Easter Egg Hunt

The kids loved the Easter egg hunt this year.  Lizzie and Julie were both old enough to really search for their baskets and eggs. 

Josh, Lizzie, Julie, Lucy

The girls got lucky this year and got TWO Easter egg hunts!  One at our house with friends and another one with Grammy, Papa, and cousins! 

Julie and Lizzie are always so excited to spend time with Grammy, Papa, and their older cousins.  Sunday is definitely a day they look forward to. 

Dave's Birthday

I'm a bit behind in my blogging.  My days seem to be getting shorter.  I won't waste any time listing the many things I've been busy doing but I will try to play blog catch up. 

Dave had his birthday!  Since he's not a big sweet tooth like me  I gave him the choice of cake or bread.  He chose home made bread- his favorite treat.  I made him a couple loaves of white bread and banana bread.  The girls colored some pictures for him and were so excited to wish him Happy Birthday when he got home from work.  Dave's parents babysat and we headed out to Marzano's, his favorite; followed by a movie!  And that was the last time we will ever need to go out to a movie again because his long awaited birthday gift was a new sound system for our entertainment/movie room upstairs! 

Happy Birthday to my best friend, soul mate, love of my life, sweetheart, honeybunch, sugar plum, pumpyumpyumpkin, sweety pie, cuppy cake, gum drop....Ok I will stop now since no one else probably knows that silly song...  

Dave, you're another year older and life with you only gets better.   I love you!

Erin's Maternity Photos

Erin had her baby! So why am I posting maternity photos? Well, I had a lot of fun taking these picture for this cute family and I'm bummed that I missed the chance to take newborn photos! So the next best thing to taking newborn photos is posting old maternity photos I guess? We have had this terrible cold (Julie and I) for the past three weeks!! We have been quarantined from all newborns, but I think I am finally rid of this cold. Too bad the baby is 3 weeks old now...(newborn photos are generally best asap!!)

Backyard Adventures

...on the other side of the fence. ESPECIALLY when the neighbors on the other side of the fence buy a new swing set! I may have to buy my deprived children a swing set so they don't spend the rest of the summer peering through those boards.


I, however, much prefer my side of the fence. Mostly because it contains 2 cutie patooties! We have finally had a couple nice days so the girls have been loving the time outdoors. I love how Lizzie gets so excited every time she finds a dandelion. She continues to hunt for them until she makes sure she has one for each member of the family.

Julie trails behind and asks to smell each new flower as if they were picking roses.

Meow comes along for the adventures, of course.

The adventures to be had in the backyard are endless.

To have children is to enjoy the simple pleasures of life all over again!!

Lizzie's New Classes

Lizzie,

You are growing up way too fast. I am thinking about starting you in preschool this year but I might just rather keep you home with me for another year! You can always do preschool next year.



That doesn't mean you won't be busy, though! We just signed you up for swimming classes and gymnastics. You are a natural at the gymnastics. Its a great way to get all that energy out. You love the swimming time, but this last class you were a little tired of the teacher having you dunk your face under water! I'm sure you'll be swimming like a fish in no time, though.



Its so fun to watch you interact with your teachers and class mates. You are an independent spirit but great at making friends. Your most common line is, "C'mon friend!!" Then your new friend who you've usually just met always responds and follows you!

You were so excited for me to take these pics of you. You've entered a new phase where you seem to like our photo sessions!

You are one cute mini model- thats for sure!

This last picture is a great portrayal of the true you: Confident, spunky, silly, mischievous, innocent, and a comedian! I think your Uncle Jason may have inspired this to some degree but you love trying to make the family laugh with your silly voices. Then once we're tired of that you will move on to entertaining us with a dance show. Nothing seems to please you more than getting a smile out of your Mom, Dad, and Julie with your silly antics.

20 month old Ju Ju Bean

We've discovered that Juju Beans don't expire. They only get better with time! This little bean is no exception. She is sweet as can be and such a smarty! She is such a little chatter box just like her big sis, too. I love the way she exclaims, "Funny!!" whenever someone says or does something that tickles her funny bone.

Julie is at the "no pictures please" phase. When she sees that camera come out she hides her little face. lol.


I was able to trick her into smiling a couple times but mostly had to settle for some non-scowling pictures. Maybe I will post the scowls later. They're pretty cute too!

In the last couple months Julie's vocabulary has exploded! She can say and repeat just about any word and small phrases. She seems to be at a real "learning window" right now so we've been working on her ABC's, colors, and numbers. She's picking up on it so quickly!

Every day she asks, "Play doh?" Then, "color?" The two girls love that both of these are a part of their daily routine. Lizzie's favorite thing to sculpt is a nest with eggs and Julie's is a bird. (Julie usually asks me to help her with a "bird?"

Julie is loving our Y membership and has taken to the swimming pool like a fish. It scares me a little that she has absolutely no fear of the water. I watch her like a hawk because she will jump right in without hesitation.

This girl is a fast one! Fast and busy is her personal style. She always seems to have places to be going, things to be doing, and lots and lots of things to be saying, 24/7.

Right now her favorite toys are Mimi the cat and a little baby doll. She loves to smother them both with kisses and hugs. This girl is always melting my heart with her tender and sensitive little personality.

All it took was for Daddy to hold her to get some real smiles! Her toothy little smile cracks me up. She still has NO teeth considering her age. Dental development is really slow for my kids!

Pine Trees

Growing up in a house that backs up to the woods I have always loved the idea of having a bunch of trees in our backyard. It was another perk of our current house! However, I have never lived near so many Evergreens and I've learned a couple things about trees around here in WA.

A couple facts about pine trees:
-They can easily grow 100-200 feet.
-They have shallow root systems that are very susceptible to wind throw.
-Even a small gust of wind can cause them to shed needles and branches.

A couple facts about me:
-I have pine trees in my yard that are REALLY tall.
-I know someone who was crushed by a falling pine tree.
-I have a secret fear of our pine trees crushing our house.

Well, the good news is we had one of the biggest wind/ice storms in recent history and our trees survived! I've seen tons of fallen trees as aftermath of this winter but our trees and house are still standing! The branches on the trees though...thats a different story. Our backyard was LITTERED with so many branches you couldn't see the grass at all by the end of the storms.

So we spent a Saturday cleaning up and the girls were our big helpers! Julie made for a great branch smasher, with Daddy's help! Lizzie helped us load the wheel barrow.

We filled the whole truck bed with branches and this is no small truck bed, mind you. If you are thinking right now, since when do we own a truck? Let me tell you...

We don't own it. We are babysitting it. A couple friends of ours in the military were accepted into the special forces and had to move suddenly for training. So, they asked us if we would babysit their truck for the next year or two until they are done with training and can move back. Its been such a blessing to have this big ugly brown truck around. We've had to use it for a lot of random tasks.