April 21

Today is Earth Day and I wanted to do something to commemorate it with Makenna. We decided to make an earth by taking crayon shavings and melting them between two pieces of wax paper with the iron. It was a fun project and turned out really neat. After dinner we also made earth rice krispy treats.

April 20

Ahhh.. boxes have overtaken my life once again. The next couple weeks will be spent furiously trying to get ready to move. We've already started packing up non essential items and will start moving in a couple of weeks. It's SO inconvenient but we are excited about our new house!

April 19

Another rain storm and the kids were playing outside in it while Allen grilled our dinner. They were trying to stay dry but catch rain on their tongues at the same time.

April 18

Tonight the kids were so quiet while I was making dinner. I turned the corner from the kitchen to see what they were doing and found them nestled in a little bed with all their blankets and pillows. Surprisingly they laid there and played for quite awhile.

April 17

Today a big storm rolled through here and we couldn't help but open the windows and enjoy the fresh rain scent and then took a walk after it stopped raining. Makenna loves her umbrella and loved walking through the puddles and mud.

April 16

This is hands down our favorite summertime meal. It's a salad that I got the recipe for a couple of years ago and we LOVE it. It's a Jamie Oliver recipe for Asian Noodle Salad. Healthy and delicious and even my kiddos love it.

April 15

Just another reason to love Trader Joe's is their fresh flower bouquets. Their flowers are beautiful and SO affordable and they last for a really long time. This gorgeous bouquet has been sitting on my table for over a week and still looks amazing.

April 14

Carter recently got a Star Wars piano book and to say he is obsessed is putting it lightly. He LOVES playing the songs out of this book and will sit down several times a day to play. I'm grateful he has such a fun piano teacher that allows him to play the songs that interest him. It is definitely keeping him interested in piano.

April 13

My friend Melissa made these delicious cookie bars for us when we visited her in CO over spring break. I have made them 4 or 5 times in the last month since we first tried them and made them for book club tonight. They always get rave reviews and are gobbled up. I'm pretty sure they're our new family favorite.

April 12

Addie is my little helper. Any time I clean she wants to be right by my side helping. Today I was vacuuming and she cried until I let her push the vacuum around for a few minutes.

April 11

I think most meals that Allen is home with us, he has a child sitting on his lap. Addie loves to sit on his lap and take bites of his food whenever he is home. Makenna was the exact same way at this age. Even though it can be a little bit annoying, we know she will grow out of it soon and we will actually miss sharing food with her.

April 10

Carter with all his buddies on his soccer team during half time of their game. This team has had a lot of fun playing together this year and have become good friends. We will be sad when the season is over and we don't see our soccer friends several times a week any more.

April 9

Today Makenna decided she needs to take the training wheels off her bike. We actually tried to talk her out of it but she was adamant. We usually ride a 1 mile loop a couple of times and Allen actually ran the entire thing hanging onto the back of her bike. By the end of her practice session today she was riding without help! She is such a brave little girl!

April 8

A week ago Addie stuck her hand under the treadmill belt while I was running. Poor baby. The skin on her middle finger was rubbed away and a huge blister formed almost immediately. Today, a weeks later, a huge yucky scab covers her finger. I can tell it hurts her because she whines when we touch it and never uses her left hand for anything. We have both learned our lesson about the treadmill!

April 7

I've splurged this spring on a couple pair of really fun summer sandals. I saw these at a store in CO during spring break and fell in love with them but didn't buy them. It took me FOREVER to track them down online but I finally did and they arrived in the mail today! Looooove! Now I just need a tan to go along with my saucy shoes.

April 6

On soccer nights I try to have something in the crockpot so we can eat as soon as we get home. It is freezing today so I thought I'd whip up what I hope is my last batch of chili for the season. It was so nice to come home to a warm, hearty meal tonight!

April 5

Makenna loves when I draw pictures for her to paint. We spent forever drawing and painting together this afternoon during Addie's nap. When she was done with her beautiful creations we took the leftover paint and experimented with mixing colors.

April 4

We had a very relaxing Easter Sunday. The kids woke up early and found and opened their baskets and then proceeded to gorge on their candy. They played with their new toys for awhile and then we had breakfast and our egg hunts. We watched both sessions of Conference and then had dinner with our friends the Jorgensen's and Chapmans. This is the kids before dinner in their dressed down Easter garb. I didn't even buy official outfits this year since Easter fell on Conference Sunday but they sure looked cute and springy!

April 3

This morning we got up and dyed our Easter Eggs before we got going for the day. I had everyone stay in their jammies because I'd rather ruin pjs than actual clothes with egg dye. We all had a great time. This was Addie's first year understanding what was happening and she loved it. She especially loved fishing the eggs out of the dye cups. The kids got creative with their decorating and dying too.

April 2

Our family is finally outfitted for bike rides together and we have been going almost every night. Everybody LOVES riding together and it's a great way to get exercise and spend time together. Addie cracks me up in her little helmet and she loves riding on the back of Al's bike.

April 1

The blossoms and leaves are coming out everywhere. Apple blossoms always remind me of my parents yard growing up. It is one of the most nostalgic scents in the world to me!

March 31

Makenna loves to help me with the dishes. She and Addie stood at the kitchen sink and washed a couple of dishes that were waiting to be loaded in the dishwasher. It's amazing what keeps them entertained.

March 30

More beautiful weather called for an impromptu lunchtime picnic for the girls. They had a grand time eating in the sunshine and playing with bubbles afterward. Makenna is ALWAYS wearing a pair of sunglasses lately and is ready for summer to come!

March 29

Since it has been getting warmer the kids have begged me every day to let them jump on the trampoline with the sprinkler going. I keep telling them it isn't warm enough yet but finally relented today - it was a whopping 69 degrees out while they were out. I warned them that it would be cold as soon as they got wet but they insisted. Needless to say, it didn't last long but they had fun trying!

March 28

The weather is gorgeous today and after our Sunday afternoon walk we came home and let the kids continue to play outside. I got out the sidewalk chalk and Addie had so much fun drawing all over the driveway. I'm SO happy that it is spring!

March 27

Tonight we had a movie night since Allen was out camping with the Young Men. We watched Harry Potter 6 again and had some yummy whirly pop. This is the aftermath of three kids eating popcorn in my family room. I'm sure I'll be finding stray popcorn seeds for weeks after this mess!

March 26

Today Makenna's preschool class had a field trip to the Rattlesnake museum in Old Town. It was a tiny little museum but they had about 100 different breeds of live rattlesnakes. Though a little creepy it was also fascinating to learn about them. Kenna had a great time with the friends from her class.

March 25

I've been needing to take Makenna's 5 year old pictures and finally got around to it today - almost a month after her birthday. I've had this idea to use this B&W background and love how the pink pops out against it. We both had such a fun time taking these pictures!

March 24

All of my kids have loved to play in sink around this age and Addie is no exception. She stands on this stool in the Master Bath and plays in the water during my shower and while I get ready EVERY morning. I once read somewhere that if a baby is grumpy, put them in water and let them play and they will be happy. Seems to be true for my kiddos.

March 23

Since I bought Allen a smaller iPod, he has been loading movies onto our bigger iPod. The kids are obsessed with watching movies on it - even though it has a tiny screen. This afternoon they all gathered around our docking station and watched part of Napoleon Dynamite together. It cracks me up. I did offer to put it on the regular TV but they loved watching it standing up!

March 22

I'm still working on our Master Bedroom redo and love how it is coming together. This is a sneak peek of one of my many projects - a pillow for our bed. It was A LOT of work but I love how it turned out. Crossing off one project at a time!