April rundown

Wowza, April was a busy month from beginning to end!  Let's take a look~

Practicing letter Vs, volcano paper craft, making our own real life volcano with good ole vinegar & baking soda, and vanilla yogurt for a snack, all while listening to Mozart violin sonatas!

11 years as a mom, you'd think I should know better than to 1), never leave food coloring down and 2), trouble is happening when the toddler is quiet for long periods of time.

This cute second grader is learning cursive!!!

 Student-led plays tonight for this "little" brother of mine!

V is for Vegetables!!  We read "The Vegetables We Eat," found veggies in the grocery ads, stamped with real veggies, had veggies for snack (they devoured!), then made Preston do the veggie sequencing that we ran out of time to do!  This was my last time teaching!

Mama planks, they plank.  Love my little workout buddies!  #21dayfix

She's becoming a professional at painting her own fingernails and toenails.  This girl....

Back to the high school again, this time to watch Taylyn play softball!

Looking homeless while brothers play ball!  Whatever keeps her happy...

 Happy to be cavity free this time, both of us!!

When the upstairs AC unit isn't working and the temp up there is nearly 90 degrees, a sleepover in the front room is in order! (all week)  We're comfy again, $1500 later....

It's been a few years since we've been to the Easter Pageant!  The kids all did great!  Best part of the pageant~ after the rooster crows when Peter denies Christ three times, it was dead silent and Hayden says (loudly), "That's a chicken!!"  Everyone in the near vicinity giggled.  Her commentary through the whole thing was awesome.  She couldn't stop talking about how "they spanked Jesus' back."  The people around us were completely enamored by her!

I took her in the Visitor's Center to pass time before the pageant started

Gavin with his good buddy, Joshua Thornes, on Joshua's baptism day.

Celebrating 12 years of marriage!  We ate at Culinary Dropout in Scottsdale, did a little shopping, then drove to San Tan Village to get some gelato from Frost.  Love him!

Um, Hayden?  Are you forgetting something???! (panties)

Best part of Costco.  Bribery works.

Blake is off to his first overnight scout campout! (4/18/14) With a backpack that is bigger than he is!!!!

 Spirit Week at school!!  

"Blast to the Past"

"Fiction Day"

"Culture Day"

"Crazy Day"

While this looked super cute, she came home (half-day) complaining of a headache
then proceeded to scream the entire time I took it out!!

Got to watch cousin Emily in Aladdin Jr.!  So glad these girls have each other amongst a throng of boy cousins!! (dance recital dress rehearsal, hence the makeup)

LAST book report of the year!!!  Daddy helped Gavin construct his very own Great Glass Elevator!

Sometimes Gymboree's over the top matchy-matchiness bugs me, but then there are times where I just can't resist! So much fun dressing a little girl again!  #head2toegymbo

Gavin's first Pinewood Derby!

This was a long awaited day, ever since Gavin started Cub Scouts!!  

Such a  process to watch- coming up with the design, working on the car, seeing it turn into something.  I always think, 'Next time I'll be better about documenting the whole process,' but I don't.  And the nice thing is that since our boys are all 3 years apart, Matt will never have to work on two Pinewood Derby cars at the same time!

Last minute adjustment before the race

Ready to roll!

Winner!

I love this sweet face!!

And the Minion does it again!!

Of course, he got the "Most Despicable" award!

Gavin's car did pretty well!  He didn't make the top 3 but ended up 6th overall, which is great for a first-timer!  Of course everyone wants one of those top spots, but Gavin showed great sportsmanship.  It was fun to see him be so excited about the whole thing!

Happy Birthday to me!

Welp, another year has gone by, dang it!  32 years old!!  Some days I feel so old and others I feel so young!  Life is pretty sweet right now and I'm trying to enjoy it to the fullest!

