Miracle Times Three

Battle Wound

2012-01-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

Marcus and Olivia went to town with Marc tonight to get new tires for his truck. While Marc was trying to pay and finish things up, Marcus was standing on a chair and fell off right on a table. Poor Marcus...he needed stitches but wasn't too cooperative at the Urgent Care so they decided to just do staples. He was fine with that. I think the difference was they let me hold him on my lap for the staples but had to lay him on a table with all of us on top of him for stitches...can you blame him for choosing staples?

McDonald's happened to be right across the street from the Urgent Care and we used that to bribe Marcus a few times so of course that is where we ended up eating dinner. Marcus got a cool race car there. He was very excited to get the car, but a little disappointed that he could not play on the toys at McDonald's due to his head. He's back to his normal energetic self now...can't even tell it happened besides the big hole in his head. I'm sure this is just the first of many for this kid; especially if he follows in the footsteps of his Daddy which he seems to be doing pretty well right now.

Outing

2012-01-14T16:18:00.000-08:00

We took a little outing New Year's weekend...can you guess where we went?

The hats came out for this occasion.

It's a place we really like to go...it takes a little while to get there too..

Do you know where we went yet? :-)

Bringing in the New Year

2012-01-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

We brought in the New Year with a bang...literally. We had all of our good friends over for the day yesterday. We started off shooting skeet. I even shot a few rounds. It was a blast!

Our neighbor, Scott, joined us too.

The kids stayed a safe distance away from the gunfire and held their ear plugs in their ears the entire time.

Raymond brought his new girlfriend, Heather, over and she even gave shooting a try. Overall we had a blast shooting.

We served baked potatoes with all the fixings including chili and cornbread. I even made some chocolate cupcakes. Poker was the game of choice for majority of the night and then we went out and had a huge bonfire and watched a big fireworks show put on by Scott and his friends. It was the perfect New Year's party. We are so lucky to have such great friends to celebrate with us. Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Recap

2011-12-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

We went over to Grami and Poppi's house for Christmas. Since we were so close to my Grandma we decided to visit her too. We took the scenic route to Grandma's house and stopped along the way to see some sheep. Look Mom...they're up there.

We saw lots of bald eagles too...beautiful!

We had some lunch and a little visit with Grandma.

Then back to Grami and Poppi's to begin Christmas preparations. The kids put out cookies and milk for Santa.

We woke up bright and early to see if Santa actually came...he did! The kids asked Santa for umbrellas and he answered.

Have you ever seen kids get so excited about umbrellas??? It doesn't even rain that much where we live! :-)

Marcus checked out his stocking first...lots of good stuff in there!

Marcus' big request this year was a Spiderman Scooter. Santa gave him a picture of one with a note that said it would be waiting for him at home. He was pretty excited.

Olivia's big request this year was a zebra pillow pet. She must have been a good girl because she got one!

Marcus got his own hunting riffle.

After we opened Santa gifts we decided to wait on the rest for Elle and Baylor to come over. They came later Christmas day. First we let them relax a little from the long car ride. Here's Elle with Poppi and Emma.

The kids took their baths and we opened the rest of the gifts. Grami and Poppi got the girls a Barbie house! Very cool!

Olivia took good care of Baylor. She's going to be such a great Mommy some day :-)

We let the kids watch a movie...look at those cuties! Getting so big!

Baylor just hung out and showed off his big smile.

The next day we woke up to snow! We haven't had much snow at home so the kids were super excited. Marcus tried to ride the big wheel in the snow but it didn't go very fast.

The girls tried to break through the ice in Oergel Creek.

They didn't have much luck with that either.

So it was off to sledding!

Uncle Colby pulled the sled. Climb on in Elle...this is fun!

Marc and I left the kids behind for a week since school and daycare are closed and we have to work. Poppi is watching them and from what we've heard things are going well. They actually come home tomorrow and I can't wait! I miss them so much!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas...have a Happy New Year too!

Tis the Season

2011-12-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

Here is what our decorated tree looked like this year...turned out pretty good!

The kids really participated in decorating it this year. Unfortunately there were a few broken ornaments as a result, but overall they did very well.

So Pretty!

Marc brewed his own beer this Christmas Season. He had a little helper too.

Marcus did a great job holding the strainer.

The kids are really into Hot Chocolate this year. They ask for it all the time. Of course we have to have marshmallows too! YUMMY!

Santa Visit 2011

2011-12-19T16:23:00.000-08:00

We finally got over to visit Santa today. The kids were super excited. They posed very well for the picture. Then Olivia told Santa she wants a Zebra Pillow Pet, Marcus wants a Spiderman Scooter and Emma wants Santa and Mrs. Claus barbies.

Chuck E. Cheese's

2011-12-17T12:53:00.000-08:00

The girls got a gift card to Chuck E. Cheese's for their 3rd birthday so we decided to finally put it to use last night. Say Cheese Emma!

Olivia immediately made a friend...should I be worried? These two started off playing air hockey and proceeded from game to game. It was quite amusing watching them. They were both good sports...when one would win the other would still be happy.

Typical Olivia...making friends with whoever wants to play. Lately seems to be more boys then girls though...I think I am a little worried...

Marcus followed Daddy around. Here they are with a fire hose putting out fires.

Emma just stuck with me and we played lots of games too.

We had a great time! Especially because the gift card covered the entire cost!

The Perfect Tree

2011-12-11T18:35:00.000-08:00

This year we were invited out to our friends' property in ID to find our perfect Christmas Tree. We hiked for what seemed like forever and also took the opportunity to get a family photo for the 2011 Christmas Card.

The kids started out really excited. Our friend, Scott, gave each of the kids a whistle with the instructions that if they felt like they were lost they were to blow three times. What a great idea!

After a while the kids started to get warm...hats and gloves kept coming off.

They were wondering when we were going to find that perfect tree. We kept finding some but Daddy was never satisfied so we had to keep moving.

Marcus decided he found his and was ready to go!

Emma was soooooo tired...but put on a brave face.

Ok Mom...when is Daddy going to find that perfect tree???

Here it is! Ironically this is the same tree that is in the first picture of all of us. We literally picked this one out then kept on hiking and turned down others just to come back to this one. Should have stuck with first impressions...but oh well...it was fun to hike in the woods.

Finding the perfect tree brought back the energy in the kids. They ran behind Daddy trying to keep up back to the truck.

Marcus was going so fast he even rolled a few times. Typical little Marcus.

Here's the whole crew. The property we were on is our neighbors, Scott and Julie. They have 100 acres in ID just about 54 miles from our houses. After we all found our trees we had lunch and a little bon fire and just hung out for a few hours. It was perfect!

We didn't even make it off their property before all three kids were sound asleep.

They did wake up quickly to see the bison along the way. There were a lot of them! Pretty cool! The tree is in our living room now waiting to be trimmed down and decorated. We will more than likely decorate tomorrow. I'll be sure to post pictures of the Completed Perfect Tree soon :-)

Holiday Concert

2011-12-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

The girls had their first official School Christmas Concert this morning. I took the day off for the occasion. The girls woke up and put on their fancy dresses. Emma of course wanted curls in her hair...Olivia just wanted a pony tail. So pretty!

Marcus and I went to the school around 9:45am. Here is the program showing what the Kindergarten Classes got to sing.

It was tough getting pictures with all the parents there. Emma stood right in front of the microphone too so that made it a bit of a challenge as well. Luckily they were right by each other though.

They did a great job! They had little hand actions with each song. So cute!

I was so proud...Marcus was pretty proud too.

Hello Olivia!

HUGS from Emma!

After the concert Marcus and I went to the girls' room to say hi and snap a quick picture. Then it was off to McDonald's for Marcus and me while the girls continued their school day.

Here is a fun little video of the girls singing...enjoy!

Sunday

2011-12-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Marcus built one of his projects that he got for his birthday. It was a Handy Manny Speedboat. He used the new tools he got for his birthday too...including the safety goggles.

Mr. Fix It...Like father like son...

He even had a little help from Emma.

The girls and I also decorated a gingerbread house we got from Auntie Tracy.

I love this gingerbread house! It is the best one we've done by far!

Thank you Auntie Tracy! This house was so nice...no frustrations at all as we've experienced with past gingerbread houses :-)

4 years old!

2011-12-03T21:11:00.000-08:00

Marcus turned 4 years old today! We threw him his big birthday party tonight. Nana couldn't make it so this is what I came up with...Toy Story theme. Yep...I made the cake and cupcakes this year. Aren't those little alien cupcakes the cutest? They were lots of fun to make.

The cake was fun too. It's not a Nana creation but I did get a lot of compliments on it.

Most important...the birthday boy approved! He was so excited!

The birthday boy never gets far from his cowgirls. The kids went to Cabela's with Grami & Poppi this morning and got these cool hats. Marcus was being Woody, Olivia was Jessie and Emma was Big Sky Barbie. They were pretty cute...if I do say so myself.

Party started around 4:30. We had lots of food and lots of friends. It was perfect!

Here's a little closeup of my cake.

And the little aliens. I found this idea online...it was so easy! I used Mint Mentos for the eyes with black gel. The antenna is Green Apple Sour Straws and the ears are cut up Spearmint Leaves. They got rave reviews from all.

