Easter 2008... Again?

Grandma Colleen is so cute... She just wanted to have all of her cute grandkids and great grandkids over for the annual Easter egg hunt and everyone seemed to be out of town on Easter, so we did it today. My kids always love it and I love being able to visit with my family. Especially since we live "so far away" now, we never see anyone. (My family jokes that they need to renew their passports before they can come out and visit!) So, snow falling in our eyes, wet leaves stuck to our shoes, and noses a-freezing, we went for it! And here are some pics...

Cambria and Easton looking for eggs.

Most of the little ones... And some actually even looking at the camera!

I know I am biased, but I just think he is so dang cute. Always with the "Cheeeese!"

Sofie, going for one of the eggs that was actually in reach! Uncle Ron seems to get a little too carried away with the eggs-in-the-trees idea! :) But haven't we all turned out to be a little tougher thanks to the teasing of our uncles???

And last but not least, Grandma Colleen with her trusty video camera. What does she actually do with all of those tapes?

Rock Band...

Now, we are cool enough to have an XBOX, but apparently not cool enough to have Rock Band or Guitar Hero, or whatever the heck that game is called... So the other night when my mom brought over my nephew, Andre, and one of his friends, Tiffany, they made a rock band of their own. It was so fun to watch. The kids were so nice too - 12 years old and they made Sofie feel like she was just one of the gang!

Andre rockin' out!

Sofie singing along to Hannah Montana (who else?!)

Tiffany on the "drums"...

Showing off more of his amazing guitar skills...

And have I mentioned how much we love Dre? He is probably the nicest 12 year old kid I have ever met. Well, actually, he has been the nicest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 year old too! He is so great. My kids both love him and we do too!

Lunch with Dad...

We don't get to spend a whole lot of time with my amazing hubby. He has a stressful job and spends most of his time there. So, when we can steal a moment here and there, it makes me really happy. Yesterday we went and had lunch with him and saw his new office. It was so much fun. We are so lucky to have him, he works really hard so that we can have a beautiful home and I can stay home with our little ones. Our kids adore him as do I and I hope he knows how much he is loved!

The people at the table next to us were cracking up when I took this picture because he went from crying to "CHEEEESE" in a split second. What a ham! They both are!

Easter 2008

Sofie is alot like me...She always needs something to look forward to. Of course she is excited for things like birthdays and Christmas, but she seriously couldn't sleep the night before St. Patrick's day, she had a blast all day wearing green, eating green pancakes, seeing Leprechaun foot prints at school, and finding "gold" but the minute that day was over, it was, "What holiday is next mommy?" I told her it was Easter and there was literally a week straight of sleepless, excited nights. Of course, the second Easter was over she wanted to know what was next. I told her it was Mother's Day. She didn't get quite as excited about that one! Anyhoo, here are some pics of our Easter celebrations.

Here is a picture of Thomas with a "ball"... Yes, he kept picking up the pretty "balls" and throwing them. Needless to say, not alot made it through unscathed...

Sofie was not so much in to the Easter egg dying. If you could have seen my cousins little boy, just to Sofie's right, you would understand why! Head to toe in dye and Sofie doesn't like to get dirty. We got her to do one measly little egg and she was back out on the trampoline!

Here is a picture of my cute little kids sharing...

Until Thomas figured out exactly what was inside the wrapper. Then he wanted them all!

The Easter egg hunt at Grandma Chris' house. Don't I have the cutest nieces???

Who knew this brother of mine could have such cute girls, must be because of his way cute wife!

You can't see them in this picture, but Sofie had 2 huge bags completely full of goodies. Gee, thanks grandma! :) Just what we need! More candy!

Finding even more loot.

My son will walk right off the edge of the jungle gym at any given park, but he will not walk on the grass without holding some one's hand!

My attempt at getting my whole family to look at the camera at once. How well do you think that went...?

Tutu party...

Wednesday night I had a "tutu" party for my friend who is starting a business (making tutus if you didn't already figure that out). It was so fun. Sofie tried on every tutu at least 3 times and felt like a fairy princess. Little girls are so much. I'm so happy to have her...

My hubby even tried on a tutu, and he is a man's man, so it was quite the sight, but I couldn't grab the camera fast enough, so I don't have a picture of it... imagine the leverage I could have had with that... hmm... too bad!

Random pics...

