I love Easter!

I love Easter.

I think it is my favorite holiday.

I love the spiritual significance. I love teaching my kids about the Resurrection and our Savior.

And I love that it is a spiritual holiday that doesn't require a ton of work.

I don't have to decorate for days, buy lots of presents, make sure I have gifts for the neighbors, etc.

I really wasn't stressed at all. Which is nice because I still very much remember my stress from December. 

And we had an awesome week!

First was the preschool field trip to Peter Piper Pizza, complete with an egg hunt and a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Because of this nice Easter Bunny, my kids now believe that the Easter Bunny is a girl and that it was this specific bunny that brought them their baskets. :)

We also dyed some eggs at home. 

We did the annual egg hunt and dying with Grandma Trish. She is such a fun, cute Grandma. I am sad to think that we won't be doing this next year with her and the cousins, since we will be in Omaha. She makes it so special for the kids and the girls love being with their cousins. 

Sami and Janie were so excited to get their baskets this morning. Jonathan was home and could have slept in, but he didn't want to miss seeing the girls find their baskets. I hid the baskets last night, and Sami found hers right away. And Janie was having a hard time and getting upset, so Jonathan gave her some clues. She was pleased as punch when she found it.

And what was Lucy doing during all of this? Sneaking the remotes, of course. :) She is so good at standing up and getting into things. One day this past week, I let her play with the TV remote and she totally re-programmed it. That was a bummer. She always manages to turn on the PlayStation with this remote, which we use for Netflix. She is a smart one. And getting so big. I have no doubt that next year she will love all the Easter fun and totally get into the egg hunt and the basket of goodies. (Her basket only had eggs filled with cereal, but not next year. Next year she gets the good stuff: jelly beans!)

 Happy Easter!

Lucy is 1!!

 Our little lady turned one year old yesterday!

We can hardly believe how big she is. And how much we have grown to love her.

Of course, we had to have a party.

Sami and Janie were so excited about the party, and helped plan most of it. They know how it's supposed to be done. 

I hope Lucy felt special and loved. 

   

Turning one is both good and bad. Good: no more formula and baby food! Yay!!

Bad: no more pacifier and bottles. Those are two beloved things for her. Today was her first day with out her paci and she has done well. I haven't totally weened her from the bottle to the sippy cup yet, but it's coming. And she is liking her sippy cup more and more. 

Baby toys must be magical. We gave Lucy some toys that belonged to Sami and Janie, and that have been put away for a couple of years. But they were just as excited about them as Lucy. 

And welcome to the world of sugar, Lucy girl!

Her first cupcake, and her first real dose of sugar. It was a hit!

I have to wonder if this is how I sometimes look when I eat chocolate.

Jonathan's two brothers came to help us celebrate. The girls love spending time with cousins. Jeremy and Sarah and their kids came all the way from Arizona City. I am grateful for all the time with them...it's growing short.

And we had some fun today for St. Patrick's Day. McRiley, our favorite, pretend (but not to the girls) leprechaun, came after church and left the girls a scavenger hunt for treasure. It's the same treasure hunt as last year...but they didn't realize it and it saved me time and energy.  

Here they are looking for clues.

And what's a little fight among sisters when the treasure is found? 

The loved their treasure. It was chocolate, of course. (And cheerios for Lucy, but she was asleep during the hunt.)

It was a busy, fun weekend and I loved it!

This Past Week...

We have been fighting illness here the past two weeks. It started with Jonathan and then I got it. Gratefully my cold didn't last nearly as long as his. Then Janie woke us up last night with an ear infection and fever and Lucy has a little cold too. Boo. But thankfully we have a doctor in the house. He looked in Janie's ear, called in a prescription and I went and picked it up. Hopefully we will all be healthy and happy this coming week. (Fingers crossed.)

But we still had some fun this week. The girls have been watching more tv than usual with me sick, which they love. :) One afternoon on Blue's Clues, Blue and her friends made newspaper hats. We had to do that too! 

 And the girls had a pretend yard sale. So funny. 

And Lucy. She keeps me so busy. She is so fast and is into everything. I don't remember the other girls being so into things but I am sure they were. It's just that I am older and it's been awhile.  Right now she is teething again, poor thing. I wish they would just wake up with 25 teeth instead of spreading it out over a year. But she has moved from formula to whole milk which is so nice for me and our budget. :) She loves to clap and give slobbery, open mouth kisses. Those are the best!! 

Every time I pull out the camera, Sami wants me to take a picture. I am happy to oblige. She has truly become my big helper with Lucy. She plays with her, picks up her toys, tells me when she is putting something in her mouth. I am so grateful for her helpful, sweet, little spirit. 

