Weekend Projects

It was wonderful that there was no school yesterday & that Rick took the day off! We got started on a lot of projects around the yard. We're tired & sore, but so glad that they are getting done.

Yesterday we power washed half of the fence & we'll finish that this week & stain it this coming weekend. (This is what the half that isn't done looks like.)

We weeded & cleared the garden so we could build some garden boxes this year.

We thought they'd look better & hopefully grow better. The first 3 years of being here our garden was awesome. The last 2 it's done well, but not like we've wanted, so we're hoping this will do the trick & that it will be easier to add/change the soil. I'm excited for FHE on Monday so we can start planting out there! (And there is part of the half of the fence we did get washed.)

This is how I found Lexie & Joseph last night waiting for us to come do bedtime routine with everyone. I love that they are such good friends & that they love to read!

And since we did so much cleaning up outside, this little one thought it was a great time to come out of her diaper so we would be reminded that inside needs a good spring cleaning as well. Goofy girl!

Today while Rick was taking the kids to all of the "make & take" crafts at Lowe's & JoAnn's & picking up a few other things, Eliza & I did get the kitchen spotless. We got some more good work done on the boxes, played with friends, & I got to help one of my pretty nieces do her hair for prom. She looked lovely!

We love fun, good, hard-working weekends. Looking forward to this next one as well.

The Fort

A few nights ago, Joseph made this fort in his room to sleep in.

It's so fun to hear all of the talking & imagining that happens under there once they are sent off to bed. I hope they keep these vivid imaginations of theirs for a long time!

Alouette

Lexie got to bring home one of her dance recital costumes today. She barely made it in the door before she started putting it on to show it to us.

Eliza started playing with the plastic wrapper that the choker was in & Lexie said, "Eliza, you are going to like to recycle when you get older like I love to recycle." It was pretty cute. Lexie sure has a soft spot for recycling (or rather repurposing).

Six Months Later...

(Alright, so it was a little over 6 months.) Anyway, I decided to make this car seat tent for Eliza (before she was born) & I finally decided to do it. I don't know why I was so nervous about sewing it together & finishing it, but I was & so I kept putting it off. But, I found it took no time at all to finally just do it. So is the story of my life...I'm a great procrastinator. But, finally, I have a finished product.

Done. Time to get working on the next projects...

Happy May Day!

I love quiet Sundays. It's so fun to just hang out with the family. The kids love to read the comics with Rick each week. It cracks me up to see how excited they get about picking who gets to read what & taking turns. Good times.

And in other exciting news...Look who's sitting!

See, it isn't so hard!

Woah...starting to lose it...

Nice recovery!

She's getting the hang of it.

First Food

We gave Eliza her first taste of rice cereal today. She was less than impressed.

The before shot.

The eating shot.

The thinking about it shot.

Not her favorite.

*5/1/11 I've decided she really doesn't like food. We gave her applesauce today & she kept spitting it out as well. One day she will learn to like real food.

Creating

I love how the kids love to create things & build things all for Eliza. And as you can see in the background, she loves it! I hope they never stop!!

Happy Easter!

Joseph got to give a talk today in Primary. We talked a bit about what he wanted to give his talk on & then while we were getting other kids ready this morning for church, we told Joseph to head downstairs & start writing his thoughts down & then we'd help him with his talk. We came down & he had the first half of his page all written & we thought it was pretty good. Rick found him a scripture to use & then Joseph said he didn't need any more help. Then Joseph finished writing the rest of his talk. We were really impressed with his independence & with what a great job he did.

We are grateful for the life & death of our Savior. We are grateful that He overcame death that we may live again! Jesus is the Christ & we know He lives!

Happy Easter!

The Bunny Part of Easter

We like to do the Bunny stuffs on Saturday so that we can keep Sunday all about the Resurrection of Christ.

We started out our day over at Rick's work for an Easter Egg Hunt & breakfast. It was really cold! Andrew enjoyed the bouncy castle & the kids had a great time sprinting for eggs. I liked how Lexie shared some of hers with a boy who was crying because he didn't get very many. She's a good kid.

Then we got Lexie dressed up as her favorite princess (Princess Lexie, of course) for a birthday party.

While she was gone, I got eggs ready for a hunt here at home. Gratefully, it warmed up a bit.

Then we dyed Easter eggs & Liza was happy to watch.

Lexie thought she was pretty hot stuff with her styling new sunglasses that she got at her party. Here she is rockin' out while waiting for the eggs to dry.

It was a good, fun Saturday!

Moo, Moo Here!

It's so much fun to see how much Andrew loves his little sister.

6 Months Old

Our sweet little Eliza is 6 months old today!

Where has the time gone? She got to go the doctors for her check-up. Her doctor came in & told me, "Sorry, I've got some bad news, your daughter is not as high on the charts as she used to be. She's gone down from the 85 & 90th percentiles to the 75th & 80th now for height & weight." I just laughed & said, "I guess we can start calling you 'Slim' now!" He sure got a chuckle out of that one. She's growing perfectly & is so happy! It was fun this evening watching her laugh & jump with excitement watching her siblings play. She just couldn't get enough of them. She's not sitting up on her own or rolling over even, but I know it won't be long before she's able to keep up with them. For now, we're thrilled with immobility & sweet smiles & laughs.

We love this little girl so much!

(And we are so excited that our friends across the street had their little girl today so soon Liza will have another fun little friend to play with.)

The Belt

So,um, every single day, Andrew wears this belt. He's been wearing it for, oh, a few months now. He wears it to bed, to school, to church (he's even been known to buckle himself around his chair in primary with it). For whatever reason, he loves this belt & it cracks me up! So, here are just a few pictures of him wearing it.

I'm sure there will be many more to come.