Spring Break 2012 Day 1

When deciding what to do for spring break this year, the kids had two requests. McDonald's and swimming. So easy! We came up with a few more things to entertain us but kept it pretty low key. I had a super fun week with my kids!

Monday I had to do a little laundry and house cleaning but we found time to make these fun Easter crafts...

Day 2

We had lunch at McDonald's and played at their NEW play land... Steve even got to come, he met us there on his lunch break. Super fun!

Look at that gorgeous girl!!

Best friends!

Choo choo!!

Day 3

SWIMMING!! It is Leo's favorite thing to do right now! I was super brave and took all four kids by myself for a little while until Steve could get off work and join us. We just stayed in the kiddie pool, which is small and shallow and we did great.

We made rainbow cake and cupcakes earlier in the day and had them for a treat after dinner...

Everyone say "swimming!"

Mae loved the water!

Yea for rainbows!!

Day 4

We spent a day at the park. The "big" kids rode their scooters and I pushed the littles in our new bright orange stroller...

We took a picnic. Leo's powered sugar mustache... He looks good in a stache!

Mae's first time on the swings, and of course Johnny is pushing her!



We went on the nature trail to this little pond. Only one rule... don't fall in!

Leo throwing rocks.



"We saw footprints from a mountain lion and th-"
Johnny pause for a picture. Click.

"-en there was this big bugs house that we found but couldn't get to it because it was under the bridge and we couldn't reach it and we didn't want to fall in and..."

He is seriously so excited about going to the pond! You can almost see the words he is holding in. :)

Really?! One rule, just one...

We made it home after 3 wonderful hours of park fun, a little pink despite putting on sunscreen, a lot tired, but dry and happy!

We made a fruit rainbow for dinner! I think they liked it even better than the candy rainbow...

O'Henry

Kyla came home from school talking about all the tricks the leprechauns have played all week and wanted to make a trap to catch one. Here is what we came up with... We were trying to catch the leprechauns from the north... they are tiny!!

The leprechaun comes in the door, sees a piece of gold and goes for it, he sees another one and another, it is a trail of gold that ends at a rainbow!!

More gold on top of the rainbow...

He climbs up to get it and, bam, he falls into our trap!



That is how it was suppose to go... this is how it went.

We came home from our camping trip to find this note and some treats from O'Henry the leprechaun.

Later that day Kyla said, "Hey mom, we have these gold treats... and skittles... and these bags..." Magic Ky, magic. I actually worked to keep O'Henry a mystery. I don't do the Easter Bunny but I do Leprechauns?!

Day 5 and 6

We have been going "spring break" camping for 6 years... this is the first year we actually have a spring breaker!! We drove less than an hour down the hill, camped one night among the cacti, hiked a little, skipped a few rocks, Steve and Paul invented rock bowling, ate camp food, got really dirty and smelly and came home. It was perfect!

Johnny asked if he could go camping for his birthday, he loved it!! Maybe because he had peeps for breakfast... We roasted some the night before, even better than marshmallows, or so they say, I am a traditionalist, s'mores for me. Ky kept saying we were roasting Petes... poor Pete!

Mae did not love camping, she and Steve ended up in the car all night trying to get her to stay asleep... maybe we'll give her a few months before we try again. At least she was still happy in the morning!

The power of WAFFLES!

Leo has become our lazy bones in the morning... he likes to sleep in, then lay in bed for awhile.

Leo it is time to get up... "I still sleeping"

Leo get up now... "tomorrow"

This morning I went in to get him up and showed him all the SNOW we got in the night. He was excited about it but still told me he needed to "finish sleeping." Then I told him Dad made waffles... "I don't need it, to finish sleeping."

He was down the stairs and in front a green waffles with whip cream and blueberries super fast!

This is the first day of our three day storm! Church was canceled this morning and school has already been canceled for tomorrow, spring break extended a few more days!

Tulips look so pretty in the snow...

Crazy that yesterday it was sunny and 70 and today here we are a foot in and more to go.

Mae Mae is 7 months!!

Our little sister is 7 months now and getting cuter by the day... She has learned a few new tricks and perfected some old ones...

Being the cutest little girl around, perfected!

Drooling... nailed it!

New trick, eating finger foods, YUM! Old trick, putting everything in her mouth, yum?!

Grabbing, playing with and then drooling on... EVERYTHING! Amateur stuff.



My friend took a super cute pic of her little boy's feet, I tried to copy her... I love baby feet!

Miss Ky's New Do

Ky and I had a little date today to take care of something she has been BEGGING for, for weeks... Short hair with bangs! Ky has been coming home from school and church with any and all ponys, braids, or clips removed, the only thing she will leave in, half the time, is a headband. All my attempts to convince her to keep long hair and ponys or braids have failed. I told her stories of when I was little with short hair and wished for long hair, that lasted a couple weeks. Then came bribing to keep her braids in, not even a few weeks... So I finally gave in.

The last look before the hair cut, such a pretty girl!

In the chair, scissors out, no turning back now...



Ta Da! Little Miss Thing!

I think she looks super cute with her new do, beautiful, inside and out!



She LOVES her hair cut,especially the bangs which she "didn't know would be itchy."

She is wondering if Dad will recognize her when he gets home tonight... She has decided to wear a shirt she "always" wears to school tomorrow so her class will know it is her. :)

We got her some new headbands, she had to try them all on to see how each color looked...

My pretty little girl is growing up, she went from piggie tails and dresses everyday to "just jeans, mom" and short (er) hair (We decided to keep it long enough for the occasional pony...) with bangs. Love my growing girl!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Steve is taking a class this semester... ug! It is just one class but on top of everything else it seems like a lot... So while he does homework I entertain myself with fun little projects like this. My love of green is the only thing that keeps St. P's day alive and thriving at our house!

Any bets on how long the skittles will stay a "decoration?!"

Favorite Toy

I thought Maeli was just hanging out under the couch...

Little did I know she was working really hard to get a favorite toy....




Ok, I got it mom, you can get me out from under the couch now...

Seriously, get me out...

Grandma Seamons says the humpty dumpty pull toy was one of Steve's favorite toys too...