had half of a big hidden in the house.  Caleb couldn't believe that I had candy hidden from them.

 All of the kids got new swimsuits and flip flops in their basket.  Come on summer!!!  Caleb got some really fun stuff!  His favorite things were his inflatable killer whale, his FNAF hat and a book about the 100 most dangerous things on the planet!

 Luke and Alexa bot got a bubble gun in their basket.  They ran out of the 2 bottles of bubbles with 30 minutes.  I need to get to the store for some more!

Easter - Part 2 - Promontory

The party continues.  The weather was a bit warmer and sunnier today than it was yesterday.  The occasional sweater was needed, but t-shirts sufficed too.  According to my Grandma, "It's good to shiver - you burn a lot of calories when you're shivering."  I love that my Grandparents traveled all the way out to Promontory to play.  Do you see any dust on my Grandpa's jeep?  That's an indication of how slow they drove on the dirt roads.

Rylee loves to get toghter with family.  She also loves Dylan and Griffen so much!  Griffen let her drive the 4-wheeler a bit and she was pretty proud of herself.  She did get a little frustrated finding her eggs on the hill.  She thought it was harder to find them this year!  This adventure I ended up finding a tick in her head a few days later.  It was disgusting.  

 Caleb is such a sweetheart.  He is really into Star Wars lately.  He keeps asking me to watch a movie with him & I honestly don't think I could stay awake for a whole movie.  I told him we should watch Indiana Jones instead - he's thinking about it.  Jordon's girlfriend has a son named Parker who is Caleb's age and they bonded instantly.  How come as we get older, it get's awkward to make friends that easily?  Caleb said, "I'm so excited for Jordon to marry Parker's mom.  Then he'll be my cousin!"  We'll have to wait and see I guess.  I'm so happy that he had another boy to play with that was close to his age.  Casey taught Caleb a little gun safety.  I am my mother's daughter when it comes to guns.  They make me nervous.  

I think Luke has social anxiety or something.  I really do love him, but it takes an hour or more for him to relax when we get in crowds of people.  You'd think he'd recognize everyone by now and realize they aren't going anywhere.  He was happy once he had a bucket full of Easter eggs and he loved flying a kite with Grammy.  Lexi loves everyone.  And she loves cookies!  At one point she kept putting 1 jelly bean after another into her mouth and eventually stuffed about 15 jelly beans in there and Angela was cracking up.  It was a LOT of candy!

Little miss bug-a-boo.  She really is always happy.  Happy to be with her people, happy to be busy, happy when content, and always smiling.  Her new thing is giving people rabbit ears in pictures.  She's a silly little miss.

Eva had on the cutest little hippie headband ever.  She is so cute.  She and Taylor & Rylee & Lexi & Elysha's daugher, Macee, were so cute together!  They had their little spats, but what girls don't?  They all loved each other at the end of the day and can't wait to get together again!  Jackson was so fun to watch walking on the uneven ground.  He was the most adorable and cautious little walker ever!

Sometimes I want to sit at the kid table.  I bet that their conversations are the best!  I love the picture of Casey and his twinsies in the little cave.  Caleb & Parker were off on an adventure,  that is why he is missing. 

I think that shooting after lunch is going to be a new tradition.  Blake got a new shotgun for Christmas and was itching to try it out.  He was a fantastic shot!  It must be all the practice from the Xbox games.  Golf balls were brought out this year for some odd reason.  Whatever floats your boat I guess.  The cows even watched the boys shoot.  Weirdos.  Dylan has become quite the gun enthusiast.  Sun's out, guns out.  #pewpew

  Until next year!  

Easter - Part 1 - DC

Easter weekend is one of my favorites.  It's so busy and full of fun and family!  Casey thinks I have a problem.  That I always have to be doing something or be busy or I'll go crazy.  Oh well...he just better keep up or he'll get left in the dust.  

The Friday before Easter we headed out to Dove Creek.  It is always an adventure.  There is an outhouse there that we can use for potty time.  Taylor needed to go, but sure wasn't interested when she saw it and held out as long as she could.  Rylee eventually had to go #2 and I waited outside for her and I heard her say, "Hmmmm....I wonder which poop is mine?"  So funny AND so gross!  It's a good thing Brad & Mona have a little palace for shelter.  We experienced a little rain, some cold breezes and even a little snow.  BUT - there was even cracks of sunshine.  

We dyed our Easter eggs.  I don't know why, but it is one of my least favorite holiday traditions.  They always turn out so pretty....but it stresses me out for some reason.  Maybe it will become more fun after the kids are a bit older.  I'm not wishing this stage away - just predicting how it will be in the future.  Luke wouldn't try any color but BLUE!  He was in love with his blue egg.

We ventured outside while our eggs were drying and the Easter bunny had been by!  Taylor & I even saw him on our little 4-wheeler ride.  We took a few selfies and Grandma had the BEST Easter bonnet ever!  It blew bubbles!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day.  After the egg hunt the kids went and sat around the fire pit to inspect their findings.  Content.  Happy.  Adorable.  I heart them.

March

Crazy hair day happened at school.  I'm not very good at doing hair.  I try all sorts of things, but they never seem to work out.  A bun...I can handle.  Pipe cleaners?  Easy!  Rylee had crazy squiqqles and Taylor had clouds and a rainbow.

