Easter

Dear Bubbas,
Easter was so fantastic this year! On the Saturday before we started the afternoon by going to Josie's house for an egg hunt. Aunt Diane had planned some fun games for you to play too! One of the games was for you to balance an egg on a spoon. You were all good at it! Aunt Diane also found these fun confetti eggs. When you cracked them confetti went everywhere! You thought it was pretty hilarious! We had the egg hunt with Josie and you were all very into it! We got to hang out with Josie outside for a bit until we had to go to small group.

For our Easter small group we had an egg hunt too! That was a really fun egg hunt to watch because there were 7 of you running around. Riley was the funniest because she figured it out right away. When the rest of you went running in the same direction, she turned around and went the opposite way and hit the jackpot! You all got a lot of eggs though! Then we had dinner outside and made s'mores by the fire. It was a really fun evening! I love how all you kids get along so well. Connor and Hunter think Caleb is hilarious. Kaylee loves playing with Gracie and Riley. Hunter and Abby are joined at the hip. It's a fun group to hang out with for sure!

On Easter morning we had brunch with Grandpa Dan and Grandma Shannon, Uncle Wade, and Cousin Amanda. You all ate like you've never eaten before. We had a great time visiting and then we all took a nap together! After our nap we made a bunny butt cake that you all thought was the funniest thing you'd ever seen. Connor said he didn't like butt cakes, only head cakes.

It was such a relaxing weekend, filled with lots of time together. Nobody got overwhelmed or overly tired so that was really nice!I hope every holiday together mimics this one. 

I love you guys,
Mommy

Kaylee Girl

Dear Kaylee,
You are in the cutest stage ever right now. Everything you say and do is just making me giggle. Even the way I see you out of the corner of my eye streaking down the hallway to get the bathroom stool so you can go potty on your own. You talk so much. You have the cutest little voice, it's so sweet. My favorite sayings right now are...

"need help, me!"

"said no?!"

"Mommy, nuggle me?"

The "said no?!" is my absolute favorite. Every time you ask us for something and we tell you no you say that in absolute shock. How could someone say no to you? The other night you wanted a brownie in the car and Daddy told you not until you get home. You got one anyway and Daddy took it away and told you that now you couldn't have one when we got home because you disobeyed. You looked at him heartbroken, started crying immediately and through sobs said, "No Brownie?" Daddy replied, "That's right, no brownie." Then you just broke down into heaving sobs. It was so hard not to giggle because you were so stinkin' cute.

You rough house right along with the boys. You love to play Star Wars and you make people laugh with your "force" stance.

You still love to dance at home and your favorite dancing song right now is the "I like to Move it, Move it" song. You have a variety of moves and every day you add to them.

You LOVE to have your face painted! You ask Daddy all the time to paint your face. Sometimes you just want a green nose, sometimes you want to be a Hello Kitty. It's very random, but regardless of what you choose, you always love the way it looks!

You also like to paint. Daddy took you to the store and bought you some special watercolors and the two of you sit there and paint pictures together.

We made some family rules together. You had a great time coloring the poster and using stickers to decorate it. You understand the rules, but you don't necessarily follow them. Although you are such a good girl as it is. We're working really hard on sharing and talking nice so those two made the rule list for sure.

We took you to the mall and we saw the Easter Bunny there. You thought he was fantastic and you wanted to see him and wave to him, but you did not want to sit with him! We spent a lot of time just admiring him from a distance. Grammy Darrlyn was going to buy you a stuffed bunny to take home but you picked a pink teddy bear with spots. You love that bear and take it almost everywhere with you.

You still love your Princess Snow Boots! You wear them all the time, regardless if you're in a dress or shorts. They are cute boots, but they are so clunky you can hardly walk in them. The warmer it gets the less often you put them on, but you think about it every time.

Josie gave you her old bike. You love it. You tell me all the time it's your bike. The boys don't have bikes yet even! You're pretty proud of it. You had a great time with Daddy while he was helping you ride it. You even let the boys ride your bike too.

You still love to cook and help in the kitchen. Last night you were suppose to be helping me unwrap mini Reeses PB cups but you were eating them all instead! I think that's your favorite part of helping in the kitchen, the taste testing!

