Easter...finally

First of all, sorry it's been SO long since I've blogged.  We've had a lot of nights lacking in sleep lately, and I've been unmotivated to blog after the kids go to bed.  I'm sure many of you have been just DYING to know about our Easter (who isn't, really?), so here you go:)

The Easter celebration started with an egg hunt at school for the girls.  It was SUPER cold and started raining right in the middle of it, but none of the kids seemed to mind (although Seth and I did). 

I almost got a picture with the Jose the llama in the back, but he moved when the girls ran over there (he's a bit skittish).

On Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt at a local church.  As we were driving in, we saw the Easter bunny, and Seth burst into tears.  I don't really understand why it seems to be impossible to make a cute Easter bunny costume.  Bunnies are awfully cute.  Anyway, after that, Seth was very concerned about running into the bunny, and was on the lookout the whole time!

We are ready to go hunting, and we'll use our baskets as umbrellas if it rains!

Seth didn't know what an egg hunt was, but he was ready!

That scary bunny!

On the look-out for the scary bunny!

 

We met "auntie neighbor Katie" there, and she and Abby made Easter bonnets.  Katie can pretty much make ANYTHING.  She's amazing (and was incredibly helpful to have with us at the hunt).

Look in Haley's basket...I was watching her pass multiple eggs, and was trying to figure out what she was doing.  When I caught up with her to take this picture, I realized that she was going for the pink ones!

Happy with their baskets full of eggs:)

Our "family pic" after the egg hunt.  Abby is pouting just off to my right!

It was a good thing that we went to the hunt on Saturday, because Easter was really not "Easter-y".  It was rainy and dreary.  The kids all had gross runny noses, so they had to stay home from the worship gathering at our church.  But, they did still get their Easter baskets!

I put these organic, all fruit, fruit by the foot sort of things in there, and Abby laughed and laughed with glee when she unrolled hers and saw how long it was!

After naps, we went to my parents' house, where a couple dear friends (Auntie Laura and Auntie neighbor Katie), and Carey's parents and sister joined us for a delicious Easter dinner. 

Playdough

I let Seth play with playdough for the first time the other day.  He and Haley were so cute sitting at the table playing together.  They have such a special little bond.  Almost every morning, Seth is up before the girls, and he stands outside their room and says "Hayey, Hayey".  When they're at preschool he walks around saying "Hayey, are you" (where are you).  It's so adorable.  And Haley loves to read to him, sing to him, and pick out his clothes!

Anyway, here are some pictures from Seth's first experience with playdough.

Home

Lately, we have been having really fun Sunday afternoons just playing at home.  It's nice when we can be outside, since the kids LOVE to play at home, but staying inside gets a little chaotic.  Here are some pictures from last Sunday afternoon:)

 

My little helper, vacuuming the van.

Seth pushing his beloved kitty in the stroller.  Sometimes I'll hear him yelling "MEOOOOW" from his room, and he's standing in there, pointing at his crib where his kitty is!

Abby has a bunny that she loves (as you can see).  It was actually mine when I was a little girl.  My grandma got it for me from Mervyns!

Growing Up

Yesterday was the first time my daughters had the wonderful childhood experience of playing at the neighbors house.  There is a little boy (like 6) and a little girl (3) that live down the street from us.  Sometimes the kids all ride their bikes together.  We always wave to their family when they drive past our house.  The girls have played there once before while I was there, chatting with the mom.  But yesterday, neighbor boy and girl invited Haley and Abby to play, and, for the first time, I watched my daughters walk up the street with their little friends, to play at the neighbors' house.  It made me think about how fun that was when I was a kid.  Asking mom if it was okay, getting the yes, and walking over to play at my friend's house, playing with her toys (way more fun than mine), drinking Capri Suns (we NEVER got those at my house)!  

Needless to say, they came home SO excited.  Neighbor girl let them wear her lipgloss ("it's okay if we got her cold germs").  Neighbor boy has a ladder AND a slide on his bed.  I'm so glad we live in a neighborhood that my kids will be able to have the memories of walking up the street to play with the neighbors.

Let's Go To The Snow:)

All winter Haley and Abby have been dying to go to the snow.  I, personally, I am not a fan of the snow, much less snow with children.  All I could imagine was putting gloves on, taking gloves off.  Putting snowsuits on, having to make potty runs.  Oh, and freezing, freezing, freezing.  But, I finally put my own feelings about the snow aside, and we made the trip to Oakhurst, which is near Yosemite.  It was the perfect place to go because there wasn't snow at our hotel, but there was snow about 15 minutes up the road, plus, it's only about a 3 1/2 hour drive from home, which is pretty doable.  We had some friends who were going to be there as well, which was really fun.

The snow wasn't quite what the girls were expecting (there was some crying about wanting to see "real snow").  It wasn't fluffy and powdery and falling down in big, intricate snowflakes like on the cartoons.  They were able to get over it, though, and have a great time.  Seth didn't seem to mind it so much either, even though the poor kid could hardly move around in his huge snowsuit.  We tried to get in all the snow activities.

We made snow angels:

 

We tromped through the forest:

 

with their friend, Micah

We went sledding:

 

 

with Jadon and Aubrey

There was a snow nap:

 

A snow picnic:

 

  

We didn't make a snowman, because the snow was pretty icey, but we did decorate an abandoned one:

 

And, of course, we made snowballs.  Thankfully, Auntie Dana had a wonderful snowball maker:

 

Of course there were tears (never a shortage of those), a lost boot, nights lacking sleep, and a lot of wet clothes, but it was pretty fun.  I'm glad we did it and am willing to do it again next year:)

Valentines Tea Party

A couple of days ago we had a Valentines tea party, and it turned out to be SO fun.  We invited a bunch of Haley and Abby's friends and they came all dressed up and ready with their best manors.  We had lots of heart shaped food and fun tea cups.

The girls each got a piece of construction paper to decorate as a place mat.

Haley and Auntie Melissa

 

Auntie Laura helped Seth decorate! 

Uncle Nate (declared "the royal prince" by the girls) decorated with the princesses!

After everyone had a place mat and had picked a tea cup, we gathered them onto the couch for a special Valentine story.

(from left to right) Laurel, Abby, Ocean, Selah, Grace, Selva, Aubrey, Maizie, and Haley

back row: Hannah, Josh, Uncle Nate

I was the story reader!

Laurel and Abby, obviously captivated by my amazing delivery of "Giving My Heart To God"!

Selva, Aubrey, Maizie and Haley listening up, all squished together!

After the story, the tea party began.  The girls did amazingly well being polite and sitting nicely together at the tables.  I heard a lot of "please pass the" and "may I please have"!

  

Check out the way "the royal prince" is holding his cup...not his first tea party!

Look for pictures of this on the blog next year, because it was SO fun it will surely be a tradition:)

Old McDonald...kind of!