Happy Easter!

This Easter was the same as previous Easters.  We all met at my parents' house and acted like a bunch of crazy people, ate good food, and had fun visiting with cousins and siblings.  This year I guess I put myself in charge and my sister and I came up with a fun game to decide who got to go through the food line first.  I found a hair catcher and some goggles, and Samantha threw in a souvenir Bobby hat from London.  We made the oldest male representative from each family sit in a chair with all this stuff on while their family members threw marshmallows at them, trying to collect as many in the hair catcher as possible.  It was pretty funny and most of the guys were good sports, till we got Paul, who started chucking the marshmallows back at us!  Needless to say, our family ate last!

We were able to get a picture of all 20 grandkids with the grandparents this year.  Unfortunately, number 21 is due in July and missed out on the picture.  Next year I guess, though some of the cousins are getting older and starting off on their own.  This might be as good as it gets.

These 4 cuties are all within 19 months of each other, with Darcy and Bree the bookends.  They have lots of fun together.

Mason and Paul are always partners for the egg toss, though I use the term "toss" lightly.  They line up at the end where no one is watching and then roll the egg back and forth!  Mason won the egg drop off of the garage roof this year.  He had his egg stuffed in a cloth hand puppet, which was then stuffed in a bean bag.  There was nothing the droppers could do to make that egg break!  Great thinking Mase!  After the party we stopped by for a short visit with Paul's mom and then we headed home to get to bed so the Easter Bunny could come!  Ooohhhh!  Exciting!

We actually decorated the eggs on Thursday so we would have them ready for Saturday night since we usually don't get home from the party till late.  The kids had fun this year and I think they were all participating, which may be the first time that has happened.  Bree is such a big girl now she can do all the fun things the big kids do!

Darcy was in mass production mode.  She would drop in an egg, leave it a few seconds, take it out and then move on to the next one.  She had fun though, that's what counts.

 Bree was not awake at 6am like the other kids so she missed out on the kids picture and the egg hunt.  I figured it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.  She woke up later and Drew and Mason hid some eggs for her to find all by herself.  I think we all had a good time, and Bree was so into the whole Easter spirit she marched right to the front of the chapel with her siblings during Sacrament meeting at church that afternoon and had no idea what she was doing there but stood with a smile on her face as the Primary sang an Easter song.  She is only in Nursery so technically she shouldn't have been up there but she would have had a meltdown if I had tried to get her down so once agian, I let the sleeping dog lie.  Oh Breezy, how I love you!  Thankfully the candy season is now officially over and the weather is getting nicer so I can start running again without sabotaging my efforts with junk.

I'm not sure Bree was ready to get up even when we let her sleep in.  She still looks pretty sleepy!

Poor me!

This is what happens when mommy doesn't pay close enough attention to me when I want to get out of my high chair!  What a mess!

Spring Break

This spring break we braved the horrible weather and headed to Seattle.  Paul's birthday happened to fall on a Thursday so he took Thursday and Friday off of work and we headed north.  Thursday night we got a room near Seattle with a great pool for the kids to swim.  I think the pool is always the highlight of trips for the kids.  We, or I, spent a sleepless night with all of us squished into one room and Friday morning we explored Seattle.  I grew up in Washington but we always headed south to Portland to do shopping and adventures since it was on the way to my grandparents house in Corvallis.  So I had never done all the Seattle sight seeing.  Our first stop was the Space Needle.  Darcy held my hand in a death grip on the elevator but was OK once we were on top.  Bree though decided to throw a 2 year old fit the entire time we were there, and Paul ended up taking her out of the gift shop once the entire store was focused on our toddler writhing and screaming on the ground.  Thanks Bree, you always make it an adventure.  As you can see by our coats it was pretty cold and wet but the downpours held off for the most part till we were walking back to our car at the end of the day. 

From the Space Needle we rode the Monorail to near the Pike Place Market.  That was fun.  We saw lots of people, held on tightly to our purses and wallets, and even got to see a few fish being tossed.  I'm not sure the kids appreciated the market but I liked it.  We rode the monorail back to our car and headed home as the heavens opened up and the rain poured.  It was a short vacation but with the attitudes and the rain I think we accomplished all just about any of us could stand.  I hope we have some better weather and some better kids when we attempt San Francisco in August!

