Water at the Science Center

After school on Tuesday we went straight to the Science Center to play with cousins Liz, Morgan, and Ethan. It was the first time we have seen this fun outdoor water exhibit, and we really enjoyed it.

This was fun. The water shot the balls up and into a little maze.

I love this picture and the look Oliver is giving. Ha ha!

Noelle could do it all by her self!

It was fun!

Flowers and Butterflies

Last week, I was lucky to get a pass to the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. I decided to take the girls and little Mister on Monday. The 4 of us got there pretty much at opening and checked out the desert trail.

At 9:30, the butterfly exhibit opened. We couldn't resist checking it out. It was really neat and I'm glad that we did.

We learned some neat things about butterflies. For example, they use their feet to taste their food. Interesting, isn't it? Melanie decided there were 106 butterflies in the exhibit, but the lady that helped us leave the exhibit informed us that there were over 1000. wow!

Then my girls decided to *become* caterpillars and butterflies.

After the exhibit, we walked the rest of the desert trail (there were some beautiful flowers blooming on the cacti) and then we headed home. It was already really hot.

It was definitely a fun, beautiful experience.

Eggs!

My girls have had some really fun things to do these last couple days... and most of the excitement had to do with eggs. Friday we went to the Lovin' Learnin' Easter Egg hunt. (That is Melanie's preschool). The girls got to participate in a lot of fun things, including a craft, a few games, and an egg hunt! It was a lot of fun.

Before we played the Bee Toss, we had to get a picture. My girls make beautiful flowers, if you ask me.

The ring toss was a lot of fun. I was impressed that Melanie succeeded on her first try! Way to go Melanie.

Noelle tried to cheat and get closer, but Jarom (working the booth), wouldn't let her. Eventually I reminded him that she was just little and he let her get away with it. As a prize, he danced for the girls. It was fun, and the girls loved it.

Oliver hung out in his stroller, playing with his little toy.

Then it was time for the egg hunt!

Both girls have different approaches tot he hunt. Noelle's approach: Get as many as possible first, then check them out. Melanie's approach: Find an egg, open it, see what's inside, look at it some more... and then wonder why the other eggs have disappeared. It's pretty funny, actually. Her friend, Josh, gave her a bunch of eggs. It was a win-win. She got eggs, and he got to look for *more* eggs. :) Thanks Josh!

After the hunt, we came home and had lunch. For fun, I made them this lunch:

Yum, yum!

And for fun, they turned the eggs into a tower.

Friday night we attended the Dinosaur Egg hunt at the Arizona Museum of Natural History.

The girls had fun finding eggs, and re-hiding some (You could only take 5 home, so if you found more than that, you could re-hide them for other kids).

On Saturday, the girls went hiking and played at a friend's house. No eggs, but still fun. Sunday was Easter. Before church we had some fun at home. The kids got up early (I mean REALLY REALLY early). Eventually we couldn't convince them to "snuggle" with us in bed any longer, we we let them go into the living room.

That's where they found their Easter baskets (full with lunch boxes, books, and note books), and then went on an egg hunt in our living room!

It was Egg-celent.

We sent the rest of the day at church and with family. Easter can be a fun day, but the true importance of Easter is to remember our Savor, Jesus Christ. During sacrament yesterday, the youth speaker said "Everything He did on Earth was for us". I really like that. It's true. There wasn't a single thing He did while He was on this Earth that wasn't for us. He was the perfect example of how we should live. And He suffered all for us, then conquered death, for us. It has hit me more this year, as I have pondered this, then it ever really has in the past.

Happy Easter

What Does an Ice Cream Cone Mean?

For this cute girl, it means she made it a whole day without any accidents! Yep... someone is a potty trained pro! We still have a little trouble with "#2", and she still sleeps with a diaper at night, but that's it. Considering she decided to start potty training HERSELF only a few days ago, I'm pretty excited and proud of her! Way to go Noelle!!!

Oh, and not only is she pretty much self potty training, she has started potty training all her dolls. I have caught her playing with them and bringing them to the "potty", and telling them "don't worry, I got you, you won't fall in!". Too funny!

Date "Night"

We went on a DaTe! Hooray!!! I have to thank my friend Amy for coming up with this date night trade idea. I watched her kids while they were out, and then they watched ours. We made it an early date and dropped the girls off (Oliver came along with us) at 3:30, then headed to Barns and Noble. I had a book store scavenger hunt all worked out. I choose that book store because I remember it having couches to sit on, but apparently they took those out. O-well... we still had a lot of fun.

After we "played" in the book store, we walked to paradise bakery, bought a box of chippers, then sat in front of a questionable clothing store to people watch. I think Oliver enjoyed our date as much as we did.

At 6:30, we picked the girls up, came home, and got everyone ready for bed. Oliver was already konked out before we even got home.

Then we had a yummy dinner and watched a movie. It was a wonderful date! I can't wait for the next one.

Life is Good.

I love the saying "Life is Good" because it sums up all the great blessings one has. Life *is* good! There are stuggles, complications, trials, but in the end, Life is good. We have a loving Heavenly Father that helps us through everything, and a wonderful family.

So, I was looking through the pictures on my camera that I hadn't uploaded yet, and I was giggling. These kids of mine are just too sweet and too funny. For instance, I let Melanie watch a movie before we were heading out in the morning. I went into my room to get dressed, and when I came out, I found her watching her movie like this:

Did you find her? She was IN the coffee table enjoying the movie. Silly girl! Noelle wasn't in the picture because she was following me around the house. Her favorite saying is "I need you!" And that's what she was saying. It's nice to be needed!

Oliver is taking after his oldest sister. Melanie was a roller, rolling where ever she wanted to go. Noelle skipped rolling and started crawling at 5 months. Oliver is rolling... everywhere. I caught him last night getting into the toys in the box. He rolled over and was pulling the mermaid out. But he saw me with the camera and stopped before I could get proof.

Speaking of Oliver... Can I just say that I Love this little man? Seriously, look how fun he is:

I had no idea I was missing out until now.

I gave Melanie free reign on the camera the other day. There were over 100 pictures. I thought it was cute what she thought was photo-worthy. She has a pretty good angle on some things. I see photography in her future.

Speaking of Melanie, I put her in my room for a nap the other day. When I went to check on her, I noticed that she was shirt less... then I found out why. Clearly her "dinosaur" (girrafe) needed a dress. At least she had covered herself up with her favorite blanket so she didn't get cold.

I just need to get some more pictures of my wonderful husband.