Happy Easter!

We had a nice Easter this year.  I showed the girls some videos on the Mormon Channel on YouTube during the week, and we also spent some time doing some of the secular Easter celebrations as well.

My friend Leza and I put together an Easter Egg hunt for our ward playgroup (okay, Leza suggested it and I agreed we should do it, and then she did all the coordinating, ha).  Every kid brought a dozen eggs and went home with a dozen.  We had a great turnout and got to spend time with lots of good friends - the Hostetlers, Sanovich's, Browns, Sudweeks, Tams, & a bunch of others.  We love our ward!  The park was fun, too.  I had never been to this one but will definitely go back, even though it's a bit of a drive compared to the ones we always go to.

On Saturday Leza and I took the kids to the local Methodist church, which hosts a great Easter event every year.  Both our husbands were working so we went together - it's always nice to have another adult around to help out!

They had lots of fun things to do - carnival games, face painting, free lunch, "hayride" (with no hay), bounce houses, a cake walk, and a big egg hunt as well.  We opted not to do the egg hunt since our kids had just done one the day before.  That turned out GREAT because we had pretty much everything to ourselves for about 20 minutes while everyone was out in the fields hunting eggs.

My swag:

On Saturday afternoon, the girls and I colored some eggs.  Those little dye kits have not changed one bit since I was a kid.

Church was pretty nice, but a bit difficult since I was alone with the kids.  Abby and Ellie were a bit more wiggly than usual and Olivia just wanted to eat.  Thankfully that kept her quiet most of the meeting, but it made it hard for me to keep the girls still since I didn't exactly have my hands free.  But what I got out of Sacrament meeting was nice, and Ellie gave a cute little talk in Primary.  Abby helped her so I got to stand in the back of the room and watch, which was fun.  Abby is a great helper. (Side note: I realized today that Garrett has not spent Easter Sunday with us in probably 4 years.  Kind of sad! His work schedule just never seems to work out.)

After Church I made a pasta salad, some sandwiches, some hummus, and sliced up strawberries.  We met up with friends at a little park and had a nice Easter picnic together.  It was very low-key and the weather was gorgeous - about 75 degrees.

I had originally wanted to bake a traditional Easter dinner - spiral ham, potatoes, rolls, a salad... until I went to the grocery store to pick up the ham and nearly fainted when I saw how expensive the glazed hams were! I could have bought a cheaper kind, I guess, but those aren't nearly as good and I really only love the spiral ones with all the sugary glaze.  So instead, I bought some deli ham and made sandwiches, which were also delicious.  I was surprised, though, when I told Ellie that I was making ham sandwiches and she said, "Where's the ham?" I showed her the deli meat and she said, "No, it's supposed to go around and around!" and she waved her finger around like a spiral (for the spiral ham).  So funny...  the last time we had spiral ham was last Easter in Savannah.  Great memory - she must have loved it!

And yes, the Easter bunny did come.  He (she?) brought a few little plastic eggs of candy, a box of Trix, and new beach towels for the girls to take to the pool this summer.  He also ate the carrots that the girls left on the front porch.  The girls were thrilled and loved their sugary breakfast, especially.

Happy Easter!  I love this time of year and the chance for the world to celebrate such a wonderful event.

Family Farm Day

Last Saturday the girls and I went with a couple friends (Leza & Stef) to UF's dairy farm for "Family Farm Day".  All our husbands were working the weekend and we just had to get out of the house and do something fun!

We took a hay ride from the parking lot to the main part of the farm.

Leza (above) is from Phoenix and we share a love of warm weather... we commiserate together when the temperatures get below 60 degrees, haha.  Her husband is actually finishing his residency this June and they are moving back to Phoenix.  I'm going to miss her a lot.  And Stef (below) is always making fun of us because her husband went to medical school in Madison (WI) so she's used to cold weather. Stef moved here the same time we did (her husband is also a resident) and she's here for 2 more years like we are... thankfully!  It's sad to see friends move away.

The kids loved the giant cow that was waiting to greet us:

We made an awesome fashion statement in our "boots":

Playing in the tractors:

The "Pet-a-calf" station:

Ellie was holding this guy's collar like she owned him... she wouldn't let go!

Olivia just chillin' in the stroller:

We met Abraham Lincoln.. he taught us a little bit about agriculture in the 1800s and he gave all the kids a penny so they could have his picture:

We shook little containers of cream and made butter:

The kids loved this cow:

We got to see how they milk the cows, feed the cows, etc... Fun stuff.