Out and About

On a beautiful Saturday in February we decided to take the kis to walk around the Portland Temple grounds.  On our road trips we always try to at least catch a glimpse of every temple we are currently near so we figured it would probably be a good idea to actually visit our local temple.  The kids loved it.  It was beautiful weather, some flowers were blooming, and it was just a very nice experience.  I enjoyed walking around the outside too, I don't do that very often when I am there.  The kids especially loved all the pools of water and the fountains.

See!  The sun is so bright and beautiful we couldn't even get a good picture of us!  What a problem to have!

This is one of my very favorite pictures of Darcy so I threw it in too.  Though she has lost the perma-grin she had as a baby which earned her the nickname "my sunshine baby," when it breaks through it takes my breath away with love for this sweet, difficult, head-strong little child of God.

We also went to the LDS bookstore next door and bought Drew her first scriptures, engraved and everything!  She ended up getting what SHE wanted, not what I wanted her to want, but they are very nice.  They were supposed to be a gift at her baptism in a few weeks but we gave them to her early since her teacher at church requested they bring scriptures every week to class.  I am glad they have already been put to good use!

On the flip side, on a very wet, cold day in February which happened to be President's Day so the kids were out of school, I was crazy enough to take all 4 kids to Seaside by myself for the day.  We went to the aquarium where they actually had a dead squid after I had assured Darcy all trip long that there would not be a squid there.  For some reason she is afraid of squid.  Must have had a bad experience with one before?  She was actually OK with it since it was dead and in a glass case.

We had fun at the aquarium, got ice cream cones, took an obligatory picture at the Welcome to Seaside sign for mom, and took a ride on the carousel.  When I tried to get Bree off that thing she threw such a fit!  The entire place was looking at her.  I couldn't get her out of there fast enough.  Welcome terrible twos!  On the way home as all 4 kids were asleep I took a detour to visit my old stomping grounds of Naselle, WA.  It was different for me this time.  Before when I would "go home" my parents still lived there so we were still making new memories there.  This time it was all reliving memories of my childhood, which was kind of weird and caught me off guard.  It was nice to see the town again and remember.

Happy Birthday Bree!

Happy 2nd birthday to my Breezy!  She is no longer a baby but she is still my "baby."  She is getting long and thin and has just about lost all her baby fat except for those sweet, kissable cheeks!  She LOVES to sing.  She knows many songs already on the radio and quite a few church songs too.  Even if she doesn't know the words she will mumble something till she gets to one she knows.  I love it!  I think I have mentioned before that Bree is a boundary pusher.  She likes to be independent.  No more stroller for her when we are out in public, she wants to be a big kid!  Now if she could only convince Darcy its fun to be big.  That lovely red spot on her head happened a couple of days before her birthday.  With a bit of help from her brother, she fell and hit her head on the corner of the coffee table, splitting the skin wide open and bleeding everywhere.  I took her to urgent care where they were thankfully able to just glue her head shut, no stitches needed.  They did try to swaddle her so they could treat it but she was putting up such a fight and surprising the nurses with her strength. If she has a scar when she grows up its probably her own fault for not being cooperative.  I think it has healed fine though and she can always cover it with bangs.

For her birthday we had a party with Aunt Sammy's family.  We had pizza, a monkey cake, and all the ice cream you could ask for!  Bree got more stuffed animals, a frog card that sings happy birthday with "ribbits," which I think is her favorite gift of all, and a racing track that she spends hours sending every toy imaginable down the tracks.  I think she had a pretty good day.  Bree is so darn sweet but also sour at times.  She has the cutest little giggle and an annoyingly loud pity cry.  She still sleeps in a crib but hates to be contained.  Bree is a tale of opposites dwelling within her perfect little body which makes her the wonderful little blessing she is.  We love you sweetcheeks!

SNOW!

