Water Day

Yesterday was Water Day at Melanie's school The kids had school as normal, but the last 30 minutes were all about getting wet and having fun. Family was invited, so Noelle was able to join in on the fun.

Olivia's dad kept spraying me with a squirt gun, so I told Noelle she had better splash him good for me. She decided on throwing a water balloon at him.Melanie really got into the water balloons as well. I have never seen someone so excited at the ability to pop one (even if it popped on the ground, no where near a person). It was precious.

30 minutes just wasn't enough water play time, so I surprised them with an outing. We met up with cousins Liz, Morgan, and Ethan at the zoo for some wet and wild splash pad time. To say that Noelle was excited would be an understatement.

Oliver and I kept cool on the side lines watching all the fun.

Hooray for water day! I think this means summer is upon us. (I'm looking forward to all the fun we'll have together this summer... I'm not looking forward to the heat).

Mom's Day!

Friday was "Mom's Day" at Melanie's school. It was a really neat day where I got to come to school with Melanie for the last 45 minutes. We painted Melanie's hand prints on the wall that leads to Mrs. Burrell's door.

(Melanie wrote her name herself. The "i" is a little hard to see. She may be "Melane" for the rest of eternity on the wall)Then we put on grass skirts and made leis.

Aren't we cute?

This is Melanie with her good friend, Alissa!

After the craft, all the mom's sat on the couches and prepared to watch a program. The kids did such a great job singing songs and doing cheers to make us feel special!

And Melanie gave me this special card, a bracelet she made, and a jar of slips with ideas of stories I can tell her (for example, last night I got to tell her about the house I grew up in).

It was a very special day at school! I really enjoyed myself and I knew Melanie did too. The sweetest thing was when, for no reason, when it was very quiet in the room, Melanie yelled to me "I love you mom". She is too sweet and I could not have asked a better little spirit to come into our family to be the biggest big sister. I sure love my Melanie.

After preschool, I took Melanie to the store and we bought the stuff to make chocolate chip cookies. We then picked up her brother and sister and continued the fun at home.

Retirement Party

It's time to celebrate! Grandma Smithson is retiring! She has been working for the Mesa Public School District for a very long time and now will have time to spend with all 24 of her Grandchildren. (She is very blessed!)

To honor her and a few other people that were leaving the school, Franklin South had a little gathering. I think the Smithson Family took up most of the seats.

It started raining during the ceremony, and my girls came back from the restroom looking like this: (And screaming "I'm all wet!")

Here is Kathe getting a gift that was presented to her by the school.

And this paper says "Grandma, don't go back to work!" Can't you tell? It was written by Cousin Grady.

Kathe, we are all so excited about this new adventure! We love you!

Princesses Wear Special Gowns

This week, the girls wanted to be princesses and play dress up. I let them try on all my prom dresses and then my wedding dress!

There is something magical about getting out your wedding dress again. I can't explain it. The girls loved trying it on. And then they asked me to try it on. I'm happy to say it actually fit!
(The prom dresses did not fit, I could zip them up until I got to my chest and then forget about it! O-well!)

Play with me, Noelle

Noelle cracks me up. This is her idea of playing with Oliver:

Notice that he doesn't lack in the toy department. She always makes sure he has every toy he could possibly need at his disposal all the time.

This is how she plays with Melanie:What Melanie? You want me to cover you in dress up clothes as you sit in the sink? Sure! We'll call it a bubble bath.
And can she play by herself? Yep! Here is proof:

What, you might ask, is she doing in this picture? I was washing dishes and hear "I need to go potty, I need to go potty". Because she wasn't running down the hall, I ran into the living room to see this! I asked if she needed to go potty, and she says "No, PRETEND potty!". yep! That's my daughter!

Pinkalicious- the Musical

The Broadway Palms Theater is now showing Pinkalicious the musical during the month of May!  I decided to get some tickets for My mom, My Melanie and me for a Mother's Day treat for mom.  I decided not to bring Noelle because I wasn't sure if she could handle it.  After it started, I realized that she could have so next play I think I'll be sure to include her.

The play was really fun!  Melanie's favorite part were the dancing cupcakes that sang and danced around Pinkalicious's bed while she slept before she turned Pink!  and then Red!  My favorite part was the bumble bee that kept mistaking Pinkalicious for a flower.  My mom liked the whole thing.

The play was very entertaining, and the music was fun!  We really enjoyed ourselves.

Before the play started.

 Melanie with the cast that played several smaller parts.

 Melanie with Mr. and Mrs. Pinkerton

 Melanie with Pinkalicious and Peter (her brother)

Melanie got everyone's autographs and then we headed outside and to the truck.  (But not before getting a few more pictures)

Afterwards, we grabbed lunch, and then headed home to eat and visit!  It was a great day!

Kids just Want to have Fun

So, my kids are silly. But who would want kids that aren't silly? Check out their "hair". They wanted long hair to be beautiful princesses.

Oliver is such a fun little man. He is a total flirt and does a bashful smile at just about everyone. He is 5 months old and so mobile. He doesn't crawl (though he is close) but he rolls everywhere he needs to go. I just love how cuddly he is. He is like a big teddy bear. His favorite person is mommy, and I'm not complaining.I had to put this next picture on there. I love it when babies look like they are swimming. It's hilarious!

Noelle is my fashion diva lately. Check out all her "pretties". Love it!

Oh, and celebrate good times... Noelle is almost completely potty trained. She is wearing big girl underoos during the day and wears a pull up at night. Groovy! I'm so proud of her!