Luv da Monkey

Kelton loves his Monkey.  It's his go-to buddy.  It's been super cute watching Kelton play with Monkey.  He likes to brush it's hair, have me blow dry it's hair, gives it drinks, and last week he wanted to feed it a banana.  It was adorable.

"Caravan"

Cambrie's first piano recital was today.  She has been practicing her piece, "Caravan" for about two months now.  She has worked hard to memorize it so it would be perfect for the performance.  She was nervous though.  Every time I reminded her how close the recital was she was scream, "Nooooo!"  I'm still not sure if it was full stress or just a show, but she was very glad when the day came.  A lot of her friends take lessons from the same piano teacher, Sis. Mitchell.  So when we walked into the room and she saw all her friends there too, it really helped settle her nerves.  Cambrie was pretty early  in the program, but I was still worried Kelton wasn't going to make it.  Right before Cambrie stepped up to the piano Kelton started screaming and I was so nervous I wouldn't be able to hear her play.  Luckily he calmed down enough that I could sit up in the parent's chair to video her.  She was really cute up there.  She messed up a couple of times and each time bashfully looked towards the crowd.  But she didn't get discouraged and finished the song well.  She was pretty proud of herself once she was done, and more than a little relieved.

Purple Popsicles

The kids just discovered the joy of making their own Popsicles.  Unfortunately the only juice we had the house was grape juice, which meant they had delicious, drippy, purple Popsicles.  Somehow Kelton even managed to drip his on top of his head.  

The kids were pretty much in Popsicle heaven.

Nightstand snapshot

I had the girls clean off their nightstands last week since they were disaster zones, and I thought it was very interesting to see what they chose to keep and how they arranged it.  McKenzie is all pink, princess, and girly.  She laid out her necklaces perfectly and kept her crown ready to go. 

Cambrie's looks like an animal kingdom with all of her animal creations.  Her favorite animals, big or small, change almost daily.  She also kept a flashlight there so she can read her books after we turn out the lights at night.  

I just wanted to capture this small snapshot of their lives.  I love my girls!

Bye-Bye Blankie

Kelton received this blanket from my friend Polly at a baby shower.  He has chosen it as "his blankie."  He cuddles with it every nap, every night, and for every sad moment.  We have loved it...for the most part.  The beautiful crochet that Polly did around the edge is his favorite part.  He picks at it so that loops come out of the trim.  Then he puts the loop around his wrist so he doesn't have to carry it around.  While that seems like a really great idea, it has become a big problem.  One night Jeremy went in to check to see what Kelton was fussing about and saw that the blanket had pinned him down.  His wrist was through the loop, his arm was around his back, and his body was holding it all in place.  Kelton was totally stuck and couldn't move.  In the mornings I would go to pick him up and he'd say, "Stuck. Stuck."  Sometimes the loops were twisted so tightly that they left red indents on him wrists for hours after we removed the blanket.  It was obviously time for something to be done about his beloved blanket.  I cut off all of the beautiful crochet and replaced it with a satin blanket binding.  Kelton was so sad the first day I gave him his new blankie.  His fingers went to the edge and started picking at the yarn that wasn't there.  He actually rejected his blanket for two days because he was so mad it had changed.  He has since welcomed it back into his life, and I'm simply glad I don't have to worry about it injuring him anymore.

Soccer team-building fun

Cambrie really loves her soccer team, Mini-Blast.  Unfortunately, one of their team members, Marlee, was diagnosed with cancer in her foot and is going to need to have it amputated.  It is really hard for all of the girls to watch their good friend, and amazing teammate, go through something like that.  When soccer was cancelled because of snow we decided to get the girls together and make a feel-better bucket for Marlee.  The girls tied a monkey quilt, make cards, baked cookies, and took silly pictures to give her.  It was absolutely wild with ten girls running around the house but it was so much fun, and they did it all for Marlee.  

Easter

Easter on Conference weekend feels very different than Easter on more traditional Sundays.  Instead of the egg hunts and the dresses taking center stage, we learned about Christ all weekend and tried to squeeze in other traditions are that.  I actually really like it.  In between Saturday's sessions we went to our friends' for an egg hunt.  We met up with Olivia and Brielle which was a fun surprise.  

The girls arrived just in time to go hunting for their eggs.  Look at their hair flying!  They love egg hunts.  

This was the first year Kelton was able to participate and it didn't take him long to catch on.  Unfortunately all of the other kids were so fast that his eggs had a tendency to disappear right in front of him. 

He still managed to find his ten, and once he realized what was inside them he was content to hang out the rest of the morning.  He was...until he saw the bounce house.  Then he was off again.  The poor kid needed a chaperon as he made his way through the course since he would get stuck under all the big kids.  But he just kept going...and going...and going.  

It was a beautiful property to take pictures of the kids.  

We even managed to get a whole family shot which doesn't happen very often.  Sun in the eyes however, happens frequently.

Sorting through their goodies.  

After the egg hunt we wandered over to the petting zoo and hung out until it was time to go and enjoy the rest of Conference.  

Sunday morning the girls went on their traditional Easter scavenger hunt.  Sometimes they were on the same page and knew exactly where to go, and sometimes they ran off in completely opposite directions each thinking they had the clue figured out.  

They found their baskets hidden behind all of their stuffed animals.  

After the kids had found their baskets and feasted on Easter-colored waffles, Jeremy and I had to find our goodies.  We each hid four treats in four different places.  It was tricky like every year, but what really made me laugh is that we had each hid a treat in the exact same goblet.  Neither one of us could find our last one because we didn't want to look where we knew we had hidden the other person's.  Finally I looked and saw what we had done.  It really made me laugh.  The rest of Easter Sunday was spent watching Conference, going on a family walk around the lake, and having a royal feast with our nice silverware and goblets.  The girls were hoping that I could always pull our our fancy-smancy stuff!  

Fast forward one week later and the kids finally were able to decorate their eggs...

...and wear their Easter clothes.  (Not because they didn't have church on the Sunday before, but really because I didn't finish them until a week late.)  I took all the kiddos outside to get some cute Easter pictures only to find that it was incredibly windy that morning.  

We settled for a few inside, then tried again after church.  

It wasn't much better and by then the kids were pretty done being proper.  But even though their faces are covered by shadow, I still love how they are happy and giggling that Kelton is in the tree.