Easter

Tomorrow will be a month since Easter. But I wanted to get a little caught up!

Today: Kids have a minimum day of school. All their homework is done. I have Chicken Cacciatore in the slow cooker. Been doing laundry all day. Austin has karate at 5. Cleaned up yet another hairball. Pongo gets his special treats every day, but seems to be having more problems again, probably b/c spring is here and he's shedding more? Whatever, it's more nuisance and more yuck! Tired of it!

It has been so busy here, since the beginning of April. Activities and school are ending for the summer, but that means more parties and end-of-activity activities that fill up our time. Plus, I've been working like crazy cleaning out closets and rooms, finding stuff for the garage sale we plan to have the end of June. I'd hoped to have it May 14, but that didn't happen, b/c every day and/or night since April 30, we've had to run off somewhere, so I had no time to prepare! Busy!

Anyway, back to Easter: The kids dyed eggs the day before. The kit I bought this year had little paint pouches you had to squeeze into the special paint tray, then use little sponge rollers to paint the eggs. We ended up cutting the tray apart, b/c it was so little, that only one person could paint w/ it in front of them, before it was cut.


I wasn't planning to let Caroline do it, and when she realized that, she cried and cried, so sad. We covered her in her bib and apron, and let her paint too. She was so careful and really did a good job. She was so pleased to be like the big kids.


All four hard at work:


I boiled 18 eggs this year, and that's all they colored; no raw ones this time. We found out that Caroline really likes hard-boiled eggs, and she's been eating one almost every day for lunch, since Easter!


After church, Easter Sunday, our family picture. Julia and Lauren wore the dresses Lauren and Caroline have on, in 2007. Lauren is a bit taller than Julia was, and Caroline is a bit shorter than Lauren was, and the dresses worked out for them to match this year!


It was a gray (yucky lighting) day. All 4 kids, and Julia hunting eggs.


We actually let Caroline hunt a few minutes by herself. Then Lauren joined her. Then Austin, then Julia. Caroline was so sweet finding the eggs.


And Lauren was pretty sweet too. But this is how the big kids did it! Yikes! I think we need a bigger yard!!


Once Austin and Julia got in on the hunt, the eggs were found in no time!

I did make a ham dinner, but just a ham steak. We had so much going on that I didn't feel like dealing with a big ham, and picking meat of the bone for just us. ;)

CA Adventure--April

Well, April flew by! I've had lots of things to share, but not much time to do it. We all have been busy, with Awana, 4-H, karate, homework, cleaning/decluttering for garage sale (probably in June??), yard work, etc.

Back to Spring Break, we went to CA Adventure April 7. Austin and Lauren on the caterpillar train. When they got off, Lauren told me, "You thought we were going to fight, didn't you? We surprised you!" Ha ha ha...so typical. It is true, Austin and Lauren pester and bicker a lot these days! Makes me want to scream!


Austin reading the map. All the kids like looking at the Disney maps--seeing where things are and where they've been before.


Brian and Lauren on the swing ride. Do you see Brian waving? I think this is my favorite ride!

This was the first time we went through the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail playground area.

Lauren was hopping and skipping along on the rope bridges. There were zip lines, and all three big kids did those and loved it! Caroline liked the slides they had. The Minnie picture was from earlier in the morning.

Caroline and me with some bears in the Redwood Creek area. 2nd picture: All the kids got treats in the afternoon. Austin and Lauren chose cotton candy, and Julia chose ice cream. Brian went off to get it for her, then brought it back while she was on a ride. It had started melting, and he had to lick quite a bit to keep it from dripping! I had to laugh at her treat, half-eaten before she even got it! At least she didn't make too much of it. ;)

We didn't feel like we got to do a ton of stuff this day. There were lots of people, plus they're doing construction in CA Adventure, so it seemed our routes were interrupted a lot, and it was kind of disjointed getting through the park. Lauren pushed the stroller for a little while.

Caroline and Lauren rode the carousel several times--when Brian and I took Julia and Austin on the big roller coaster "next door".