For a little pre-birthday fun, my mom, Becky and I (plus little ones) went out to lunch.  We duplicated what the girls and I did while the boys were at Fathers & Sons, lunch at Gecko Grill then dessert at Sweet Tooth Fairy!  I had a reaaaaaaally hard time choosing which to pick, either a frosted sugar cookie or a cupcake, so what the heck, I just got both!

Hayden was ready to go home with Grandma!

On my actual birthday, Matt was sweet enough to have flowers delivered!  They were absolutely beautiful!!

Then he surprised me again by bringing home a cake from Sweet Tooth Fairy!!  He took notice of my recent obsession!  This really meant a lot to me since who wants to make their own birthday cake??

My gift- a picture drawn by Brooklyn, representing a shopping trip to get new furniture for our living room!  Yay!!

We had decided to feed the kids something quick, get them all ready for bed, then let Brooklyn officially babysit for the first time while we went out to dinner.   Matt showed her how to text me using his iPad so we got minute-by-minute details of what was happening back at home.  Haha!  We went to Blue Lemon, which I had been to in SLC last Fall, but they recently opened a location here in Gilbert so we checked it out.  We ordered an appetizer to share that was awesome then I had a sandwich and salad, which was also awesome!!  I ate every last bite, so good!!!

I got plenty of phone calls, texts and Facebook love from friends and family, who sure do know how to make a girl feel special!!

Hayden is POTTY TRAINED!!!

Oh HAPPY DAY!  Our house is diaper-free fooooooooooorrrrrrrevvvvvvvvverrrrrrrr!!!!

Two weeks ago, I finally decided to bite the bullet and start potty training Hayden.  It's my LEAST favorite parenting task.  I knew she was ready but it's always a little scary to commit 100%.  Especially when staying home for a solid week is practically impossible when it's the middle of baseball season!!

I stocked up on panties, made a sticker chart with her favorite characters (Frozen) and had the potty treat all ready to go.  We chose Startburst jellybeans, since Hayden loves those as much as her mommy does! ;)  I also had grand prize waiting for when potty training was complete.

My theory is cold turkey, straight to panties.  I remind or ask, but don't push.

I cannot believe how fast she caught on!!!  Of course she had accidents.  I even surprised myself with how patient I stayed.  I do NOT like having to clean up one more mess!

1 week later (FB)- This girly has done absolutely amazing with potty training!!  Look at her chart after one week!  She's taking herself to the potty, we've been out in public several times and she's starting dry during nap time and nighttime!  No accidents for the past two days, we're so close to being diaper free FOREVER!!  My favorite things are when she tells me, "Can you go away?" when she's gonna poor, her joyful, "I did it!"' every time she goes, and when she claps for ME when I go potty!

tired of me taking photos!

2 weeks later- No accidents in a week, I think it's safe to say that she's potty trained!  Pretty sure she was my fastest potty trainee yet!  My baby is a big girl!  Way to go Hayden!

She got her Elsa doll!

Happy Easter!!

We've been having some mighty fine weather, which is a sure sign that Spring is here!  Although we don't get a very long Spring season in terms of temperatures, we're trying to enjoy what we do get!

The Easter Bunny filled the kids' baskets with goodies galore!

 Yay for new princesses,

 Skylanders and Legos,

Rainbow Loom bands,

books,

iTunes gift cards and duct tape!

 Nothing like a mouthful of chocolate for breakfast!

 REAL breakfast-  Matt's specialty, German pancakes

Our crew, all dressed up in their Easter finest!  Still trying to coordinate, as long as they will let me!

This year, we had Easter dinner with Matt's family.  Grandma always has an Easter egg hunt for the kids with prizes and treats!

Of course we all know that the real reason we celebrate Easter isn't because of the Bunny or the candy or the egg hunts.  I love this picture {by Simon Dewey} of the Savior, with his soft face and his outstretched hands.  Our Savior suffered for our sins then died for us on the cross.  He rose again three days later, all so that we could live with our Heavenly Father again.   I love that Spring signifies renewal, just as we will all be resurrected someday.