Easter (Pictures By Gwen)

We celebrated our family Easter egg hunt extravaganza on Saturday morning this year. Daddy stayed up late to meet the Easter Elephant and help him hide the eggs all over the house for the girls to find in the morning. The Easter Elephant is the Easter Bunny's big helper. Since the Easter Bunny is busy Sunday morning, the Easter Elephant comes late Friday night to make sure that everything is all ready for those of us who do Easter egg hunts on Saturday. At least that's the story that Gwen and I made up to explain why we'd be hunting eggs a day early. Really we do it because I like to keep the churchy Easter stuff separate from the springy Easter stuff because it's already really hard for a 4 and 2 year old to understand the Easter story. Throw in a bunny that hides candy in eggs and everything gets really mixed up.

Gwen woke up Saturday morning and was so excited to find Easter eggs. She got Emily up and they both made it downstairs before Jonathan and I were awake enough to realize what was going on. They found their Easter baskets and loved the fun little toys that they got. Gwen and Emily have been practicing for Easter for a couple weeks now. They take turns "hiding" Easter eggs and finding them. It goes like this. When it's Gwen's turn to hide the eggs she puts them all in one place and then drags Emily to them and shows her where they're hidden. When it's Emily's turn to hide the eggs she puts them in the same place that Gwen had "hidden" them and then excitedly points them out to Gwen. I've been trying to show them how to really hide the eggs and tried to play "Hot and Cold" to help them find them. They didn't get it. So Easter morning was fun. The girls found all the very obvious eggs then Jonathan and I had to point out all the other eggs to them. We were done with everything in about 15 minutes. After that we got dressed and went to the gym then went to Lagoon (for the 4th time already this year) and spent a few hours with my sister Linda and her family.

On Sunday we went to my mom's house and all my sisters and their families came over for dinner and another Easter egg hunt for the kids. At one point in the evening, Gwen stole my camera and took 110 pictures. I went through them and chose my favorites for this blog post. There were about 50 of Noah - her favorite cousin.
I'm not sure if she took this one or had Noah take it. I bet Noah did it because she's not so good at the self portrait thing.

Noah's goofy smile. He's at that awkward stage where he can't give you a real smile if you ask.

Daddy.

Silly Noah.

Emily loves to play in Grandpa's big back yard. Sigh. Wish we had one.

I like this picture. Don't really know what it is or why she took it though.

Here's her self portrait.

Uncle Joel. She took about a dozen of Aunt Megan's bum. I think Megan would kill me if I posted those.

Grandma's new bird, Patches. Gwen's the only grandkid brave enough to let him ride on her shoulder.

Grandma.

Emily and Grandma.

It was a really fun night. Except for the part when I couldn't find my camera because when it ran out of memory Gwen tossed it in the next door neighbor's flowers. We did find it though and it was great fun to see all the pictures that she took. I had to leave early to go work a bonus shift so I didn't get to see how the night ended.

This Is The Place

On April 21st we went to This Is The Place State Park with some friends from our ward. There are only 2 four-year-olds in our ward, but there are so many 2 year-olds that they had to divide the nursery in half this year. Since it's still Gwen's spring break, the three of us (Gwen, Emily and me) went and had a fun morning out together while Daddy had a much needed break. The best part of the day for Gwen was getting to bottle-feed the lambs. If you can't have a baby sister named Rapunzel at least you can give a bottle to a baby sheep that you call Rapunzel.

They have a bunch of baby animals right now at the park. The kids got to write down names for the baby animals. Gwen wanted to name all the girl animals Rapunzel. There were tubs full of baby chicks that we could hold or even buy - 6 for $3! Sometimes I'm glad that Gwen can't read yet. Gwen and Emily's favorite part was riding the ponies, which they did three times in a row.

Gwen finally got up enough courage to hold a baby rabbit all by herself. Emily went around saying "awwww, toot" which means "awwww, cute" to all the babies.

They had fun playing in a kid size barn and house. Even though it was sunny, it was really cold outside.

They showed all their church friends how to do "bum-bumps" down the stairs.