The other night I was thinking how much I appreciate this exhausting stage in our lives. The girls love to be home and watch Backyardigans and make cookies. Going to McDonald's with Dad is the best thing ever. One day they will want their curfews extended and beg to go to the movies with boys. I enjoy the simpleness of life right now. The girls go to bed at 7 pm and it's wonderful! I know they are safe and snug in their beds. So even though I am tired most of the time, I wouldn't change it for anything. 

Valentine's Day 2013

We love valentine's day.

The girls were SO excited. It was almost as good as Christmas. They had their valentine's ready to pass out in preschool and were so excited about our "fancy" dessert we were going to make Daddy. They wanted a valentine from J and I, so I made them a simple one with our pictures and taped them on a little box of chocolates and had them sitting at their breakfast spots in the morning. I love that kids get such a kick out of small things! 

And Jonathan and I have learned that the older we get, the more kids we get, and the longer he is in residency, the more we have to be deliberate in our marriage. So we fed the girls leftover spaghetti, and we put them to bed a little early. (They were so sugared and partied out, they didn't mind a bit!) Then I got our the nice tablecloth, the drink cups from our first date, the candle (that we forgot to light), and had our traditional shrimp/potato dinner that we  have every valentine's day. We talked about how he proposed on valentine's day nine years ago. We talked about how our life is so wonderful, even though it is different than what we thought it would be when we got married. 

We all had a great valentine's day. I really think I will look back on these days as the best years of our lives. (Except residency...I will selectively forget that part.)

Just Chillin

I have had lots of people tell me to enjoy this age of my children, because once school starts, "it's all over." I believe them. I believe that life gets crazier and busier once the kids are in school.

And I love the relaxed, easy days, when our biggest thrill is our daily walk to the mailbox. 

Lucy has been giving me the biggest smiles when I pull out the camera. I love it.

This past week I found some toys that I hadn't seen in a long time. It was fun to wash them up and give them to Lucy. 

But Sami and Janie were just as entertained by their old baby toys as Lucy was.

And I will probably always remember this beloved outfit of Janie's, but I had better blog about it just in case. These clothes were gifted to us by a good friend, and as soon as Janie saw them, it was love at first sight. She has worn, and worn, and worn them. She asks to wear them everyday. And if were are just hanging out at home then I say yes. I have to convince her that they need to be washed every so often. I am glad that they match mostly (the shirt is a Christmas shirt, but I have to agree with Janie that it is cute). I am glad that she feels like a princess in them. 

Rainy Days

The past few days it has rained non-stop. And since it's not a cold rain, I have let the girls play in it. And now all their shoes stink as they are drying, but they have had so much fun. (And they are both love to make silly faces when I pull out the camera, can you tell? In fact tonight they were playing with a toy camera and seeing you could make the silliest faces.)

My sweet, silly Sami.

And Janie just loves the umbrellas. She loves umbrellas when it's not raining, so when it is actually raining, she can barely contain the joy.  

Babies just develop so quickly during the first year. It's amazing how they go from doing nothing but crying and sleeping to having such personality and doing "big people" things. My favorite thing Lucy is doing is feeding herself. I still spoon feed her the cereal and pureed veggies and fruit, but I can put her in her chair with some soft food while I get dinner ready, and she is happy until I have time to feed her. We both love this.

And she has learned how to pull herself up. She loves doing this, although it makes her nervous because she feels stuck not knowing for sure how to get down from things. 

Mostly I love what a happy baby she has become. 

Books I Have Really Liked Lately...

I know I've written before about how much I love to read when the kids are in bed. For me, it is very relaxing because the house is quiet and I can just sit in my pjs and enjoy a story. And because I read for fun and to de-stress, all the books I like are pretty light reads. I don't really want to read about world problems or wars, or anything else depressing, I just want a good, clean, fun story. And so I read a lot of books. Here are a few that I have read these past few months that are really good:

Drops of Gold by Sarah M. Eden

I love this author! But this is one of my favorite by her. If you like Edenbrooke (which of course you do, because everyone likes that book), I think you will like this book. This is a regency book that I had a hard time putting down. I really loved this one. 

A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano

This is a debut novel by a new author. This is a Christian, Regency novel. I was surprised at how charming I found the characters in this book. Definitely a fun read! 

 The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen

This is another Regency book. (I just realized that all of these books are in the Regency era-it's a popular genre right now.) This is also a Christian author, and there is "born again" moment at the end. I like this author and I thought this was one of her better ones. I like reading Christian authors because they are usually so clean. You can actually buy this one at Deseret Book too. 

The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox

Along with reading my scriptures, I like to read a book that helps me understand doctrine better. I find that this enhances my scripture study. This book was a book that I had heard a lot about and for good reason. It really changes the way I view the Atonement. I will probably read this one often. The message is so hopeful.  

So if you come by after 8 pm, you know what I will probably be doing. :)