Vanisi Visit

A couple of weeks ago my sister and her family were able to come visit. They had to come to California for other reasons and we were lucky to be near enough to have them for a few days.

Waf has a magnetic quality about him (much like Santa) that draws kids to him. We went to a scrimmage of Ty's one night and Waf had probably 10 kids in a near-by baseball field running around him, being swung by him and clamouring for his attention.

The weather was nice for us and awesome for Suzanne and family who left the never-ending snow of March. We walked around the ponds a few times and loved being outside.

This is Leki in the Lupine. I was amazed how much Leki had grown in such a short time. He turned 4 in December and is taller than Ellie!

This picture makes me laugh. Carter was throwing a MAJOR fit and had thrown himself on the ground kicking and screaming. It was just Suzanne, Enos, Carter and I on this walk. I told Suzanne, "Let's just keep walking and let him throw his fit." We got to talking, looked back and both boys were as content as can be... putting sand and rocks on their head. Still haven't found that magic solution to the Carter fits yet. Maybe I should carry rocks and sand in my purse.

Carter and Enos had, by far, the best time. They are about 9 months apart and T-R-O-U-B-L-E together. It will be interesting watching them through out life. They loved playing together then would start fighting over a toy. Then would forget about it and go back to being best friends.

We loved having them for a visit and are excited to see them again when baby Aisea arrives!

Easter outfits

Easter outfit pictures. They didn't turn out as clear as I would have liked, still working on my photography skills.

Look how big this girl has gotten! Her dress was a fun find with lots of sparkles and twirls wonderfully (not sure her primary teacher liked that as much as she did...). No I didn't make it (stop laughing, somebody might have wondered) but I did get it for a great deal!

Just cute - she loves having her picture taken and loves wearing new clothes. Her outfit was completed by the rubber pink rain boots she insisted on wearing.

Ty wanted a whole new suit but the price tag made me snort. Let's talk when you're 12, buddy. Looks good in his pants that are actually long enough to hide the (of course) white ankle socks he wears to church because his black ones are always missing. This kid is all legs and smiles.

Suzanne gave us a bag of clothes from her in-laws and there was a 3 piece tux in it. SCORE! How funny is this? The picture is blurry but it is good enough because, unlike his siblings, DOES NOT like to get his picture taken. In fact to hold still is against Carter code at all, so after the 5th attempt this one was just the way we like it. The hair completes it. Oh he's just so dang cute!

These pictures make my heart happy. Not one of the many I took has them all smiling at the same time but I've come to realize just how okay I am with that. I know how blessed we are to have four distinct, darling, funny personalities and it is enough!

Easter then more to come

I'm a little behind with all the pictures and adventures so I'll start with Easter weekend. The Saturday before Easter the Easter Bunny comes (we wrote a letter to him years ago to try and keep Christ-centered on the actual Easter day). We were woken up by little whispers of "Mom! Papa! I think the Easter bunny came! WAKE UP!" After the hunt we had breakfast and colored eggs, and fingers.

Later we found Carter eating all the Easter candy out of the buckets while sitting on the table.

Spring - in full force!

Mom came to visit for a fun-filled weekend. She says it was because I was homesick (which may be true) but I think it was just to get out of the cold and see the flowers. What ever the reason I'm glad she came!

Tyler attended his FIRST Pinewood Derby for Scouts. His car took second in his Pack so he got to go to Regionals today. How did nobody mention Pinewood Derbys take 3 hours?! He had a great time but we were D-O-N-E by the time it was over. His car is the on on the far left.

Baseball practice started. I didn't actually get a picture of Ty practicing yet, that will come. However, these are Carter's WHITE socks after finding a mud puddle. I don't know if there is an internal radar or just some sort of 6th sense with this kid...

Soccer also started for Ellie. This picture is at her first game, you can tell how excited she is! This girl loves life!

(Just a side-note: her practice and Ty's practice are at the exact same date and time... in different towns. Also the same night as Scouts and Achievement Days. And Relief Society. AAAANNNNNDDDD Mutual just to make it interesting to find a sitter those days Dee is out of town. )

Like I said, Spring is here. Time to get out and walk the monkey on cold days...

Or ride into the sunset (moon-set?) on warm days!

Snowboarding and Spring

One of the cool things about living where we are is we don't get snow. The other cool thing is just an hour north there is a ski resort. Dee took Tyler and McKenna for a day of snowboarding. They had lessons in the morning and cruised all afternoon. They had so much fun (even if they could hardly sit or stand the next day). They were waaayyyyy too hot as soon as the sun came up over the mountain (Dee said that was the weirdest thing about skiing in California) and shed most of their warm clothes. However, they had a great time!

Second to post about is the ending of Winter. Living here in NorCal doesn't provide terrible Winters like our previous lives elsewhere. However, there is still something magical about blooming trees, flowers popping up and that green-green Spring grass that makes getting outside FANTASTIC!





And last, but not least, my favorite hat of Carter's we found at a garage sale.



SCORE!

The quilt and the need to complete something

As a stay at home mom my job is never done. Dishes, laundry, cleaning anything will all have to be done again tomorrow. Usually this is just an acceptable part of my job but occasionally I will find a great need to actually complete something that will stay done.

I decided to pull out those old jeans I've been saving to do a denim quilt. I looked up the instructions online and TAAA DAAAA! A completed project! It took me a good week longer than I had anticipated since I only worked on it during my small helper's nap time. Also Dee jumped in and helped tie and stitch during the last stages. (You'll notice the pliers in his picture.) What an awesome guy!

So, there you have it. A completed project that I am happy about. Guess I'll go fold the laundry.

TAA DAA!

Candy obsession - and recipe to boot

There are a couple candy obsessions in our family. Cadbury mini-eggs are at the top of the list. Also chocolate in various forms. Mike and Ikes and jelly-bellies (especially pear mmmmmm). My sister in law's favorite that I've been introduced to (just add it to the list!) are chocolate covered cinnamon bears. Imagine my delight and I'll admit, a little drool, when I discovered this recipe on a website. The pictures alone are worthy of licking the computer screen.

We just might try making these for Valentine's Day. I'll let you know how they turn out. Wish you were here to taste test, Amber!

http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/2010/01/chocolate-covered-cinnamon-bears.html