Two Belles, a Cinderella,and an awfully adorable little boy!

Need I say more?

Book Nook

I asked Brynn to go into her room and get some reading done...she did read after she spent plenty of time creating this book nook.  Needless to say she was pretty proud of herself!

Easter 2012

 We had a super fun Easter!  Please note Blogger changed the way they do things and I didn't realize this until I spent almost an hour (while watching the Biggest Loser-Darren's love not mine, but who can't take a peek every now and then?) uploading photos...and they are backwards.   However, I do like the new changes.  Now I don't have to upload in the opposite order of events and there aren't tons of blank spaces inbetween pictures that need to be deleted.

   

 Easter morning picture. 

 I didn't realize it until now, but I didn't get a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses :(

 The Easter Bunny hid the girls' baskets.  Brynn found her's in the bathtub and

 Cara found her's under her bed.

 My family came over on Saturday to celebrate. The big kids had so much fun playing together! 

 Eating their well deserved cake.

A SUPER decorated Easter Bunny cake!

 Let the decorating begin!

 After going potty Cara decided she needed to put some dress up clothes on...only she forgot something!  Poor thing has my saddle bags :(

 The big kids' table--they are getting big!

What seemed like forever after all the guests arrived (only because it was nearly impossible to keep the two year olds-all three of them-and Ollie (Who would have thought?  He has always been such a good dog) away from the eggs filled with candy) we had an Easter egg hunt.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed the stickers, money, and especially the candy they found in the eggs.

 Emry Lynn even enjoyed the Easter egg hunt!

 I don't think we can do much better than this with all 7. 

You take what you can get...and hello Pooh Bear!

 Aubrey came early with my parents so Cara thought she would introduce her to her "stories."  Aubrey was not nearly as impressed and found herself downstairs well before the 45 minutes of stories were over.

Before the party started Darren (with a little encouragement from me) took the girls to my school to participate in an Easter Fair so I could get some uninterrupted cleaning done.  It's amazing what you can get done when you're on your own schedule!  They came back with lots of prizes and the best face painting they have ever received.   

Easter morning the girls found their baskets before getting ready for church then we headed to Red Wing to celebrate with Darren's family. 

 All in all it was a great Easter!

We interrupt the regularly scheduled post...

...with this news flash:

SHE'S UP ON TWO WHEELS!

Brynn's been dabbling in the balance bike here and there since our spring break.  Last night Darren decided to get her 2 wheeler out and give it a whirl.  It didn't take much and she was off and hasn't looked back!  She even rode around our neighborhood tonight while the rest of us walked.  Once she sets her mind on something there is little that stops her!

Way to go Brynn Tressa!  We're so proud of you!!

Good Friday

Darren and I had Good Friday off and what a good Friday it was! To continue our annual tradition we spent a good portion of Good Friday morning at the MN Zoo to check out all the zoo babies. ADORABLE!

Since we arrived right when the zoo opened and headed straight to the farm it wasn't busy at all. The girls went through MANY quarters feeding all the animal. They absolutely LOVED it. I wish I captured a video of Cara's squeal every time a goat or sheep ate the food she was feeding it. Priceless!

Cara preferred to drop the food on the goat's tongue and

Brynn preferred to have them eat it right out of her fingers!

Up close and personal with the stinky cows. Of course Brynn only lasted 2 seconds in the cow barn before she couldn't take the smell any more...and Cara could have stayed there all day.

Super cute piglets!

This little piglet was out in a small holding area so we could pet it...I never knew piglets were so soft!

The farm girls :)

I boiled up some eggs during naps so when the girls got up we could dye them. I was highly disappointed when I couldn't find the roller egg dye this year. So, after much searching I settled on tie dye. It was okay...not nearly as hands on as the roller paints but the girls had fun.

My super serious/concentration face ;)

Since I didn't think the girls would be too hands on with dying the eggs I bought egg stampers thinking it would be fun. A great idea in theory, however, stamps do not work at all on a rounded surface. Why didn't I think of that?

All in all a great start to the Easter weekend!

Impromtu Easter Egg Hunt

Jen emailed me at school last Friday inviting me to join her and Claire at an Easter egg hunt in Woodbury. Almost always I would say no because my cleaning lady (aka myself) comes on Friday after school and I really do not like to waste Saturdays and Sundays cleaning, but I surprised myself (and probably Jenny Paul) and said yes. The girls were SUPER excited!

We got there just in time to chat with the bunny a bit, check out all the eggs spread throughout the grass, and take a few pictures.
Some of my favorite ladies!

So in love with these two!

The hunt lasted all of two and a half minutes. It seemed to be very organized...2-3 year olds find green and red eggs, 4-5 year olds find blue and pink eggs, and 6-7 year olds find orange and yellow eggs...then the horn was blown and Cara found three eggs and Brynn found 6 before EVERY SINGLE EGG had been picked up in a matter of just minutes. Brynn decided to go far in wide to look for eggs and became separated from Cara and I for what seemed like a lifetime. When we finally found each other we were both in tears. I don't think she'll be leaving my side in crowded places for a very long time. Thanks to Claire's Aunt Mae Mae Brynn was safely returned to me!

Why?

The other night after I put the girls to bed I heard Brynn messing around in her room, but let's be honest...I am TIRED at the end of the day so as long as the girls are in their rooms and not causing too much of a ruckus I let them be. When I checked on her before I went to bed I found that she completely changed her bedding around so her head, blankets, and pillow were on the other side. I thought it was kind of odd, but left her that way. She woke me up about 3 AM to tell me that she wanted to turn back around but she couldn't get her covers on right. We now have an understanding that if she decides to flip her bed around she's on her own getting them back in place. The following morning when I asked her why she turned everything around she said she wanted to be closer to her night light. There's nothing like having a light shining in your eyes while trying to sleep.