Easter party #1

On Saturday, we went with our friends the Courtneys to an Easter extravaganza at the fairgrounds. It was hosted by their old church but was free and open to the public. They had inflateables, a firetruck, McGruff, facepainting, a band, egg hunt, etc. We had to stand in line to get in because you had to register and get armbands for the kids to designate which age group they were supposed to hunt eggs with. (More on that in a minute.) After that, the lines got progressively longer at each thing. The weather was great and the kids were being good, so after standing in line for the picture with the Easter Bunny, we stood in line for face painting. Most of the booths were run by the teenagers from the church. Hayden wanted to be painted like a cat. And the girl painting her face said she couldn't do a cat, she could only do a bunny. In my nice mommy voice, I was like, "how about you paint her nose and give her some whiskers?" She said, yeah I can do that. That's a bunny. Of course Hayden keeps telling me she wants to be a cat. So I have to convince the four year old and the 14 yr old that it can be a cat or a bunny. Hayden got her nose and whiskers and proudly showed off her cat face.

After the face painting, we decided to stand in line at the inflateable obstacle course. Thirty minutes later we get to the front of the line and were told they were shutting down for a little bit so it could reinflate. When the teenagers running the thing realized we weren't leaving, they were a little quicker about getting it inflated. After that line, we stood in line for the giant slide. Thankfully, the dads were already holding a place for us. But has we get closer to the front, Tammy and I realize that there are tons of kids cutting in line. So we go up to the front, and using my nice mommy voice again, I ask the kid running it if he could please watch for the kids cutting in line. He just gave me this glazed over look. So I parked my big butt at the front of that line and put the smack down on any kid trying to cut. The worst part was the parents encouraging their kids to do it. There were some parents that thought I worked there and tried to tell me there were two lines. I, in the most non-confrontational way I could, said, um no their isn't and the end of the line is back there (as I point to the other side of the field.) The dads and kids got back in line to go a second time and Bryan said the line was moving much faster since I was "helping" at the front of the line. I am of the opinion that you should just act like you know what you are doing and people don't ask questions.

They finally had the Easter egg hunt/scramble/grab. The areas were roped of by age groups and eggs were just scattered everywhere. While everyone was waiting around, some kid thought it would be funny to yell go before it was time. So all these kids started running onto the field and it was all over from there. I did feel bad for the kids who missed out.

At this point they hadn't put the eggs out for Taylor's age group. So when it was time for her, all the kids who had missed out, and all the kids who had already hunted eggs came over to that area. It was total chaos.

It reminded me of Walmart the day after Thanksgiving.

This was the first year that this church did this, so they didn't know how many people to expect or how everything was going to turn out. The kids did have a really good time, with minimal whining and the weather was absolutley perfect. So overall, we had a pretty good time.

It finally happened

Hayden finally lost her first tooth last Thursday. My baby is growing up. She has spent the last couple of weeks trying to wiggle it out. And in her words, it finally "just fell out." But of course, the best part was finding that $5 bill under her pillow the next morning. She is already hoping for another tooth to come out because she is saving her money to buy another Webkinz.

One more before I go to bed

I have a ton of Easter pictures to post from our weekend long celebration. But I couldn't wait to post this little video. I have to apologize in advance for my stupidity. I was holding the camera sideways and I don't think there is anyway to change the orientation of a video clip. So you will have to watch this with your head sideways, but it is worth it.

Some families take cute pictures for Easter to show off the new clothes and remember the day. Not us, no, we are way to divalicious for that. Our girls didn't want to just take a picture. They wanted to put on a fashion show. So here it is:

Yes that is the church parking lot. I don't know if you can tell from the video, but they were taking this very seriously. In fact, Hayden informed me that she wants to be a model when she grows up. Too bad she's got the big-girl genes.

World class gymnasts

It was parent's day at gymnastics last Thursday. That just means it is the end of this session, so the parents get to come watch that day. So I finally brought my camera along to catch the girls in action. Hayden is in a class with 3-5 yr. olds. It is small but a little more chaotic becuase they are still trying to figure out that whole listening thing. Taylor and Payton have class after school with 5-8 yr. olds. It is a huge class this session but they still have enjoyed it.

Each class they spend time warming up and working on handstands. Then they rotate between bars, trampoline, mini-trampoline, and floor. They all really enjoy the trampoline. There are different routines for each level. It is always an exciting day when someone moves up to the next level. Taylor and Payton also enjoy the stretching at the end, because they can almost do the splits all they way. The classes aren't rigorous but it sure is an outlet for all their energy.

Thou shalt not steal

Everybody knows that Hayden enjoys getting into her sisters' things while they are at school. And last Tuesday was no different. I hear this strange shaking noise coming from Taylor's room and this is what I found:

Not only was she trying to get gum from Taylor's gumball machine, she was breaking into it to get a penny out to use. And as usual, when she got caught, she went on her merry way like nothing ever happened.

Ever have one of those days...