Here's part of the big roller coaster, California Screamin'. Last time only Austin and Brian tried it. Austin loved it! He convinced Julia she would like it, so she rode it this time, and had fun! I went once too. You go upside down in the loop by the sun, but it's so quick, I couldn't tell I was ever upside down. It was a smooth ride too, just fast, but not jerky at all.

There are a lot of cute signs around the construction areas. Here are a couple of them.

It started raining in the early evening, so we left, maybe 6:45? We got dinner at Carl's Jr. then headed back to Brian's mom's house. Unfortunately we got stuck in a huge traffic jam b/c a semi truck had tipped over on its side and was blocking several lanes of traffic! We got back in time to visit with my mom and dad and Brian's mom for awhile before bed. They'd gone to Temecula for the day. The next day my mom and dad left for their drive back home.

Disneyland--April

The kids had Spring Break the first week of April. We went to Disneyland Wednesday the 6th with my mom and dad. We all stayed at Brian's mom's. It was a house full! But, we had a good time.


I made sure to get a picture of the kids w/ Grandpa and Grandma with the castle. They were all in a hurry to go on rides and nicely cooperated to get it done with! It was pretty busy with Spring Break crowds this day, but also not horrible. 2nd picture Caroline is eating a fist full of trail mix while waiting in line.


Inside the Snow White ride.


The Cheshire Cat in the Alice in Wonderland ride.


They were all in the car ahead of us, and waved as the rest of us got to the end of the ride. We ended up going on 20 rides altogether! Plus we saw the western show at the Golden Horseshoe restaurant when we got ice cream sundaes for snacks in the afternoon. Brian and I were surprised we got to do so much with how busy the park was. It was weird though, we walked right on Haunted Mansion, but a little later we walked past and the line was out the gate.

These guys spun and spun their teacup like crazy! Grandpa said he had enough of that for one day! He knew they were going to spin before riding with this bunch, though. ;) Said he wasn't dizzy, but it bothered his knee.


I rode with the milder group in the pink teacup.

Julia and Caroline wanted to meet Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother, and get a picture. Lauren would have nothing to do with it! The line wasn't too long to wait. Julia said Cinderella asked Caroline how old she was, and Caroline answered, "Five." Hee hee. Cinderella replied, "Oh, you're five?" then hugged Caroline. This is typical--usually Caroline answers "5 1/2" when asked how old she is! Funny! Sometimes she says "4," but rarely "2".

We rode the train around the entire park--a nice break from standing and walking. :)

It's hard to see in this picture, but Caroline had spilled chocolate milk all over the front of her shirt. She's still very picky, and being at Disneyland is no different!! We gave her chocolate milk for lunch--at least it's kind of healthy, right?! She guzzled it! She also ate snacks, and a more normal dinner. She loves that chocolate milk in the little bottles, though.

Here we all are ready to go on the Winnie-the-Pooh ride.

Austin really likes driving the Autopia cars. I think he's still convinced he's doing most of the driving. He was ready to get on his way in this picture. Forget pictures, Mom!

We were soooo exhausted after our full day. Austin was the one plodding along at the end of the night, as is usually the case. The girls were tired but would have gone on more rides. ;) Austin gets to the point where he can barely go on anymore. Funny! One time (I think in January) we let him sit in the stroller while Brian carried Caroline on his shoulders, and even Lauren walked! Caroline's wearing her headband with a balloon flower she got the night before when we ate dinner at Coco's on our drive down to Brian's mom's house.

We had a good day and were glad we got to do so much, especially since my mom and dad have never been to Disneyland before.

Nojoqui Falls

My mom and dad arrived late on March 31. The kids were so excited for them to come, and glad they could see Grandpa and Grandma just before they went to bed.

Saturday, April 2, Brian took my mom and dad with him to a greenhouse tour while the kids and I waited at home. When they got back we went out for lunch at Little Jocko's, then drove south about 45 minutes to Nojoqui Falls.We hiked the short path through the woods to the waterfall. The last time we were there (also with my mom and dad) was May 2002 when I was pregnant w/ Austin! I have pictures of Julia, younger than Caroline is now, playing on the same playground.