I love you sweet girl, thanks for always wanting to nuggle me and for making me giggle.
Mommy

Connor Bug

Dear Connor,

You're four. I can't believe it. The last few weeks have been filled with so much fun and excitement I don't even know where to start!

You played indoor soccer this season. The first game was hilarious! You stood in the middle of the field while all the other kids ran back and forth around you. You didn't move an inch. I'm still not sure what was going on in your head. Each game got a little better until the last few games when you were really very good! You kicked the ball and you even scored a goal! You then went around telling everyone you knew that "I GOALED!" So very cute...

One night at Grammy Darrlyn's house you noticed her plants. You told her you wanted a plant and then ripped a leaf off of hers. We had a talk with you about how that can kill plants and please don't do that again. Then Grammy said she was going to get you your own plant. Later that evening on the way home, you just broke into tears. When we asked you what was wrong you sobbed," I feel so bad I broke Gramma's plant!" We called Grammy and told her you were sorry again, and then she came over bright and early the next morning to go pick out a plant with you. You had so much trouble picking. You were getting very overwhelmed! You finally did pick though. A big hanging plant. It was originally hanging in your room, but it started to die from lack of sun, so we brought it out into the dining room. You love your plant.

Star Wars and Spiderman is the talk of the town right now. However, you got really neat light sabers for your birthday and you have "fight outs" all the time. You love to use the force and gang up on Daddy. Daddy even had to go get his own light saber so he could keep up with you and Hunter. Kaylee even uses the force, which everyone thinks is hysterical! You are a good big brother and you have "fight outs" with Kaylee too although I think you prefer playing with Daddy.



Your birthday was so fun this year! You were very excited for it and we had a countdown going for over a month! You wanted a star wars party. For your birthday we did all things star wars. You loved your cake, and yours wasn't that hard for Mommy! The lego figurines fell off frequently, but we just put them back on and you were fine with it. You even kept finding figurines around the house to add to it as the day went on.

At preschool you got your own birthday snack day. That was really exciting for you and you decided you wanted to take Iron Man cookies. Grammy made the cookies, and Daddy and I decorated them. Thankfully Daddy helped, because they turned out fantastic! You got a birthday hat at preschool and you got to be the line leader which are very important and fun things. I love how excited you got this year.


Here's to another year! I'm so excited to see what it will bring. I love you buddy, more every day!

Hunter Boy

Dear Hunter,
You're four. I can't believe it. The last few weeks have been filled with so much fun and excitement I don't even know where to start!
We'll start with you running into the door a few weeks back. We still don't know exactly how it happened, but one night I asked you to go to the bathtub for a bath. You went running around the corner and fell into the side of the door. This is where it gets confusing because we don't know how you managed to cut your head open, but you did. You were convinced that Connor pushed you but Connor was in front of you so there was no way! You were screaming and crying out of pain. Kaylee was standing naked in the bathtub screaming for us to come turn on the water because she was cold, and Connor saw all the blood from your head rolling into your eyes and was convinced that you had lost an eye and could no longer see so he was screaming and crying. Daddy and I for a slight second were overwhelmed. We had no idea who to quiet down first. We ended up going to the emergency room where you got 5 staples in your head. You were a very brave boy. You were hilarious in the emergency room because the doctor would walk in and you would instantly clam up. Then when he left the room you would start talking again. You kept telling us you were afraid he was going to cut you open. We kept trying to explain that you were already cut open and he was going to close it up. It was a battle we just couldn't win, you were not to be convinced. 
It didn't seem to hurt you to badly unless you were laying down, and you did not want to lay down. The first few nights were really long nights because we couldn't get you to fall asleep. However, halfway through the week Daddy had an idea. He gave you his work hat and told you it was a special hat. This special hat would keep your head from hurting. You put it on your head, laid down, and went right to sleep. The rest of the week you took your special hat to sleep with you every night. You also wore your special hat to school to cover up the bandage so nobody would make fun of you. You were incredibly worried about people making fun of you. Your friends Abby and Grace made you a get well card and got you a cool Toy Story plate as a get better soon present. Abby drew a picture of the two of you getting married and she giggled like a school girl when she showed you. It was rather adorable and I saved the card she made in your box just in case I ever need to pull it out and embarrass you two as teenagers!

