Young's Jersey Dairy

Over spring break we went to Young's Jersey Dairy with Bobbi, Jill, and our kids.  We looked at all the animals, fed the goats, played on the tractors, ate our packed lunches, and then had ice cream from their dairy.  It was a fun day!

Easter 2016

We had a great Easter Sunday this year.  We started the day with a quick peek at Easter baskets before hurrying to get ready for 9am church.  We also managed to squeeze in some cinnamon rolls and orange juice for breakfast.  Lucy got to get up with the primary kids at church to sing an Easter song, which both she and Claire had been practicing over and over for the few weeks prior, even though Claire wasn't old enough to get up and sing and they only knew the chorus ("Hosannah! Blessed be the name of The Most High God").  After church, we came home and did our little Easter egg hunt in our front playroom.  After naps, Lisa and Ryan came over for Easter dinner.  The girls finally started to grasp what Easter was really about this year (or at least they knew to say "Jesus was resurrected" when we asked them what Easter was about).

They girls each got a new book, a big sticker pad, some snacks and treats, and a kite to share.  Nothing too big or crazy but they both loved it all.  It's kind of easy to please little kids!

 Ryan uses this Minnie Mouse at night when they go up to race to the bath for the evening, so he used her to announce when they could come in and look for eggs.

St. Patrick's Day

Preschool has really upped the holiday game around here because all of the kids talk about things like leprachaun traps and stuff.  That being said, the older the girls get, the more fun it is to really go all-out because they love it and remember it.  So this year, the girls each made a leprechaun trap the day before, with skittles to try and lure him in.  We had a leprechaun visit our house on St. Patrick's day.  He decorated in green, left a rainbow with a pot of gold (rolos) at the bottom, brought us special green lucky charms, died our milk green, hung green balloons and streamers, left notes in green window markers on our mirrors, and filled green goodie bags with green things for each girl (like green applesauce, green juice drinks, green bows/headbands, and green pringles, and a green glow stick).  Ryan even "caught" a leprechaun- but he got away before we could see anything but his little footprints in Ryan's hands. ;)

 We couldn't catch that sneaky little leprechaun, but he left a note with his goodie bags for the girls!

March little things

One of Lucy's and Claire's favorite things to do with Ryan after work is "Buckin' Bronco."  I think the name speaks for itself.

 My varicose veins have gotten worse with each pregnancy, and this time around it has been pretty out of control on certain days, where I can't even stand for 10 whole seconds because it hurts so bad!  Looks like my legs got beat up!

 "More matoes, Mom!" is something I hear all the time from Claire.  She LOVES tomatoes.  This particular day I made mac and cheese but all she wanted for lunch was a big, juicy tomato I had in our fruit bowl.  I cut it up for her and she asked for more.  So I cut up a second one, too.  She still wanted more but that was all we had.  So the only thing she had for lunch that day was two big tomatoes.  She doesn't get it from her mom, that's for sure!

The high school drama club has a fundraiser every year where they put on a princess and prince party for preschool aged kids.  We took Lucy and Claire and they got to see princesses, get a makeover with real makeup, eat cookies and punch, and do a little princess crown craft. Claire ate one of her cookies on the way home and was a little upset about having frosting all over her face- but she still loved the cookie! :)

 On March 14th, it's 3.14, or "pi" day.  Ryan, being the pie lover he is, wasn't going to let it pass without making some delicious pie.  He made a homemade strawberry pie with whipped cream.  I am not even a big pie person and I loved it!

We had a fun week-of St. Patrick's day play date with a bunch of mom's from church one day, and we were supposed to bring some kind of green or festive food to share.  I brought this fruit rainbow that was totally devoured before we left!  I think I need to make this more often because all of the colors and options were fun!

 Claire can hardly wait any longer for baby brother to come along, and one day during preschool I found her sitting in the bop pillow in front of the bouncer playing music for and talking to her baby.  Such a sweetheart!

 Jill Neeley and I found a wreath on pinterest we both loved, so we got together one Monday night and crafted while watching the Bachelor finale.  This was about the craftiest things I've done in the last 10 years.  Or ever.  I like having a little something on my door though!

Lucy had another routine dentist appoint, which went great again.  Her teeth and gums and everything are perfect and she has great spacing.  Since Claire is now on our dental insurance, we were able to squeeze her in at the same time for her first dentist appointment!  She was quite a bit younger than Lucy was for her first one, and was obviously a little more apprehensive about it.  But she sat on my lap in the dental chair and let them brush her teeth, look at them with the mirror, and put fluoride on them.  Both girls got a baggie with new toothbrushes, toothpaste, and flossers, as well as a balloon, and a coin for their little toy machine.  They were so happy and Claire was pretty proud of herself.  We really found the best dentist around!

 Claire is so funny because she likes to brush her teeth all by herself.  She has a hard time spitting into the sink though, even with the stool.  So she will pull herself up and hang here like this while brushing her teeth.  It isn't until she's done and I hear her shrieking for help to get down that I realize she's even up there!  I thought this was so funny as I watched her for like 2 whole minutes doing this one day, without any clue that anyone else was there watching.

Lucy and Claire were begging to have Chloe, their babysitter, come over one weekend.  So I sent her a quick text and a few minutes later, Ryan and I had a date for that weekend!  We ended up going to Easton and having dinner at P.F. Chang's, stopped by See's chocolates where we each picked out a few for ourselves, then did a little shopping for some new comfy clothes for me for after the baby, and followed it up by running a quick errand at Target.  It was such a fun, relaxing night with great conversation and the girls had fun at home, too.  We are so glad we ended up doing this!  Our little photographer, Lucy, took these pictures of us before we left.  Claire didn't want to get out of the picture.  Once we got a decent one, Lucy insisted on a picture with just me, which I happily obliged!