Our tough little girls

So one day we were playing outside and Jaideyn asked me if she could climb the tree (yes she asked.) Little miss nervous, prim and proper, scared of everything Jaideyn wanted to climb the tree. But had to ask first~just in case that wasn't ok for girls to do!! I was shocked. Jackson has been climbing that tree for years and she has never wanted to try. She always just stood at the bottom of the tree and yelled at Jackson to be careful! I was so excited that she wanted to try. I immediately helper her up and away she went. Unbelievable~she didn't even mind that the branches were dirty and scratching her a little bit. When she got up this high I thought for sure she would freak out and want to get down, but to my suprise she started smiling and said how much she liked being up there. She even stayed up there by herself while I went inside and grabbed my camera. I am so proud of her!!

And then Aves needed a turn. She climbed up the tree like she was climbing stairs and said look at me mom! What brave little girls!!!

Our little helpers

Occasionally the kids will be excited to help us around the house. If it includes cleaning up there is usually alot of complaining. But if we are doing something "cool" then they are all about helping. All of the kids love to help me bake. Jackson can now make brownies all by himself!

He also likes to paint furniture. He did a really great job, on what he finished. He likes to start things but then it gets boring so he quits. But after dinner I made him go back out and finish what he started.

Avery is a big Daddy's helper. Whatever Dad is doing Avery wants to help.

I also talked her into cleaning out the cupboard under the sink. That one gets messy pretty quickly, so I enlisted her help. I think the reason she was so excited about helping was because I told her she could take EVERYTHING out of the cupboard and set it on the floor. Ususally Avery gets yelled at for emptying the cupboards, so this was very enticing! She even climbed in and washed it out for me.

Look at her go. Avery takes her projects very seriously and does not give up until it is finished. Hopefully her brother and sister won't influence her too much in the coming years!

Our "new" sandbox

We just remembered that we had a sandbox tucked away in the shed. So, we got it out and filled it with sand and toys. We knew that Avery would love it and would spend many of hours playing in it. What we did not realize it that all 3 kids would be so excited to play in the sandbox. Oh happy day! Mom has some quiet time! But, we had to put it on the deck so that they could still see me by looking in the slider. Also, please notice Avery's pants~or lack there of!!!!

Uncle Mark and Aunt Diana's

On April 9 we headed out to Indiana to visit Uncle Mark and Aunt Diana. We prepared the kiddos and let them know that it would be a long drive. We told them that it was 2 hours away, which really means nothing to them but they were very excited. So, we packed up and headed out. We got all the way to 84th and Wilson and Avery asked if we were almost there! Oh it's going to be a long drive. But they settled in with their video games and we put on a movie and it went pretty well.

When we got there we unpacked and the kids hung out with Uncle Mark and Aunt Diana and the girls started in on their favorite thing to do with~brush Aunt Diana's hair.

Saturday morning we set out on our adventures and started at Cabela's. Now our trips to Indiana are not complete without a stop there. We visited with the animals again and of course I made the kids pose for a pic.

Jaidey loves to spend some time checking out the tents. Maybe we have a future camper on our hands!

And of course we must get a printed penny~again!

And shoot at the range.

Mark and Diana have train tracks in their backyard and it gets extremely loud. Friday night when the kids went to bed they were scared by the noise and had to know what was going on. So Saturday morning when a train came through we went out back to watch it. The kids were shocked at how loud it was outside. We had another very fun weekend with Mark and Diana.

Jackie, Olivia and Minnie

After the very sad death of Bubbles, we promised the kids that we would get a new fish. After looking into it we decided that we would get a real fish tank and put the vase to rest. We told the kids that they could each pick out a fish to put in the tank. After about 5 trips to as many stores, we finally found the tank for us. We figured out (much to the kids dismay) that we needed to get the tank set up at home and let it sit for at least 48 hours before we could put fish in it. So, we brought the tank home and the kids had fun helping us set it up!

We waited patiently and finally the day had come for us to go and get our fish. It took about an hour, but the kids finally picked out their fish of choice and we headed home to introduce the fish to their new home! Oh the excitement!

Let me introduce to you one of the new members of our family! Olivia the beautiful yellow guppie~chosen with love by Jaideyn! We also have Jackie the dalmation looking fish and Minnie the Mickey Mouse fish. Who knew we would be a family of 8 in a matter of minutes!