Time to blow out the candles!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Marcus.....Happy Birthday to you!

Blow out those candles! Yay!!!

Marcus got lots of great presents.

Overall he was pretty excited and very happy the entire day. I think this birthday boy had an awesome day!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!! Can't believe you are already 4!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T17:51:00.000-08:00

We had to cancel our trip to Montana due to vehicle issues so it was just the 5 of us for Thanksgiving this year. Turned out to be a great day...very productive for all.

Marc decided to finish the last unfinished room...the laundry room. He textured the walls and put up the wainscoting and trim. All that's left is a little more trim, some painting and new floor in there. Then the house will officially be complete! Olivia was her Daddy's shadow all day. She even borrowed some of Marcus' tools to do her work.

She was very serious about it too. Got to be sure everything is lined up and looks good.

She did give me one little grin. I just looked at her all day and couldn't help but think of Paige on Extreme Home Makeover...such a cute girl with tools! Olivia could definitely play that part!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!

School Volunteer

2011-11-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

I took today off to volunteer at the school. The kids were doing a Thanksgiving celebration and the teacher needed lots of help. We arrived and were each placed at a station around the gym. They brought the kids in and separated them in groups at each station. They rotated between stations. They did all sorts of fun stuff.

Here's Emma painting turkey feathers that were hung on the bulletin board to form a huge turkey.

Here's Olivia making a beaded necklace. Before this station she made that cool headband.

This is Emma at my station. I was in charge of the turkey weave station. They painted turkeys and put hole punches in them and wove string through the holes.

While the kids went to PE, the parents went to the old gym to set up the Thanksgiving feast. Here are all the parent volunteers. It was really nice to meet some of the parents finally.

The kids were brought in for the feast. There was turkey, cranberries, corn, rolls, cheese, pumpkin pie...you name it...it was there! YUMMY!

This is Makayla with Olivia and Emma. She is one of their good friends that I hear about all the time. It was nice to finally meet her and the other kids I hear about so often. I was so glad I took the opportunity to volunteer today. I'm really going to try to volunteer more...I've already signed up for the Santa Express! Can't wait!

SNOW!

2011-11-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

It started snowing late this afternoon and the kids could not contain themselves. By the time they got suited up it was already getting dark...but they had a blast playing in the first snow...enjoy!

Honoring our Veterans

2011-11-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

Today was an early release day meaning the girls got out of school 3 hours early. I originally intended to work 1/2 day and get home in time to meet the bus. However, during dinner last night they told us all about their preparations for the Veteran's Day assembly that was going to be held at 8:15 this morning. I was aware of it but didn't really think anything of it. I told them I was working and would not be able to attend. Emma's eyes immediately filled up with the biggest tears you've ever seen and Olivia said "All the mommies and daddies are going to be there except ours?" Well, that was enough to make me send a quick email to my manager at work and announce that I would be taking the full day off to attend the girls' assembly. The Kindergartners had a very small but important part. They got to walk around with flags while a song called "Freedom" played in the background. I was trying to video and take pictures at the same time so neither turned out great...but you get the idea.

Marcus even wore red, white and blue for the occasion. It was a very nice assembly honoring all the service men and women and explaining the importance of their jobs and the sacrifices they have made and are currently making for our country. All of my kids are very aware of what Freedom means and are all very thankful for the men and women who serve and protect our country. Thank you to all of you!!! A special big THANKS to Uncle Jared who is currently serving in Afghanistan. Talk about sacrifice...he will be missing the birth of his first son due in less than 2 weeks. We love you Uncle Jared and appreciate all you are doing!

Best Friends

2011-11-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

This says it all...

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

The girls came home from school with lots of stories of their fun day. Then we ate a quick dinner and got dressed for trick or treating.

A few pictures before we left.

Aww...so sweet.

And off to Makayla's for some trick or treating.

Marcus was so sweet...after every house he ran up to me, gave me a hug and said "you're the best Mom!" I think he was feeling bad for me because I'm still not feeling well.

A quick photo to stall these ones and let the others catch up.

Here is our group this year. It was a lot of fun even though I struggled through. I just new how much this meant to the kids. Now off to bed to try to get rid of this nasty flu! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T07:21:00.000-07:00

Olivia the witch.

Too cute!

Then there is Minnie Mouse.

So sweet.

Add in the soldier and you've got Halloween!

Marcus and I sent the girls off to school in their costumes this morning. They are having a "Harvest Party" at school today and they are so excited. Marcus gets to stay home with me today...unfortunately I got the flu for Halloween :( Hopefully I feel better tonight...they really want to go trick or treating and Daddy is out of town so it's up to me! Hope everyone is having a Happy Halloween!

Weekend Visits

2011-10-30T17:47:00.000-07:00

We went over to the west side yesterday morning for a quick visit. It was so nice to see Elle and Baylor again. Baylor has grown so much in such a short time! The cousins had a great time together.

This morning the kids jumped in the hot tub for the second time during our short visit. They sure do love hot tubs. I think we might need to get one soon. Marcus even swims and dunks his head under in the hot tub. He thinks it's a pool.

Hello Emma...climb in! It's cold outside but HOT in the tub!

I see you! Such fun!

Grami baked some cupcakes and a small cake and let the kids decorate. Marcus decorated the cake..."TADA".

Olivia decorated the big cupcakes for us to eat...Nice work!

And Grami trusted Emma to decorate a beautiful tray full of cupcakes for Grami's work. She did an amazing job...I think Nana might even want to hire these kids for some cake decorating :-) It was a good weekend overall with friends and family all around.

First School Pictures

2011-10-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

Olivia...one tooth missing and another loose (only you can't see here since it's her bottom teeth). Super Cute if I do say so myself. You'll notice the orange on both girls. It was "wear your colors" week and picture day just happened to be orange day too. The girls insisted they HAD to wear orange so these are what we came up with.

Emma...not even one loose tooth yet! But look at how adorable she is. She wanted to do curlers the night before so I said ok. It was so cute, when I removed the curlers the morning of pictures she said "do I look cute or do I look like Shirley Temple?" I just burst into laughter...then said "well, you do look like Shirley Temple...but that means you are cute". The only thing she knows about Shirley Temple is that every time her hair is curled all the adults comment on how much she looks like Shirley Temple. The scary thing about this picture is this is a spitting image of ME! Crazy!!!

Lots of Leaves

2011-10-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

We decided today was the day to carve our pumpkins. We invited our friends, the Starks, to join in the fun. Only Courtney and her friend, Ellie, decided to participate. Here are the happy carvers.

We made the kids take out all the guts. Olivia and Marcus dug right in.

Daddy took the top off of Emma's and told her to get messy...she just looked up at him and said "really?"...she did eventually dig in too.

Courtney decided to carve a white pumpkin. It was super thick though so she needed her Dad's assistance.

Marcus was questioning our methods but kept on going.

Ellie even got into it and got quite messy herself.

Marc assisted with the carving. Marcus wanted a scary pumpkin this year.

Time for our three to pose with their pumpkins (It took the teenagers a little longer to carve their's).

It was really hard to get all three to look my way...

I couldn't decide which of these posed pictures I liked best...so you get three :-)

Here are the finished Jack O'Lanterns...The top one is Ellie's and says BEWARE. The spider was carved by Marc. I remember a day when we used to have pumpkin carving contests...Marc always got really into those...guess some things never change ;-)

Happy Almost Halloween everybody!!!

It's Hunting Season!

2011-10-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

We tagged along with Daddy to Grami and Poppi's house this year for the start of hunting season. While Marc, Poppi and Raymond went hunting, Marcus showed us his musical talents on the bongos.

The girls rode the buckin bronco and rocking horse...I think they might be getting a little big for those.

Marcus spotted lots of deer in the back yard...he did better than the actual hunters did unfortunately.

Raymond's baby, Bella, also hung out with us for the weekend. Isn't she beautiful?

The boys came back for lunch and naps and then went out scouting. Marcus got to go for that. He was so excited...he wanted to be just like the big boys...he had to put his shoes on outside just like Daddy and Poppi.

Can you tell he's excited?

Sunday morning and the bongos are out again. Marcus became a pro at those by the end of the weekend. Take a look at that hair on his head though...somethings got to be done about that!

Yep...haircut time! Grami has cool clippers that hook up to the vacuum. No mess! And no hair on Marcus (he's very sensitive and gets red and itchy when his hair falls on his skin).

So handsome!

Grami and Emma had time to do some sewing.

Marcus and Olivia decided to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine and warm weather...October has been awesome for weather!

Emma and Grami's finished project...so cute!

And a perfect picture of my perfect angels...I actually got all three of them to look my way and smile! We had a great weekend even though the hunters came home empty handed...I think they do that on purpose though so they can keep the hunting season going :-)

Fall

2011-10-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year for the Pumpkin Patch! We tried a different one this year. The kids were so excited!

Emma shows how strong she is by pulling Olivia and Marcus around.

We stopped to pick some apples.

Thanks for the boost Daddy!

Then out to the Pumpkin Patch. Here is Marcus' pumpkin.

Emma thought this one was nice...but she didn't actually pick it.

Pumpkins picked, apples picked...we are ready to go. Olivia decided to pull the wagon this time.

