Schools Out

Schools out scream and shout.  This is what Greg had for breakfast on Friday (his last day of school)-a stack of cinnamon bun french toast with candles (which melted in the warm toast-whoops) and the girls and I sang him a "happy last day of school" song.  We are looking forward to the summer more than anything else.  He has had a very difficult class this past year so here is to a good summer and better students this coming year.

A new year with many trips to the beach to come

I decided it was time for us to head to the beach once again for the new year.  The girls just love playing by the water and in the sand.  They even played for a good long time before I went back to get the sand toys from the car.  They are so carefree and delighted in the simpleness of getting covered in sand.  The worst part of going is actually having to come home-getting girls covered in sand who are wet into a car to drive back to town is one of the most unpleasant things I can think of.  Next time I think I will have to take a change of clothes with us and just keep them moving around until they are more dry and I can change them.  Anyway it was still a blast and we are looking forward to going again.

Sunday morning pictures (the uneditted version)

I got a new dress for Allie from the thrift store when Allisha and I went on a little shopping getaway.  She was thrilled and insisted on wearing it to church.  Auntie Mandy had done her hair the day before (complete with braid and curls from the curling iron...WHAT-she never lets me do that) and she insisted on keeping those in too.  She also asked to have her picture taken with Brailie.  When I had them go outside to get some "good" shots this is what happened:

And that is pretty much when I decided that we had had enough of a photo shoot for one Sunday morning.

Swings

I am so thankful for our backyard swing set and that the girls love it so much.  We usually go to the park but I have discovered that pushing 60+ pounds of child in my red double stroller is too much for this prego mama these days so the girls have been content to play in our backyard much more.  I just thought they looke super cute on this day and couldn't help but take pictures.

 One of my favorite things about Brailie is her wrinkled nose cheesey smile.

How we are staying cooled off while the weather heats up

I bought this toddler pool at the thrift store to use as an indoor ball pit but it was really too small.  When the weather started getting hot I decided to put it outside and fill it with water for the girls to play in.  I didn't really intend for them to basically swim in it but in the end that is what happened and they loved it.  Greg called me out with the camera to get some actions shots of the head dunking they were doing.

 At least they are getting over their fears of water on their faces.

 Dad hosing them off cause they were covered with grass and we had let them stand and pee on the lawn through their wet clothes which they thought was the greatest thing ever.

Proof that I can sometimes dress my daughter to look stylish

Most of the time she couldn't be bothered with looks (which I am super grateful for) and hairdo's and cute outfits.  Sometimes though she likes to have on something stylish and go to dad's school at lunch to show him her outfit.  I thought this one was really cute and she is letting me put her hair in ponytails now which is nice.

 Brailie wanted her picture taken too in her dress.

 And she thought everyone needed to see the back of her hair too (yep-typical messy mullet-someday she will have a different hairstyle).

 Brailie's favorite thing right now are her rain boots.  She wears them pretty much everywhere.

 Trying on hats.

 She makes a cute cowgirl. 

What do you get when you leave your kids in the tub unattended?

A BIG MESS that is what.  This is the result of leaving my kids in the tub while I tried to help my mom over the phone with some computer stuff.  The picture really doesn't even do the mess justice.  There was water all over the entire floor and out into the kitchen by the sink-as well as tub toys.  And they were as happy as clams.

What entertains more than mom?

On this day I had done all I could possibly think of to keep girls entertained-both inside the house and outside.  After we had been outside for a few minutes swinging and playing with balls the girls discovered a sprinkler that had not turned off and that was the main attraction.  I felt like I had been putting on a circus act all morning to entertain them and in the end they were perfectly happy playing with this sprinkler and getting completely soaked as well.  The funny thing was that they had no idea I knew they were in it.  I think I had mentioned "don't get wet" before going in to make lunch.  Ya, like that is possible.

Allie turns 4

On Sunday April 15th Allie turned 4.  She is such a sweet girl.  We are so grateful she is part of our family.  Some stats about Allie at 4:

She weighs 40 pounds

She has blueish green eyes

Her favorite food is tacos and beans.  She also loves macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles, orange yogurt, fruit snacks, muffins, pumpkin bread...well the list goes on.  She is a really good eater

She loves playing with Brailie, swinging in the back yard, playing in water, digging in dirt, singing and dancing and playing dolls and dollhouse

She loves having a bath and usually doesn't want to get out

She still likes me to help her get dressed though she can do it herself

She loves nightgowns and princesses and strawberry shortcake

She loves to play with friends.  If I could have one wish for her it would be for her to have more friends.  I wish we could have a family move in with a girl just her age who would be in her class at school and church.