They got all the kids to roll down the hills and even got goose poop on their clothes. Gwen fell out of the train that goes around the park and almost got run over. She stood up just as we hit a bump and out she went and landed on her back right by the tires. She jumped right up and started running after us screaming "Mommy!" I had Emily next to me but leaped out of that train without even thinking. Luckily, Emily stayed put and Gwen was just fine. It was actually terrifying for her and for me. We didn't go on the train again after that.

Emily tried to ride these baby lambs. Then she tried to carry the lambs. Then she gave up on the lambs and tried to fall into the little stream that runs through the petting area.

The lambs were so "toot".

Emily's favorite pony was named "Honey". She named all her ponies at home Honey when we got back.

We spent hours holding each chick for a minute then putting it back. Gwen never got brave enough to hold a chick. She did pet them though.

Now With Pictures

Our little Minnie Mouse. Gwen is teaching Emily the art of dress-up. It's serious business at our house.

Gwen at her dance concert. 6 weeks of practice for a 2 minute song. Frankly, I'm surprised that they learned that much.

This is at Hogle Zoo, one of our favorite escape places. We went yesterday and it was busy. I guess it was spring break for everyone and they all decided to come to the zoo. I let my kids play on these stairs which earned some rude comments from other moms for some reason. It's in this area next to the ape house and it's not like it's behind a fence or anything. I guess they felt it was too dirty or too "dangerous" to be playing on mildly sloping metal stairs that led down to a door that employees use. Grrr. Go away and let me enjoy our zoo the way we want to.

We renewed our membership and got a free pass to ride the rides.

Emily is a spider.

Gwen is stuck in the spider web.

Emily.

Emily the turtle.

Gwen the turtle.

Mason's birthday party was today. It was Mario Bros. themed. My kids love watching the old Mario cartoons with their daddy. My sister Linda always does such a great job with her kids' cakes. You couldn't buy one that looked this cute.

Emily using my phone to take pictures. Not really. She just thinks she is. She does call random people from my phone list all the time though.

Happy Birthday to Mason.

We got Mason a balloon animal making kit. I thought it was just perfect for my best buddy. I think I scored the "favorite Aunt" card again. We couldn't get him to put it down even though we were all headed to Lagoon for Sam's birthday party.

I figured out how to make a doggy. Andrew is holding it upside down or else it'd be easier to tell what it is.