Emma decided to help her pull to move things along more quickly...great teamwork girls!

Marcus had to check out the pumpkins at the register to make sure the one he picked was just right. Yep...the one he picked in the field was a keeper.

Emma wanted to hold the "baby" pumpkins. I even caught her singing "Rock-a-bye Baby" to it...silly girl. She was satisfied with a bigger pumpkin this year though and not so set on getting "the littlest" pumpkin as she has been in the past. It was a fun trip this year...we even bought a homemade apple pie and fresh apple cider! Yum!

His Father's Son

2011-10-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

Marcus gets to stay home on Fridays with Marc now that Marc is working 4-10s. Yesterday was Turkey Hunting day and this year Marcus got to go with Marc and Steve! Marc said he did awesome. He climbed up a tree stand (Marc said it was 20 feet up and Marcus didn't even blink an eye). They didn't see any turkeys but they did see some deer. Marcus talked non-stop about it when I got home from work. He's hooked! Definitely another hunter in the family. We also got a Cabela's Toy catalog in the mail yesterday and Marcus has picked out his toy gun (it's riffle with a scope) and targets. So cute!

Girls Road Trip

2011-10-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

I took the girls to Montana to help celebrate my little sister's baby shower this weekend. We left after work on Friday and ran into a lot of construction so it was slow going. We decided to just stop in Missoula (1/2 way to where we were going) and just stay the night in a hotel. We stayed at the C'mon Inn. It was beautiful. After we checked in we walked around to see the sights. The girls were impressed by the rocks and waterfalls.

There was also a cool game room. They raced motorcycles and cars.

We woke up this morning, had breakfast and stopped at Starbucks for hot chocolate and coffee.
On our way to Great Falls we spotted a cool hot air balloon. We stopped for pictures.

It was very cool. The girls asked all kinds of questions...I told them maybe we'd look into balloon rides someday. They weren't too sure about that but said they'd think about it.

We arrived in Great Falls in time to decorate for the shower. Then it was party time. Here is the new mom with her shower cake.

My Mom even made Tavein a diaper cake.

Here's a close up of the cake.

My Mom made a diaper wreath too! That should give Tavein a good start on diapers.

She got lots of cool presents.

The cake was delicious!

Something's Missing...

2011-09-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

So the story goes like this....Sunday while shopping Olivia tells me her tooth is going up and down and up and down. I didn't really investigate at this point thinking it was probably just starting to get loose since this was the first I had heard about it. Well after dinner that night she showed me...it was literally bent all the way down touching her tongue! Of course we all got excited. Emma said "Olivia, you need to take it out and put money with it to give to the tooth fairy!" (it is a tough economy after all :-)). We did explain that the tooth fairy actually leaves the money. Olivia didn't want any part of it though and hid in the bathroom. That was the end of discussion.

Last night Marc and I actually went out on a "date night" and left the kids with our friends, the Starks. We picked them up at 9pm and put them to bed. This morning Olivia woke up, went to the couch, drank her chocolate milk and did the norm. I finally started to get her dressed about 20 minutes later and she said "Mom..." then she opened her mouth and pointed. I couldn't believe it! The tooth was gone! I asked her when she lost it and she said last night in Kylie's room somewhere. I asked why she didn't tell us and she just shrugged her shoulders and got all embarrassed.

We asked her about it a little more tonight and found out she was in Kylie's room when we got there to pick them up. She said she was laughing and felt something in her mouth. She took it out and saw it was her tooth, then accidentally dropped it and said "opps..." and then came running upstairs to see us. When I asked her again why she didn't tell us she just said "I just wanted to see you guys." We decided the tooth fairy must have gone to the Starks to get the tooth last night but couldn't find Olivia to give her the money. Olivia put out a little box tonight for the tooth fairy to find. I assured her the tooth fairy got the message and will find her tonight ;-)

Party weekend

2011-09-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Deanna had her birthday party at Jump and Bounce again this year. She invited her whole kindergarten class...I just had to take a photo...there were 18 kids there! That's a lot of kids! Deanna is in the middle in the purple.

These four are the originals from daycare. They stuck together at this party since they didn't know anyone else. Always fun to get together with old friends. After this party we went to one of my co-worker's house for another party. I didn't take pictures there. We left our house around noon and got home around 9pm. The kids were exhausted. Emma said "Mommy, that was a really long day!" They all slept pretty well though. Today is going to be a work day...getting ready for fall and winter and putting all summer stuff away!

Real Cowboy!

2011-09-18T15:45:00.000-07:00

The big event at the fair today was the bravery of this little boy. We told the kids yesterday that we were going to the fair so they could ride some sheep. Marcus was so excited...he couldn't wait. We got him signed up (the girls both said "no" to this event) and on his way. He put on a vest for protection...

And a helmet too...

The cheering section is ready to go!

He's waiting patiently in the shoots...Marc said he was such a big boy; he even head-butted another kid and said "It doesn't hurt!"

And he's off!!! Look at that kid hold on!

Hold on tight Marcus...the girls and I were so proud!

And down he goes...I'm not exactly sure how long he held on but what a trooper. I did get video but can't get it to load on blogger...I'll keep trying; but in the meantime I'll try to get it on Facebook so check it out over there.

County Fair

2011-09-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the fair today. It was the last day of the fair for the year. We had an agenda. First we checked out the sheep...the next post will be more about that.

Next we went to the barns to see all the animals...here are the cows.

The kids even got to pet a very large snake....YIKES!

Then it was on to the tractor pull. The kids got a turn to pull some weight with an old John Deere Tractor. Emma got to go first.

Marcus went next. They both did great. Olivia decided she did not want to go so she just watched and cheered.

After the tractor pull, we went to watch the pigs race. That was very entertaining.

Marcus was impressed....really he was.

Of course we had to have some fair food. Hot Dogs and Corn Dogs were on the menu.

Then time for rides. Olivia and Marcus went on a roller coaster!!!! Marcus was just barely tall enough to go on this, but loved every minute.

WEEEEE....(Emma did not want anything to do with this ride).

Then on to the carousel.

Emma LOVED that!

Marcus said he was dizzy when it was all over.

We had one last ride on the carousel before heading home. It was a great day at the fair.

Emma's Song

2011-09-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

This is Emma's song. Every time she hears this she stops whatever she is doing to sing along. Usually she makes sure no one is watching and she belts it out. I tried to capture that but she caught me and wouldn't sing. I finally talked her into letting me shoot a video; she's a little more reserved than normal but I still think it's cute. She said she would only do it if I did NOT show it to my friends...since I figure mostly family reads this blog I'm not really breaking that promise... plus every time she watches this she smiles and says "I LOVE IT!" so I really don't think she will mind if I share it with my friends :-)

Pirate Party

2011-09-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

This year Mateo had a pirate party for his birthday. This was a little reunion for these 5. The biggest 4 of the 5 started Kindergarten this year (at different schools); Marcus is the only one of this original group left at daycare.

They all stuck together like glue...it was very sweet to see.

There was a Pirate Ship pinata at the part too. Emma tried her best to get it open.

Olivia gave it her all too. Marcus even tried a few swings. It was pretty stubborn; we ended up taking it down and breaking into it in the end.

Overall, it was a successful Pirate Party....ARR.....

First Day of School!

2011-09-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Can you believe these two are old enough to go to school? Me either! (sniff, sniff, sob, sob)...well today was the day! I actually had to wake them up this morning, but once we got going, all was well. They picked out their outfits last night and got dressed the moment they woke up.

They brushed their teeth, had their chocolate milk and a banana (that's all I could get them to eat) and then by 6:45am we were out by the road waiting patiently for the bus (which was supposed to arrive by 6:45am).

The bus got to the house at 7:00am! They were so excited, they could hardly wait! The driver's name is Dora and she was super sweet.

They were told to pick a seat and they hopped in the fist one they saw. Then off to school (again...sniff, sniff, sob, sob).

Marcus and I waited until 7:30am and then headed to the school to see the girls. We actually got there a little late...they had already arrived! We got to take pictures of them at their desks. Emma was all grins.

Olivia was pretty excited too. They are in the same class and their teacher's name is Mrs. Jones. We have met Mrs. Jones a few times already so they already knew her.

I think Marcus was a little overwhelmed. He was unusually still and quite. The girls did give him a great big hug when they saw him; it was pretty sweet.

The teacher made a big speech about how hard this was for the parents and had them all say "I love you" and then wave goodbye (sniff, sniff, sob, sob)...(and yes, I'm tearing up a little as I type this...).

I took the day off today to hang out with Marcus. We ran into town to Les Schwab to get the tires rotated. Marcus was such a good boy the whole time!

The girls requested a "First Day of School" cake so this is what I came up with. I might not win any cake decorating contests, but I think it turned out pretty cute. Hope the girls liked it. Only 2 more hours until I see them again! I can't wait to hear about their day!

Packing Up

2011-09-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a day of packing and driving. The kids were a great help getting things put away. Then they sat patiently waiting for the adults to finish so we could hit the road home.

Marcus and Marc played a little football before we left.

Nice throw Marcus!

A quick group photo before we left. Then back home we all went. It was the perfect Labor Day Weekend once again. Hope everyone else had a great one too!

