Easter Time

Super cute egg-finder.
My cute brother & I ALWAYS fight over my moms scotch-o-roo's. It's just how we are. Well, he made the fatal mistake of trying to tell me that she didn't make them. I, in return, hid them until he was starting to foam at the mouth and then we dug in. Super yummy!!

Reaching for the high ones.

Keeping her eyes peeled for more eggs.

One of my favorite pictures of these two.

My three cuties.

Yup, that's my girl.

He looked so handsome and grown up.

Cute young man.

Showing her spoils.

Yet, another egg.

What a great Easter! Yes, it was a busy weekend but the kids had a great time and by Sunday the youngest two knew what the real meaning of Easter is. We had an egg hunt with my family on Saturday along with lunch. We always miss my oldest brother and his family. Maybe someday they will be with us - we can hope! Speaking of my oldest brother, he converted all of my parents old camcorder tapes to dvd's for my parents. So while we were there I put in the one titled "Nickie". Oh my - I was so young and little. We watched scenes from my dances with Dustin narrating with his squeeky voice. It was hysterical. I had big hair & big attitude. I am excited to watch the rest of them. Sunday we had early church but the Easter Bunny showed signs of a visit before we went. I (sniff, sniff) had to take a moment & cry when Dylan asked if he could help be the Easter Bunny this year with Jason & I. He is growing up so very fast and at times I love it, but..... times like this - not so much. He helped us hide eggs and then I made him go to bed so we could finish. We got all ready for church - the kids in new clothes (I got by without Braxton noticing that his new yellow zip tie had a pink stripe in it - Yeah!!) and I wanted to snap some pictures. Little Nati was a little poop about it. The boys did so good but she wouldn't give me a normal smile. So, I gave up. Maybe I'll make them wear their new stuff again this Sunday and try it again. We went over to Jason's parents for another egg hunt and dinner with his family. It was a good day. Now if the weather would cooperate we could enjoy spring a little more.

Field Trip to the park

I was lucky enough to go with Braxton's class on a field trip to the park. We walked from the school about a mile and a half to the park to play games, have lunch, and then the kids got to play on the playground. It was quite chilly walking there..... quite chilly. Thankfully it wasn't quite as cold on the way back. He had a fun time and I love that I can go and do these things with him.

Color me Pink

I know Easter is later this year than it normally is. I honestly thought I would be more on top of it due to it being later. But, no dice. I wasn't as on top of it as I was hoping. We finally colored eggs Thursday night. Once again the kids really like it & once again I didn't boil enough eggs. Someday I will learn. It was a fun family night all the same. The kids were pretty creative and had a blast.

Swingin' into Spring!

Ready, set, swing!! Natalie has been BEGGING for a swingset for quite some time. I have been begging for Natalie to have a swingset for quite some time. She love, love, loves to go to the park to swing. One afternoon alone with Jason did the trick. He said she was non-stop asking to go swing at the park. So, Saturday afternoon we went & picked one up. I know it's not the fabulous wooden ones, but.... she's 5 and our last. It only needs to last a few years. Braxton helped put it together and now Nati is in heaven. She is slowly learning how to swing herself, which is fabulous for me.

She's trying to be patient.

zoom, zoom!
back and forth, back and forth.
pure bliss.
Dad's big helper!

Dylan's exciting life!!

BYU/SHS/MJHS blue - we killed 3 birds with one stone. This color should last a while. The grin of "I got what I wanted."

in true form. Wacky kid.

It's been a GOOD week for Dylan. As you read this I need you picture me taking a big, deep, calming breath. As most pre-teen/teens are, Dylan has been begging for a cell phone for what seems like forever to me. Our lines of "maybe next year" or "prove yourself" or "you have to earn it" were wearing thin and the pressure was on. Ok, really it wasn't that bad. He is a good kid, for the most part. I have actually been leaning towards him having one for a while now. He is getting to be quite the social butterfly - having late nights, babysitting, hanging out with buddies... etc. Keeping track of him and where he is was getting tricky so..... I got a new phone (it's purple :) making it so he got my old phone. We have limited his phone useage so that it is more of a convenience for us. He is in heaven. He has also been wanting to paint his room blue. I consented to painting one wall because it's in the basement and a little darker down there as it is. I have reminded him several times a day how lucky he is and how spoiled he is. So far he is performing like he is spoiled and helping out around the house. I'm crossing my fingers that he will continue to be a good kid!!

A big black rat!!

HC 1st Grade Classes Presents:

Character Matters II

Starring: Braxton as The Cutest Black Rat ever!!

Braxton didn't really get into this whole "program/play" thing until the day of. He decided at the last minute that he wanted to be a black rat opposed to a gray rat (which I had the outfit for). So I scrambled to find black clothes for him. Luckily it worked out ok. He put on his sweetest smiles and did so great. In true Braxton form, he DID NOT do any of the actions to the songs. Jason & I were trying not to laugh about that fact. He was fantastic. He was a perfect little rat!!

"Get my tail in the picture, Mom." Rats say "Cheese" - get it... cheese (he's a rat).

"I'm 5 today!"

Standing by her "Nati's 5" sign. My beautiful girl

Watch her go! Now she just wants to go outside.

Her princess roller skates.

Making a wish!

Some of the decor.

Fun with school friends!

Bot cupcake

Birthdays are so fun for Natalie. She gets almost as excited for other peoples birthdays as her own. We have been talking about her birthday for a couple of months and it has been all she has talked about since. It had to be a Team Umizoomi party. This proved to be a little hard. Finding invitations, plates, etc. was a little difficult. I ended up finding stuff on good ol' ebay. I ordered the invitations with her picture on them and got candy labels with her birthday info on them. They all turned out great. She invited 4 little friends from school to take to McDonald's for dinner. I have to say - it was the best $20 I have ever spent for a party. No mess for me, no stress over games and the kids loved it. After the friends party we had the Grandma's and Grandpa's over for cake and ice cream. I made Team Unizoomi cupcakes. They were a little tricky and time consuming but they turned out really cute. She got a bike - super cute with a baby doll carrier on the back, clothes, a jewelry box, roller skates, Tangled toys, a new doll, a Build a Bear, Play Dough, and some money. She had a FaBulOus DaY!! Happy Birthday to my little cutie patootie!!

One of her silly poses.

Giving her bike "loves".

Ready to go!