Emelia's class field trip

 Eme's preschool class took a field trip to the Scotsdale Train Park and Museum. So Maddie and I tagged along too.

Maddie got to ride the carousel all by herself, sort of.  After one time up, she got really nervous, her little knuckles turned white! So, I stood next to her w/my hand on her back, and she calmed down and yelled "whee" and "yee-haw", just like her sister.

 Eme loved having fun with all of her little friends.  But she made sure that she and Maddie rode next to each other on the carousel.  She's a great big sister.

 We took a lovely "train" ride all around the park, which is fairly extensive.  The kids loved it.  There was even a box car, only kids rode in that one, and laughed the entire time.



sisters, I just love them.



 All of the little girls made a train as we walked around the park.  They would also stop frequently to do an impromptu ring-around-the-roses.  The funny thing is, I remember doing the exact same things at this age.



not Eisenhower's train car.



 We ended with a tour of Dwight D Eisenhower's private train car, and then a picnic lunch.  It was lots of fun, and a beautiful day.

Birthday girl!

Here are some pictures of my baby's 3rd birthday.  Oh my goodness, she is getting so big-we even measured her, Madeline's grown 4 inches since Feb of last year! No joke, my baby isn't a baby anymore.

 My not so baby girl can now ride her trike, peddling that is.  She still needs to learn how to steer.

this was pretty typical of our day

 She is in love with anything "pretty": dresses, skirts, jewlery, hair brushes...

our Rapunzel-inspired cake

 She is getting clearer in her speach, although she can be difficult to understand when she's excited, or tired, or throwing a tantrum.  She's also getting really good at throwing tantrums.  Really good.

Maddie finally got he Rapunzel doll, she was in heaven

 Madeline has got the most beautiful eyes, and I love that she's still got kissy cheeks.  She loves to have her nails painted, both fingers and toes.


Nana and Papa's bag was almost as big as she is!

 She's becoming quite a good little mommy to her own dolls, feeding them and dressing them, and putting them to bed.  Now, if only she'll stop making them pee and poop everywhere, we'll be fine.


her hair looked "nice" for almost an hour before Maddie "brushed" it.

I love her sweet smile, and her soft kisses.  I love the scar just below her lip from where she bit herself with her snaggle-tooth when she was learning to walk.  I love that she's got back dimples, not on her shoulder like I have or Aidan, but on her lower back.  She'll still snuggle with me, but only briefly.  She is my little buddy, my shadow, she always wants to be wherever I am, I like it, I know it won't last forever.

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby.

Aidan's Final Pinewood Derby

This year's pinewood derby marked Aidan's third and final (HOORAY) year participating.  We've learned a few tricks along the way, like to always use spray paint, so much better looking than brush paint; Eric has learned how to remove the burrs from the wheels, and how to polish the axles.  We've also learned that no matter what, it is Aidan's choice what his final car looks like.  Hence this year's car: the most un-aerodynamic car imaginable: a truck.  Aidan named it "Optimus Prime".


Aidan wanted to make Optimus Prime this year.

Eric had to work late all week: something about the State's budget getting passed.  Which left all of the final prep to me.  I had to make sure that the wheels were running straight, that the axles were graphited, etc. 

All-in-all, it wasn't too bad.  Aidan came in second in two of his runs, which made him very happy.  Eric made it in time to help us all back into the car as we were leaving.  Poor dad, he was sad to have missed it.



But not to worry, Davin will be 8 in December, so we won't be taking a break from pinewood derby.  Six un-interrupted years of pinewood derby, I know you're all envious.

Gramma's here!!

We were so lucky to get to have Gramma come and spend some days with us!  True, we had to split a week and a half of Gramma with Tom and Heather, but it was so worth it to get a few days with my mom.