Labor Day - Day 2

2011-09-06T08:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday started out with kids playing and waiting patiently for boating/beach time. Marcus terrorized Rocky for a while...what a good dog! He didn't seem to mind at all!

Emma and Reed terrorized Raymond for a while...he didn't seem to mind either :-)

The boys are ready to go...let's get this thing moving!

Marcus had a good time in the sand...oh my!

Julie and I had a great time just relaxing and watching the kids...this is the life!

The boys had a pretty good time too...hi Chad and Marc!

Olivia spent most of the weekend playing with the babies. She is such a little mommy. That is one thing she is really going to miss at daycare...not sure what she will do without her baby fix everyday.

Emma had a pretty good time in the sand too.

We walked along the beach and had a little run in with the law...apparently we are not allowed to have drinks on the beach away from the water. We assume it's because they don't want the 4-wheelers drinking and driving which makes sense. Raymond and Chad just got a "warning"...few.

They had this great slide set up. This is Chad...look at how much air he got!

Marc took Olivia down.

She came up smiling.

Then it was Marcus' turn. He looks a little worried...maybe it's excitement?

Victory!

Raymond let Olivia have the wheel the whole way back. She took her driving job very seriously.

She did pretty good overall...Raymond only had to correct her steering a few times. Emma did keep saying "I don't want her to drive anymore"...I think Olivia was scaring her a bit :-)

Labor Day - Day 1

2011-09-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

We originally planned on going to Sun Lakes but only made it as far as Moses Lake. Raymond called us as we were driving and told us his cousin had a great place right on the lake. So we decided that was a better option for us. The bonus was his cousin has a 3-year old for Marcus to play with! This is Reed. These two hit it off right away.

Saturday morning, we hopped on the boats and headed for the sandy beach.

Olivia was ready to go.

We ate lunch on the way...yummy.

When we got there Emma checked out the water. It was perfect to play in.

Then she rolled in the hot sand.

It was perfect sand to play in and we had lots of sand toys.

Emma wanted to see if she could get a sun tan.

Here are all the kids (minus a couple of babies). The Stark girls were with us too. Strange to think they used to be the little ones when we started these Labor Day weekend get togethers...now they are all teens (well almost all of them...Courtney is only 12).

The boys really did play well together. It was nice for Marcus to have a friend. He kept calling Reed his "little buddy".

Quick family photo. Say cheese!

We took the Starks boat out for a little tubing. The kids worked really hard helping to pull the tube in. They were very helpful.

Emma still didn't want to tube behind the boats. She would only float on it off the beach.

This area was actually big sand dunes. There were 4-wheelers behind us and LOTS of sand. We were sitting on hills by the water. The kids thought it was so fun to run and rull down the sandy hills.

It was perfect!

Quick Stark Family Photo.

On our way back in, Raymond let Emma drive the boat.

Olivia got to drive too.

And even Marcus got to drive!

We stopped real quick for the little boys to go tubing. They did awesome and had a blast. Too cute...such little boys on such a big tube...so brave (Chad did go on with them so they weren't totally by themselves).

Pig Out

2011-09-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

Marc took the kids to Riverfront Park for Pig Out in the Park on Friday. They have all sorts of food booths from the different area restaurants and lots of fun stuff for kids to do. Marc got some shots of the kids on the big slide with his cell phone...I just wanted to share.

Looks like a lot of fun!

Marc said Marcus was tumbling down most of the time and laughing the whole time.

They went down it over and over again...so fun!

More tumbling by Marcus. Ouch...looks like that one hurt; Marc said he continued to laugh though.

By the time I got off work and joined them all they could talk about was this big blue slide. What great memories :-)

DeeDee's Darlings

2011-08-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

Today was the girls' last day of daycare. We made brownies to share and the girls signed Thank You cards for DeeDee and Sandi. The girls have been going to DeeDee's every work day since they were 21 months old. I remember before they started, DeeDee was so nervous to have twins. DeeDee will always be considered part of the family. We know it's not the last the girls will see of DeeDee, but it definitely will be a change for them not to be at her house every day. Marcus of course will still be there; he will actually become one of the "big" kids (DeeDee sent 5 kids to Kindergarten this year)! Thank you DeeDee for taking such good care of our girls! We Love You!

Good Morning

2011-08-28T08:36:00.000-07:00

We are taking advantage of the cooler mornings; it's the only time to avoid the aggressive bees too. The forecast says 92 today! That's HOT! Marcus wanted to play outside this morning and I agreed that was a great idea. So I took my coffee and paper and sat on the porch to watch him play. Marc is off fishing on the coast so it's just me and the kids this weekend. Yesterday was filled with organizing the house and shopping for school clothes and shoes.

Olivia has been quite the Mommy. I got stung by a bee on my foot yesterday and for a while I couldn't even walk. I said "Olivia, what am I going to do?" Emma got me some ice and Olivia said "I think I can make dinner Mommy"...so sweet. I assured her that I would be ok though...but she was ready to step up. These are her new shoes for school. Aren't they cute?

This morning she said she was off to work. Marcus decided he needed to go to work too and he wanted to drive his motorcycle just like Daddy does every day.

Emma's had a rough morning so far. She hurt her hand on the shed door while trying to feed Tucker. She fell on the pavement while trying to get the paper. She was trying to get dressed quickly and Olivia left her...it's just not a good day so far for poor Miss Emma.

We got her dressed and ready for "work" too and the smile suddenly appeared. Here's the group ready for work.

The girls also wanted to show you all our corn. The garden actually produced pretty well this year. Even though we planted late so far we've enjoyed lettuce, squash and zucchini. Our pumpkins really took off...we've got a TON of pumpkins. I predict a fall party at our house...come one and all to pick out your pumpkins! Hope you are all having a great weekend! I need to figure out what to do now in this HOT HOT weather this afternoon. Guess there's always the pool.

Family Lives in town!

2011-08-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Dustin, recently moved here! We finally had him and his family over for dinner. Here is a quick group shot of all the kids...Emma, Olivia, Landon, Marcus (front row); Sydney, Zach (back row).

We ate inside to avoid the mass of bees. We put the kids at the coffee table and it worked out quite well.

Sydney got stuck at the adult table...but she didn't seem to mind. We are already talking about our next get together...it's so nice to finally have family here :-) Can't wait to see more of them!

A Day at the Lake

2011-08-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

Watch out David Hasselhauf....here comes Marcus! We were invited to a friend's cabin yesterday and spent the whole day at the lake.

Marcus was a fireball as always. I got some pretty good action shots though.

Olivia was resting.

This is my friend Lorie and her dog Duke. Look how well that dog is trained. She had him sitting here forever! Good Dog Duke!

Daddy pushed Marcus around in the little raft.

Olivia is ready to go swimming!

She took over pushing duties.

Emma found some great sand toys.

Olivia decided to "surf". She had a blast.

"Look Mom! I'm swimming!"

She also pulled me around for a while. What a good girl ;-)

Group photo of the kids. There's Marcus, Jackson, Olivia, Alexis and Emma.

Marcus found a net to go fishing. All he caught was seaweed though.

We took the boat out for a ride too.

Emma sure does love boat rides.

Another quick group shot.

Hi Handsome!

We stopped along the way for another swim. It was HOT outside.

Marc was trying to show Marcus that he really does float. Marcus wasn't buying it though. Marcus' famous words from last weekend...he was floating in the lake and suddenly realized no one was holding him and he couldn't touch...he shouted "I'm sinking, I'm sinking" We all got a kick out of it and tease him now. He doesn't think it's so funny though.

Olivia swam too. The lake was the perfect place to be on such a hot hot day. Thanks Lorie and family for inviting us!

Birthday Boy

2011-08-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today is Marc's birthday! We took the kids for a little walk this morning before we left. Here is the birthday boy with the kids on the dock.

One cool thing about where we stayed was there was an airport literally a few steps behind us. The planes flew in and out all day long. When we saw the first plane we thought it was going to crash into us since we didn't know there was an actual airport. They literally looked like they were skimming the trees when they were taking off and landing. We decided to walk over and check it out this morning. We even got to see a few take off.

We could literally stand at the end of the runway. Can you see the airplane taking off in the distance?

The kids thought that was pretty cool. Overall it was a great weekend. We went home after this and had a great day at our house. The girls and I went to Costco later in the afternoon and got Marc his Costco cake (sorry, I didn't take pictures). I think Marc had a wonderful birthday.

Starks Save the Day

2011-08-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

The Starks dropped by to say hello. Here are the Stark girls, Karissa and Courtney on top and Kylie next to Marc.

Old friends, Marc and Chad.

We were glad to see them...it was fun to have them here to help celebrate Marc's birthday. The bonus was the brought their boat!

We all took turns going out. I went with my three kids and Kyla. Marcus was first on the tube again. Of course he went with his little crush, Kyla.

Then Olivia jumped right on. I wasn't sure if she would go in this tube since it was a little different, but she didn't hesitate at all.

Chad is such a big kid. He went for a turn with Marcus and Kyla too.

He had Marcus trying all sorts of tricks. Marcus had a blast.

Emma wasn't interested in tubing...she was a great flagger though.

I decided to go for a turn with Marcus and Olivia.