...when you can't wait for bedtime. I have -- a time or two, or a thousand. Well that was me, several nights ago. I had rushed to get the girls from gymnastics, finish making dinner, help the girls with their homework, then feed the hungry clan so I could meet Tammy at the park. After a sweaty 5.7 miles, I head home, jump in the shower, and get the girls ready for bed. I could hardly make it up the stairs, and all I wanted was to rush this bedtime extravaganza along. It usually involves prayers, a song, and tucking in for each girl. But I was all about skipping the songs for that night. But Hayden begged me for just one song. And also, could I rock her while I sing to her instead of just kneeling by her bed. So, as the phrase "man, I am nice" runs through my head, I haul my 45lb. "baby" into my lap in the rocking chair in her room. She asks for a primary song, then another. I was too tired to get up so I agreed. She wanted to hear "I Love to See the Temple." So I start singing, and she joins in. Then from the other rooms I hear the other girls singing along. It was beautiful. I was tempted to stop singing so I could just hear them. But, I knew if I stopped, they would stop, so I kept on. It was the best 2 minutes of my day. It was one of those moments, when you feel so blessed to be a mom of such great kids. A true tender mercy, for a tired mom.

Here we go again

I know it has been a while since I blogged, but better late, than even later, right? Things are pretty much business as usual around here. School, carpool, laundry, dishes, more laundry, more dishes, cleaning up toys, homework, gymnastics, church, meetings, giving Hayden my undivided attention all day every day, and spending a little quality time together as a family.

Nothing terribly interesting has been going on, so I'll post some pictures I have.

We spent one night a couple of weeks ago playing Apples to Apples Jr. These kinds of games are so much more fun now that Taylor and Payton read well. Anyway, here are the pictures with a little explanation.


Payton was pleading her case for "underwear" being a good match for "flat."

Hayden is pleading her case for "snowflake" being the best match for "flat."

Hayden trying hard not to pout one of the times her card isn't picked. Because guess what whining and pouting gets you when we are playing a game. That's right, a one-way ticket to bed.

Taylor just gives me here best smile anytime I turn the camera on her. I

As usual, Bryan willingly plays along.

I don't remember what day this was, but it must have been a Friday night because the girls are wearing their tiger t-shirts. What a great date-night activity. I am sure Bryan and I played our own game after the girls went to bed...Phase 10. That is usually how we chill in the evenings. I swear, we know how to have a good time.

Aren't they the best?

After we got home from Math Night, I sent the girls upstairs to brush their teeth and get in bed. I told them I would be up in five minutes to tuck them in. This is what I found:
They were all in their jammies, with their teeth brushed, and in bed. Hayden was reading Hop on Pop, Taylor was playing with her doll, and Payton was laying there patiently waiting. I love these girls.

Observation of the day

Hayden: Mom, my crocs and my apple are the same color!

After eating her apple, she told me her teeth hurt. I look in her mouth and see that her bottom two teeth are loose. She is obviously really excited. I told her I was worried that between the 12 teeth Taylor has lost and the 8 teeth Patyon has lost, I don't think the tooth fairy will have any money left for her. But she told me it was okay because the tooth fairy has 152,000 dollars.

I sure am going to miss her next year when she is in Kindergarten.

Speaking of losing teeth, Payton lost her 8th one at school yesterday. She put her little tooth in her tooth box last night and prayed that the tooth fairy would bring her at least $1 because that is all she still needs to be able to buy the baton and pom-pom set at Red Balloon. Well at 4:45 this morning I hear some commotion upstairs, and I run up to make sure everything is OK. Payton was wide awake sitting on her bed counting her money. Her prayers had been answered. The tooth fairy came and now she had more than enough money. I, of course, turned off the light, pointed at the clock and told her to go back to sleep. The best part of this story is that she couldn't go back to sleep in her bed, so she had to get in my bed, where Hayden already had been since 4:00 when Bryan left. So much for me getting back to sleep.

Math Night

We spent the evening at the school for Math Night. Here are a few pictures from the festivities. It wasn't too crowded so we got to do most of the activities on 1st and 2nd grade halls. At each activity, they give you a little take-home packet so you can also play the games at home. All of the halls had an estimation game along with the other activities and Taylor won 2nd place for estimating how many cubes were in the jar on 1st grade hall. She won the book she is holding in the last picture. It was a nice evening that ended with us running by Kidz Klozet for me to pick up my unsold items and my check. It was a whopping $82 baby!!!! That will almost make up for what I spent at Sams yesterday, or Target on Saturday, or Wal-mart today. Man, that money is long gone already.

This game is "Make a 10." It's like memory but instead of matching numbers you are trying to find two numbers that add up to 10. Considering Hayden didn't quite get it, this lasted way longer than necessary.


On this game you predict which picture the spinner will land on the most then spin a bunch of times and tally the results to see if you are correct.

Same kind of "guess where the spinner will land" game.

This game had something to do with rolling dice, adding up the numbers, figuring out how many minutes past the hour it would be on a clock, etc. I'm not exactly sure because Bryan helped Taylor with this one.

The kids had a good time. As much as they enjoyed the games, I think they really enjoy seeing all their friends and teachers outside of the classroom.