Easter at Grandma's New House

Nick's parents were able to get moved into their new house for Easter and wanted to celebrate it right, so we headed over for a big Easter party. The girls had a blast. On Saturday we all enjoyed a delicious Easter dinner, egg fight, egg dying, and of course, egg hunt. It was wonderful.







Sunday morning was really fun. The Easter bunny set up a scavenger hunt throughout the house and left the baskets up in the playroom. The girls, including their cousin Cass, ran through the house after the clues. It was a very fun morning.


Mom's favorite was getting them all dressed up in their pretty dresses. I just love dots. They make me smile. I sure love these girlies.



I thoroughly enjoyed being able to relax a bit on Easter. Usually it is so hectic that we forget what Easter is all about. I am very proud of my Emma. She kept reminding us about our Savior and what Eater is really for. We are so blessed to have a special day to remember Him and all he has done for us. I feel his love for me and my family daily.

Fieldtrip

Ashlyn's preschool went to a nursery for a fieldtrip. Ash had so much fun and even got to plant her own little pansy flower to bring home.


The girls have always loved the pond feature in the back at this nursery. The bridge and the fish are a must see there. No wonder the smiley faces. Oh, and yes. The rosey cheeks are due to 5ths disease. Both girls have had it. It didn't bother them, but they certainly looked merry and then blotchy. Sorry to anyone we unknowingly shared it with. It's apparently just one more of the fun joys of kids. Let's just focus on the smiles and not the cheeks, right? After all, I can't help but think my girls are stinkin' cute.

Happy Birthday Ashlyn

My baby turned 4 this year. Believe me, it has been bitter sweet. She is growing into such a sweet, wonderful little girl. She's beginning to grow out of the tantrums and is so pleasant to be around. Ashlyn loves to play. She has in incredible imagination and is happy with almost anything to play with. Yes, even two tubes of "lips" (aka chap stick or lip gloss) can become best friends in her pretend games. Her all time favorite is playing with Emma. They have so much fun together. She's still quite strong willed and does things her way 90% of the time, so we have to be rather creative ourselves to get her to do things at times. But who said parenting this child would be boring? Ashy, you are a sweetheart. We love you dearly and are very, very blessed to be your parents.


To start the day off right, I decorated the house the night before. Ashy was in heaven when we woke up to streamers all over. It was so cute. She was a perfect birthday girl.
She also wanted to have a Sleeping Beauty party this year, so we invited a couple of friends over and had a pajama party. I even painted their beautiful nails. Then we decorated cupcakes and opened presents. It was short, sweet, and fun. Everyone had a great time, especially the birthday girl.

Soccer!

Emma is playing soccer this year. It's quite hilarious. She spends most of her time chasing the rest of the kids, but she's starting to get in there more and has started to actually get some kicks in. Mostly we just love to watch her having fun. She gets on the field and always grins from ear to ear the entire time. Go EMMA!


Playing spring soccer in south-eastern Idaho isn't always warm. We've played in wind, rain, and snow. Emma doesn't care. She just grins and runs.


And I love this little sister. She's a trooper and loves watching her sister.

Drawing for a Free Photo Session

Drawing for a free photo session from L photography in Rexburg. Check out her website http://www.lindseymarlorphotography.blogspot.com/ for details.

Puppy!

Nick and I have talked about getting a puppy since we got married. Now that Ashlyn is almost four, we figured it was a good time. I wanted something that could be an indoor-outdoor dog so that it would get the attention it needed. That meant we needed something that wasn't too big and didn't shed a lot. When I found pictures of this little guy, I fell in love. He is adorable. He is a cockapoo (or a spoodle) - a cocker spaniel poodle cross. This means he should be about 15-17 lbs, doesn't shed much, and should have low dander. His fur is incredibly soft.


The girls absolutely love him. Even Ash likes him. We're just having her how to treat him. She's a bit happy about having something smaller than her to boss around.

At the end of a busy day, he loves to curl up in my lap to sleep. I rather enjoy it.
He found my nephew's binky and apparently really liked it.

There have been pros and cons. I've never had a puppy before, and I'm doing my best to help him be a good dog. When we first got him, he got really sick. He was throwing up and had really bad diarrhea. Fun stuff, right? I took him to the vet to make sure he didn't have parvo or some other virus or bacteria. He tested all right, but it took him well over a week to start eating well. He got pretty skinny.

On top of that, we're all getting used to having a puppy around. He's HYPER in the mornings and evenings, which adds a bit of awkwardness to those already busy times of day. We're also trying to figure out some discipline methods. After reading up a bit, we're all learning. Hopefully with time he'll be the perfect addition to our family.

With that, if anyone does have any pointers, I'd love to hear them. Wish us luck!

Nickles!

Before being a parent, I had no idea about the power of a nickle. They work for everything from awards to bribery. Our latest nickle use had proved to be quite beneficial. A couple of months ago we initiated using nickles at dinner. We've always had a lack of manners at the dinner table, so here's how we are remedying our problem.

Before dinner starts, everyone gets three nickles. If you catch someone using bad manners, they have to put one of their nickles back in the bowl. Catching Mom and Dad is a special treat (also a great way to exaggerate kids' bad manners). Everyone gets to keep the nickles left at the end of dinner. Mom and Dad's usually go back into the bowl for another day.

The only problem we've had so far is Ashy refusing to give up a nickle and often hiding them. But they both think now about using good manners. In fact, tonight, when Emma spoke with food in her mouth, she caught herself twice and gave up nickles without any prompting. And at meals when we choose not to use them, we often hear, "You would have lost a nickle over that." It's been fun and a special treat to go buy something with saved up nickles. Everyone wins.