It was a blast! WooHoo!!!

Marcus and Julie...say cheese!

Chad gave Marcus a driving lesson. He did great. Chad showed him how to work everything and how to look ahead and steer. It was awesome.

Marcus was pulling Kyla and Olivia. Those two were getting a little crazy by getting on their knees and trying all sorts of things.

What brave girls.

Kyla says "look at me...no hands!" Olivia says "WOW".

Emma got to drive too. She liked that. I guess we've got our driver then; she can do that while the rest of us play in the water.

Olivia and Kyla rode on the tube the whole way back to the dock.

Marcus wanted a funny face picture.

Chad taught Marcus how to pull the girls in too. He did a great job...such a good little helper.

We ended the night with dinner at the restaurant then the Starks went home. Thanks for hanging out with us Starks!

Boatless

2011-08-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Turns out what we thought was the starter ended up being the engine...so we had no boat on Saturday morning. The kids and I decided to go for a walk on the docks early in the morning. We also wanted to check out the beach.

It was perfect for a day of playing. The kids LOVED it! Emma was really into digging holes on the beach. She said she was making little lakes.

Olivia wanted to test out the water. It was still a little chilly outside, but she didn't care.

The beach had a lot of sand and the kids dug right in.

Marc, Steve and Chad just watched from afar. Steve is the owner of the broken boat so he wasn't too happy at this point.

Marcus was a fish. He spent a lot of time swimming around in the water.

Olivia wasn't far behind.

More sand.

Emma worked the entire day on this cool castle. She dug the little lake that you see Marcus playing in. Mia helped Emma with her construction project.

Here is the finished castle and lake. The castle is hard to see here, but it sits right by that green shovel. She had seaweed wrapped around it and a stick on top. It was really quite creative. She came up with it all on her own.

Marcus just liked to bury himself in sand which was fine too.

We stopped for lunch; the perfect place for these kids; in the back of a truck. It keeps everyone from running around in traffic.

Eventful Night

2011-08-14T21:12:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon we headed to Priest Lake for some camping and boating with friends. We got there and set up camp right away. Emma claimed her pink chair.

Olivia wanted to be a big girl and claimed the adult chair. We ate dinner and headed out for a quick night of boating.

The kids are ready with their life vests on. They are so excited! This is the first visit to the lake this year!

We got in the boat and put out the tube. Marcus jumped right in before we could even ask if he wanted to go. He was ready. He's never done this before but wasn't scared one bit. Mia and Shania went with him to make sure he didn't try to bail out...that would be a Marcus thing to do after all.

He had a blast. It was so cute to see such a little guy out there. He was very far away...I just have a good zoom on my camera.

Next was Olivia's turn. She was so excited and jumped right on too. No fear here!

Emma didn't really want to go but we talked her into it. She said it was fun, but this will be the only tubing picture you see of her; this was her first and only time going all weekend; she preferred the safety of the boat instead.

This is Kyla, our 8-year old friend. Marcus had a little crush on Kyla; where ever Kyla was you could find Marcus close behind.

All the kids got one turn on the tub and then the boat broke down. Marcus was worn out so he just rested while he waited for the boys to figure out what was wrong.

We were stranded in the middle of the lake and it was getting chilly and dark. Olivia was very worried about it.

Emma did her best to ease Olivia's mind. She didn't seem affected at all. Somehow she knew it would all be okay.

We couldn't get the boat to start again but luckily a nice couple came by in their boat with warm blankets and a tow rope and they towed us back to the marina.

We were all relived to be going back to our campsite. It was just in time too...notice the sun setting in the background?

Marc was starting his birthday celebration early. He had to show off his big muscles for the camera...41 looks good on him :-)

We met Baylor

2011-08-07T19:11:00.001-07:00

We went to the West side to meet our new nephew, Baylor James, who was born early Thursday morning. We drove to Grami and Poppi's Friday night and woke up early Saturday waiting for the phone call from Colby and Kimmie telling us when they got home from the hospital. Then we hit the road for a couple hour drive to their house.

And here he is...Baylor James (LOVE that name!)...he was so sweet. Almost made me want another (I did say almost).

Marcus was so excited...finally a BOY cousin on this side of the family. If you haven't noticed prior to this there were 7 cousins on Marc's side and Marcus was the ONLY boy. Marcus thought he was pretty cool!

Is this not the sweetest face you've ever seen? I just love babies. He weighed 9 lbs when he was born, he still looks so small to me though.

Olivia is always a natural with the babies.

Even Marcus wanted to hold him. He just kept saying "He's so cute Mommy...I just love him".

Emma got her turn too. She keeps saying "I just can't get enough of him...he SO cute!"

The kids were a little disappointed that Elle wasn't there...she was with her other set of grandparents. However, they sure did enjoy her toys. We really need to get Marcus a piano. He's a natural...noise maker that is.

The girls checked out Elle's room and found her cool house tucked in the corner.

We said our final goodbyes after a couple of hours. Grami wanted to hold little Baylor one last time.

He decided to wake up just as we were leaving to make sure he saw us so he could recognize us again the next time he sees us. He even waved goodbye...what a baby!

Congratulations Colby, Kimmie and Elle. You've got a wonderful new addition to your family. Can't wait to see you all again soon!

Weekend in Eburg

2011-08-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend at Grami and Poppi's house and some of the cousins were there too. Emma found the creek right away.

It was pretty hot outside so most of the kids' time was spent in the creek.

Even Gia spent some time playing in the creek with the other kids. Looks as if she's saying "Are you kidding me?"

Marcus is still the only boy in the bunch so he was a bit of a loner at times. No worries though, he found a lot to keep himself occupied.

When they weren't in the creek, they were in the hot tub. Grami and Poppie built this cool cabana; the perfect hangout for this group of girls. Don't they look so grown up sitting on the edges chatting away. Wow...how did they grow up so fast?

Marcus joins the group for a photo.

We made it home by noon on Sunday and decided to just relax in the pool. Marc and Marcus LOVE this pool! So sweet!

A little Father/Son time.

Olivia just watched from the sidelines for a while. She did eventually get into her swimsuit and swim a little too.

Two thumbs up! They approve of this HOT weather we are finally having.

Here's Olivia all wet from being in the pool. We love summer!

Marcus is learning all kinds of new tricks on the play set. I have to say it's scaring me a little...but he seems indestructible so far. He has fallen a couple of times but seems to bounce right back up without shedding one tear.

He's an active and tough boy this one...I just need to take a deep breath and let him go. Oh boy!

Smores!

2011-07-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Of course we had to build another fire last night so Marcus could participate in the fun.

We even made smores! YUMMY!

Then some friends came over and the adults had a bon fire into the night. When we came in, we found the girls sleeping together in Emma's bed. Olivia was worried because the adults were outside so Emma offered to take care of her...so sweet!

Strike a Pose

2011-07-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

The girls wanted to be swimsuit models yesterday. They literally set up their own photo shoot and started posing and begging me to take pictures. I have no idea where they learned this but I think we are in trouble!

Marcus wanted none of it but did agree to pose for one picture with me taken by Olivia.

Time for Play

2011-07-24T09:28:00.000-07:00

After all the hard work mowing the fields the boys decided it was time to cool off in the pool. Marcus is working on swimming lessons. He's actually pretty good!

Hi Marcus!

Wow...Marcus got some air! Don't the fields look much better behind them?

Marcus says "That was cold!"

That's some tall grass!

2011-07-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Marc borrowed our neighbor's tractor to try to get the field grass down. The weather has been so crazy and the field has been so wet this was the first opportunity we had to mow it. I caught Marcus climbing the camper trying to find Daddy in all that tall grass.

I finally got Marcus to come down and stand by the grass to give you an idea of just how tall it was. That's Tall!

He started out on the tractor with Daddy and eventually ended on the tractor too. He just played around the yard in between.

Where's Daddy??? I can't see him but I can hear him.

There he is! Next post will show you the progress!

Fire Pit

2011-07-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Friday night the girls requested a fire in the fire pit. Marcus missed his nap on Friday and by this point he was already out for the night so you won't seen little Marcus in any of these pics. Olivia and Daddy gathered all the wood for the fire with the help of Tucker of course.

Emma and I gathered the newspaper for the fire.

Aww...Olivia is so sweet! She's a Daddy's girl!

Emma's a bit of a Daddy's girl too.

Olivia took this picture. Pretty good!

Mommy's girls! It was super fun! The weather was warm during the day but cold at night...what a crazy July!

Last Weekend

2011-07-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

I was lazy about taking pictures last weekend while Marc was gone. We actually were quite busy without Daddy there; we went to the neighbor's Chili Party on Saturday and a Jump and Bounce Party on Sunday. I just went through my Cell Phone pics and thought these were cute enough to share. These are from Sunday. Here the kids are getting ready to go to Jump and Bounce. Olivia's baby goes everywhere with her lately.

I told them to bring socks thinking they would just wear flip flops and carry their socks. The girls came out with socks on and cowgirl boots. Pretty clever...cute too!

Here's the crew. It was super cute this year...just the little ones. They all had a blast. Sorry the pictures not too clear (Marcus couldn't stop bouncing)...pretty good for a cell phone pic though! I LOVE my new cell phone!

