The new kid in town

Joe has come to be known for his curly hair. Everyone loves it. It kind of has defined him for the past couple of years.

Well, not any more! Joe got a haircut on Thursday--perfect for Summer, and perfect for a little boy who is growing up! He is so cute, but I am afraid I might lose him in a crowd for the next little bit. I also might have a few people mad at me. We'll see how it goes!

Turn off TV week!

We are currently at the tail end of National Turn Off Your TV Week. It's not anything I would ever know about if it wasn't for the kid's school. Their elementary school always encourages the kids to participate, and those that come in with their signed contracts on Monday will get to go in to visit the librarian and pick out a brand new book. How special is that?

Our family has been participating for the past few years, and I think this year it has been the greatest experience yet! The kids have been fantastic about not even thinking of watching TV. We have had lots of reading time, play time, outside time, and TONS of Lego time!

As for books, David has read nearly 3 Goosebumps books. Alexis finished Little House on the Prairie, and Lily started and finished the New Testament Reader! Hooray for all of their efforts! The reading has definitely been fantastic, but my favorite part of the weeks has been watching the kids play Legos.

Joe is suddenly fascinated with Legos. Honestly, 90% of the the school day Joe is sitting and building with Legos. He creates some cute things and is getting more and more creative every day. We went and bought some more of the basic Legos during the week to help the joy spread a little farther. Of course, the new Legos led to a few hours of arguments, but once the threat of losing all of them for the rest of the week was realized, all behavior was much improved!

We've got one more day of no TV. I know the kids are looking forward to watching a few of their favorite shows again, but I definitely think we have rediscovered the fun in the house without the TV on, and we will be able to keep it off more. At least for a while.

Heat Wave

We have had some unseasonably warm weather lately, and it has given the kids the idea that it is suddenly swimming season! It has definitely been hot enough outside to swim, but the pool is still chilly! Of course, when does a little thing like water temperature stop kids from getting wet and having fun?

Continued crafting...

We've finished another project in Alexis's bedroom. We made these rather cute bulletin boards! Next project is to paint her mirror black and decide if we are going to paint her desk as well. Right now it is brown and has a bit of the "weathered" look to it, but we got it off Freecycle and it has lots of potential!

"I'm SO clever!", says Evie

Evelyn is just growing up! Sometimes I can't believe how big she is now. Definitely not a baby, though Joe would argue that fact for wuite a long time. It is such fun to watch her learn a grow, but with the growth always comes those funny moments...

I had leftover M&Ms from Easter and I didn't want to end up eating the entire bag on my own, so I decided to make cookies with them. After making the dough, I decided I didn't want to take the time to make a bunch of cookies, so I made cookie bars instead. The kids really enjoyed them.

One day I walked in on Evie helping herself. Apparently mom left the bag of cookie bars too close to the edge of the counter...I forget how tall and sneaky she is getting! Evie was certainly grateful for my forgetfulness, however!

Say "Cheese", PLEASE!!!

I told the kids the night before Easter that all I wanted Sunday morning was for everyone to get up, get ready, let me take a few photos of the kids in their nice easter outfits, and then they could play until it was time to go to church. Everyone agreed.

Until Sunday morning came around.

Some of the kids were cooperative. Some weren't. No one ended up lasting long enough to stand together for a photo.




















We tried the following Sunday for a group photo. Of course, Lily was too cold and the only way Evie would stand still was with a pad of stickers in her had, but at least she stood there!

Happy Easter!

The kids had a great time dying eggs the night before Easter. Typically we do it a little earlier in the week, but this is when we finally got around to it!


Lily somehow missed the instructions on taking the egg out with a spoon!


Alexis


David


Joe


Mom helping Evelyn


Lily

When all the eggs were decorated, the kids all showered up and then dad hid the eggs. He wanted to get the kids together to take a "before" photo, and they were so excited they couldn't hold themselves or their baskets still! At least it made for a few funny photos.







A few photos from Easter Sunday (they got their baskets after church)


Evie crashed on the way home from church

Spring Break, part 2

Thursday morning rolled around and it was a bit rainy and dreary, so we decided to head to Chuck E. Cheese to play and have fun indoors. It always amazes me how much fun the kids can have there. Perhaps that is because we only go 2-3 times a year. The older kids get to run around and play games, while Ez is in charge of keeping an eye on Joe and I get to keep Evie happy. Afterward, we headed to Panda Express (anothe family favorite) for lunch.

It was hard to get photos because everyone was moving around everywhere, but I managed to grab a few, mostly of Joe and Evie.


Ez helping make sure Joe's shots made it into the net to ensure maximum ticket retrieval


Ez and Joe


The Barney ride was Evie's favorite of the day. It got lots of our tokens!


A happy little lady


On Friday we met Grandma Jane nice and early in Davis at IHOP and had a bite to eat, then Lily and Joe left with her for a fun date and sleep over. Ez, Alexis, David, Evie, and I went bowling. A bit later we split up--Ez and David went to the movies to see Return to Witch Mountain and the Alexis, Evie and mom went out shopping and to dinner. It was another fun day!

Saturday we played, relaxed, and dyed easter eggs.

We were so greatful to have the chance to spend such a fun week together. We had lots of great moments together, and built lots of special memories! Plus, we ate out far more than we EVER do, so we had happy, stuffed bellies by the end of the week as well!

Spring Break, part 1

We had a great Spring Break! It was fantastic because Ez had the week off along with the kids, so it gave us the chance to really play and have fun together. The initial stress was that mom had jury duty on Monday and Tuesday, so we weren't sure how fun the week would be at first. Luckily, she wasn't needed!!

On Monday and Tuesday we played at home, rented movies, played games, that sort of thing.

On Wednesday we drove in to Sacramento and went to Old Sac. We visited the Train Museum and then had fun snacking on candy at Candy Heaven. It is a fun candy store where you can sample the taffy and the candies with a certain color label on them while you are shopping. So you can get a quick sweets fix while filling your basket. We got lots of fun candy and were sugared out quickly. Then we headed to The Old Spaghetti Factory (a family favorite) for dinner.


Alexis, Daivd, Joe, Evie, and Lily


David


Joe


Lily listening about the train


Alexis


Evie playing at the Thomas the Train area


Alexis and Evelyn


Alexis, Lily, and Evelyn waiting outside Candy Heaven while dad pays for all that sugar!

New hair

Alexis has been wanting side bangs for a long time now. I finally took her the other week to get a hair cut. She had them cut off about 2 inches and then give her some side bangs. We think they are cute, but are still playing with them to get them the way we like them. I think we need them a bit longer, and maybe a bit thicker. Who knows. I am not a hair dresser. We need Aunt Meagan to come visit us and give us some great style! They are fun for Alexis, though!

General Conference

General Conference was the first weekend in April. We really enjoy spending the weekend as a family learning and growing. I am always impressed by how much the kids are willing to listen and all the things they learn.

The kids all did a great job listening. Alexis, David, and Lily listened to all 4 sessions! Joe got through about 3 pretty well, but for Joe that is an accomplishment in and of itself! Sunday morning we pulled out the fun conference packets that the kids love to do each year, and they had fun listening and doing a few quiet activities.


Alexis and Lily working together


David


David made some yummy nachos for a snack


Alexis enlisting dad for a bit of help