Easter

Friday-coloring eggs with cousins...

Saturday-all dressed up...

Egg Hunt...

*I love this picture of Rian because it has a cute story behind it. There were several "Golden Eggs" hidden with money in them that each of the older kids found except for Dakota. She was upset but got over it pretty quickly. Rian told me she wanted to give her golden egg to Dakota but didn't want Dakota to know it was her. So she hid behind the tree until Dakota left her basket so she could sneak it in without her knowing. I thought that was a sweet, selfless act on Rian's part, and I love that she wanted to remain anonymous!

Fishing

Jack loves to turn his tubs into adventures. Today he decided he would go fishing! He and Rian took the magnets off the refridgerator, tied them to a string and then tied the string to Jack's wooden stick. This created the perfect fishing pole for catching tub toy fishies!

If you're wondering why the ladder is there...Jack brought it out from my closet during tub time and tried to dive off of it into the tub! He was not happy when I put a stop to that. I honestly don't know how we have made it 3 1/2 yrs without a trip to the ER with this kid! Knock on wood!

Cousins

Final day of Spring Break...feeding ducks at the pond.

Shepherd & Adcock cousins

Emma and Jack

Cameron cousins

(while Morgan & Alex were visiting from Indiana)

Little hands...

Dakota loves to draw, and the more she practices the better she gets! This is her latest creation, done completely freehand...no copying or tracing. She loves to display her artwork all around the house. This one is currently taped to the wall next to her bed.

Jack enjoys coloring too! Only, if he can't find any paper, he just takes whatever form of ink he can get his hands on and takes it to the wall. This specific work of art is on the wall leading up the stairs. Beautiful!

The babysitters made this for Rian one night. She loved it so much she decided it needed to be displayed on the wall also. I thought that was kind of cute...until I noticed how she mounted it to the wall. Click on the picture to get a close up look. I believe you will see 7 NAILS around the outside of the paper, because apparently tape just wasn't sufficient enough. So my dilemma is...do I leave the cute little picture (which of course isn't straight or centered!) or take it down and have 7 little holes in the wall?

All of these pictures remind me of a poem I first heard just before I had Dakota. I still love it, and it's perfect for reminding me that all of these cute little pieces of my children are what truly make our house a home.

There used to be so many

of my fingerprints to see,

on furniture and walls and things

from sticky, grubby me.

But if you stop and think a while

you'll see I'm growing fast,

these little moments will disappear

you can't bring back the past.

So here is a small reminder

to keep, not throw away,

of tiny hands and what they made

to make you smile someday.

A Whole Decade!

Dakota's celebration began on Saturday with a birthday party with her friends. We originally planned to set up the projector in the backyard for an outdoor movie. So we cleaned it up, strung lights and marveled at our work...until it started pouring! We rolled with it and moved the "theater" to the garage, which we had cleaned and prepared just in case mother nature decided to invite herself! This plan ended up working out just as well.

The party started with gift opening while we waited for daddy to get home with the pizza. She scored some great stuff!

The pizza came just in time, and the girls ate quickly so that we could start the movie!

About half way through the movie, they decided they were ready for desert. Instead of a cake, this year Dakota decided she would rather have one of her other favorite treats...a HUGE ice cream sundae bar! Complete with oreos, nerds, gummy bears, peanuts, choc chips, m&m's, choc syrup and whipped cream. Some of the girls' creations literally made my stomach turn!

On Monday, I got Dakota out of school and took her out to lunch. We went to Subway and enjoyed some quality time together. That night we had our family celebration, because neither Dave or Dakota had soccer. We had more ice cream sundaes and Dakota opened her gifts. Grandma & papa sent an outfit from England, along with some spending money. Rian & Jack gave her a Zhu-Zhu pet, and Dave & I gave her an Ipod.

Happy Birthday, Dakota!

Science Fair

Dakota and her friend, Willow, spent hours and hours working on their project, with help from Willow's parents. They showed the effect of mentos mixed with soda, which turned out really great!

While Dakota was busy working at Willows, Rian decided to create her own science project. I kind of ignored her attempts because I was under the impression that the science fair was for 4th and 5th graders only. I figured it would come home with her the very same day she took it in, but didn't say anything because I didn't want to hurt her feelings (no...I would let the school officials do that!). But I was definitely misinformed!

It wasn't until we got to the science fair that I realized that her project was in fact set out, alongside all the other lower grade students'. She (hand) wrote a report on Manitees, and used foam, feathers and markers to create a cute little manitee inside a shoe box. It definitely stood out; it was 1/4 the size of all the others, and was clearly the result of a child creating without the assistance of a caring parent. Of course, as her mother, I felt absolutely horrible! But I was also so proud of her for completing it all on her own, and promised that next year I would help her create something just as amazing!

Still a Pro...

Dave was invited to play in a game with the AZ Sahuaros against the MLS team, the Chicago Fire. It was a proud moment for me, and was extremely fun to watch and cheer him on.

His parental instincts surfaced when some girls wanted him to autograph their (new) shoes. He was hesitant, but eventually caved, which thrilled the young group of fans!