Scraps, please?

I gave the kids a snack after school the other day. I went into the other room and heard Nate getting really excited and the other kids cracking up. I went in to find this:



Yes, he's begging and they're feeding him goldfish. Maybe its time to start including Nate in snack time. He's kind of been on his own schedule for stuff like that, but I think he wants to be included.

Disney World

Last weekend, we went to Disney World with our wonderful neighbors, Chris and Pat, and their son Chris. Our kids dragged them around the park all day. We all had a great time. Chris (their son) is a super photographer and took pictures all day. I think he did a great job at capturing our kids and the fun we had.






Nate actually had a really fun day watching all the activity. He either hung out in the stroller or on the front pack with Jarin and me. He's starting to get tired in this picture. He looks really tired in the next picture because he went all day without really having a nap.




The ice cream was our exit strategy. Elle dropped her ice cream about 10 seconds after this picture was taken.

Last Spring Break, I promise

I totally forgot about these pictures... After our trip to Sarasota, the kids pitched the Mermaid tent in the front yard and used it as a "home base" between riding bikes, jump roping, sidewalk chalk, etc. We even had lunch in the tent.



Jarin and Jesse attended their first Father and Son Campout. They had a big fire, went on a scavenger hunt, and played with sticks, I guess.

This is Jesse with a couple of boys from our ward.

Jesse went "hiking" with the bishop.

Spring break: part 2

Day 4: Not much. The kids played in the cul de sac, Hannah went to swim team. Elle had a dentist appointment. Elle and I went on a special date: shopping for her and her Build a Bear friend, dinner at Cheesecake Factory, and make-up and escalator rides at Macy's. We enjoyed having our make-up done at the MAC counter. So fun!!

Day 5: Off like a herd of turtles for our little trip to Sarasota/ Siesta Key. We checked into our hotel, ate dinner, and swam in the hotel pool

Day 6: We enjoyed Siesta Key Beach! It was so beautiful. The sand was so soft and white. The water was the perfect temperature and it was even clean!! It was crowded, but it was a fun kind of crowded, not a scary kind of crowded. (A lot of families with kids.) Jesse chased the seagulls away when they tried to get our snacks. He took his job VERY seriously.



Day 7: No, we're not hiding from the paparazzi. We had a sunblock mishap on Wednesday. So, it turns out that when you use spray-on sunblock on a windy day, you get striped sunburns. Who knew? We all have lobster red areas on our bodies, except Nate. He somehow escaped the sun, and thank goodness!

Spring Break

Its Spring Break for us. The kids were soooo ready to get out of school. Isn't an April spring break a little late? We like to take full advantage of vacations, even if its just a vacation from school and we don't go anywhere. So here's what we're up to:

Day 1: birthday party at a really fun park, complete with hiking, then a movie night at home. We stayed up late!

Day 2: Hannah's judo, Jesse and Elle's swim lessons, then the Kids workshop at Home Depot. In the evening, Jarin returned from a 14 day trip so we had a sitter and went on a date!! We went to Stonewood Grill, then home, and out for a bike ride. Sooooo nice!! If it had included golf, Jarin would've voted it best date ever. (side note: we were worried about Nate not recognizing Jarin after 2 weeks. We sometimes had that problem with the girls. But Nate was SO EXCITED to see Jarin. He practically jumped out of my arms to greet him! I thought it was pretty sweet.)

Day 3: General Conference. I did watch a little yesterday, but come on!! I had all 4 kids by myself. We watched both sessions today, then watched the kids play outside in the rain. It ended with a game of Cops and Robbers.

For the rest of the week, we have a few projects and a lot of beach time planned. Although we have Disney passes, I don't think we'll go because of the crowds. (I know bummer, huh? Its just hard to take all 4 kids when there are so many people.) Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted later in the week.

Pinewood Derby

I know what you're thinking "Pinewood Derby? They don't have any kids in scouts!" Or not. Our ward does a family pinewood derby every year. I have to say it was so fun. We invited our neighbors Chris and Pat to join us and they made a really cool snickers car. Our car was sparkly blue, with silver and gold details. Jarin cut out the wood and left the rest to us. He was VERY PLEASED when I told him we didn't decide to paint it all "sugar and spice." Since we're new to the pinewood Derby world, our car didn't weigh nearly enough. So when we arrived at the church, we were hastily drilling holes in it so we could add weights. With help, we got it from 2.9 oz to 5.0. Hooray!! But it looked a little clunky with fishing weights all over it. Next year, we won't make the same mistake.


Hannah was in charge of the paint job. She was pretty excited about how it turned out.
Chris and Pat let Jesse keep the snickers car. He was so excited. (If you want to see it closer up, just click on the picture.)
Here are our cars facing off against each other. We had so much fun. The only thing missing was Dad.

Happy Easter!

The easter bunny came a day early and sent the kids on an easter treasure hunt, leaving little notes in plastic eggs. The kids had fun figuring out the riddles and finding their easter baskets (buckets).


Here are Hannah, Elle, and Jesse in the outside shower with their loot.


Nate gets more active every day. The world is his oyster and he is in heaven with all the big kid toys we have in our house.


Elle is talking to her friend Madisyn on the phone, thanking her for the new bunny ears.

We sent Daddy off on a trip early this morning. We'll miss him while he travels the world.