You played indoor soccer this season. You are always the fastest runner on the team, and you love to be told that you "run so fast." You don't like to kick the ball though, so you spend the entire game running next to the person kicking the ball. It's adorable. You are so proud of yourself. You could easily steal the ball from anyone who had it, but you are just content as a clam to run next to it.

Grammy Darrlyn took you to buy a plant at Walmart. It was a really hard decision but you went with the cactus. I am thrilled about that because we don't have to water them as much! You love having your own plant and check on it all the time. It's hard for you that we don't get to water it much, but you still love your pick.

We made some house rules again. Largely for Kaylee, but you two boys sure loved to help make the rules and decorate the poster. I would say we're still struggling to follow the rules on the poster, but it's nice to once again have a few rules that we use all day every day. I also love looking at your poster.

Star Wars and Spiderman is the talk of the town right now. However, you got really neat light sabers for your birthday and you have "fight outs" all the time. You love to use the force and gang up on Daddy. Daddy even had to go get his own light saber so he could keep up with you and Connor. Kaylee even uses the force, which everyone thinks is hysterical! You are a good big brother and you have "fight outs" with Kaylee too although I think you prefer playing with Daddy.

Your birthday was so fun this year! You were very excited for it and we had a countdown going for over a month! You wanted a spiderman party. For your birthday we did all things spiderman. You loved your cake, although it was really hard for Mommy to make. The walls weren't working and so I wasn't going to put them on. I told you about it and you stared at the cake long and hard before saying, " I really think it would look better with walls." So, we found a way to make the walls work. You were thrilled! You loved the cake topper candle the most.



At preschool you got your own birthday snack day. That was really exciting for you and you decided you wanted to take Captain America cookies. We had to make them twice because the first ones looked more like Nacho Libre than Captain America, but in the end they were adorable and it was a big hit at preschool. You got a birthday hat and got to be the line leader which are very important and fun things. I love how excited you got this year!

Here's to another year! I'm so excited to see what it will bring. I love you buddy, more every day!
Mommy

Princess Dance

Dear Kaylee,
Every year at the Trac they have a father/daughter dance. It's very expensive and thousands of people go. I thought you were too young to go to the dance this year, especially considering the expense but I was also afraid of the crowd of people. Daddy was a little disappointed but understood. Then a few weeks later we heard about another father/daughter dance being held at the church down the road. The girl scouts were hosting the dance as a fundraiser. It was only $15. We decided that it would be fun to let you go to that dance. Grandma Karen had given you a very pretty Easter dress for your birthday that was perfect for the dance. We told you a few days before the dance and you were so excited. You kept telling us it was a "princess dance."

The day of the dance I took you to a new salon called Kid Biz. You got your hair cut and styled, complete with glitter. The salon owner is an acquaintance of mine and she totally spoiled you. You were about as excited as they come. After your hair was done I took you to payless to buy some shoes for your dress. We picked out some pink sandals that would match the dress, but that you could wear for summer too. You LOVE picking out shoes so that only added to your excitement.

When we finally got home, we put on your princess dress. You kept telling me, "nice." I told you to go show Daddy and he ooohed and aaaahhhed appropriately. Although, he didn't have to try hard because you were adorable. You even spun a few times in your dress.

You were in a hurry to leave, and kept telling the boys  "Bye! Love You Too!" The boys thought it was all pretty fun watching you get dressed up and getting ready to go on your date.
We took a few pictures outside with you and Daddy and you completely hammed it up for the camera. Daddy was having a good time already. The two of you were pretty cute!

Daddy took you to dinner at Applebees and then to the dance. He said you had a great time at both places. Kendall was at the dance and you danced with her a lot. Daddy said you two would dance and then run to the table for a drink or bite of cookie, dance,  and then run to the table. You danced with Daddy, enjoyed all the cute snacks, and thoroughly enjoyed yourself. You didn't stay for the whole dance, because that would have been a little long for you. When you got home you showed everyone the plate of snacks you brought home and shared with the boys. Then you asked me to help you strip down and you snuggled on the couch with a blanky and watched The Gruffalo. I went to snuggle with you and after a few minutes of sitting together and watching the movie you turned to me and said, "Daddy, Dance, FUN!" You've never announced having a good time like that before so it was pretty special that you chose this event to be your first announcement of a good time.

You are such a sweetie pie. A true princess. I love you, and I'm so glad you enjoyed your special dance with Daddy.

Love,
Mommy