Warm Weather

The last few days it has been warm and beautiful out and we have been outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  At the beginning of the week I noticed that my first crocus had bloomed.  I love these little flowers, they are always that first bit of color that lets us know that warmer weather is on the way

 Thursday afternoon the girls and I went to the zoo.  It was our best trip yet for two reasons; first, Lily has become really interesting in the animals and could identify a lot of them without me telling her what they were.  And second, because there were probably only a dozen other families there.  We got to enjoy most of the exhibits on our own and I could let Lily have more freedom to run around and explore.

 The really enjoyed the giraffes.

 There is a little play area at the Boise Zoo that we took a break at.  The girls climbed on the animals, went down the slide, and had a little snack, then we were off to see the rest of the animals.

Charlotte was fascinated by this tiny monkey, she just stood there and stared and stared, it was hard to pull her away.

 "Look mom!"

 We spent Friday and Saturday outside in the yard.  The girls are really having a lot of fun with Charlotte's birthday present.

They even manage to share sometimes. 

 Tyson spent a lot of time reworking the garden beds and getting things ready for planting.

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

 Yesterday was Charlotte's birthday party.  I know that she won't remember it, but I enjoyed getting everything ready and having our friends and family over. We had pizza and visited while the children played. It was a simple little celebration, but we had fun.

 I made another cake for Charlotte, this is her little smash cake (that really was way too big)!

Then we made cupcakes for our guests.  I decided on pink lemonade cake with a lemon cream frosting with little candy rosettes.

 And just for fun, I made a pinata for the kids.

 They seemed to have fun beating the pulp out of it, and of course, picking up the candy.  My camera was on the wrong setting though so everything turned out blurry.

 Charlotte opened several presents from her family and friends, she received some fun toys,

 some very cute clothes, 

 but I think that the pinwheel was her favorite, she has been carrying it around all day.

 She also got some fun sand toys to use in her new sand box.

 Charlotte was very excited to see her cake, and wanted the candle, she wasn't too happy with me when I took that away.

 She forgave me quickly enough though because the cake was yummy!

....Twelve Months....

A year ago today I went to bed, feeling a little off, but ready for some sleep.  Charlotte had other plans.  I went into labor and at 6:59am our little Charlotte Elizabeth was born, weighing 8 lb 3oz and measuring 21 in long.  I can hardly believe that it has already been a full year.  This little girl has been such a joy to our lives and we are so grateful for her, I can't really remember life without her.

She continues to grow and develop.  Charlotte is currently 29 inches tall and weighs 21 pounds 15 ounces.  She walks everywhere these days, claps, waves good-bye, says "mama" and "dada", and climbs all over everything!  We've started weaning and she is taking to a sippy cup like a pro.  She prefers to drink from a normal cup, but she always spills so she only uses one of those while I hold her.

 She loves to play with her toys and she cuddles her babies and stuffed animals.

 For her birthday we gave her a sandbox, sans sand.  We'll get some sand this weekend and move it outside then, but Charlotte has enjoyed playing in it as it is.

 I see these girls having a lot of fun playing in here as the weather warms up.

 We are having a little birthday party for Charlotte on Saturday, but I still wanted to have a cake today, since it is her birthday.  I tried out a fun technique to frost it and had fun doing it.

 Charlotte had fun eating it so that's what matters.

 The birthday girl had a busy morning though and she fell asleep while eating her cake.

 Thankfully the sun came out so after nap time the girls and I went outside to enjoy the sun and get some work done.  Charlotte loves to swing and is happy to sit in the swing for an hour.

 Lily helped me clean up the last of the leaves in the yard.  She is actually really good with the rake and enjoys helping me put the leaves in the bags.

It has been a great day and we are so grateful for our little family!

Lily the Sous Chef

 Lily loves to cook and bake with me, in fact, if she is awake she has to be by my side, on a chair helping in some way.  This afternoon she helped my make bread by pouring some of the ingredients into the mixer and holding the mixer (cause that's important) while the dough was kneaded.

She asked for mac and cheese for dinner (not that she ate any of it) and helped my stirring the pasta in the milk while it boiled (also, a very important job) while mom got everything else ready.  This girl is going to be a pro in no time!

 Of course after dinner the silliness was on!  The girls were rolling around in a blanket on Oscar's bed with a flashlight and laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.

I love being a mom!

My New Friend

It is amazing what growing up can do to a person.  I've never been the coolest kid on the block, but I'm not the biggest dork either.  But somehow, over the last decade or so I've grown up a bit and the things that get me excited and make me happy have changed.  Somehow, I've turned into someone that gets ridiculously excited to get a new dishwasher.  How did this happen to me?  I'm so much happier having spent the money on a dishwasher rather than new clothes or (gasp!) even shoes!  This is ridiculous, but I suppose that it is what it is and I may as well embrace the change.

I've been hand washing everything for the last nine months, since our old dishwasher bite the dust (or flooded the house) and frankly, I'm tired of it.  My poor hands are dry and cracked, and my counter and sink are always covered in dishes.  And given how much I love to cook and bake there is no end to the washing.

Yesterday, I woke up, checked my email, and there was my salvation!  An email from Sears saying that the dishwasher that we ordered 2 weeks ago was in.  I got in the truck and took off down the road to go get it, I was not waiting any longer than I had to.  Last night Tyson installed it for me, and we checked it for leaks, but there were only 5 or 6 dishes in the sink at the time because, silly me, I had washed them earlier in the day.  So this afternoon, after lunch, I ran my first load.  It was glorious!

Just in time too, because we have a birthday tomorrow and I'm going to be baking and making all kinds of messes.

Oh the silliness!

Today was nuts!  But this little bit of silliness was sure a lot of fun to watch.

Sisterly Love

Wouldn't it be fun if sisters could always act like this?

Don't get me wrong, our girls absolutely love each other, they play together, and they take good care of each other.  But at the end of the day they are sisters, and since I have 5, I kinda know how it goes.

They really do love each other, right after Charlotte fell here Lily let go of the ball and crouched down next to Charlotte and asked if she was okay.