This time there was quite a bit more water coming down. It was earlier in the season, plus we've had a ton of rain this year! My dad and the 3 older kids walked across rocks in the creek to this little cave.

Brian took Caroline close to the falls, and she was happily waving back at me. So cute.

Family picture

On the walk back, Austin and Lauren were climbing through this tree. They'd climb in the bigger hole (2nd pic), then out through the smaller hole (1st pic). Fun!

We stopped at the playground before driving back home. Austin's having a good time bouncing...

Such a good time, that Grandpa thought he should try the bouncy toy too! LOL Austin said the toy in the 2nd picture was like a high chair.

Now this bouncy contraption might not look like much, but it was fun! All of the kids and the adults liked it! I think it was everyone's favorite.

Happy kids. :)

We drove through Solvang on the way back and stopped to get coffee at little shop.

Super Duper Helper

Wow, almost 3 weeks since the last post! We have been really, really busy! Plus, our computer was running really, really slow which was frustrating, going through pictures. We don't know what the problem was, but now it is running normally. My mom and dad came to visit us the 1st week of April, during the kids' spring break (more about that coming). Then just a bunch of other things have been happening.

I did laundry last Monday and it still needs to be folded (yet here I sit LOL). Plus Caroline threw up twice in her bed, once Thurs. afternoon, and then in the middle of the night Friday, so did more laundry and most of that has to be folded and put away. I washed all her bedding: sheet, pad, quilt, comforter, favorite blanky, and the huge bumper pad two days in a row. Well, it's clean now, that's for sure. ;) And she is well and eating again.

Back at the end of March Lauren told me she was going to be the helper in Kindergarten. They went through the kids' first names in alphabetical order , in the Fall. Then they did the last names in order, and now they're going through the alphabet in backwards order. :) Lauren kept track of everyone's names and order and knew she'd be the helper March 29. I planned to watch her in their helper routine, and it was so cute.

She wrote her name on the board, led the class in the pledge, counted the cafeteria lunches and the home lunches. The helper gets to bring something to share, and Lauren wanted to bring 2 pictures. They were from our box of extra photos, one of her opening gifts on her 2nd birthday, and the other was of her playing w/ toys at 2 years. Her classmates asked questions about the pictures, like: "What was in the big present?" "How old were you there?"

They also made lots of comments and that was pretty funny, b/c they were supposed to ask questions, but some didn't quite get the difference. ;) Some comments: "I have those same Legos (Duplo) at my house!" "You look so cute in that picture." To which Lauren replied, "Yes, I know." Another comment, "You look cute, just like your sister." Lauren: "Yes..." Also no modesty at this age. ;)

Then, Lauren's teacher asked if she'd like to share her sister. So Lauren took Caroline by the hand to the front, and the kids asked questions about her, like how old is she and when is her birthday. Lauren told her to talk, but Caroline would not, on command and on display like that! The kids sang a song, Billy Boy, and Caroline got to sit in Lauren's square on the rug while they sang.

Lauren got to use the pointer to point at each picture while the class sang. In the second picture she is working on her letters. This was right before Caroline and I left. Lauren was a cute little helper, and I'm glad she kept track of which day was hers so I could watch! :)

March 31 was Lauren's Kindergarten performance. The kids sang lots of classic? traditional? songs, including: Billy Boy, She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain, Old Dan Tucker, Mr. Rabbit (I don't know this one), This Land is Your Land, and then all the kids kind of hummed while one girl sang a solo of the Star Spangled Banner.

Here they're doing motions to She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain. Yeehaw! ;)

Sweet sisters that afternoon.

Sometime in March, Lauren asked me as she was eating her snack after school, "What's Jesus doing today?" Julia and Austin stopped eating and kind of looked funny, like they had to think about the answer too! We discussed all kinds of things Jesus was doing: watching over us, listening to people pray, making it be sunny, etc. Lauren says after awhile, "Jesus has magical powers like Tinkerbell!" Oh boy. We talked about how they are different, then Lauren says, "Tinkerbell is an angel. She has wings and she flies!"

More pictures from March 31. Don't they both look older here? Funny how they change little by little and then I see a picture that makes me think they've suddenly really grown!