Easter-y Photos

Well, we've started a little early, but are much looking forward to Sunday when we will celebrate Easter "for real". For now, it's just practice...

Practicing their Easter clothes. This was after their portraits; I wasn't thrilled with the group photo and wanted one of the girls with their dolls. I'll scan in the portraits soon!


I know, I know. Steven Joseph is in a "pretty boy" outfit which Daddy doesn't like at all. But he's still my baby, at least for a few more months!


This was at our neighborhood egg hunt on Saturday. Both the hunts we went to are more like egg "grabs"...they're just all spread out in a field and the kids grab them as fast as they can! No hunting needed...except for the golden egg...which Ellie got AGAIN!


Mary Clare trying to spot the golden egg


Happy kids with baskets full of candy-filled eggs! Ellie got a big pack of Hello Kitty goodies for her golden egg find...some card games and bingo.


Then we registered for swim team down at the pool and drove straight over to the egg hunt at our church! This is the only photo I have to document just how many eggs they got! TOO much candy in this house! Easter treats will surely be things OTHER than candy.


After lunch with NeNe and PaPa (who came to watch the egg hunts), we went home for nap time, then finished off the day with a trip to the mall. The girls always ask to ride the carousel, and today they got their wish!

Joey Boy-27 months

He just seems older and older every day now. He's quite the "ham" and loves to participate in our conversations. The other night as we were heading to the pool, Ellie asked where the pool was. "Long way away!" he responded. Then she asked which one we were going to. "Big one!" he said. Once he got there, though, he kept insisting he just wanted to "go back to Mommy!"

He still loves his Spiderman items...sunglasses, t-shirt, umbrella, fishing rod, and underwear. He can be really particular about his clothes or his shoes. He wants to take his shoes on and off himself, "me did it!"

He's now fully-weaned although every few days he'll throw a little fit wanting to nurse and I have to distract him. He's sleeping really well and taking 1.5-2hr naps with Mommy which I really love right now. I am just so exhausted that I need that middle-of-the-day rest!


The other day his sisters dressed him up in a sailor suit for a little production they were putting on. He kept it on most of the day.

Later that afternoon, they decided to celebrate his "7th" birthday. He gladly participated! There were presents, and they even made this "cake" out of a fruit smoothie which they put into a tupperware and froze for a couple hours. Then they added strawberries to the top and 7 straw "candles". Too funny!

Thursday Outings

EDIT-Finally was able to load them all, yay! More posts to come, if the kids don't wake up!
(So frustrating! I've been trying to load photos since I started this post Thursday night and still can't get them all on. I'll edit later! Also, I'm enjoying everyone's blogs which I'm now subscribed to on Google Reader, which makes reading so much easier, even on my phone. But commenting is hard to do, so just know I'm enjoying all of your blogging and hopefully I'll be back at this soon!)

What a crazy day (Thursday)! I started off reading my emails in bed on my phone and read that a local community theater group was putting on a FREE production about the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder at a downtown outdoor theatre today and tomorrow. You know how I am about free things. We had plans for Friday, so I scooped up the kids and rushed across town for the (rather disappointing) play. Afterwards, we walked through a nearby Japanese Garden which was beautiful!

We rested at home this afternoon, but then Daddy came home a little early and asked the kids if they'd like to go swimming at the YMCA! It would be the first swim of the season, but we had to make a quick trip for some essentials like new swim trunks for Daddy, goggles, a life jacket, and of course some tights for the kids' portraits we'll have taken tomorrow. We arrived at the pool around 7:30pm and the kids had a blast swimming with Daddy while I watched from the sidelines. The pool is still a little too chilly for my liking. Steven Joseph was very hesitant. He obviously didn't really remember swimming last year, and got pretty scared initially. Hopefully he'll warm up to it as the weeks go by!

I can't believe I'm still awake after 11pm. I've become quite the early bird, which doesn't allow for a lot of blogging time as our afternoon/evening internet service is really bad and I'm having a problem with photo uploading at all times! I guess I'm still hyped up after today's activities and I'm also trying to figure out the outfits for the kids' portraits tomorrow. The girls have matching dresses, but I'm having a hard time digging up something for SJ to wear. I'm sure it'll work out fine, Daddy might just have to deal with the fact that I may end up putting him in a sailor suit. Daddy's not so keen on sailor suits...I'll scan in the photos soon.


watching the Laura Ingalls play, it was chilly!


Joey started getting antsy, see him wandering in the orange hoodie?


Hermann Park



Japanese Gardens











take a picture of me jumping, mom!



Ellie insisted on running off to wave to the zoo train


JoJo saying goodbye to the park


one last gravel-castle and we're off!


Swimming at the YMCA...
working up the nerve to get in a 2nd time


Daddy's the best!

Along the Alphabet Path--Letters R and S

This iPhone user has not been on the iMac computer much recently. But I'm finally taking a few minutes to post our R and S Alphabet Path adventures!

Rr is for Ragged Robin Fairy and St. Rose of Lima


Rainbows!


Catch a Rainbow experiment






Rabbits! Here is our Peter Rabbit Tea Party.



I didn't get a photo of all our Rr books. I checked out a bunch from the library, many recommended on the Alphabet Path plans. They included Rapunzel, the Little Red Hen, Little Red Riding Hood, and various Peter Rabbit/Beatrix Potter Treasuries.

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Ss is for the Strawberry Fairy


Making S's and snakes with playdough


snails


Space!
Mary Clare made the Sun and planets


Here are all our Ss books, including lots by Dr. Seuss, some about snow, space, Sammy the Seal, Snow White, and the Wild Swans.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Field Trip

Well, we survived the big field trip of the year! Nearly 100 kids and parents attended the Livestock Show and Rodeo yesterday. They ended up splitting our group, so I'm not sure we even got to see everyone! I think next time we'll try the self-guided field trip; we couldn't really hear our guide and she went a little fast for our liking. Here's what we did...

Started with the bees...


Checked out some cattle


and hatching chicks!



A quick walk by the rabbits (my kids had no interest in petting)


and a little snapshot with a few of our friends


watched a lady spin wool into yarn!


Steven Joseph nearly threw a fit when I was trying to skip over the long line to sit in the tractor!


Later after lunch, we watched the kids' sheep riding competition and then moved on to the Fun on the Farm exhibit where the kids pretend to be farmers. It was really cute!

First they each got a basket, then "fed" a hen and picked up a wooden egg


Then they got to plant a seed, water it, and harvest the vegetable! Ellie planted a pepper...


and MC a tomato


They "milked" a cow


and picked an orange


Finally, they picked an ear of corn. Steven picked through them, and walked away! Guess he wasn't interested in corn!

in the end, they sorted their items back into baskets, were given a "dollar" bill, and were able to choose a juice and a snack to take home!

Here are each of my "farmers"


Several of our friends tried out the mechanical bull! We had a blast watching them and cheering them on!




Last but not least, we watched a bit of a horse show in the arena. SJ and his friend J enjoyed their raisins from their farming work, and the older kids enjoyed watching the 3-8yr-old riders in the horse show.


After a long swing by Sonic for the best Route 44 slush I've ever had, we swung by Steven's office for a potty break. He drove the kids home while Mommy enjoyed a quiet drive in the truck. Deep breath...field trips are all over for now and I'm having a slow morning today, about to head over to Nature Club this afternoon!

Happy Feast of St. Joseph to all! May St. Joseph pray for all the fathers who work so hard so we can enjoy fun days like this :-)