catching up

It has been too long since I've posted anything, so I decided to do a "spring catch up" in pictures. 

January

Meghan LOVES to give Isaac hugs and kisses. Isaac...well maybe not so much. He does love watching Meghan play, dance, and make faces at him, but sometimes she gets a little too close!

February

For Valentine's Day this year we had the kids make their own "mailboxes" the Saturday before Valentine's Day. Then for family home evening we had them make Valentine's for each other and secretly deliver them to each other's mailboxes. It was so fun to see them be so excited to draw pictures, write the names, and use the favorite colors of each other. Isaac loved getting his hand traced so many times for his Valentine's. I think he liked the marker on his fingers the most though. After the kids went to bed Allen and I delivered some candy and our traditional heart balloons to their mailboxes. They were very surprised the next morning!

One morning I was opening up the curtains in the living room and I saw a ton of robins picking over our front yard. I slowly backed away from the window and went to find Meghan. We slowly snuck back onto the couch and watched them for a bit. They were only there for about 5-10 minutes, but I tried to count them and there had to be over 50 of them! I couldn't believe. There even a bunch in the two trees in our yard. Meghan loved it.

Every one in awhile I'll take a few pictures of the kids right after church while they are still looking cute in their Sunday clothes. It was a nice and sunny day on this day, so I took advantage. I cannot believe how grown up they are. Even Isaac sitting their like a big boy up on the bricks. He wouldn't let go of that bat. Fussy, sad boy with no bat, or happy cute little man with the bat...I compromised.

March

The girls started a little ballet class that a good friend of mine started up. On this day she let them try on her old toe shoes after class. It's at moments like this that I'm very grateful to have an iPhone. I was able to whip it out and snap a picture of this cute moment. I missed Meghan trying them on, but I'm so glad I got one of Lola. They were so excited! It's so cute to see them all lined up doing their ballet positions.

 This month was also Lola's 6th birthday. Isaac and I visited her Kindergarten class. He had fun venturing around the classroom and sitting up to the tables eating his cupcake. The class sang Happy Birthday to Lola and she chose 6 hugs from her teacher instead of 6 pinches. :)

Lola is also in K+ in the afternoon, so after Isaac's nap and lunch we went back to the school to take more cupcakes and visit her K+ class. Her teacher reads a birthday book to the class and gave her a super cute crown to wear. Meghan went with us for this one and she fit right in with the other kids. She got to join in at carpet while I cleaned up from the snack. It was a very fun day for our Lola. This year, instead of doing friend birthdays we are celebrating them together as a family, so they can pick something for us to do together that we wouldn't be able to do in addition to having friend birthday. Lola wanted to go out to a restaurant for dinner. So we went to Shari's. My kids love Shari's. Kind of funny since they've only been there once in their entire lives. But we went and it was so much fun. We came home and she opened her presents and cards, and we of course had cake and ice cream. Our present opening spot is the the fireplace and Isaac sat next to Lola the whole time she was opening her gifts. So cute.

Every night we have our bedtime routine that we started when Dylan was about 6 months old. Jammies, potty (or change diaper), brush teeth, 3 books for story time, family scripture reading, and family prayer. Followed by tucking them into bed, the kids saying their own prayers and one sing and a kiss. This routine has served us well over the years and has helped the kids be good sleepers. But over the years it has adjusted to the ages and number of children we have. Instead of 3 books for each kid, it has changed to 1 book per kid, which adds up to 3. :) Now with Isaac getting older and interested in books and Dylan wanting to read his own book during this time, story time has been adjusted, especially on the nights when I'm on my own for story time. Isaac discovered that his big brother can read him books too! That way mommy can read the girls their books and Dylan reads Isaac his books. I love this picture of my two little men reading together. And one of Isaac's favorite books too, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. A few of his other favorites are:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

The Wheels on the Bus

Spiderman and friends

The Hungry Caterpiller

Five Little Ducks

Miss Lola loves to create. She found this bucket of sidewalk chalk during our last trip to Grandma and Grandpa Chamberlain's house. You can't really see it in this picture very well, but her jeans, shirt, arms, and face are covered in chalk dust. All part of the process.

Holidays make me happy. And the fact that St. Patrick's Day this year was on a Saturday made me even more happy! We had green pancakes, and a rainbow of fruit and treats for breakfast. It's so fun to see how much the kids love getting into holidays! And we do have irish in us back a few generations, so there you go!

 This is Isaac. My assistant for loading the washer with clothes. When he hears the water start running he comes running over and wants up on the dryer. He helps me put clothes in and like to watch the water. I have just about washed my measuring cup more than a few times. :) He also likes to help me load the dryer and pushes the button that makes the dryer light go on and off. Simple entertainment and get to hang out with my little man. I discovered awhile ago that it's so much easier to teach your kids how to help instead of trying to keep them out of the way.