Abby's 5th Birthday

Our sweet, spunky Abigail turned 5!  This child is my 'everything girl'.  She's extremely smart, naughty, sweet, clever, mischievous, hilarious, etc.  I'm not sure how so much personality can be packed into one little body!  She really colors life!

I came across a bunch of old party decorations that I'd forgotten about, so I surprised her with decorations on the morning of her birthday.

She had a super fun day.  First, I told the kids that I needed to run an errand.  We drove to the Y where I signed up for a membership AND surprised the kids by staying to swim.  On our way home, we picked up their Book IT! pizzas.

That evening we had a dinner of her choice (tacos), ice cream, presents, and we watched a new movie big screen style (with our projector and speakers).

Two days later she had a friend party. 

I'm not someone who makes cute food, so I was pretty proud of these cupcakes!

 

 She was SO excited for this pinata!

These funny glasses were the #1 thing Abby wanted in the pinata. They really fit her personality!

April

My littlest ones sure enjoy their bathtime.

"I pooped again!"

Mmm...chocolate!

Little miss charming...

I can't get enough of this sweet baby.

We got new couches!  Our old ones were being held together by a 2x4, cardboard, modpodge, and lots of sloppy stitching.  It took a while to get used to seeing these in our living room; they looked way too nice to be in OUR house.  Ha ha!

I have a child that really likes to pose for the camera.  :)

Splatter, splatter, everywhere!  On the ceiling, on the chair!  On the rug and in girls' hair! (And also on walls, cupboards, every kitchen appliance, and throughout the fridge.) This was a gallon of smoothies.  I was almost as sad that my breakfast was ruined as I was that I had such a mess to clean up. Clean up *only* took two hours. And when I went to put the little girls in the tub (this mess had POURED over them), I stripped Laurel's diaper withouth checking first and had a nasty surprise.  I told her to stay put while I searched for wipes, but (of course!) she followed me while her bottom dripped through the house.  SO. MUCH. FUN.

Laurel fell asleep in the car with a toy in her mouth.  Ha ha!

I dislike cooking, so we eat a lot of the same things over and over.  I had to take a picture one night when I made something new and delicious.  We had chicken tacos with guacamole and mango salsa.  Yum!

This is my daily go to: smoothies.  I tend to dump whatever fruits and veggies I have on hand into them.

The weather finally warmed up, so the kids have been outside constantly!  These pictures don't do justice, but Laurel was COVERED in dirt.

The kids decided that Brig needed to enjoy the sunshine, too, so they took him out.  When I went to check on them, they were pulling him around in the wagon like this.

Some Daddy story time.

This girl had me up literally every half hour one night.  Guess who was tired by mid morning?

Aaand...she's out!

I found a gruesome crime scene in the garage one day.  The kids left the freezer partially open and I had some shredded beets thaw and leak.  It look like thick blood!

A little light reading...

We escaped!  Last month, we went to an escape room with a group of friends.  It was a really fun night!

Annie and Logan Sing Gethsemane

For Easter, Annie and Logan learned a new song and shared it on youtube.  It was really fun learning it with them!

Annie and Logan sing Gethsemane

Easter

We had a fabulous Easter this year!

On Friday we participated in an annual egg hunt with friends, then we dyed Easter eggs that night.

We tried the rice with food coloring method and it worked great!  Our eggs took to the dye much better than the traditional method, it was less messy, faster, and more of an active process.

They only waited long enough for me to take pictures before they peeled and ate ALL of the eggs.

Easter fell on General Conference this year, so we were blessed to enjoy a lovely spiritual weekend. 

We're pretty simple with Easter baskets, but we enjoy the tradition.  This year the kids received breakfast snacks (juice, applesauce, granola bars, and something I'm forgetting...), flip flops, and dresses or ties.  We hid Annie's and Logan's baskets REALLY well this year.  It'll be hard to top next year!

After watching the final Conference sessions, we had a special family devotional.  I set the table with our nice dishes and set out special foods that we thought might be similar to what people in the New Testament might have eaten or things that were mentioned in the New Testament.  We had grapes, grape juice, olives, fish, soft cheese, and multigrain crackers (in lieu of flatbread because of our allergies).  I also set our oil lamps on the table, lit them, and turned out the lights.  (I wish I'd taken a picture of the table!)  We reverently passed around the food and explained why we chose each item.  Then, when everyone had some of everything, Jim read from the scriptures about the life, Atonement, and resurrection of Jesus.  We ended with giving everyone the opportunity to bear their own witness (testimony) of the Savior.  The kids were very reverent through the whole thing, and it was an uplifting spiritual experience for us all.  We ended the night by watching The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd.

Showing off their Easter clothes.

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We gave Annie a beautiful hair clip for her birthday, and this was the first chance she had to wear it.

Annie is taller than Logan now!

Annie's 10th Birthday

Annie turned 10!  She is turning into such a beautiful mature young lady.  She's a huge help to me and such a good big sister.

For her birthday, we had a friend party and a family celebration.  Her friend party was the biggest party we've ever done!  Our ice arena does $1 skating during spring break, so we reserved the use of a locker room and allowed her to invite as many friends as she wanted.  We ended up having 19 kids on ice skates (including mine)!  Several of her friends hadn't skated before, but they were all super brave and had a great time.  I'm always impressed by what great kids my kids are friends with.  We're very fortunate that they know such nice kids!  Even though it was the biggest party we've ever done, it was actually super easy.  I only had to make dessert beforehand.  Then it was just a matter of tying lots of skates and letting them make their own fun. 

Abby did great on skates this year!  (We went several days during spring break.)

Abby eventually let go of the wall and skated on her own. 

Birthday parties and ice skating are exhausting!

On the day of her birthday we celebrated with a family dinner, treats, and presents.  She had a church activity that night, so we let her choose a family movie the previous night.