Never gets old

2011-07-17T09:41:00.000-07:00

They still love these cars! Have a great Sunday!

What the Boys are up to.

2011-07-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

Marc, Raymond and Chad participated in the "Warrior Dash" this weekend in North Bend. You'll have to look it up online to get the whole idea...from what I read it looked like a lot of work! But there is a big party at the end so I'm sure that was motivation enough for these old college buddies. Can't wait to hear all about it when Marc gets home tomorrow. Boys will be boys.

Cool Fort!

2011-07-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago while I was making dinner Olivia was busy in her room. When I went into check on her, this is what I found. She made this on her own and was so proud! Actually this was on Weds. and the fort is still standing today!

Nice job Olivia! Cool Fort!

Welcome Home

2011-07-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

We made some welcome home signs for Tanealya on Tuesday. She was in Greece for 2 weeks for the Special Olympics. Emma worked really hard on her sign.

She was so proud.

Olivia made a sign for Tanealya's traveling partner, Tammy.

We arrived a little late to the airport. Tanealya was actually walking out the doors when we were walking in. But Emma ran up to her and gave her a big welcome home hug. Tanealya loved it.

Olivia walked right up to Tammy and gave her the sign she had made. She loved it too.

When we got back to Nana and Papa's house we decided we needed to take a cousin picture since all cousins were there now.

Then on Weds. morning we headed back home. It was an exhausting trip...so much to see and do...but we all had a great time!

Fort Benton

2011-07-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday we took a trip to Fort Benton with Nana and Gramie and Poppi. This is Shep...Marcus thought he was pretty cool.

I just happened to snap this picture without really planning it. I thought it was so cute!

There was a Penny Pincher in one of the buildings. The kids each got to pinch a penny.

It made it flat and oval shaped and put a cool picture on it. Marcus was intrigued.

There was a really cool old bridge that you could walk across. Perfect family photo opportunity.

And a cool octopus tree.

Taylor came with us too.

When we got to the fort, it was closed so we just peeked inside.

This is what we saw. Pretty cool...too bad we couldn't go inside.

Then we found a cool playground which was the biggest hit of it all with the kids. Funny how you drive all this way to see so much history and the kids only care about the playground :-) Oh well...maybe they'll appreciate it all when they are older.

Fire Crackers

2011-07-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

We had a 4th of July dinner at Nana and Papa's house and then went to Sabrina and Tim's for some fireworks. This is Jared's motorcycle...the kids really wanted to ride it :-)

Emma had her hands over her ears the entire time. This is really the first time our kids have seen these fire crackers; they are banned where we live.

My sister's family put on an impressive show. The kids thought it was cool.

They got to check things out up close and were very excited to see what each different one would do.

There were even snappers. At first the kids threw them to the ground to make them snap; then they discovered it was easier and more fun to just jump on them.

Emma was brave enough to hold a sparkler.

Marcus wanted to try on Jared's helmet and sunglasses. Cool Dude!

Olivia did quite a few sparklers...Ta Da...

Even Marcus did some sparklers.

Taylor invited the kids to sit on her car a safe distance away from the big fireworks. The grand finale was awesome...but loud too :-) It was a blast!

Giant Springs

2011-07-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

We took Gramie and Poppi to a park in Great Falls called Giant Springs. There is a fish hatchery there and the kids have never been there either. We only got to view one part of the fish hatchery but there were some big fish in there. Here are the kids looking at the big fish with their cousin Taylor.

Papa and Poppi bought some fish food for the kids.

They had a lot of fun feeding the fish.

Then we walked around to take in the sights.

We thought this would be a good place for a family photo.

There was even a playground to play on. Emma overdid it a little (I forgot to mention, she was diagnosed with pneumonia last Thursday). She decided to rest a little with Poppi. It was lots of fun and beautiful to see.

4th of July

2011-07-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Gramie, Poppi, Nana and Papa with the kids. We got a great spot at the 4th of July parade this year. The guys pulled the trucks up in a parking lot and we just camped out there.

We grabbed one of Mom's (aka Nana) umbrellas from her yard and tied it to a parking meter...it made the perfect shade; we looked like pros for sure! Honestly, it was all by accident too. There were no plans or preparations made for this.

They handed out free flags so everyone had one! Perfect!

Emma had her spot picked out from the start and didn't move from it for majority of the parade.

Marc had his spot picked out too :-)

The parade started with the military...Jared was in it too! It was 90+ degrees out there! He must have been HOT.

The airplanes and helicopters flew by again this year. They were so close you could even see them wave at us!

Poppi made sure Marcus didn't eat too much candy.

Jared found us after he was done marching in the parade...he said that he was definitely hot.

Those are my girls hugging that chipmunk! What brave girls.

They were so excited. They had a blast. It was a perfect parade; didn't last too long and had just enough candy too (which was left behind in Nana's pantry).

It's A....

2011-07-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

We went to my visit my family in Great Falls as the kick off to our week long vacation. One of the best parts of the trip was finding out the gender of my sister and Jared's baby. A friend of mine had done the cake idea where she didn't know what it was and found out by cutting the cake. Unfortunately, my sister and Jared couldn't wait that long...so they actually knew but didn't tell any of us (except Mom who made the cake)...oh well, it was still fun anyways. Here is the cute couple with the cake.

And they cut the cake...they look like pros at this cake cutting thing.

IT'S A BOY!!! Can you tell how excited Jared is? The blue matches Tavein's eyes!

Nope, Jared is not excited at all. He put on a good show for all of us...what an actor (remember, he had already known prior to this).

Tavein and Riley are very excited to have another boy cousin join the crew.

These are the cousins minus the teens. Marc's parents were there to witness the cake cutting too. Tavein and Jared have not come up with a name yet, but Bruce has put his two cents in and Tavein said "Bruce" is in the middle of the list (and the list is long...). Better luck next time Poppie!

Summer is finally here!

2011-07-06T21:11:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from last weekend. It's finally nice enough to bring out the swim suits and sprinklers...just thought I'd share a few fun pictures from last weekend...

Olivia and Marcus racing through the sprinkler.

Olivia and Marcus...so cute!

Aww...

I have no idea...

Yay for summer!

Garden Boxes

2011-06-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

We decided to try raised gardens this year. Marc built the boxes a few weeks ago and the weather was finally nice enough for us to actually plant today. Marc got a dump truck full of dirt (ironically at the same time Olivia and Marcus were filling their dump trucks this morning...maybe that's why they were doing that??).

We put newspaper down and Marc used Jack's tractor to fill the boxes with dirt. The girls had the job of filling their buckets and piling dirt on the next newspaper layers in the next boxes...it was windy so this helped keep the newspaper down while Marc got the next load of dirt.

It was very helpful and kept them quite busy too. They loved every minute.

Marcus was taking his nap during majority of this which was probably a good thing. The moment he woke up he was right in the middle of all that dirt!

Marcus got to help Daddy with the tractor. He's a great driver

Here is a sneak peek. We did plant them tonight too but they pretty much look like this. I'll take pictures as things start to grow.

Marc and Marcus took the tractor back to Jack's house.

The girls and I relaxed after a hard days work!

Hope everyone else had as productive of a Saturday as we did! I love that the weather is so nice! I wonder what we'll tackle tomorrow!

Memories

2011-06-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

I cleaned my house this morning and was done by 10am. Then the kids and I decided to go outside and soak in the sun for once. I sat on our deck and just watched them play. I love to just watch them sometimes; especially when they all get along :-) They had the dump trucks out today and were going to work moving dirt.

Emma eventually switched over to some cooking.

Tucker was just being Tucker...it's so hard being a dog!

Olivia and Marcus really did move a lot of dirt. They filled their trucks and moved the dirt to the other side of the play gym.

Then they emptied them and went back for more.

This went on for quite a while this morning...what a perfect morning!

Crazy Kids

2011-06-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

Just a regular Thursday night. This picture sort of captures their personalities. Marcus the mischievous one, Emma the innocent (so she wants us to believe) and Olivia the wild crazy one who is always laughing. We decided to make cookies tonight...it was just the kids and me. I had some music playing on my phone and it resulted in this...

My original intent was to capture the girls singing and dancing but to my surprise it ended up being all about Marcus. I couldn't resist sharing this one...I don't think he really knew I was videoing this. I think he just thought I was holding my camera. Too funny! He's got some moves! Do I dare say he got that from his Daddy??? :-)

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

The kids woke up this morning and wished Marc, Poppi and Papa a Happy Father's Day. They each made a card and a coffee cup for Marc. They were all very proud.

We had a ton of cake left over so this morning so we decided to give some to the local Fire Department. Our neighbor, Scott, is an officer there so he brought over one of the trucks to say "thank you". It was a nice surprise...the kids thought it was pretty cool.

The kids even got fire hats. Marcus had just woken up from his nap so he really wasn't as into it...therefore I got to sport the cool hat for a picture :-) What a great weekend! Happy Father's Day to all the Daddy's out there!

Celebrating 5!

2011-06-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

We had the girls' birthday party yesterday. Olivia requested Cinderella and Emma requested Ariel this year. We can't seem to get away from the princess theme...oh well...one day I'll probably be wishing for the princess theme to come back :-) Once again, Nana answered the requests with BEAUTIFUL cakes!