And of course - this boy had a killer whale riding a wave.  NOTE - let the gel dry completely before hot gluing on toy.  We may have pulled a few hairs out upon removal.  Sorry buddy!

My little fashionista!  Mixing all sorts of textures and patterns.  I can't decide if Stacie and Clinton would be proud or not.

This kid doesn't want to nap anymore.  He needs to or he's snoozing on the couch by 6 pm.  He usually ends up playing with toys in his room and falling asleep on the floor.  Silly boy.

FNAF.  Or, Five Nights At Freddy's.  It's all the rage between Caleb & his friends at school.  I don't get it at all.  But he LOVES it.

See....snoozing on the couch by 6:00.  This was one of the nicer days and we had been to the park.  Wore them right out!

I wonder if I like pictures of sleeping littles.  I was introducing the kids to the movie 'Babe' one night and Lexi couldn't handle it anymore.  She was snug as a bug in a rug and out in no time.

Little Luke is non stop.  NON STOP.  Water seems to keep him pretty entertained.  So this is how he spent a good chunk of one morning.  Makes for good hand/eye coordination!

Casey and Caleb have been hard at work trying to get a garden space ready.  Luke and Lexi love all the dirt and rocks!  And Lexi LOVES to have her picture taken.

February

What an amazing winter!  There was so much snow!  I love the snow...but I don't have to travel in it, so that probably helps me love it.  One night the neighbors came over and they built a snowman.

Casey took the big kids sledding one day.  Luke still checked on his package...even through all the snow clothes.  I hope he figures out soon that it isn't going anywhere.  Date night...shoveling snow. HA!

Keeping these two entertained is a full time job!  Luke's attention span is pretty short - but with water and bubbles, he lasted quite a while!

Casey finally got his deer head mounted and hung up.  And - I don't hate it!  Since this picture, it has came crashing to the ground putting a couple of pretty big dings in my piano.  I'm glad it didn't hit one of my humans though.

My front room is always a disaster...but this particular moment I was enjoying the view.  They were all content and happy and entertaining themselves!

In all of the years Caleb has been in school, he hasn't ever had the assignment of making a Valentine box.  His class has always just made something pretty generic.  So, when Taylor & Rylee were asked to make their Valentine boxes this year, it was a new adventure!  Thanks pinterest!

Casey's family came over to watch the Super Bowl...which really means everyone came over with some food and the adults chatted while the kids played.

As you know, a monthly post wouldn't be complete without some pictures of my sleeping babies.  Caleb doesn't want me to call them babies any more...he corrects me and says, "They are toddlers."  I say, "Nope.  They will always be my babies!  And you're always be my big boy."  He replies, "I'm sick of being the oldest."

This little guy (Luke, not Casey) is usually one extreme or the other.  Quiet and content with something, or off the wall crazy.  Every single night before bed he gets a crazy second wind.  It's adorable and exhausting at the same time!

My littlest Valentines! 

I work a graveyard shift once a week (sometimes more than that) but these 3 always end up in my bed when they know I'm working!

Styling Rylee.  Enjoying the sun & the snow.

Almost every single blanket that we own was hauled into the front room for a few days.  The kids loved it.

All the blankets out meant the perfect time for a nostalgic movie night.  Who doesn't love Harry & the Henderson's?  

Since watching Dexter though, I can't look a John Lithgow without thinking what a crazy creeper he is!

 Lexi is a little snapchat lover.  She especially loves any filter that has lipstick.

 Taylor & Rylee were my hair stylists one evening.  I look so glamorous! 

The day that I took these pictures I was feeling grateful.  There was so much flooding going on from the rapid snow melt - and everything was just calm and collected at my house.  Lazy days can be boring...but oh so nice at the same time.

We had a random snow storm after a massive week of melting - I had already cleaned up all the snow gear - I dug it all out again so these cuties could enjoy the last snow of the season!

Happy Birthday Ladies!

My little ladies aren't so little anymore!  I now have a couple of smart and beautiful 6 year old girls!

I had a permanent grin on my face as I was looking back through pictures to make this collage. I have loved watching these cuties grow right up.

The Sunday before their birthday we had family over to celebrate.  It's a good thing that there are 2 cakes!  Every one came to celebrate and some of the neighbors too! 

For their birthday Casey & I gave them a bunch of clothes for summer.  One of my childhood memories is shopping trips with my Grandma Babe.  So - I want to make that a memory for my kids too.  Grammy and I took the girls shopping for their summer attire.  What's kind of funny is I didn't take one picture of Taylor & Rylee on this shopping trip, but Alexa got plenty of attention.  She seriously was having the night of her life.  She was doing big girl things and LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT!

Another gift from Casey and I was a trip to dinner and then to build-a-bear!  The girls loved making their stuffed animals.  I think that they also loved the parent time at dinner.  We each took one and helped them with their place-mat games while we waited for our food.  One-on-one time is something that doesn't happen to often at our house!  Taylor ended up choosing a rabbit that she named Brownie.

Rylee made a white tiger which she named Sparkle Glamour.  Watching life through the eyes of my children gives me pleasure.  Why do we all have to grow up?!?!