Here's what you've missed

So, April's almost halfway through already, eh? Wow, where'd March go? Here's some of the fun things going on in our lives this month: Gwen's dance class. When Gwen was just barely three, we signed her up for dance classes through the local community education program. They're fairly cheap classes and I felt it would be good for Gwen to get some structured lessons at that time in her life. During the classes she'd be good for the first half then lose interest and begin distracting the other children. At the end of the six weeks of class there was a performance in the auditorium where we got to see all the kids do their special dances. Gwen promptly ran behind the curtains then grabbed all the other kids and got them to play in the curtains with her. It was a disaster, but it was funny. We didn't sign her up for classes again after that. Then a few weeks ago we were driving past my old high school where her dancing classes were at and she started sobbing. I finally got her to talk about why she was crying and she said that she missed her dance class. I really had no idea that she even remembered dance class. I felt so bad for her that we signed her up for the classes again, and let me tell you, what a difference a year and a half makes. This time around, she dances and pays attention for the entire hour. She practices at home and really looks forward to going to class. During the performance she worked really hard to do all the steps and didn't just goof off. The hardest part was keeping Emily in her seat as she wanted to run up on stage and do the dance too. Lagoon. So begins our summer of absolute joy and fun at Lagoon. It opened last weekend and we went on Saturday. It was a perfect day to be there - 70's and overcast and not many people around. For the last two years my parents have given me and all my sisters and all our kids season passes to Lagoon. Last year, after losing my job, it was one of the only things that kept me from losing my mind. I needed a place to take the kids for free and escape the horror of having no job or income and trying to figure out what to do. I can't tell you how lucky I was to have a place like Lagoon where I could go and be with my family and have the distraction and fun that I desperately needed at that time. As we walked through the gates last week I felt some of all those emotions of last summer return, but I felt like a part of me was home. Lagoon will always be linked with those terrible days as being my sanctuary and now it's a special place for me. I am looking forward to spending as much of my time as I can there this summer. I'm betting even sleep will lose out to a fun day at Lagoon. Home Improvement. We got back more from taxes this year than I was expecting. We're going to put that money into our home and fix some things that have needed fixing since we moved in almost 6 years ago. We have the crummiest windows ever. They let in so much cold in the winter and heat in the summer. They let in all sorts of creepy crawlies and most of the screens are broken. Our bedroom window cracked the entire length for no known reason a couple weeks ago - only the inside pane - so it's not like a bird hit it or anything. We decided to replace our windows. It's been an interesting learning experience for me. I've never taken on anything like this before. I did some online research and found some companies I liked and set up times for them to come out and do a "Free In Home Estimate". We also asked people on Facebook who they would recommend and then contacted those people. By the way - the latter is definately the way to go. After sitting through 5 "Free In Home Estimates" we learned that all window companies tell you exactly the same things and then bash the other companies who in turn bash them for exactly the same reasons. Up front I had told all the companies that I didn't want any high pressure sales tactics and that I had multiple companies I was comparing for bids. Four of the five companies still tried to get me to buy their windows "right now and we'll give you an additional _____ off your price." Then I'd reply that they could give us that deal when and if we accepted their bid if they really wanted our business, but that I didn't appreciate their high pressure tactics. I'd explain that it was a big decision involving spending a large chunk of money and I would need to hear all the bids before deciding. They'd expain that the "such-and-such" bonus deal was only good for today because of blah blah blah. I'd just smile and tell them that was fine but then I felt that they were purposely marking up their windows if they had the means to offer them at a lower price today and then they'd be more money if I waited until tomorrow. Then they'd "hmmm" and "hawww" and look at each other. I'd thank them for their time and they'd leave. In the end we went with the one company that didn't do that to us. The guy we went with said "here's our price. We really hope you pick us. They're not the best windows on the market, but they're worlds better than what you have and they'll fit all you needs." Not only were his windows half as expensive as all the other companies, he goes to our church so I don't think he'd lie to us. Shoud have just gone with him and avoided all the other hoopla. So, why all the sudden interest in home inprovement? We REALLY want to sell our home and buy a bigger house. We have long since outgrown our little townhouse. You know it's bad when you buy birthday and Christmas presents with size in mind. We really can't fit another single item in our home. Some days I feel like all the clutter and toys are crashing in on me. It's not like we have a lot of stuff either - just very little room. 900 square feet and no garage or anything for storage is pretty darn small for a family of 4 and a dog. I'm making more money at my new job, so we've managed to save up some money for a down payment and can afford slightly higher mortgage payments. We just want to make sure that we get the most out of our townhouse as we can with this buyers market. Why do we want to get a bigger home? We want to add to our family. I don't know if it's the fact that my older sister is "adoption pregnant" or that my little baby, Emily, can now put together sentences and is almost as old as Gwen was when she was born, but I'm getting baby hungry again. Gwen must be sensing something as well because out of the blue the other day when we were driving to preschool we had the following conversation: Gwen: "Do you remember when you had a baby growing in your tummy?" Me: "Yes, I do. I had two babies grow in my tummy. One was you and one was Emily." Gwen : "I want another little baby sister." Me: "That's nice. What would her name be?" Gwen: "It would be beautiful. . . . Rapunzel." Me: "Rapunzel? Honey, that's not really a name that's used anymore." Gwen:"Well, I think it's beautiful. She would have two names. Rapunzel Tangled." Me: trying not to laugh "You'll have to wait until you have a baby and then you can name her that." Gwen: "It's my turn to have a baby grow in my tummy. You and Daddy already had your turns." Me: thinking Is 4 too young to have the Birds and the Bees talk? "You have to get bigger and bigger and then go to college, then meet your prince and get married in the temple. Then you can have a baby grow in your tummy. That's how it works." Gwen: starts to cry "But I want a baby now." Me: "Sorry those are Heavenly Father's rules." Well, with some of Mommy's own rules tossed in there. Trying to distract her now "What if Mommy's next baby is a boy baby? What could we name him?" Gwen: Sobs even louder "I don't want a boy baby! We would give him back or find someone else to have him. I want a girl baby." Me: "But think about how much fun your boy cousins are. Wouldn't you love a little brother who's as fun as Noah?" Gwen: "No!" Me: "We could name him Rapunzel." Gwen: finally starts giggling.