Easter Fun

Happy Easter everyone! We have enjoyed our last weekend of spring break, which ended with Easter Sunday.

Yesterday we colored Easter eggs - Jackson watched mainly, but at least he was smiling!


And relaxing with his feet on the table...



Last night we had family over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt...this is just the start of the not-so-great-pictures of Jackson...

"I know I had some eggs, where did they all go??"

And Easter morning, looking at what the Easter bunny brought. (Side note: At least we didn't have to deal with her seeing the Easter bunny this year at school...she always freaks about that...)



And we decided to wait until we got home from church today to take their Easter pictures...so we wouldn't be as rushed and the grass would be drier. Rachel was okay for a while, but once again, Jackson would not look at the camera or smile...

"Mom, the sun is in my eyes..."

"Mom, I'm really tired of taking pictures..."

"Last one, I promise!"

Kindergarten Registration and Spring Break Fun!

The time has come...my baby is old enough to register for kindergarten! We went last week and registered her at her new school that she will start in August. How crazy is that?!? We go back in a few weeks for a tour of the school and again a week later for her assessment, but so far she is very excited!



Rachel's friend that lives across the street from us (who happens to share birthdays with Rachel) was there at the same time so we got a picture of the two of them together. We hope that they grow up to be close friends...


This is spring break week for Michael and the kids and I took yesterday and today off to spend with them. We went and had spring pictures taken of the kids yesterday, got up and went to the courthouse early this morning to get their passports processed (we were done by 8:30!) and then we went downtown and played at Centennial Olympic Park for a while. They had a good time but the fountains were Rachel's favorite. We thought Jackson would like them more than he did, but he was over it pretty quickly and just wanted to walk around.

Here she looks like she's too cool... *laugh*

This was a big monument/statue-like-thing with Olympic athletes in it - so Rachel looks like she's running along with them...

Playing on the big fields...

And finally playing in the fountains!

Class Pictures

Here are Rachel's and Jackson's class pictures for this year. Rachel (above) looks like she was in the middle of a sentence - facial expressions and all! Ha!!

Jackson looks pretty normal and is his usual cute self. *smile*

Let's Go Skating

Last night was one of Rachel's friend's birthday parties - at a nearby skating rink. Rachel was very excited to go because this would be her first time ever trying to skate. Can you say nightmare??? It all started off okay and she was excited to see her friends there...

Here she is before she actually tried to skate - right after I got the skates on her.

We made it about two steps into the rink and she fell after already freaking out walking over to it. She hated it. They were able to use the little skate-mates to help them keep their balance and even still she didn't like it. We tried on and off to stay on the floor instead of the carpet and she liked it when she was close to one of her friends - but we only made it around the rink one time. And most of it was spent on the carpet... It was rough! Michael showed up right as we were finishing the first lap (we had left the diaper bag at home and he had to run and get it) and he tried to help her go back out - but she was having none of that! It really was bad...

Here is Rachel and her friend Sarah Grace looking brave...

After the big meltdown, we took her skates off and let her just run around the carpeted area - she was more than fine with that!

Jackson wanted to run everywhere and didn't want to be contained at all...

Afterwards she didn't even remember getting upset...here she is outside waiting on Michael to come back and get us.


And we played a little outside when we got home...here's little man!

Getting Ready For A Plane Ride

Yesterday morning Michael and Rachel built a landscape wall in the backyard - I hope to get a picture of them with the wall soon. Jackson and I played a little bit outside...it was cold though.

Mom, I told you I don't want to wear this hat!! Take it off!

Today we went out to the little airport again for Michael and Uncle Jeffrey to do their bi-plane ride. This is a picture of the plane they rode in.

Hanging out before the flight.

Watching the planes together!

Father-Daughter Dance

Sorry it has taken me so long to post again. We really haven't taken any pictures this past month!

Friday night was the annual Father-Daughter Dance at our church - first annual for us. Four years old is the youngest age for the girls so this was Rachel's first year being able to go. She was very excited about it. They got all dressed up and we snapped some pictures before they went.







I thought it would be at least 9:00 before they left but Michael called at 8:10 and said they were on their way home. She hit a wall at 8:00 and was tired and ready to go... It was very, very crowded and they might should have gotten there a little earlier so they didn't have to wait in lines for so long... They had a few appetizers, then a nice dinner, then went on a special walk and then got to dance. After only two songs she was ready to go. So, they know what to do differently next year, but they both still had a nice time with each other. A very special daddy-daughter date.

Shy, Bossy & Promiscuous

I have to tell you a story about our evening tonight. We ended up going to McDonald's for dinner b/c Michael and I really weren't hungry enough to go anywhere big and this would give the kids a chance to play on their playground and run around a little bit.

Rachel has had an on-going fear of the tall-twisty slides at those places. It took a few years before she would ever go down it on her own but when she finally did she liked it... But recently she's gotten scared of them again and hasn't wanted to in a while. During dinner, Michael told Rachel that he wanted her to do it at least once before we left - and it would be best to do it at the beginning to get it over with - and she might just like it and want to do it more...

So, it's finally play time. There were several other kids running around playing - a few girls that seemed a little older. There was another family sitting on the other side of the room eating but we didn't really notice them much. Rachel tries to play the computer games, does the baby slide, everything she can to avoid going up the big one... She stays out of the way of the other girls, not wanting to talk to them. Michael finally convinces her to go up it and sure enough - she loves it. So, up she goes over and over. Jackson even got in on it and didn't have any fear going up to the top - with daddy of course.

While she's playing, I'm with Jackson on the floor watching him run around. Rachel pops out of the slide with a little boy right behind her and says "Mommy, I have a best friend! This is Charlie." I greeted Charlie and he gave me a high five. He was probably 4 I would say - looked a little younger than Rachel. Very polite though. They kept going up the stairs and down the slide together over and over. I let Rachel know she had 2 more times and it would be time to go so that she was prepared. After the last time she gets out and goes to get her shoes back on. I asked her if she told Charlie bye and she said no. The next thing I hear is Rachel yelling from the front of the play area "Charlie! Come down here real quick so I can tell you bye!!!" I thought she would have just yelled bye to him from where she was... The next thing I see is Charlie standing in front of Rachel, her arms are outstretched to give him a hug and he gives her a hug. And then out of nowhere, just as his mom is walking by watching them, Rachel lands a kiss right on his cheek!

My mouth dropped open just as his mom's did! I couldn't believe she just kissed this little boy! We all died laughing and they were really nice. But we did have that conversation in the car about only kissing family members and not strangers...

Michael wants to know if anyone knows of any good deals on shot guns...he may need one soon.