5 lbs

is the amount of weight I think I have gained this last week. Between the 3 egg hunts my kids did, pre-school parties, the candy my kids got from the nice ladies at church, the Easter bunny, Easter dinner, and the huge chocolate bundt cake I made (for no reason at all, and then ate more than half of it myself), I am not feeling too hot. Everywhere I look, candy sits. And then it makes its way into my mouth. It needs to stop and I think the only way it will stop is if I hurry and eat it all and then it won't be there to stare at me anymore. That's all.

We had a great Easter weekend. We managed to get the egg coloring in on Saturday morning (in our pj's, in case you were wondering. That is kind of how I roll as of late). The kids were very excited since this was their first time doing this. I had good intentions the last couple of years. In fact, the egg coloring kit was the kit I bought to use 2 years ago, and never got around to it. Oops.




I think Nate had the best looking egg, and he was very excited to show it off. And yes, by the look of his hair, he may have just rolled out of bed too. Come on, it's a Saturday morning folks!

Dylan kept sneaking glances at his dad's eggs and then would try to copy them without us knowing what he was doing. It was cute.

Of course, Cassie has a pink egg. And awesome hair...

And more cute hair to show off while eating her peeps from the Easter bunny Sunday morning...

Playing with a transformer he got from the bunny...

After church, the kids and I went to some friends house for dinner and an egg hunt. Nate had to work and he said a 2 year old boy came into the ER because his bunny rabbit bit him. It was pretty funny I guess because it was Easter and all. How often does a kid get bit by his pet rabbit? And for it to happen on Easter? haha. Poor kid.

One sad Cassie. The big kids kept getting the eggs before Cassie could get to them...

Dylan was kind enough to take some of his eggs and hide them for her to get. What a nice brother. After all the eggs were found, everyone was to look in their green eggs for a big prize....

And who should get it? None other then Dylan!!!! Yahoo. $5!!! He was so excited.

He already went with Daddy to Walmart and bought himself a baseball to use with his new glove. But not before a bit of an argument about tithing. He did NOT want to give some of his money to Heavenly Father. But it is all good now.

And one grumpy Claire. She did not like being out in the cold.

Just about...

Claire is just about crawling, I can't believe it! It seems like she is moving around so much, just not crawling yet (which is FINE by me). She goes from laying down, to sitting up, to rolling around, to getting on her hands and knees, to sitting again, and then she does this too...

And this..

And one more...



She is loving this mobility and figuring things out. Yesterday I was holding her and she started giggling so loud. I had no idea what she was laughing at because the kids weren't around. I then noticed her looking down at her little feet and she was wiggling her toes and laughing every time they wiggled. It was so cute.

The one thing I wish she would figure out is how to lay back down in her crib after she sits up. I have never had this happen with my other kids. I will lay her down in her crib, she sits up, starts crying and won't lay back down. I have found her many times asleep in her crib while she is still practically sitting up. Her poor little body and head are all hunched over looking really uncomfortable.

Oops, this was supposed to be a quick little post. We just love this drooly little girl so much!

(even if she has the biggest baby comb-over ever!)

Forts

Dylan is obsessed with making forts. He can make a fort out of anything he gets his hands on and has made some pretty creative ones too. Even when we go visit friends, Dylan always ends up gathering almost every toy they have and builds a fort. I am not sure if my friends appreciate this too much, so we have made a rule that forts are only allowed at home. Here are some of the forts I have taken pictures of these last couple of weeks:

And I am not too sure what this one is:

And when it is time to clean up, he has been very good at listening and putting everything away.

Hey, it keeps him busy for hours and he loves it!

Who's the doctor?

A couple of weeks ago Nate and I both went and played stake basketball. It was pretty fun but Nate's game ended in him needing 4 stitches near his eye. Well, to save us time and money, he decided it could be fixed at home. He didn't think he was capable of fixing it so he left it in my hands. (Just kidding. He is totally capable. But it was easier if I helped.) So he told me to crazy glue it shut for him and I was a little freaked out about doing that, but I did it. And it looked really good too! And healed good too. Yay for me!!! That's all.

Policeman

Dylan loves playing policeman with Cassie, and sometimes me. He cuffs us up and takes us to jail (the back entry) until we have served our time, then lets us free.

Well, the other day I heard Cassie finally protesting the police officer and she wouldn't let him cuff her. Dylan was a little upset with her, but within a couple of minutes, it was quiet and both went on their own little way.

As I was working in the kitchen, I heard Dylan giggling in the family room and I looked over to find this:


His newest criminal.