Proud, excited and exhausted kiddos.

Cousins!

Over spring break we had Alaina, Joe and Nick stay overnight as a special treat for the kiddos. Oh the fun we had. One of the highlights for Alaina and Jaideyn was sitting with me and having me braid their hair. Jaideyn looks up to Lainey so much and always wants to do things like she does. One thing that Jaidey loves is Alaina's hair. So, she asked if I would braid their hair (in 2 braids of course!!) So we sat and chatted and braided their hair.

The end result!

At bedtime they all cozied up on the floor in Jaidey's room and Alaina offered to read part of her book to the girls. It was so cute to see then all snuggled and enjoying hanging out with each other. The boys had fun too. They were much to busy to let me take a pic of them, the girls were happy to pose for me!! We had a wonderful time and love spending time with our cousins!!

Losing his first tooth!

At the end of December we visited the dentist and he noticed that Jackson had a slightly loose tooth. Jackson was VERY excited to hear this. We were sure that it would take a long time for it to fall out, so we were telling him it probably wouldn't be until summer that is came out. Well, we sure were wrong. Of course he played with it all the time and finally in March it started to get quite loose. Then we noticed that the adult tooth was already growing in behind it. That was something I didn't think about and it looked really weird. Apparently that adult tooth decided it was time for the baby tooth to come out! So, he twisted and he turned....

And he ate apples just hoping that would help it fall out! And of course I encouraged this~he ate at least one apple a day for several weeks.

On April 9 we left to go to Mark and Diana's for a night. That day and night it was really bothering him. It was hanging by a string and it was hurting him. He even couldn't fall asleep that night because it hurt so bad. The next morning we got up and went to Cabela's and after that we met Mark and Diana for lunch at Taco Bell. We were all enjoying our meal and Jackson came up to me and said "Look Mom!" I looked and his tooth was in his hand. He said that he took a bite of his taco and felt something hard. What do you know~after all his hard work it just came out while biting into a taco!! He was so excited and of course we had a little celebration for him. That night we went to Church with Mark and Diana and her family and Jackson told them all that he had lost his first tooth and they gave him $5.00. Wow was he excited!!

The first pic of my little man minus a tooth. Oh is he really that old already?????? It made me a little sad, but what an exciting thing for Jackson. Now~what does a tooth fairy leave these days??

I suppose I am a bad Mom because I'm not so good at playing along with these things. Jackson already know that it is just Dad and Mom and not really the tooth fairy. We tried to play along by telling him to make sure he leaves his tooth under his pillow so that the tooth fairy can leave him something. He looks at me and says "Mom, I know it's just you!" We still managed to get in there unnoticed and left him a little treat. He was probably disapointed with the "tooth fairy" because earlier that night he got $5, but this tooth fairy doesn't leave that much money!!!

Childrens Museum

Over spring break we took yet another trip to the Children's Museum. The kids never get tired of that place!

This time we were able to bring Mema along. She spent some time making crafts with the girls.

Bye Bye Bubbles!

On Sunday April 4 our beloved Bubbles died. Bubbles was our beta fish that was given to us last Christmas. He lived in his little glass vase on our counter for 1 year and 3 months. He was our first pet as a family and we learned to love him. Avery was especially fond of him. I must say that when we first got Bubbles I was a bit nervous that he would not survive more than a week at our house, but we managed to keep him alive for a long time! When he died we decided that it would be best if we burried him. (Tim wanted to flush him, but I was afraid we would scar the kiddos. They would never want to use the toilet again!!) So Tim put Bubbles in a bag and we set off to find his final resting place. Suprisingly Avery asked if she could carry Bubbles to the woods!

This was the spot that the kids chose to bury Bubbles. So, Tim dug his grave as the kids looked on.

Avery wanted to do the honors of putting Bubbles in his "home." And in true Avery fashion she chucked the bag in the hole!! After a few giggles about that we all said our goodbyes and Tim burried him. We even put a stick with a little flag attached to it over his hole so that the kids would always know where Bubbles was burried.

And then we set off on a fun nature walk! What a great life lesson and teaching moment for the kiddos!

Another try!

One more attempt to get some cute pics of the kiddos. I am not good at getting them to stand nicely and smile (and the sun didn't help my cause!!) But, I figure these show how life really is~kids will be kids!!