The Tulip Festival

In April we went to the Tulip Festival and saw all the pretty flowers with Aunt Katie and Grammy. The kids were not totally cooperative for pictures. It was still fun to go and see how pretty nature can be. Here are the pictures.

Happy Easter

I do realize it is a month past Easter. But as life goes, I'm a little slow getting pictures up. I figure better late then never!
Due to certain circumstances, I quarantined my family Easter weekend. Easter this year fell on the same weekend as conference and it was a wonderful weekend to stay home! We had our own family Easter Egg hunt. Ryan started the hunt and the kids looked for the eggs and then the kids swapped. Tyler was hilarious at the hiding. He would put them in plain sight with 5 -10 eggs in a row. It was great! Sydney was a little better at the hiding and loved being in charge of where they were to be put.

The Easter Bunny came and visited (which really concerned Tyler on how a bunny could enter our house at night.) It was a very relaxing weekend that was exactly what our family needed. We even spent the whole day in our jammies!! The kids LOVED not getting dressed. It was a great Easter.

Big Boy Bed

In preparation for the new baby, Tyler got a new "big boy bed" this weekend. He LOVES being a big boy. We picked out some Buzz and Woody bedding. He was right there "helping" Daddy set up his new bed. He looks so little on it. He hasn't figured out the pillow thing yet, and prefers sleeping next to them and not on them. And he needs a little stool to help him get up on the bed. But he has had so much fun with his new bed, he sometimes forgets to go to sleep. He keeps asking for Sydney to sleep with him so they can play on his new bed. They even had their first pillow fight with the new pillows.

Feeding the Ducks

Last week it we had beautiful weather in Portland. On Friday Grammy came up and we decided to have a picnic lunch and go feed the ducks. It was fun to be able to walk in the sunshine and enjoy some much needed Vitamin D. Plus the kids got their energy out. The ducks were not too interested in our food, but we still had a good time. Sydney and Tyler really enjoy being together and I love that they are so close. After the park, we went and got some ice cream cones from Sonic and then did some shopping. Tyler was pretty tired from the park, so we didn't spend too much time at stores. It was a fun day in the sun!

Happy St. Patricks Day

This past month our kids got really interested in leprechauns. They LOVE leprechauns. The leprechaun that visited us this year was Lucky. Although we didn't catch Lucky, he left us with some Lucky Charms, cookies, and green milk. He also got into some mischief while he was here and left a little bit of a mess in the playroom and in Sydney's room. Sydney said that next year she is putting a note on her door that says, "The girl that lives here does not like her room a mess!" I thought this was funny considering her barbies that are constantly on the floor. Tyler liked to call the Lucky naughty. "Naughty Leprechaun," was used all day. To celebrate St. Patricks day, we made green cupcakes and a marshmallow dessert. The kids really enjoyed the treats.

This month Sydney had a party at her preschool for Dr. Seuss's birthday. The kids loved it. They wore their pajamas to school and played lots of Dr. Seuss games. Their favorite was the face painting. I even let them paint my face (no picture attached of that. :) ) Sydney made a hat at school last week that she put a "bubble" in the back. So creative!

Tyler is a hat boy and loves his new one.

They were both such good listeners at circle time.

Tyler loved the black paint on both his face and mine! We have been working on colors with him and he loves the color yellow. He is getting so good at all his colors!

Sydney planted flowers with her Dr. Seuss hat on. We came home and planted them by our front porch. Good job Syd!

Sydney loves her teacher Ms. Ackerman!

Tyler always loves the animals and kitchen area at Sydney's school. It is the first place he goes to play.

I decided to get a little crafty and make some barrettes for Sydney's hair. They were fun to make with her. She loves the pinkish purplish ones. Who would have guessed?

February was another busy month. It seems like time is just flying by. Ryan is in the swing of "busy season." And the kids and I are keeping busy enjoying our last year before Sydney goes to Kindergarten. This month for Valentines we had a lot of fun activities. Sydney had a party at school that we attended, without a camera. I totally forgot. They made heart necklaces that had their names on them and passed out valentines to all their friends at school. Tyler loves going to Sydney's school because he gets to play with all the toys there. This time they had some animals set out at a table and he thought he was in heaven.

Ryan and I celebrated a week later this year and rode on the Portland Spirit. We went with some friends and totally surprised the husbands. It was great! He never guessed what we were doing, and he always guesses right. We had a lunch and YUMMY dessert on the boat and then rode up and down the Willamette River. It was a beautiful day. I had a great time with Mark and Stephanie and it was nice to spend some time on a date with Ryan. I also enjoyed seeing the pretty scenery along the river. It was a great Valentines. Plus for the real Valentines day, Ryan got me a dozen roses. I love having fresh flowers in the kitchen. I love you Ryan!

At the beginning of the month we went down and spent the day at the Children's Museum in Salem. It's called the Gilbert House and my kids love it. We went with Stephanie and her kids and met Grammy there. It was a rainy day outside and we had a great time inside. The kids love the store and dress-up. I think Tyler's favorite thing was the bubbles. He is getting so tall and can reach what he wants a lot better. Which means he got really wet for the rest of the day. But he loved trying to get the bubbles to go and then pop. After the museum, Grammy took everyone on the carousel. Which is always Sydney's favorite. We finally have gotten Tyler to ride the wagon for the ride and Sydney picks her favorite horse of the minute. It is so fun to see them enjoy activities.

The kids are each growing so much. Sydney is very interested in learning how to read and constantly asking us how to spell things. Or she makes up her own words and asks us what they are. For example, "Mom what does merahte spell?" Tyler is talking more and more and becoming such a big boy. We are continually working on potty-training. Hopefully before the next baby is born he will be out of diapers. Tyler loves dinosaurs and is constantly growling like a T-Rex. We are working on his colors and he is starting to get them down. He loves it when Sydney is home so they can play dinosaurs and barbies or princesses. It is hilarious to see him walking around the house with his big dinosaur toys and Belle on the back. It goes to show the balance of boy and girl in our home. We have re-committed ourselves to reading the scriptures daily as a family and it has been great. The kids ask such good questions. Sydney recently learned the First Article of Faith in primary and is trying to learn the second. Tyler even picked up the first after hearing it so much. They both love to sing and dance. That's a little bit of what goes on in our home. Now on to March!