Easter 2014

Easter 2014

 

Our four beautiful girls, all dressed up in their Easter best for Church.

It was fun to plan out their outfits. :) I love my sweet Grace's smile. And the babies love to scratch their faces when they wake up (sillies!). :)

(You can't really see it in this picture, but Cambree's blue dress has little white bunnies on it--so cute and Easter-y!)

The best shot we got :)

 

 On the way home from Church, we listened to some of the most recent General Conference talks in the car. As Elder Bednar's talk came on, his words about how Christ has first gone through everything we have or will go through in this life--every pain, sickness, trial, frustration, etc.--really hit me. I've heard this truth before, but somehow hearing that He has gone through it first really struck a chord with me. He's been there. He knows how my life feels. It's so comforting to know that there is One who always truly understands us.

After Church, we went for a little walk around the neighborhood. It was perfect Spring weather!

Then, after our walk, we took a short nap then dyed Easter eggs. This was the Grace and Bethany's first egg-dying experience, and they had a lot of fun!

 

The girls' finished products:

After the egg fun, we all made our traditional Resurrection rolls. It was so meaningful to talk with the girls about the true meaning of Easter (Christ's death and Resurrection: how Jesus' friends put oils (butter) and spices (sugar and cinnamon) on His body, then laid him in the tomb to rest, and how 3 days later He was resurrected and His body was gone (the marshmallow disappeared)) as we made the rolls. Making them is one of our favorite Easter traditions. And this year they were especially yummy!

Then we had a few egg hunts around the house, with Travis and my dad taking turns with Grace at hiding and finding the eggs. They had a great time!

Grace and Bethany got these necklaces in their Easter basket and have had so much fun wearing them around their necks or on their head as a headband. I love my little flower children! ;)

 

And we finished the evening with a yummy Easter dinner (butternut squash lasagna rolls, homemade garlic bread, resurrection rolls, and salad).

 

This Easter, I'm so grateful for my Savior, and that because of Him and His atoning sacrifice, death, and resurrection, I can live with Him and my sweet family (that I love so much) forever.

 Happy Easter!

 

Bunny Fun

This morning, we headed to the bunny event at the Metroparks Farm for some family fun.

 

First up was visiting the bunnies in the barn. The girls loved petting them!

Sitting on the tractor there is always a favorite:

 

"ABCDs!" I love how she says that whenever she sees letters! :)

Coloring some bunnies. The girls LOVE to color!

Of course we had to do the fun photo ops (Grace is drawn to these like moths to a flame).

Corny Grace :)

Caterpillar Cambree, our little love bug:

Grace and Poppy:

After doing all the activities in the barn, the girls got their faces painted.
Honey Bunny Grace:

Flower child Bethany. They both did a great job holding still while their faces were being painted!

Then on to a little story time about a quiet bunny...

...which was in the fabulous play room there at the farm, filled with farm-related toys:

 

Last up was visiting a couple of the barns where the baby animals were:

Grace and the ducklings:

Bethany and Grace LOVED the baby goats, and they loved them!

 

This little goat kept sticking it's head out at Grace:

HUGS! This girl has no fear of animals, just lots of love! :) (She kept saying to the black goat "Wake up! He need wake up!!")

 

"Hi Llama! Hi Llama!!"

 

It was a fun time and a great way to start my birthday celebrations!

I wanna 'nuggle you!

Today, Bethany said to me "I wanna 'nuggle you!" and climbed on my lap to give me a hug. Hugging me, she said "I love 'nuggle you!" "I love to snuggle you too" I said. It melted my heart!

I was holding Kaylee at breakfast when Bethany came over to us. "I wanna 'nuggle her!" she said, then gave her a sweet hug. Then, looking at her closely she said, "You, I love you!" and smiling, hugged her again.

 

Today's Picture:

Daddy-Kaylee snuggles:

Put up your dukes!

This afternoon, I had just laid Cambree down on her blanket to swaddle her up for her nap, when I saw that she held both her hands up in the air, Grabbing and shaking them playfully, I said "Put up your dukes!" then smiled and kissed her face, and she smiled and giggled back. Earlier, I just started saying her name and smiling at her while she was in the bouncer and she smiled, cooed, and giggled. It was so sweet!

I was reading Kaylee a book about mother animals' love for their babies, and she kept reaching for and grabbing my fingers/hand and squeezing them. It completely melted my heart.

Today's pictures:

Snuggling the big girls. I sure do love to cuddle with them!

Bethany's outfit for playing outside this afternoon...

 

...A superhero cape underneath her jacket, a too big winter hat, holding a kid shovel, toilet paper roll, and "light saber" (from Grace's friends' Star Wars birthday party). Oh, that funny girl!

Grace marched around the yard like the leader of a marching band, holding our new pinwheel in the air. It was adorable!