I guess she is the only one who would play with him. A little later, I also found Claire laying on the floor with each of her little legs in the cuffs. I should have gotten a picture of that too because it was pretty funny.

Birthday and a vacation

Nate had some time off at the beginning of the week so we went to The Great Wolf Lodge for a few days. We have done something like this every year here in Michigan and will really miss it. The kids loved their bunk beds in the room...

The water park is really fun and FINALLY this year, the kids would ride the big water slides. We weren't stuck in the kiddie pool all day. So Nate and Dylan spent the majority of the trip running up the stairs and coming down the slides on tubes. It was great. Here, I was trying to pull Dylan in without having to go after him. Lazy mom...

Claire was a little trooper, for the most part. She was actually pretty fussy the first day and was up most of the night. I had been really sick too, so Tuesday, the two of us were like 2 zombies all day. Both tired and sick. She did a lot better after that. Only then did I notice a little tooth popping through her gums. Poor thing. She loved the water though...

And Cassie would have sat on a tube on the lazy river all day if we would have let her. At one point, Nate and Dylan were on the slides while I was with the girls. I was trying to get Claire to fall asleep and Cassie really wanted to sit on the tube and float around the lazy river so I thought, what the heck, she can do it. So I propped her in the tube and sent her down by herself. That lasted the first corner and into the water she went. So I ran into the water, baby and all, trying to get to her and some saint came to her rescue. She usually does fine by herself, but not that time. I had a picture I really wanted to post of her going down the river, but Nate wouldn't allow it to be on here. He was in the picture as well and it showed off too many of his muscles and hotness.


It was also Dylan's 5th birthday while we were gone and he was ecstatic about it. He loved everything about the trip, and especially his birthday. We finally found a good Mexican restaurant and he was so giddy when the waitresses came singing to him and gave him some ice cream.

He loved opening presents. He made sure everyday leading up to his birthday that I wouldn't tell him what he was getting. He wanted all his presents to be a surprise. He loves to dress up so we got him a little police outfit to join his many other costumes. Or I guess Katelyn gave it to him. Right Candace?

We had a little birthday party for him when we got back too. I made little super hero capes and masks for each of the kids and they loved them! This is about as crafty as I get, so I was super excited about them too.

And the best part of the party...the cake....

I wanted to make a fun cake for Dylan, but we were really crammed for time so I didn't. Plus, I needed to get the house ready for a showing that night, which was unsuccessful because they didn't like the corner lot. Seriously, it is twice as big as the other lots!!!!! Oh well. That is only 2 showings so far. Gotta love the economy here.

And, to make this post even longer, here are 5 fabulous things that I love about my fabulous 5 year old...

1. He is my snuggle bug. I LOVE to cuddle up to him and give him kisses on his big soft cheeks.
2. He gets so excited for birthdays and holidays. He knows that Easter is next, then Daddy's birthday, then we move, then Claire's birthday, then Kindergarten, then mommy's birthday, then Cassie's birthday, then Christmas, etc. etc. etc. He is always counting down the sleeps until the next exciting event.
3. He lives for wrestling with his daddy. This is his favorite thing to do every night before bed. I have also caught him quietly talking about how daddy is his buddy. Too cute.
4. He loves to shovel the drive way, especially with daddy. But when it snows and daddy isn't home, he will go out there all by himself and shovel it. Even when it is -20.
5. He loves to draw pictures and letters. The pictures are so funny too, they really make me laugh.

I love this kid!

Hair cut

Look at this very cute and innocent looking little boy...



Well, a couple of weeks ago, he decided to cut this cute little girl's hair...




Dylan loves both of his little sisters to death, but he wanted another little boy to play with so he cut Cassie's hair so that she would look like him. The above picture is after the hair cut. Thank goodness he didn't get it near short enough to look like him, but he still cut about 4-5 inches of blonde curls off.

At first I was really upset, because when it comes to doing Cassie's hair I always have struggled with getting it to look cute. Until just recently, I have been able to put it up into 2 little knots and it was so quick and easy to do. And she looked cute too. You can see her in the background of this picture...

It was the only one I had with her hair like that (not the best picture). But then on Sunday, I got a little excited when I was styling her hair and it went even curlier than before, and now looks like this...

Pretty cute eh?

So anyway, we fixed what could have been a big mess. Hopefully this won't happen again. And the silly thing is, is that Dylan went and found my supposedly hidden hair-cutting scissors in the back of my bathroom drawer instead of using one of the five pairs that are hanging out around the house.