The Field

I took the whole family along to do Liv's pictures last night.  I knew the boys would love to run the open fields, collect sticks, jump in puddles, and hunt for bugs and other dirty stuff.

 

 

 We did have a few injuries.

Liv was lucky and got her own personal piggy back ride through the field.  Not so lucky for Shawn :(

Liv's 5 year Pictures

I am only two weeks late with Liv's birthday pics, but better late than never.  Here they are!!

  

 

 

 

Yeah, we are done!

High Interest Day

Friday was High-Interest Day at the kids school.  It's one of my favorite days of the year.  They spend all day going to different classes, trying out new activities and skills.  I always volunteer and have a great time.  I spent the morning in Liv's class while they went on a camping adventure.  She got to have smores, read stories by campfire, go fishing, paint bird houses, and see live birds.  Next I went to Ethan's class.  He got to learn about airplanes, creepy crawlers, hip hop dancing, and karate.  I finished up the day with Cole's class.  He got to learn about drawing, Lego building, plants, different kinds of food, and karatee.  Here are a few pictures I snagged with my phone.  They aren't great, but at least they give you an idea.

Here are some videos clips that I took on my phone during the hip hop class.  The music was really loud and the kids had a blast.  I was surprised that Ethan chose to attend the Hip Hop class because he is really shy about dancing, but he really does love music.  During the end of this clip the kids were told to "freestyle".  Ethan hid in the corner with his buddies, but Liv really let loose :)

Back Flip

I mentioned that Ethan learned how to do a back flip over the last week.  The picture turned out blurry, but I was able to get a video.  After being at the gymnastics gym for about 30 minutes Ethan walked up to me and said, "I want to do a backflip, will you help me?"  So, I walked with him over to the foam pit and got ready to help him.  He looked over at me and said, "I think I want to do this by myself".  I asked if he was sure, he shook his head and I walked away and pulled out my camera.  Here was his first attempt at a backflip, all by himself.

Spring Break

Spring Break was kind of a bust this year.  I was sick the majority of it, so my big plans changed pretty quick.  But, we did have a successful birthday celebration for Liv and the weekend before was Easter and our trip to Chicago, so it wasn't totally a loss.


We were able to make it back to the Discovery Center and this time we were able to go to the aquarium.

**all pics courtesy of my iPhone**

We spent time outside creating murals.

We spent lots of time at the park.

A fun evening at the gymnastics gym.  Ethan learned how to do a back flip, all by himself (that blur is him, iPhones don't do dark places with fast kids very well).

And lots of other random fun.

And schools starts bright and early tomorrow morning. Everyone is actually really excited!

Floating Lanterns

We did one more fun thing for Liv's birthday that I didn't post yet.  Liv loves the movie Tangeled and we watch it often.  So for one more thing to celebrate her birthday with we did floating lanterns.  It was really windy the night of her birthday so we had to wait until tonight to light them.  They were a hit and everyone had a great time.  Shawn was a little nervous about starting them on fire, but it went great.  Can't wait to do this again on her birthday next year.  It will be our special Liv birthday tradition.

Easter 2012

I kind of skipped Easter, so here is a little recap....

For some reason this year I wasn't really feeling the Easter Bunny.  I was concerned that my kids weren't really understanding what Easter was about.

It's so much more than chocolate covered eggs and Easter baskets.

So, I did the worse thing a mom could do.....I broke the parents oath and told them about the real Easter Bunny.  I know, that is so not like me, but there are a few things I need my kids to know.

I need them to know that we have a Savior
I need them to know that we celebrate Easter in honor of His resurrection.
I need them to know that because of him we can be together as a family forever.

So for those reasons, Easter now has a different meaning in our family.

Don't think I am totally heartless and didn't do anything Easter related.
We totally dyed eggs and then painted them.

And then we did the traditional roll the eggs down the hill.  I remember as a child getting eggs thrown at me.  We did the milder version this year of rolling, but I am sure with time it will evolve into throwing.

 And then we raced down the hill.

We even had a glow in the dark easter egg hunt.

And, the kids got plenty of candy.

But, it was from Shawn and I.

So nobody was deprived and it was a great Holiday.

Just a little different emphasis this year than in the past.

We took time Sunday to reflect on our savior.  We watched the movie of his life, sacrifice, crucification, and most importantly resurrection.  While watching the movie the kids kept cringing and looking away each time Christ was mocked or hurt.  It was touching to see them showing concern.  I think they started to realize what Christ actually went through for us.