9 inches in one night!  We finally got some snow!  Of course school was cancelled that next morning but the morning after that it was business as usual.  As I was dropping the kids off for school that morning I was furious!  The parking lot hadn't been plowed and these poor, tiny bodies were trying to make their way through piles of snow up to their knees!  I could not believe the school district was allowing this to happen.  I was so mad I borrowed a snow shovel from my neighbor and went back to the school to shovel a pathway for the poor kids to walk on so they could get to school safely and hopefully somewhat dry.  I would like to say I had a smile on my face, just committing a random act of kindness, but I was really hoping the pricipal would look out the window and see me laboring in all the snow and feel incredibly ashamed of the situation and if nothing else, get out their herself and help me dig!  Crimony!  What a ridiculous situation and they were lucky no one got hurt trying to get into the school that morning.  By that afternoon it had been cleared off but it was a little late I think.  Other than that the snow was beautiful and we had lots of fun playing in it!

Holiday Season 2011

Let's see, it was so long ago I don't know if I can remember exactly how the holidays went last year but I will do my best.  Thanksgiving was spent at my parents' house where we had a boat load of siblings and their families to eat, play games and puzzles, and visit with.  As always there were tons of kids running around which always tends to drive grandpa into his "Beaver" room to spend a few peaceful moments on the computer behind a closed door.  Ah, if only it was that easy for the rest of us!  I can't wait to be a grandparent!  We had good food and good company with no major incidences to report so I guess it was a good holiday.  Or else I have selective memory and have subconsciously decided to forget the bad stuff.

The weekend of Thanksgiving we went to our tried and true spot out in Goble to find our perfect Christmas tree.  It was nice.  I wish we could find one a bit bigger but it still turned out pretty.

Here is the finished product with all the gifts underneath.  Can you say score!  Crimony my kids are spoiled.

This is our annual picture of the Little People's Nativity Scene.  I thought the whole production might get a little more under control as the years go by but that just isn't the case.  Oh well, I guess the fighting over pieces is a tradition in itself.

Christmas morning!  Bree loves monkeys.  She carries this guy around with her 24/7 and she got another one for her birthday a month later.  It must be because she is a monkey herself.  She was not thrilled with waking up so early and it took her awhile to realize there was good stuff under all that wrapping paper.  I think she had a good Christmas, as good as it gets for an almost 2 year old I guess.

Drew got a watch!  One of my favorite things about being a mom is the HUGE milestones my kids hit when it comes to learning.  I get so excited as they learn to read, ride a bike, and now in Drew's case, tell time!  No digital watch here, you have to learn the correct way!  Drew also got a jewelry making kit and some games to keep her busy.  Big kid games that I have been waiting anxiously for her to get big enough to play with me.  Battleship, Life, and Clue.  I'm not sure which of us enjoy them more.  Mason even got into Battleship but playing with him is a test of your sanity.  It is a painful ordeal to make it through a whole game with him!  Luckily his zest for it has faded as we are  removed from Christmas.

Mason got his Captain America shield from Santa.  It shoots foam discs at his sisters.  FUN!  Uh, can you see the clock behind him?  Yep, its only 6:37 am and presents are unwrapped.  No wonder Bree was annoyed to be awake.  So was mommy!  Mason had a good Christmas, but then he always does.  He is so easy to buy for and he just gets so excited about everything.  I love having him around at Christmas time.  I guess I love having him around the other days of the year too ;)

Miss Darcy got a big girl scarf!  Santa brought her a box of assorted Minnie Mouse things because she is such a fan of the Minnie's Bowtique on Disney Channel.  Darcy is at a tough stage where we are trying to convince her its OK and actually fun to be a big girl and not a baby anymore.  Good luck to us!  Its not really working.

After opening gifts at home we went to church and then to Aunt Carmen's for dinner and Christmas with Paul's side of the family.  We ate some delicious food, had some good company to visit with (they have a dog which Bree and Darcy just love), and opened even more gifts.  It was a very nice Christmas all the way around.  I wasn't even the grinch I usually am and I left the tree up till the 27th!  I hate to mention New Year's Eve since it is one of my least favorite holidays, but the kids and I stayed up till 9 to watch the ball drop live on CNN and then off to bed for them and I was down about an hour later.  Fun times!  Bring on 2012!