She knows how to spell and write her first name and spell her last name

She knows her address, phone number and the country she lives in as well as the pledge of allegiance

She is learning to sound out and read words like cat, hat, pot, dot, sit

She is really good at counting, cutting and gluing.  She knows all her colors and shapes 

She does not like to color

She loves to have stories read to her and to go to the library

She knows lots of primary songs and really loves Nephi's courage and The Armies of Heleman

She is a good helper when she wants to be and is excited to have a new baby at her house



We wanted to get a few pictures before church and the girls were willing so we snapped away.  100 pics later we had to weed down our favorites.  Here are mine:

Even though she isn't looking at the camera I like that this picture shows her calm quite side-which we see occasionally.

We had to include Brailie

Cute little sweet girl

Doing a crazy picture

This one looks like she is leading the music.  She is really cute when she does that in FHE

Giving daddy a kiss

The blue eyed girls

Giving mom a kiss

Proud dad with his sweeties.

A Rainbow Birthday Party for a super cute 4 year old

My little girl turned 4.  For months I have been asking her if she would just like to stay 3 and every time she would get quite defensive and tell me that she wanted to turn 4.  I offered stay little pills and get small pills and told her being 2 or 3 would be fine but to no avail-she just had to go and turn 4 on me.  I actually like 4-I am hoping with 4 there are less melt downs and tantrums (if you know otherwise please don't pass the info on to me and let me live in my dream world a little longer).  She is so smart and funny and a good helper and a good big sister.  Her and Brailie are playing so well right now it makes every day of frustration with a newborn and a 19 month old worth it. 

We had a rainbow themed party for her.  I couldn't really think of what she is into right now so rainbows seemed happy and springy and that is what she is (most of the time).  I don't get to throw parties very often and that is one of my favorite things to do so I had to do as many cute and fun things as possible in one night.  It turned out perfectly-even though we had to have it in the house instead of inside.  We had a few friends and Greg's parents and my aunt and uncle from Springville.  It was the perfect amount of people and Allie was thrilled to have them all here for her.  I am going to post the details on my Small Fry blog as I have been missing that a bit.  Here are just some highlight pictures.

 1. These are cupcakes in a jar-the rainbow version-pretty much my new favorite thing.
 2. Rainbow banner made with paint chips
 3. A second rainbow banner made with paint chips (they are the best thing to use for rainbow parties)
 4. Rainbow cake pops made by my fabulous brother and best uncle ever.  They aren't even the cheaters method cake mix pops-these babies were homemade cake and homemade frosting and Greg summed them up perfectly when he said, "these are the most wonderful, delicious thing I have ever had.  I need 40 more."
 5. Rainbow napkin rings
 6. In all the festivity planning I forgot a little cake to put the candles on so my aunt and I went to the store and bought this very over priced mini carrot cake.  I scraped the carrots off the top and sprinkled it with colored sugars I had.  It was perfect for Allie to blow the candles out on.
 7. Rainbow sugar cookies.  These were made with a recipe I found for edible playdough (check the small fry blog for the details).
 8. Rainbow punch (cheaters method).
 9. The party spread (before the punch).

It was cute because she didn't want to have anyone sing Happy Birthday but then when it started her face just lit up.  I don't know what she was expecting to have happen but she was all smiles as everyone sang and knew just what to do after the song ended.  Cute girl.

The picture caption says it all.  She is a beautiful 4 year old and was so sweet to make sure Brailie was included in party stuff.  It was really cute.


Here are a few pictures of Allie opening presents.


Showing the 4 wheeler she got from mom and dad and opening a book of Beatrix Potter stories from Aunty Helen and Uncle Doug.  They also gave her 20.00 and gave Brailie 5.00



Opening a box from Grammy.  She got a set of 3 more sweet streets houses and a big bag of accessories.  The girls love these little houses and people and they are a big hit at basketball games.

Thrilled about this little pack of ice cream erasers

Opening paper dolls from Grandma and Grandpa.  She loves these

A great set of mini strawberry shortcake dolls from Uncle Steven.  They are a huge hit also.

Here she is displaying her cowgirl skills with her new cowgirl hat and gun from the Hunt boys.  It is the most appropriate gift from them as every time we go to Coby's (which is the number 1 requested place to go) she plays guns with the boys.  She was so excited to have her own gun to shoot Kole with now.  Pf course now Brailie needs one too. 

Look at those gun skills.  Ahhh I've been shot.