Back Deck Picnic

These two cuties decided to make their own picnic lunch today.

First Time Sewing

Ashley has been begging to learn to sew.  I finally gave her a lesson.   I gave her a scrap of fabric and some buttons and had her practice sewing them on.  It's how I started Alexis and Emily when they were 6 1/2 or 7 and she loved it, too.  

Little Gardener

We bought a blueberry bush and Ashley has been nurturing it every day.  She waters it faithfully and puts pine needle branches around it to give it nutrients.  She even reads to it daily so it won't get lonely.  I just love this darling little girl and her sweet heart.

We're Expecting!

I do not have a face to see,
Or put inside a frame.
I do not have soft cheeks to kiss.
I don't yet have a name.

Not yet can you hold my tiny hands,
Nor whisper in my ear.
It's still too soon to sing a song,
Or cuddle me so near.

But all that will change come this December;
When they say I am due.
I am your newest baby;
And I can't wait until I meet you!

All I ask between now and then
Is your love for me to grow.
I promise I'll be worth the wait;
Just think of all the joy we'll know!

So as you're waiting patiently,
Please pray lots of prayers for me.
I cannot wait to be a part
Of this wonderful family!

I kept taking these little tests every other day for 2 or 3 weeks, anxiously comparing them to see if they were getting darker.  Thankfully they did and we are so beyond thrilled to be expecting a sweet little baby due on Christmas day!  

Little Mommy and Her Laundry

Little Mommies are very busy.  They have lots of things to do each day.  This little Mommy spent time washing her babies clothing this morning and hanging up on her make shift clothesline.  She had a sweet little helper, holding her baby for her.  

Beautiful Spring Day

After such a rainy week, it was nice to enjoy a beautiful, sunny day! With the help of my children, we accomplished quite a bit today. We spent this morning cleaning out a large cabinet and shelf and moving a few things around. Then this afternoon we added some mulch around the house, dug out some weedy areas, and planted some flowers. By the end, Adam was pretty much covered head to toe in mud from "helping." Of course, there was still time for these two little mommies to take their babies for a walk and for some hunting for a four leaf clover, which they were thrilled to find! We ended the day with popcorn and watching Babes in Toyland.

Dancing Under Waterfalls

This morning, Ashley was pretending to be in a magical land over the rainbow.  After riding unicorns for a while she decided to play under a waterfall.  So she taped strings of yarn to her little pink umbrella and enjoyed pretending to dance in the falling water, with Adam joining in.  She looked so precious, I just had to snap a picture or two.

Ashley Squeaky Sloshy Shoes

Her shoes were SOAKED. She was outside jumping in puddles when I was packing the diaper bag for gym class . I didn't realize how wet they were until about half way there when silent little tears began to roll down her cheeks. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she couldn't run around in gym class in her wet shoes. Thankfully she's got an awesome gym teacher that snapped her right out of the sad face and soon she was running around, sloshing, giggling, and having a blast.

Easter 2015

This year Easter weekend fell on General Conference weekend as well.  Friday we baked treats, dyed eggs, and watched The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town."  Daddy tried a new trick and put Adam's egg in a whisk so he could dye his own egg without the fear he would break it. It worked like a charm!  The kids wrote a letter to the Bunny and left him some carrots and treats.  Emily was up bright and early sitting outside our bedroom door, whispering with Ashley.  It finally hit 7:00 and we all got up.  Excited giggled abound as the kids saw what the bunny wrote back and ran around finding all the eggs he hid.  Then they found their baskets and enjoyed their new treats and little toys.   After a fun morning of hunting eggs and discovering the little surprises in their baskets, we settled down to feast in the words of our dear leaders during General Conference.  We also made cinnamon bunny rolls to enjoy enjoy during conference.  Between sessions we ran off some energy outside playing some fun Easter/Spring games like egg rolling contest and catch the Easter Bunny. (Of course when it was Daddy's turn to be the Easter bunny he snuck into the house and locked us all out.) ;) Then later this afternoon we all enjoyed the second session. I loved the reminders of the focus on families and serving others. On Sunday we got up early and had a little Easter Devotional.  We sang songs and watched the videos on lds.org on the Easter story.  We watched two more sessions of Conference and did some fun activities with our children that focused on Christ and the Resurrection in between/after sessions.  One activity was we hunted eggs outside again with little pictures of Christ inside of them.  We did a craft and had a couple of simple object lessons on the atonement..  It was a beautiful weekend and the Spirit was strong as we celebrated Christ's life along with immersing ourselves in the words of his Prophet and apostles.