Memorial Day Parade 2011

Eve's Daisy troop

Reuben's baseball team

Kaitlyn's baseball team

This year three of the kids were able to be in the Memorial Parade in our town. Eve was so excited for about a week before that she was going to be able to be in the parade this year. Ryan had to work so Lincoln and I cheered of the kids from the sidelines.

Girl Scout Mother-Daughter Activity

This year our Girl Scout Unit had a paint your own pottery (flower pot) activity for daughters and their mothers. (Ryan unexpectedly had to work so we had a little man there too) Eve painted Rapunzel on her pot with her hair twisting all the way around her pot. Kaitlyn did a beautiful design with dots, stripes and squiggles, she has become quite the artist :) My pot I painted shades of blue and did yellow lights all over, we'll see how it turns out. We get our pots back in a couple of weeks. It was fun to hang out with my girls! I feel so blessed to have them for daughters!

Spring

This Spring we have had so much fun watching this little Mama sit on her nest.

It was so exciting to see her three little babies peek out ready for some food. (you can barely see their cute little heads) After they hatched they were cute little pink newborn chicks.

In this picture you can see the baby Robin's heads sticking out while their Mama sits on them to keep them warm.

The last couple of days we have watched them grow beautiful feathers. This morning when I looked they were all gone. How fun it would have been to see them learn to fly. We've had so much fun watching this whole process. Their nest is right outside our sliding glass door which has made it super easy to keep tabs on them.

Good luck little birdies!

Spring Break

I'm a little behind on my blogging. Life has been super busy. Spring break this year seemed to slip away this year. I had one day off from babysitting, so as a family we went to the Children's Museum. The kids were stoked! We went and they had a fun time until we went in the massive sand room. (note, never go in the sand room :) Lincoln ended up with a face full of sand. We spent the next half hour flushing his eye with this little eye cup they had there (I guess it has happened before). It broke my heart to hear my little boy cry and scream in pain. Finally we decided to take him to the doctor to make sure all the sand was out of his eyes. Lincoln refused to open his eyes from the point he got sand in his eyes until we were sitting in the patient room at the doctors. Luckily Lincoln had not scratched his eyes and the sand was out as far as the doctor could tell. The doctor gave us some drops to put in his eyes to keep them moist in case there was some more sand hiding out in there.

Despite the crazy Children's Museum visit, we all seemed to have a good Spring Break. The kids had fun doing crafts at home and playing with their friends.

Les Miserables

This last week I was able to go with Kaitlyn's girl scout troop to see Les Miserables. It was such a wonderful night. I remember my parents taking me to see it when I was in sixth grade at the Kennedy Center in D.C. and it being impressive. But this time the story just clicked with me. I absolutely loved it!!! The music is beautiful and the message of how this man was able to turn his life around for good, it was amazing. I was telling Ryan that it reminds me of the story of Alma the younger in the Book of Mormon, a little. I also was touched by the men fighting in the war and the lives which were lost. I have two brother-in-laws who have been deployed and through the play could empathize with how hard it would be to sacrifice everything for what you believe in. Also it touched my heart to watch the actor as he came back from war and so many of his friends were not able to. How hard it would be to see all that you do in war and then to come back to normal life. I probably read way too much into the play, but I loved it.

Ryan and I were able to go see the play together two days later. This picture is with Fantine and the little boy who sings "Little People".

Overnighter at the Zoo

This weekend Kaitlyn's girl scout troop and I were able to spend the night at the zoo. The zoo always does a phenomenal job with their programs!

This baby rhino is only one or two months old. He was running like crazy everywhere. Baby rhinos come out 500 lbs., their poor mothers!

This owl's name is Hootie. He was super cute. I guess owls like him only live one or two years in the wild but he is fifteen years old, since he is taken care of at the zoo it has prolonged his life.

I love these girls! It is hard to believe that we have been a troop for five years!

Pinewood Derby

Reuben was so excited to participate in his first Pinewood Derby! He had fun working on his car with Ryan. They didn't get to spend as much time on it as they hoped since Ryan has been working more hours than any sane person should. But Reuben was happy with how his car turned out and is already planning his for next year.