Look how big these two are getting!

It rained on us again this year so we were forced to have an indoor party. We kept the kids confined to the playroom which did help with the crowd control. Here are the girls eating their dinner.

We kept the smaller kids upstairs for dinner to contain the mess. Here's Marcus eating his dinner...hamburgers! YUMMY!

Cake time! Here are some of the kids. Everyone sang Happy Birthday and the girls blew out candles. Nice Job!

A few more pictures while Nana cuts the cake. This is Jonny, Deanna, Olivia, Emma, Makayla and Isabella.

This is Bella. She is the little sister to Makayla. She followed me around wanting her picture taken...she had this great little pose. Her parents said she never lets people take her picture...she did great for me :-)

The cake was approved by Marcus. He didn't leave one little bit on his plate...it was clean!

The girls got lots of great presents again this year. One of the Mom's made these cute headbands for them.

and another friend found their names in wood! So cute!

It was a great time had by all.

The party blowers were a hit with Poppi, Papa and Marcus.

Here are the daycare girls. They will all be entering kindergarten in the fall and unfortunately they are all going to different schools. Hopefully we can still maintain these friendships though; these girls have been inseparable the last 3 years!

After everyone left Olivia had all of her new toys around her. She LOVED everything!

Marcus did very well, we just gave him jobs to do and he didn't seem to mind that he wasn't celebrating a birthday too. At the end of the night it was really quite so I went searching for Marcus. I found him in the girls' room doing activity books...what a good boy! I think he just needed some alone time after the house full of chaos. I didn't really blame him :-) Thanks everyone for coming to celebrate yet another birthday! We always have a ton of fun and love having everyone there!

What a Day!

2011-06-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday! The kids were so sweet to me all day. They all wished me a happy birthday this morning and gave me lots of birthday hugs and kisses. These kids just love birthdays! Marc got me this awesome, yummy ice cream cake...it was my only request for today :-)

My boss took me to lunch and our "fun committee" at work gave me a $5 Starbucks card...gotta love that! And all the daycare kids made me cards today...so sweet! Once again, I was spoiled.

A little happy and sad news tonight...we finally sold the race car! I thought I'd post some past pictures in memory of the great times we had with that car. We bought it a couple of years before the twins were born and got hooked right away. What a fun sport!

Unfortunately once the kids arrived (Olivia on the left, Emma on the right); there really wasn't much time for racing. Marc tried but it really took a lot of time on the weekends and he couldn't stand being away from the kids. So, we posted it on craigslist and finally found someone who is just as excited about it as Marc was all those years ago. It was a biter sweet moment watching it drive away on someone else's trailer...but it belongs on the race track; not in our garage...it's a good thing! Plus, Marc traded it for something extra cool which I'm not allowed to say until we talk to Grami...I just want to know...why does Marc always get the cool stuff on MY birthday? One year he bought an iPod on MY birthday...this year he gets a _ _ _ _ _ _...I wonder what he'll get next year?

June 2nd Celebration

2011-06-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

Emma and Olivia turned 5 on Thursday. The day started off by picking out their birthday outfits and bringing cupcakes (which they helped make) to daycare.

After daycare we had dinner and then it was time to celebrate with cupcakes at home. I forgot about candles but came up with a Math lesson; appropriate since the twins will be entering Kindergarten this fall. I had 2 two-year old candles from their second birthday and the three-year old candle from Marcus' last birthday. I pulled them out and asked "what does 2 + 3 = ? They both figured out it was 5! They each got a #2 to blow out and the 3 was just for fun.

Worked like a charm :-)

Don't forget about me Mom! Those were yummy cupcakes!

Olivia and Marcus got into their PJs. Emma wanted to stay in her birthday outfit for more pictures. Marcus handed out the presents...he was a great sport. He didn't seem to mind at all that it wasn't his birthday.

The girls got what they asked for...Barbie, Ken and new Barbie cars! YAY! They both said this was the 'BEST BIRTHDAY EVER'.

The End

2011-05-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

We woke up Monday morning and had one more dip in the hot tub.

Marcus just LOVES hot tubs!

Olivia does too.

Emma poses for the camera.

Quick picture with Nana and Papa and then we said our goodbyes.

When we got to Rogers Pass this is what we saw...is that a snow plow? Why yes it is!

I swear I took this picture on May 30, 2011.

Isn't this amazing? We made it home safely but it wasn't without some adventure!

That Perfect Shot

2011-05-31T21:26:00.000-07:00

Since the entire family was finally together we had to take that perfect family photo. We decided to just use one camera for this and since Aaron has the nicest one plus a tripod, his was it. Here we are setting up. Marc had a swollen eye the entire weekend so he's got an ice pack to it here (in case you were wondering).

A test shot by Aaron...

That one is pretty good...then I said, "Where is Bella" (she's Aaron's "kid").

So, Aaron goes to get Bella and she comes running out like a wild dog. Aaron had his camera set up to continue taking pictures so it captured the moment perfectly.

Marcus and Aiden went chasing after Bella...the camera was still clicking way (none of us knew by the way).

"The Master" gets Bella under control while we get the two youngest boys in line.

Click, Click, Click goes the camera...it even catches Bella as she turns her head.

Here we go...the perfect shot!

And we're done! Well at least all of us but Bella...good dog!

And the cute couple. Welcome to the family Jared!

The Falls

2011-05-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

After the party, Jared, Tavein, Taylor, Aaron and I went to check out Ryan Dam; Mom and Dad were there the day before delivering a wedding cake and they said the falls were amazing.

They were quite impressive and loud too!

My brother took this picture of the other falls along the way. The entire river was quite impressive. There is a lot of flooding too.

Another picture from Aaron...since I am always the one taking pictures, I thought this captured me quite well :-)

Sunday - Party Time

2011-05-31T20:54:00.000-07:00

We spent Sunday morning preparing for the party. Emma was a huge help. She stuck by Taylor's side and did everything Taylor told her to.

The party started at 2pm. We had to take our sibling picture. This is youngest to oldest...Tavein, Aaron, Tracie, Sabrina.

We finally got to meet Tavein's fiance this weekend...this is Jared.

Tanealya had lots of friends and family come celebrate with her. She has come a long ways! She has traveled across the country to speak for the Special Olympics, met tons of stars along the way, had dinner and the Biden's house and will be going to Greece at the end of June/beginning of July for 2 weeks to attend the Special Olympics there. Lucky Girl!

Emma approves of the cupcakes!

Olivia approves too.

Cousins

2011-05-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

We went to Great Falls to celebrate Tanealya's graduation. Here is the proud graduate.

All the cousins....Marcus, Emma, Riley, Olivia, Tanealya, Aiden and Taylor.

Mom did a wedding cake, grooms cake and 3 graduation cakes for this weekend so she asked Taylor and me if we could help with cupcakes for Taneayla's party. We made cupcake holders and frosted the cupcakes. There was a lot of teamwork...by the time we got started we had every one's help. They turned out great and quite tasty too.

Then Riley showed off his strength with the little ones. They all played very well together.

Here are all the cupcakes. We made a total of 94 cupcakes!

Over The River and Through The Woods

2011-05-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

To Nana and Papa's house we went this weekend.

We left Friday afternoon and came back today.

On our way there we saw moose, elk, deer, antelope...you name it; we saw it! I didn't get my camera out quick enough to get the cool shots...but if you look closely at this one you will see elk in the distance. I was bummed I didn't get a shot of the moose though...it was very cool!

More to come...I'm too tired tonight and need to go to bed!

Goal!

2011-05-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

The last day of soccer was last Saturday, May 21st. We lucked out with beautiful weather every Saturday for 5 weeks; then the very last Saturday it poured down rain! The girls were soaked but didn't seem to mind. Marc and Marcus hid in the car; I just sat under a blanket attempting to stay dry. We made it through though.

Both girls loved soccer. We will be doing it again next year. Olivia even scored a goal at the very end! She was so proud. Unfortunately it was the on the wrong side; but we aren't telling her that. Her smile was so big and she has told everyone so we just leave it at that :-) We couldn't be more proud of both of them. They did a great job!

Super Star

2011-05-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

Olivia became an exercise maniac today. It started with soccer; then moved into the kids' yoga DVD and when she was done with that she said "Mommy, we need to go for a run". She's been trying to go for a run with me for a while now so I said okay. I took the double stroller for Marcus to sit in and the twins started running. Emma took several breaks by sitting in the stroller. Olivia ran to the 1/2 mile point with no problems at all. The only time she stopped was to look back and make sure we were coming. I even had to jog a little to keep up with her. I made her turn around at the 1/2 mile point even though she was determined to do my run which is 2.5 miles total. She obeyed me and turned back though. She seriously ran the entire way back too. She ran a total of 1 mile! I was amazed! She had a little red face and I gave her lots of water afterwards; but WOW! I bet she will sleep well tonight! I think we found our little runner! The best part was she wanted to do my 30-day shred workout after that! I made her stop though and told her there is such a thing as too much exercise. Oh My!