We had a FULL car!  Stef went home early with her two youngest boys so we took her oldest with us.  After the farm, we took them all to Wendy's, and then we spent a few hours at a local park.  It was a LONG day but nice to get out of the house and do something fun.

It's hard when Garrett works straight through the weekend, so it's always nice to have a distraction.  Very thankful for friends who will spend a whole Saturday with us!

Five Months

Olivia is such a little sweetheart.

I think I am enjoying the "baby phase" so much more this time around for a couple of reasons.  First, Olivia is a very easy baby.  I credit this mostly to her, but I'm going to take a little credit as well.  Why, you ask?  Well, I give her whatever she wants, when she wants it.  And I'm sure you're thinking, Well of course you do, she's just a baby! Yes that's right, but I feel like with my first two babies, I tried so hard to keep them on a schedule and train them to "sleep well" and "eat on time", that they cried a bit more and we just had a harder time in general because I thought I had to do those things.  Also, with Abby I was a brand new mom so that has it's own challenges, and then with Ellie we had huge problems with nursing, so she just cried all the time because of that and I never got any sleep.  I also had a really hard time adjusting to two children and it was just difficult all around.

With Olivia, I give her whatever she wants and I'm not trying to "train" her to do anything yet.  She eats whenever she seems hungry (I don't make her wait x number of hours), she goes to sleep when she wants, I get her almost right away when she cries, etc.  As a result, she hardly ever cries for long and she's just all around a great and happy baby.  Maybe all this "spoiling" will bite me in the end but I doubt it.  She's still a little baby and you can't spoil a baby, I've come to believe (you know, in all my old age and wisdom).

I am also realizing how quickly this precious time goes by, so I'm trying to savor it as much as I can.  This is another reason I go to her almost immediately when she cries.  I want to hold her as much as possible.  I want to snuggle with her, kiss her, and gaze into her beautiful and smiley face all day.  I was more stressed with the other two girls so I was a little anxious for them to be a bit more independent.  Until now, I thought I just wasn't a "baby person" since I loved ages 1-3ish so much more.  But with Olivia... oh man I just wish she could be my little baby forever.  I wish I could slow down time. 

She is so happy, always smiling.  Laughing too -- and is there anything cuter than little baby laughs??

We haven't started any foods yet.  In fact, just yesterday I realized that we could have started rice cereal about a month ago.  Honestly, it hasn't even been on my radar!  We'll probably start something in the next month or so but I'm not anxious (in fact, feeling a bit of the opposite).

She's rolling over both ways, and when she's on her tummy she even tucks her knees under like she's trying to get into a crawling position.

She is sleeping through the night (8pm-7am) off and on... some nights she wakes up and eats, and some nights she just sleeps.  She is currently sleeping in the pack & play in our playroom (third bedroom), and once she consistently sleeps though the night she'll move into her crib in the girls' room.

Olivia has brought so much joy into our home and we just love her to pieces.  We can't imagine our family without her!  I feel so blessed to have three beautiful daughters.

Talent Show

We had a ward talent show on Friday night, and the girls wanted to dance.  Ever since they started watching "Angelina Ballerina" a year or two ago, they have wanted to perform on a stage.  This was the perfect venue.

Unfortunately, Garrett had to work... thank goodness for technology!  Now we can enjoy it endlessly. :)  So proud of these girls!  They said they weren't nervous at all.  I'm impressed.

Lately

Olivia is still the sweetest (& cutest!) baby around:

I finally got around to writing Thank You cards from my baby shower last fall... pretty embarrassing how long it's taken but better late than never!

I made some little notecards for Abby's kindergarten teacher for Valentines Day.  I thought they turned out pretty cute.  I just sewed some fabric to little paper cards and paired them with envelopes:

The girls delivered little bags of popcorn to their friends for Valentines Day:

Little valentines:

Who needs toys?  These kids just need a roll of crepe paper and they're happy for hours:

I love tulips, they are probably my favorite flower:

Going on lots of walks through the neighborhood.  Ellie rode this bike for an entire mile one day!

Ahhh, love this weather:

Abby has a little day planner that she uses as her journal.  One day's entry: "Today I really did nothing really any fun!"  We're boring around here I guess:

The girls played in the sprinklers one day:

Gerber baby: have you ever seen a more perfect face??

Helping Daddy make cookies:

Watching "Duck Dynasty" with Daddy:

It was Dr Seuss Week at school last week.  You can't really tell from this picture but Abby had about 7 ponytails in her hair and several different bows for "Wacky Wednesday":

At the public library:

Blue eyes:

Snuggly and warm... we've had a cold snap this last week or so and it's been miserable!  This baby is always happy, though:

Making pizza for dinner:

Not too much is happening.  I'm keeping busy with quilting and other general mom/wife/homemaker duties.  Garrett is finishing up his fourth week of "nights" (I put it in quotes because he's not working true all night shifts until later this month.  But, he's starting his fourth week of late shifts (getting home around 2 am for a couple weeks, now it's more like 11 pm for these final weeks) and we are anxious for them to be over.

