Random Fun

Here are the kids having fun in the sand pile.  Nathaniel buried Andrew, and Andrew loved it!

"Ta da!"  Jonathan loves puzzles, and he has started saying "ta da!" every time he finishes one.  It's so cute.  This is one he did in the nursery at church on a Wednesday night while Nathaniel was at Scouts.  His nursery teachers went out and got this state puzzle for him because the other ones were too easy for him.  He is such a smart little guy.  He is talking so much more these days, too.  His new favorite word is "now!"

Here is Daniel playing with his friend Lizzie.  They are great buddies!

Emily has had a lot of projects lately.  This one is her Bottle Buddy project.  She had to use a 2 liter bottle for the body and a styrofoam ball for the head to represent the main character of the biography she read.  I'll let you guess who it is; the flag is your biggest clue. :-)

Here is her solar system poster.  She did this on Saturday.  I have to admit I wasn't really looking forward to doing this project with her, but I shouldn't have worried about it.  She did the whole thing herself!  The only thing I did was type the labels and help with the gluing.  She even wrote the report herself.  I am so proud of her.  I think she did a great job!

Daniel's Field Trips

I am so grateful that I have been able to go on two of Daniel's preschool field trips recently.  On April 11, we went to the Alabama Cattlemen's Mooseum.  The kids learned about the cattle industry and played in the pretend kitchen and with the cowboy dress-up clothes.

This past Friday, we went to the zoo.  It was really crowded, but the kids were good about staying together.  Daniel was so happy to have me with him.  I feel so blessed to be home with my kids full time so that I can do these things with them!

Temple Trip

Last weekend, Michael and I took Nathaniel up to the temple.  He loved it and he says he can't wait to go back!  

Day Out with Thomas

The boys and I had so much fun at Day Out With Thomas this year. I just took Daniel and Jonathan and they were so good. The last time we went was two years ago, and Daniel had a confused look on his face the whole time. This year, Jonathan had the confused look and Daniel knew exactly what was going on. He was so excited!

The tickets online were all sold out, but we got there early and I was able to buy us tickets for the first train. I'm glad we got to sit in the open air coach. Jonathan sat there so patiently and looked around at all of the scenery. Daniel spent a lot of time talking to the conductor.
Here is Jonathan's first smile of the day! He was pretty unsure at first, but once he started having fun he was so cute!

Daniel smiled the whole day!

Here they are at Imagination Station. They played with trains and colored and got temporary tattoos. I didn't think Jonathan would want a tattoo, but he hopped up into the chair and chose the one he wanted--Diesel 10 (the mean one). Daniel chose Thomas, of course.

Lunch time!

Here they are meeting Sir Topham Hatt. Jonathan was mesmerized by him. This was the only picture I got where he was looking at the camera; in the others, he was turned around and looking at Sir Topham Hatt. After the pictures were done, I couldn't get either of them to leave!

Bubble station!

Jonathan loved the petting zoo. Daniel wasn't very interested in it, but Jonathan kept trying to climb into the cages. He also kept going up to the goats and saying "moo!" He really liked the rabbits and the chicks.

One more picture before we go! Poor Jonathan was so tired. I didn't even bother with the stroller, and I think he was tired of walking. We had arrived at 9am, and we didn't leave until 1:30pm. It was such a fun day. I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to take them.

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! The only thing that could have made it better would be if our extended family had been able to visit. It was especially special :-) because Nathaniel turned 12 on Friday. There was no school that day, and so the kids and I went to the YMCA pool and had a great time. That evening we had shrimp alfredo for dinner, per Nathaniel's request. After dinner we were getting ready to have cake and presents with Nathaniel when we noticed Andrew's eye swelling up really badly. I took him to Pri Med and we got him some medicine. He had a stye, which I had suspected, but it really looked awful. He is all better now, thankfully. We didn't get home until almost midnight, so Michael and the other kids had to have the cake without us. It was a bummer, but Nathaniel was so good about it.

On Saturday, I made it up to Nathaniel by taking him to get his Nook Tablet. That is what he wanted more than anything, and he saved up all of his birthday money to get it. We also did some chores and cleaned and made a big dinner. We had invited the Sperrys over and we had a wonderful time with their family.

On Sunday, we went to church and heard many wonderful talks and lessons about the Savior. The highlight of the whole weekend was watching Michael ordain Nathaniel to the priesthood. He is a Deacon now and will pass the sacrament at church. I now have two priesthood holders in my home, and I feel so blessed! After church, we dyed eggs and had an Easter egg hunt with the kids. Daniel found the most eggs, and he was so happy. We had our yummy traditional ham dinner. Before bedtime, we watched some church videos with the kids about Jesus' resurrection.

Here we are coloring the eggs

Treasure!


Here is Nathaniel with his new Nook Tablet. He *loves* it!Happy Easter, everyone!
I am so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He came to this earth to atone for our sins and show us the way to live so that we can return to live with Him some day. I am so grateful that He was resurrected and that because of Him I can be with my family forever!

All About Emily

Every February, Emily has a date with her Daddy. This year, they went to the YMCA Daddy Daughter Dance again. They had so much fun! I think she wore him out on the dance floor.

Here she is getting ready for her dance pictures. We love the costume this year!

Emily had a pajama party for her birthday. It wasn't a sleepover. The girls had pizza, watched a movie, played musical chairs and freeze dance, and had a pillow fight. Everyone seemed to have a great time!

Here she is with her ice cream cake. Yum!

On her birthday, we had a quiet celebration at home where she got a new bike and Lego Friends. She has been hoping to get Lego Friends for a long time, and she had so much fun putting them together.

I was also able to finally find her a new piano teacher. The one we had been going to since Nathaniel started moved away in November. Nathaniel has piano at school every day and he is doing great. He has been serving as Emily's teacher, but we knew we needed to find her a new teacher. I was able to find one in our neighborhood who is very enthusiastic and Emily is excited to start lessons again. Yay!

Daniel's Escapades

Daniel went to play at a friend's house a few weeks ago. They got into the stamps. Daniel's body was their canvas, as you can see. It was pretty funny. He looks quite proud of himself!

One morning, about a week after this incident, Daniel woke up early and came downstairs to talk with his Daddy for a while. At one point in the conversation, Daniel casually said, "Oh, yeah, and can you please get his eraser out of my nose?" Michael frantically woke me up to help get it out. We did, thankfully. It was one of those little tiny white ones at the end of a Bic mechanical pencil. Daniel has been going around the house stealing them from my pencils; he calls them "marshmallows."

Oh, that child is a handful. But we're still crazy about him!