Changes

2011-05-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

I got my King Size bed back for Mother's Day. After about 6+ months of long discussions and lots of thought, we finally decided to take our old room back from Marcus and put him downstairs. We had to give up this beautiful King size bed when Marcus was born because I wanted all the kids on the main level which put us downstairs. Unfortunately this beauty didn't fit downstairs so it's been in the garage for the last 3 years. Now that the playroom is downstairs and Marcus is comfortable with the stairs; we decided it was time to get our bed back.

Marcus wasn't too excited about the change at first until I let him decorate his room. It all started out with him wanting a "Toy Story" room. The more we discussed it, I figured out he wanted Andy's room with blue skies and clouds. I was all prepared to paint this weekend. I brought Marcus to the store and picked out the paint samples. Then we went and looked at the wall decals. They had lots of "Toy Story" ones...but then Marcus spotted the "Cars" decals and went crazy. So "Toy Story" turned into "Cars"...I have to say I'm relieved; I really wasn't up for painting. Marcus told me where to place all the decals...isn't it cute? The pictures on the side wall are from a poster set he got that he colored (Emma colored the top one).

We put up his name and more posters colored by Marcus. He was so excited and so proud. He really did take part in decorating this room. I have to say this was a good move too...the 2am wake up calls from Marcus have stopped since he's been down there; he actually sleeps in until 6 or 6:30am vs. his usual 5:30am wake up times...it's been quite nice. Plus our bed is so much more comfy than the queen downstairs...Marcus doesn't seem to mind it tough.

When we were done decorating the girls came in to check it out. Marcus showed them everything and then he said "My room is FINALLY COOL!"

The best part for me is it only cost us $14.99 for the wall decals...we had everything else to make it complete.

I Did It!

2011-05-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

Look what I made! After several phone calls to Mom which included lots of pep talks and full instructions from her, I actually made these little pea pod cupcakes for a baby shower for a good friend at work. This was a week long process...but lots of fun to do. I'm so glad I did it! I can't believe my Mom does this for a career...and she usually does several projects at a time! Wow!

I borrowed the cupcake holder from another friend at work...cute little display!

My friend Amber made these yummy and adorable cookies for the shower. This was our little project for our good friend Crystal.

And here's the Mom to be with Amber and me. The shower was a hit. We even made Crystal cry with a group gift we bought for her...we got enough to get her pump! It was her last "big ticket" item left on her registry and she was so grateful that we got it for her so she could spend that money on "fun" stuff! We were so glad it worked out too. Congratulations Crystal! Can't wait to meet little Ethan!!!

Real Cowgirl

2011-05-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

Emma got dressed this morning and instructed me how to pull her hair back in a low ponytail. Then she said "do you want to take a picture of a real cowgirl?" She proceeded to say "YeeHaw!" as I took the picture. Priceless!

Boat Races

2011-05-01T23:03:00.001-07:00

This morning we woke up bright and early, ate some breakfast and then it was time for the boat races. Here are our kids (minus Gia...she didn't want to be in the picture but did have a cute boat). Marcus was very proud of his boat.

This little guy walking with Emma told her that her's was too big and that it would sink. I was so proud of her; she just looked at him and said "We'll just have to see".

The kids went to one bridge and dropped their boats off there at the same time.

Then we all ran down to the next bridge a few blocks away and deemed that the finish line. Marcus was quite upset at first because when his boat hit the water it broke. It did end up finishing in pieces, but they were all together so he got the whole thing back.

It was quite fun to watch the boats come down the creek. Surprisingly they actually came close enough to shore that we could stand on the side and reach in to grab them.

Emma's boat actually won! She was so proud. The Buckaroo ended up being a great boat!

We watched almost all the boats cross but Olivia's was nowhere to be found. It never did show up. We even walked back to see if it got hung up somewhere. She was devastated. We finally came up with a theory that her boat actually won and it was so fast that we couldn't get there in time. She liked the sound of that and perked up quickly.

After the boat races, the friend who had the idea for them ended up buying all the kids ice cream.

What a nice treat!

Olivia decided her boat was having an adventure. We all talked about how it was on it's way to the ocean and it was going to see great things. The kids even said that next time we go to the ocean we should look for it. They are convinced we will find it there. I'm sure with their memories they won't forget either. Next time we go to the ocean, we will be searching for a little boat with Olivia's name written on it.

Building Boats

2011-05-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

When we came back from the upper lake, one of the adults had this great idea for a boat race. The instructions were that each kid had to make a boat and the next day we would race them in the creek. Olivia was on it! She gathered pine cones and wood and got some string from Uncle Carl.

Emma had a great idea from the start and also gathered wood, pine cones and string.

Here is Olivia's. She designed it and told me how to tie on the string...I LOVE IT!

This is Emma's. She named it "the Buckaroo". It was quite large. She was so proud of it. She called the pine cones "critters" that were on her boat. Too cute. Marcus also made one, I didn't get a picture of his last night though.

Upper Lake

2011-05-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

After dinner and cake, we took the girls for a walk to the upper lake (Marcus went fishing with Daddy). Emma was trying so hard to throw rocks in the water. It was far enough away that she couldn't quite hit it though, but she had fun trying.

While we were there we ran into a cool site...

A fisherman with lots of fish. He was nice enough to let the girls get really close and even hold the fish.

Me and my girls.

Happy Birthday Uncle Carl

2011-05-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

The real reason we were there was to surprise Uncle Carl for his 60th Birthday! His birthday is actually at the beginning of the month. This weekend was opening weekend for fishing so it was the perfect time for everyone to come up without Carl suspecting a thing. He was very surprised that we were all there for his birthday celebration.

The kids did a great job singing "Happy Birthday".

They even gave birthday hugs.

And ate lots of cake! YUM!

Back to the Park

2011-05-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

We tried for a group photo on the slide but it wasn't working to well.

I decided this one might be easier...cute!

Look at those crazy kids! This was such a great park! It helped burn a lot of energy.

Back to Uncle Carl's.

Funny Faces

2011-05-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

Back at Uncle Carl's house the kids were hanging by the camp fire. This is their silly faces...

Mad faces (Emma gave it a shot...she looks pretty cute to me).

I said to look pretty....this is what I got :-)

Stroll to the Lake

2011-05-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

I took the kids down to see the lake.

Olivia

Marcus

Emma

Weekend Fun

2011-05-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

We went to Uncle Carl and Aunt Beth's house this weekend for some family fun. Sophie was there too!

This is the camper we stayed in. The girls did a lot of coloring in the camper.

This 4-wheeler became a play structure right from the start. It was quite funny to watch these kids. The pretended like they were driving it...they would act like they were going over bumps and everything!

We decided to walk the kids down to the park. Look at all those kids!

I just love how these girls play together. It is so fun to watch them.

After a while of playing, everyone decided to do something else so I stayed behind with my kids. This is a cabin at the park that was built as a replica of the original that stood there. The kids had fun exploring.

Then I just sat and watched the kids play. It was quite relaxing.

Peek-a-boo!

What's That?

2011-04-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Snow? Yes, we woke up to it snowing outside this morning and came home to the white stuff on the ground. The kids were actually excited. Emma said snow was beautiful and fun. She said you can do so much in snow. She also mentioned I should not have taken off my snow tires yet (I agreed to that one!) She really wanted to have a snowball fight so I obliged. I threw snowballs and took pictures to capture the moment.

She was all over the yard checking out all the snow.

At one point she even tried to lay in it to make a snow angel. She decided it was too wet though and that was it! Hopefully it will be gone tomorrow...it is cold outside so maybe it will stay. Can you believe just 2 days ago the kids were playing outside without coats? This has been the longest winter!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

We started off doing Easter pictures but only the girls were up for it. They were playing pretty hard in the yard this morning so I didn't do the pretty dresses this year. Do you like Olivia's new hair cut? I took the girls to get their hair cut yesterday before soccer. Olivia wanted it to touch her shoulders. It was in the middle of her back. I LOVE it! She does too. Emma actually got hers cut to just below the shoulders but wanted it in a bun this morning.

We finally got Marcus to come over to attempt a picture. However, as you can see, he wasn't happy about it.

Marcus produced a lot of tears throughout this process. The girls thought they would try to cheer him up with a kiss.

I think it worked! Is that a little smile I see? Hope you are all having a Happy Easter!

Bird Nest Cake

2011-04-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea for a bird nest Easter cake on the MSN homepage. It doesn't look exactly like the one online, it has our own little additions. The girls really wanted sprinkles so I let them sprinkle away. It turned out pretty cute overall and was a lot of fun to make.

Eggs, eggs and more eggs

2011-04-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we dyed eggs in preparation for Easter. The kids each got some cups with color and 6 eggs. We bought the girls a set that had chalk so they could draw on the eggs. I did provide spoons in each cup to try to avoid too much of a mess.

Olivia decided using her hands was easier though. It resulted in very colorful hands which had her worried for a short time. Luckily a long bath took the color right out.

Emma preferred the spoons therefore avoiding the colorful hands.

Marcus got a sports themed package which required soaking the eggs and some shrinking paper in hot water. Daddy helped Marcus with his. Marcus was amazed at how it worked.

Pretty cool Marcus! It's a basketball!

We decorated 18 eggs total that night and then they all got 6 more each today at daycare. So we've got a LOT of eggs! YUMMY!!!