Zoo Day

We decided to spend the afternoon at the zoo last week on one of the nice days we've had. We ended up meeting up with Aunt Denise and 3 of her children and also Nana. We basically visited the North America section and the reptiles. The highlight for me was the petting section. Ashley LOVES animals and so she was quite thrilled with all the goats. She ran from goat to goat, got right up to their face, and said, "Hi there!" She hugged a couple of goats and "talked" to all of them. After the zoo we went back to Aunt Denise's house to play and eat dinner.

Springtime Play

We've had some beautiful Spring days recently. Here's some pictures from one of the first nice ones we had around St. Patrick's Day. The children have loved getting out into the sunshine and playing. We've even been taking our studies outside to enjoy and Alexis has enjoyed practicing Spelling and Math on the driveway with sidewalk chalk.

Mommy Daughter Days

Every so often Don or I will take just one older child out on a special Mommy or Daddy/ Daughter Day.  (We haven't done it with Ashley, yet, since she's still a bit young to appreciate it.)  I really love spending this one on one time with them.  This time was my turn. I took Alexis first. She wanted to go to the park first. When we got their she just wanted to cuddle up next to me on the playground bench and talk. We talked and talked and had some really sweet conversations. Afterwards we walked over the ice cream shop and got some ice cream.

The next day I took Emily out.  We also went to the park and we talked.  We also played Peter Pan and kept running away and hiding from an imaginary Captain Hook.  :)  Afterwards we also got ice cream, and as you can tell from Emily's smile, she got chocolate.  :)  I don't know what I'll do when the day finally comes when this child can eat desert without getting it all over her face, but I'm guessing I'll probably have to wipe away a tear or two.  ;)

St. Patrick's Day

This St. Patrick's Day we had great time, as a family.  We started the day by dressing in green.  We even got Ashley's hair into little pigtails with green twisties, which was the first time we've really been able to get her hair into pigtails.  She has such thin hair and not much of it, that she still has that baby look, which I'm certainly not complaining about.  ;)  She looked pretty cute in little pigtails, though. 

We learned a little bit about Ireland and the origin of St. Patrick's Day during the day.  The girls also made these cute windsocks during the day and we hung them up on our back deck.

Then in the afternoon the girls helped me make a cute St. Patricks Day cake.

Aunt Becca went shopping earlier and bought them all sorts of fun green stuff to wear. 

That evening after dinner, we played some St. Patricks Day games.  We played hide the shamrock and the girls also got to find a pot of gold - Hershey's kisses, that is.  We played, "Leprechaun, Leprechaun who has your shamrock?" and a relay race where we had to drop gold coins into an egg carton.

We ended the evening by cutting into our lovely cake and watching "Darby O'Gill and the Little People".

Park at Grandma and Grandpa's

We visiting at my parent's home for a few days last week. The girls all enjoyed playing with Grandma and Grandpa, getting treats, having movie parties and tea parties, and the beautiful Spring weather. We went to the park more than once and they all loved being able to play outside in the 60 degree temperatures. We discovered Ashley truly loves dogs. While at the park she saw a little dog and ran right up to it and before anyone could stop her she wrapped her arms around it and gave the puppy a big kiss. Luckily the puppy loved her as much as she loved him. :) Another time at the park she was insistent on playing basketball with some high schoolers. She tried so hard to get through the gate and finally she found the door and started to run in, before I scooped her up. She begged, "Ball? Please?" I told her she couldn't play ball with them because she was too little. She went over to the gate and shook it a little and said, "Oh, man!" :)

Cozy Winter Days

I'm one of those strange people who love winter.  It's my favorite season.  I know it's cold outside, and I must admit even I had my share of snow there for a while.  (Although to be honest, I wouldn't mind one more good snow.)  What I love about winter is the coziness.  Since we homeschool, we don't have to be out of the house early every morning, which is why, I guess, the cold doesn't bother me as much.  I love homeschooling in the winter.  Much of the time you'll find us in our pajamas cuddled up with blankets, with the warm, pleasant aroma of something baking in the oven, doing our studies on the living room couch or floor.  It's just cozy and relaxing to me.  Alexis and Emily like playing Wii several times a week and I got this cute picture of them cozy under a blanket, cuddled up together playing Wii.  Spring will bring different pleasures, but I will miss winter's coziness. 

Playing in the Snow in Pajamas

My sister, Rachel, was in visiting for a couple of weeks with her two children and we got plenty of more snow while they were here.  The kids went outside several times and played, but one morning we decided to bring the snow inside to them for a treat.   So I got some empty containers and went outside and filled them with snow.  We added a few waterproof toys and they all had a blast.  They played for a long time, only stopping for a couple of minutes here and their to warm their little hands.  ;)  The best part was there was no tons of snow clothes to deal with and clean up was a breeze - just dump the melted snow down the sink! 

Dressing Up

Lately, Ashley has been wanting to play dress up like her big sisters.  She has two different dresses/skirts she tends to go for.  One is a pink skirt with sequins all over it and one is this blue checked jumper.  I actually had it as a little girl when I dressed up as Dorothy one Halloween.  It was in the memory boxes I saved so I passed it down to the girls to use for dress up.  This one particular day she put it on first thing in the morning and then wore it all day until her nap.  I told her it was nap time so she slid it off and climbed upstairs.  Then as soon as she woke up she went right to the playroom and got it and put it on again.  :)