Gramma giving Aidan his 10 year old's quilt

Mom came in Saturday night, so it was a quick un-pack, get the kids to bed, and then bid my mom goodnight.  Sunday was lovely, it was so nice to be able to bring my mom with me to church.  I think we floored mom with the size of our ward too! Growing up, our ward wasn't huge, it was a good size, but not HUGE.  And for the past 5 years they've been in Pennsylvania, where their ward is tiny.  So it was a bit of a shock to see our ward, and it is ENORMOUS (we have three nurseries w/ another one opening in the summer.)

It's Harry Potter's Dragon Challenge, w/ all four dragons.

On Monday we hit the JoAnn's and Barnes and Noble, when doesn't Mom go to a book store?  While at JoAnn's, a lovely new machine found it's way into our cart, along with loads of fabric, notions, and patterns.  It was also a super rainy day for us, which was greatly appreciated after the heat wave of last week.

Monday night we settled in for some serious sewing, or rather we would have, if I had remembered to buy thread-oops!

So Tuesday we headed out to the other two JoAnn's stores (we've got 3 w/in 15 miles of us), and of course came home with more fabric, notions, and this time, THREAD.  Once home, we settled in to cut fabric and listen to that new machine purr.  I was able to finish two skirts, one apiece, for the girls Tuesday night.

And while I sewed, the kids got to play with their super cool bubble guns from Gramma.  Our only complaint is that the trip was so short.  On the upside, I get to see Mom and Dad again in December for Davin's baptism (which means they get to see my house all decked out for Christmas!!!), and then they'll be back next July for Aidan's ordination.  Not too bad, two more visits every 6 months, I can handle that.

Spring Break, zoo trips galore

bonus! They are actually awake!

For spring break this year we headed to the zoo.  Yes, it's the same thing we do EVERY year, but the weather IS fantastic mid-March, it gets the kids and I out of the house for some excercise, and the kids got to say farewell to our Koalas.



We hit the zoo bright and early Monday morning, as members we get to head in earlier than general admission.  The bonus was that we got to see all that we wanted to, knowing we'd be back again before the week was out, and then we left right as it started to get too warm and too crowded.

Tuesday, we just hung out at home.  My knee was bothering me after walking those hills for 2 hours, so I was grateful for a day at home.  I also called for an appt with the orthopedist for my knee.  Wednesday we headed back to the zoo, this time with cousins, aunts, and Nana.  LOTS of fun.  We actually saw the same things, but the kids had so much fun being with their cousins.

Thurday, we hung out, pinched each other (St Patrick's Day), and debated whether or not to go and watch the fountain turn green.  I opted not too, I thought we could use a movie day at home instead (although next year, I'm in).  Friday, we cleaned and cleaned.  Rather, I cleaned and cleaned while the kids made messes and bickered (what can you do, it's Friday of spring break).  The only thing keeping us all from utter chaos was the fact that Gramma Seguine was coming in the next day!  Nice timing Gramma, and thank you for the sanity saver :)

1st Grade Musical

my monkey-boy

Here are some pics from the first grade musical.  It has been quite the on-going drama here since the kids got back from winter break.  Every week Davin has come home with some sad event at music:  he didn't like the song; he couldn't remember the song; he got told "no, no, no" at his attempt to Cha-cha; he got measured to be the giraffe, but he didn't want to be the giraffe...

  In the end, his class were the monkies, they got to sing and dance (2 classes did a song and a dance, the other 2 just did a dance), and he had a great time.

The classes did a couple of songs and dances while telling the story from Giraffes Can't Dance. It was well timed, not too long (horray!), and very cute.

Eme's First Tooth

One Saturday night, while brushing teeth, Eric called me to come look at Eme's teeth.  Turns out she had one  shark tooth and two loose teeth!  Holy Cow, she's only 5!  The next morning we pulled out the first tooth, and here she is all proud of that missing tooth.

 We pulled out the second tooth the following Saturday morning, I have loved seeing that cute gap-toothed smile.  On a down-note, when I went in for my dentist appointment the next week, I mentioned it to my dentist (she seems kind of young).  My dentist thought this was great!  That it means she'll hit puberty early.  Um, excusse ME?! Eme and Davin may hit at the same time?!

The universe has a pretty sick sense of humor.