Abby's keeping busy with school and trying to fill up her social calendar as well, whenever I will let her.

Ellie is becoming a park fiend.  We go to a park usually at least once a day, oftentimes again when Abby gets home from school.  It's an addiction, really.

Olivia is, of course, cute as a button and doing well.  Just got over another little cold but nothing serious, just a little stuffy nose.  She officially cannot be left on the couch for a moment anymore, at least not when I am going to turn my back (whoops... poor little thing).  She's rolling like crazy now and loves her big sisters big time.

Life's great!

Latest project

I've started quilting again.  This one is definitely a keeper... I love it!

I am using the "Vintage Modern" fabric line by Bonnie & Camille.  It's a gorgeous line with grays, reds, pinks, aquas, and some green and blue.

 

I bought a quilt pattern (also by Bonnie & Camille) called "Fireworks".  As soon as I saw a picture of it online I knew I had to make it.  The pattern was emailed to me and I got started right away!  Here's Ellie helping me cut the fabric... she was playing with the "crusts":

First block finished:

More blocks... I really love the houndstooth fabrics.

10 blocks done, six more to go!  The quilt pattern makes a square quilt that is 4 blocks x 4 blocks, but it would be easy to make more blocks to make it larger if I wanted.  I don't think I'll need to, though... this will be a nice size of 64" squared.  We'll see, though.  A bunch of people have asked me what it's for and I have told them, it's for ME!  That's right, this is my snuggling quilt.

But I sure am tempted to make it a twin sized quilt, make two more, and then give one to each of the girls. How cute would these be on thier beds?!?  But ask me again when I'm hand-quilting it... I really love quilting on my machine but my basic little Brother machine isn't big enough to handle something this size and I certainly don't want to pay over $100 to send it out to have it done somewhere else.  So, that'll be my next big project, but that's okay because I never mind working with fabrics this beautiful.

Abby is Six

At the end of January, Abby turned six!

It was a fun day!  Her day was on a Saturday this year and, happily, Garrett had the day off!  It was so fun to be able to celebrate on her birthday as a family.  She is getting old enough now that she realizes what day it is, so it would have been hard to celebrate on a different day if Garrett had been working.

We had a little party in the park with some of her friends.  I really didn't plan much... the kids played for an hour, Abby opened presents, then we went for a little walk around a trail until the parents came to pick up their kids.  It was easy and everyone enjoyed it. 

For the last several months, however, Abby had been very specific about what kind of party that she wanted: a Chinese party.  We talked about different ways to incorporate this into her "friend party", but in the end we just decided to do a second, smaller party that night and have a couple families over for Chinese food.

Waiting for friends to arrive:

Garrett did the cake.  It says "Happy Birthday", apparently:

All in all, it was a really fun day and we loved celebrating together.  Six things about Abby:

1. She is a great student.  She's at the top of her class and just loves school.

2. Abby loves little kids and is always trying to make them laugh.  She plays with them, helps them, is silly with them... it's so cute to see her interact with them.  She's going to be a great babysitter someday.

3. Along those lines.... Olivia is completely obsessed with Abby!  As of right now, Abby is pretty much the only one who can get Olivia to really laugh for a period of time.  Olivia gives us big smiles and short little airy laughs, but she gives Abby the real deal.  All Abby has to do is play with her or dance around for her, and she's smiling and laughing in no time.  It is so cute.

4. Abby is very social and loves to have play dates and see friends.

5. Abby likes to "decorate" with her toys and things, but I think this is just a way of not having to really put away her stuff.  We put three floating shelves above her bed and she loads them with all her random little things... coins, little doll toys, figurines, jewelry, boxes, little stuffed animals, books, her inhaler.... she also drapes her things around the room to "decorate" it, but really I think she just doesn't want to clean them up and put them in the playroom where they belong.  She certainly doesn't seem to mind clutter. :)  We finally had to put a stop to overloading the floating shelves because they are pretty cheap and we don't want them falling on her while she sleeps.

6. Abby's laugh is so infectious.  One of my friends told me the other day that she loves to hear Abby laugh because it makes her smile, too.  Abby just has a very carefree and childlike laugh and we love it.

Writing Thank You cards from her birthday party:

We love you, Abby!!!