Updates

Little E- I won't write about him because I just did a big update on his birthday post and not much has changed since last night :).  But here is a funny picture from when Mr A got in his crib one night with him and fell asleep.

Miss H- She is such a big girl now!  She is potty-trained except for at nap time and night time when she wears a pull-up.  We converted her crib to a toddler bed and it has been awesome so far.  It hasn't yet occured to her that she can get up on her own so she still calls out "I'm awake!"  when she wakes up and waits for us to come get her :).  Let's hope that lasts a while.

Mr A- He just finished the preschool we've been doing with our friends and he is ready and excited to start Kindergarten!  He loves the nice weather and wants to be outside all the time.  Along with being a geologist he now also wants to be a farmer :).  He wants to grow corn and pumpkins, and have horses.  He imagines life as an adult with all of us still living together and he asked Hannah if she would take over the farm when he dies :).

Mr A helping his daddy make bisquits- a tradition passed down through generations.

Daniel- Things aren't as crazy at work as they were so that has been nice.  He built a carport on the side of the house to put the lawnmower and bikes in so I can get working on cleaning the garage.  We are grateful for all he does!

Me- I feel like I'm very busy and not accomplishing much as usual...but I'm happy :).  I've been trying to update all the kids clothes and inventory what I have for them in upcoming sizes so I know what I need and I can be prepared for the garage sale season to start.  I've also been trying to get things ready for preschool in the fall- I want to get everything organized ahead of time this year.  I started a blog for the preschool called preschoolatjillshouse.blogspot.com.  In order to get everything done I've tried to get serious about a daily schedule.  Maybe "the schedule" deserves a post of its own so I'll write more about that later.

Just in case these posts make it seem like everyone is always happy, I'll tell you that you should have been at winco a little after noon last Monday.  It would have put everything into perspective :).  I'm sure no-one there was looking at me with any amount of envy but hopefully they appreciated the fact that I was sticking to my word.  Oh the wonderful moments of parenting :).

Enjoying Spring

Don't you love my creative titles?  I'm doing a lot of posts in a row because I'm so far behind.  Anyway, we have been having some beautiful spring days so we've tried to get out and enjoy it. 

We went to karkeek park with Melanie, Karter, and our friends the Bredensteiners

This isn't an outdoor one, but one of the best things about Spring is General Conferece and Mr A was really excited to watch, listen, and fill out his bingo card.

We've enjoyed a lot of time in the backyard.

The kids had fun digging in the garden with the Ellis'- before they moved :(

We went to the zoo and the dancing elephant was the kid's favorite.

We've also enjoyed a lot of time playing in the cul-de-sac, going to parks, and having friends over to BBQ and make s'mores over the fire pit.

Happy Easter

We had a great Easter!  We try to focus on the Savior by doing service and studying the last week of his life.  We also have fun dying eggs, going on egg hunts, and getting Easter baskets.

The kids put "warm fuzzies" in the jar when they did something nice for someone else.



A lot of the activities we did during the week are on this blog http://looslifamily.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-week-ideas.html

Little E loved the candy wrapper :)



Mr A is excited that he found the golden egg.



Happy Birthday Little E!

I can't believe my baby is already one!  He has always been such a happy boy and we love him so much!  He shares a birthday with my brother Brian and I wish I'd gotten a picture of the two of them together.  Anyway, they shared birthday parties.  Little E loved his cake at Grandpa's house and his toy cow from my mom and sister.  Mr A gave him a stuffed dragon, Miss H gave him a book, and Daniel and I gave him photo blocks.

What he is up to at 12 months:  He loves to sing and dance- and it is very, very cute.  He loves to find things that we use and mimic us.  For example, if he gets his hands on a phone he loves to hold it up to his ear and talk.  He loves stealing Miss H's brush and brushing his hair, he loves to color when he can get a hold of a pen and paper, and he likes to brush his teeth.  He waves and says bye-bye "ba-ba", he gives five, and he mimics sounds well "pop", "moo".  He loves books.  He says dada, mama, ta-da (when playing peek-a-boo), and bubba.  He loves his brother and sister!  He is crawling more and more but often still scoots.  He loves to walk when pushing something (usually Miss H's pink baby doll stroller).  We are so blessed that he is in our family!

Updates from my camera

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm continuing the tradition from when I was young of balloons for Valentine's Day.

Mr A loves taking pictures, so there are a lot more pictures of me on the camera now.  Most of them are gross and I delete them immediately.

Miss H loves dress up

Little E's first time riding the little car

Mr A is into collecting rocks.  The top is a gold rock he found that the leprechauns hid last st patrick's day :), the purple amethyst rock his friend we do preschool with gave him for valentine's day because she knew he wanted to be a geologist, and the two blue copper sulphate crystals we grew.

Daniel loves the riding lawnmower- we bought it broken from a garage sale for $50 and he fixed it.

cute kids- Mr A right before his haircut

We love the occassional semi nice days

After Mr A's haircut.  Daniel did it himself for the first time.  Mr A has lost 2 teeth, one already grew back in.

Cute boy.  Speaking of teeth...he has four now.  His favorite thing to do nowadays is walk around the house pushing something (bike, chair, doll stroller).  He can't walk on his own yet.

We picked Daniel up from work for lunch one day and went to the little park in the international district.  They've re-done it recently and its small but cute.

Happy 1st Valentine's Day

We've been doing "thumbs up" pictures when they like a meal so the next time they eat it we can remind them that they like it.

The kids always want me to do a thumbs up picture for Little E...this is what I get.

Miss H's thumbs up :)