Pretty girl

This morning, I took Grace and Bethany to the store to shop for a present for Grace's friend for his birthday party tonight. Before we went in to the store I asked them "How do we need to act when we're in the store?" Grace responded "We need to stay close to mom." "That's right" I said, then added "And not run." Then she added "And not ask for any toys." I chuckled, because although that last one has never been a rule, it is true that we frequently remind them when we're in a store that we're not buying any toys.

We were watching Dinosaur Train before dinner when the beginning theme song came on. Getting in to it, I loudly sang the final words of the song. Turning to me and giving me "a look", Bethany stuck out her hand, as if to say "Just...stop mom." I couldn't help but laugh.

Early this evening, I asked Grace if I could do her hair up in a special way for her friends birthday party. She agreed and was excited to see her hair in the mirror after I was done. When she looked at her reflection, she said "I look beautiful!" Smiling, I told her "You always look beautiful." After smiling at herself a moment longer, she turned and ran toward me, and giving me a hug, said "Thank you." It was such a sweet moment.

I made Kaylee laugh and laugh today by kissing her tummy over and over. It was so cute. I forgot to write it yesterday, but Trav also made her laugh last night by tickling her under her chin (a ticklish spot for both her and Cambree.)

Exciting news: big girl Cambree rolled on to her side today!

Today's Pictures:

Kaylee babe:

Our pretty Grace girl:

Our best friend Clifford

This afternoon, Bethany was looking at the pictures on the screen saver when she saw a picture of Travis. "Daddy!" she said excitedly, pointing at the screen. Then smiling, she said "That daddy's funny!" and giggled. It was so funny!

Today when we were at the library, they had a special story time that included a visit from Clifford (the big red dog). All the kids were excited to see Clifford, but he instantly became Bethany's best friend. She kept giving him hugs, holding his hand, and hi-fiving him, smiling all the while. It was adorable! Grace liked Clifford too, and also gave him some hugs and hi-fives, but wasn't fooled--she walked up to me after Clifford left the room and said "I don't think that was really Clifford; I think it was someone dressed up like him." Surprised, I replied "You're exactly right, Grace!" Can't pull the wool over her eyes! ;)

Tonight, I was kissing Cambree on the cheek before laying her down when she started giggling. So I kept kissing her and she kept giggling. It was the longest she's laughed yet, and it was so cute!

Today's Pictures:

A sweet lady helping Bethany grab on to the parachute for the parachute activity.

 

Clifford! I KNOW him! :) Giving hugs:

Hi-fives:

More hugs :)

Doing a little impromptu dance. I love my tiny dancer!

After their rest, Grace and Bethany came out of their room with these pom poms stuck down the back of their shirts, completely of their own invention. It was too cute!

Skeleton training

Tonight, Grace took it upon herself to teach Bethany how to scrub herself in the bath. Travis and I were in the front room washing the babies when we overheard her say "Bethany, this is how you make yourself look like a skeleton...first, you take the soap..." Trav and I just looked at each other and laughed.

The girls will randomly break out into singing "Let it go" (from the movie Frozen) these days. It's so cute!

Grace and Bethany have also been in to wearing the princess crown and superhero cape we have lately, and yesterday, Bethany wore them to the grocery store. I was surprised at how little it phased me, so much so that I forgot about it and was surprised when people talked to her or commented about it. :)

Today's Picture:

Bath fun

Tonight, Grace was taking a bath when I went in to find her heavily sudsed from neck to toe. Proud of her accomplishment, she smiled and said "Do I look like a skeleton?" (since I'm so white). It was so cute! She has done a great job of washing herself the past couple months, and we love to see her do big girl things!

Today's Picture:

The post-bath tradition the past several weeks has been for Travis to "swing" the girls in their towel before they dry off. They LOVE it!

 

We also celebrated my dad's birthday today with a special birthday dinner (of alfredo with roasted veggies, salad, garlic bread, and pineapple upside down cake), but unfortunately my camera wasn't working so I didn't get a pic of him blowing out the candles. :( It was fun to be able to celebrate his birthday with him again!

Road Trip To Reading Event

I've had a cold for the past couple days, which has consisted of a scratchy through, runny nose, and cough. When Bethany heard me coughing this morning, she looked at me closely with a sweet, concerned look and said "You ok? You coughing?" It melted my heart to have her worry about me.

Lately, Bethany has started "telling me what's up." She'll start by saying "No, no..." then proceed to gibber jabber on her instructions, pointing her finger at me all the while, and finish her lecture with a "Ok?!" If I understood what she was saying, I might be offended, but for now, it's pretty cute. :)

Today's Pictures:

My mom and I (bravely) packed all the girls up and headed to Fellow's Riverside Garden for a Road Trip to Reading event. It was so great! They had games and crafts set up for the kids...

...and a couple of TV show characters for the kids to meet and take their pictures with (here the girls are with Princess Presto from Super Why, one of their favorite shows).

 

The girls loved playing in the fountains! It was probably their favorite part of the whole event. :)

Grace had a lot of fun putting her hands in the water then "stamping" them on the ground too.

 

The kids also came home with several free books, bouncy balls, trinkets, and coloring pages. It's definitely something we'll go to again!