Easter Excitment

Spring is such a fun time of year. Especially anxiously awaiting the arrival of Easter. To pass the time we made decorations and many special treats together. These chick nests were one of the kids favorites. I gave the kids each a blob of Rice Krispies and let them create their own nest for their chick and eggs. Jena loved it and dove right in, Taylor didn't really like getting sticky so she recruited my help and Cody just wanted to eat instead of create, but that's okay because mommy really wanted to make most of them anyway :)

The morning of Easter brought pillow pets and lots of candy. Jena has been begging for a unicorn pillow pet for quite a while and was absolutely thrilled... Cody was thrilled about the chocolate. Then we set off for church to remember the true purpose of Easter, celebrating Jesus Christ.

When we returned home the kids were a little confused. They had enjoyed church and their baskets and treats, but wasn't there suppose to be an egg hunt too. We sent them looking all over the house for the eggs and then they realized they were hidden in the backyard. Dozens of eggs later, they were very satisfied.

Oh, how we love to celebrate special occasions!

Live Ladybugs and Butterflies

Ever since I was a little kid, this has been on my to-do-list when I had my own kids... We ordered caterpillars and lady bug larva and watched them transform into butterflies and lady bugs. For the kids there were some slow parts in the middle, but they were really excited when the insects came, when they started forming the chrysalides and of course, when they started emerging. After all that time and waiting, we finally released the little guys into the world. We will definitely do this again.

School Open House

The other night I took all the kids to the annual school open house. Taylor loved showing me the different stations set up and all the art projects she had made. She and Jena colored pictures, read books with friends, swung on the swings and ran around as crazily as they could, because hey, that's what everyone else was doing too :) Taylor was also excited to see a picture slide show and pointed out the picture where she was holding a snake. Taylor loves going to school and can't wait until she goes everyday like Jena. I'm so grateful for her wonderful teachers that made her first year truly memorable!

Jena was mostly excited to see all her friends twice in the same day. She couldn't wait for us to see how well she does on the monkey bars. She is very serious about them and often comes home with blisters on her hands, but even blisters only keep her away for a few days. Jena loves doing creative projects. Her favorite thing is getting glue, crayons & paper and creating whatever comes to her mind. That's why her favorite time at school is "choice time" where she can choose her own project. Jena loves going to school and learning new things, but even more than that she loves her teacher and all her friends!

Love the Swing!

Sometimes when he was a baby I would let him fall sleep in the swing and just rock and rock... Apparently as a bigger boy it still can have the same affect!

Off To The Zoo!

We figured we needed to get out and do something just for the kids. We haven't been to the Santa Barbara Zoo since Cody was born and Ryan figured it would be the perfect place to go. We told them we had a surprise, but it would take a little time to get there. At one point Jena said she thought we were going to the beach, but changed her mind once she saw the "Zoo" sign. That little smartie!

This is such a great little zoo. The kids love being able to walk around and only jump into the stroller when they need a little rest. Jena liked seeing the snow leopard, wild cat and the lions (yes, she is my daughter!) Taylor liked feeding the giraffe and watching the elephant grab food out of the container high above his head and then eat it. She thought it was really funny. Cody liked running around and eating a churro. He also liked making animal noises when he saw certain animals... like roar and bock.

But as exciting as the animals are... everyone needs a little break at the kids play ground.

They climbed...

and slid down the hill... Jena surfed/snowboarded down...

and played in the rope web!

What a perfect break from our regular life and a GREAT way to spend the day! We love the ZOO!!!

CHOCOLATE MILK!!!

Usually I make this little guy drink out of a sippy, but since there were a few leftover boxes from Taylor's party I figured why not give the boy what he wants :) And he couldn't be happier with chocolate milk all over his head!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt!

Taylor just turned four years old and we decided to celebrate it with a "Going On A Bear Hunt" Party. We kept it small with only two other families, but we still managed to have nine kids between the three families. It was our favorite party so far and it was so much smoother with all the extra parents around.

We started by making bear necklaces. We had foam bears with each kids name on them and then they were able to add colorful beads to the strings. After that, Ryan very energetically read the book "Going On A Bear Hunt." Our kids love this book so much. Cody was literally bouncing to the rhythm. After that we went on a bear hunt of our own. We went through tall wavy grass... green crepe paper taped across a door opening. A deep cold river... a blue tarp folded to look like it had waves.

Thick oozy mud... a wet sandbox.

A big dark forest... a little detour through the bushes and trees in our yard. A swirly whirly snow storm... walking through bubbles from the bubble maker. A narrow gloomy cave... a black tablecloth draped over a door opening. And then...

It's a bear!!! After they each found their bear, everyone was able to dress up like a bear. I made face masks out of stiff felt for everyone, colorful tutus for the girls and fleece scarves for the boys. Then we had food, cupcakes and ice cream while the kids ran around in the backyard. I found a game online called "Mr. Bear Are You Sleeping?" One person is the bear and they pretend to be sleeping. Then everyone says "Mr. Bear are you sleeping" and then takes a step or two closer to the bear. They keep saying it until they are close and then when the bear wants he/she growls and chases everyone until he tags the next person to be the next bear. The kids really liked that one. The party ended with a few rounds of Bear Bingo with gummy bears as the place markers.

We had such a great time and can't believe our little girl is getting so big!
Happy Birthday Tay! We love you!