So, I haven't updated my blog for over a week now - I kept waiting for something exciting to report - and then I realized, this is as exciting as it gets :) So I will just add some of our latest pictures of our cute little family (at least I think we're darn cute...)

Do you think my boys look just a little bit alike?

Daddy really does have all the fun!

Sofie is the BEST big sister... She decided to make a picnic for her and our little neighbor, Mara. So she comes marching out of the house with blankets, drinks, yogurts, oranges, and string cheese. 3 of each. I asked her who the 3rd set was for and she said, "Uh, brother!" Like, duh, mom, do you think I would forget my brother! I swear she is 13, not 5...

And Thomas was so cute just sitting on the blanket eating like all of the big kids. They really do grow up too fast, don't they?

Where's my Harley?

Guitars, pillow fights, and forts...OH MY!

I am so glad I have discovered this blogging thing! I now have a destination for the myriad photos that we seem to take from our camera and dump onto our computer, never to be seen again! A few nights ago some friends were over and coaxed my hubby in to digging out our guitar, which we haven't seen since living in this house (almost 3 years now...) I love hearing him play - he even proposed to me with a song he wrote and sang to me while we picnicked in the mountains (we used to be so cute and romantic :) Anyway, he got out the guitar and started playing and the kids loved it too. But Thomas has taken a particular liking, not to the guitar playing, but to the guitar case... It's the cutest thing. He brings his blankey, lays in the case, and makes the sign for "more" meaning that he wants one of us to pick up the case and swing him around in it. So precious. Maybe this means he'll be musically inclined... Although it is hard to imagine that someone from my gene pool could be, but you never know...
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What is it about DAD? The kids always go running to him the second they hear his car pulling in and they don't leave his side until bed time. Probably has something to do with the fact that he knows how to have fun with them - like pillow fights and forts. MOM on the other hand, is more of a "Clean up your mess or else..." kind of person. Hmm...go figure...
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Star Light, Star Bright...

So, this happened a few days ago, but I really thought I should document it... We were getting ready to go to bed and I see Sofie standing by the window and she is softly repeating "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight... I wish to have a mermaid tail..." Then she goes, brushes her teeth, goes potty, and gets in bed. The next morning she comes stomping up and stands at the top of the stairs with her arms folded and her lips pursed and exclaims, with astonishing disappointment, "I didn't get my mermaid tail!" It was so cute. She really thought she was going to wake up with a mermaid tail. Aaahhh, the innocence of youth!

Laundry, again, really???....

This is my life... Laundry, dishes, poopy diaper, make food, feed kids food, clean up kids, clean up food, dishes, laundry, another poopy diaper, try to get Elmo songs out of my head, do some more dishes, put on a band aid, make some more food, clean up again, do more dishes, make baths, put kids to bed, SLEEP...not enough sleep...and it all starts again... I was laughing at myself the other day when my husband came home from work and asked me what I had done that day. I said, "We were busy all day, we got ready for school, went to the gym, went to the grocery store, put away the groceries, made dinner...and here we are..." Then I thought, out loud, "How the heck did that take all day long????" and then I remembered, oh yes...kids... It is a bit monotonous, but I am so glad to be doing it. I think of my mom who did all of this, plus ran us all over the valley, and up canyons, for our various activities, and worked full time, and I think, "Now that would be a busy day!" Now if I could just keep this perspective as I finish this entry and move on to fold laundry...

We still know how to party all night...

Last weekend was my hubby's 34th birthday. We took a trip to "Beervana" with 20 of our fabulous friends... He didn't want me to get him anything, which is hard for me, because I love buying presents:) and he just wanted to go to dinner... So I surprised him with this little get together. We went to the Bayou in downtown SL. One of our very favorite places. (I highly recommend it to anyone I know www.utahbayou.com) I love it for the food and the live music, my husband loves it for their 200 and something different choices of beer. We stayed there for a few hours eating, some drinking, and laughing together (especially at those who had a little too much to drink - who says being the designated driver isn't any fun?) After the Bayou we headed to a laser show at the planetarium and home where more friends met us to continue with the merriment:) We stayed up until 4:30 in the morning... It was a blast. Our kids were at my brother's house so we got to spend the next morning lounging around and napping to make up for the late night... Although I still don't feel completely recovered a week later! All in all, a great time. I think Svata enjoyed it too. I packed my camera around to make certain I would take pictures...nope. none. maybe next time!