Sidewalk Chalk

This is why we don't play with sidewalk chalk at our house very often.

But oh boy they have fun when we do!

Connor played in the backyard for 3 hours straight yesterday, going back and forth between his beloved dirt pile and the sidewalk chalk on the porch. (He also found a small bottle of bubbles and dumped that everywhere too.) He had a layer of chalk dust covering his ENTIRE body. Of course all the other kids wanted to join in too once the boys got home from school, so they all got baths after and I had an extra load of laundry to do. Zach now owns pink-tinged army pants. But it was worth it...the weather was beautiful and they had a great time!

Edit: I'll add that he didn't color himself. This was from rubbing his hands on his cheeks (unintentionally) after having his hands covered with it. If he was purposefully coloring himself it would have been MUCH worse than this.

Busy Weekend

We had a very busy, but fun weekend. Saturday started out with helping Daddy wash the car. The 3 older kids rode bikes while he vacuumed, then helped do the outside. Savannah loved it.While everyone else was washing the car Connor and I went on a walk and picked flowers. Then he played in his favorite dirt patch in the backyard. We have a whole backyard to play in, but he prefers the dirt patch by the hose. Such a boy.

In the afternoon we all went to a fun birthday party for some friends. The kids loved doing the pinata. Then in the evening we went to a church picnic at the park. We had barbecue for lunch and dinner and the kids pretty much lived off of chips and soda all day. They were in heaven.

On Sunday Savannah got to wear her new Easter dress and the shoes that she picked out for her birthday. She looked like a flower princess.

(This one was with Dallin behind me making faces...)

Savannah's bedroom is almost done. I just have to hang some picture frames and a couple of other things on the walls. She LOVES it and so do I!

Blue Bonnet Pictures

This afternoon the I spontaneously took the kids for a photo shoot. Yesterday we saw this field of blue bonnets and I wanted to take the kids pictures there sometime. (It's actually somebody's front yard...I hope they didn't mind.) The weather was so nice and it will probably get hot again by next week. So I put them all in the only clothes they own that somewhat match (we always do white polo shirts, but oh well) and we headed off. I was VERY pleased with the pictures I got, being that we were only there about 15 or 20 minutes. The sun was bright so they're squinting a lot, but I don't care. Here are my favorites...

Savannah is 5!

Happy Birthday Savannah!
She's been counting down the days for a while now. When she woke up this morning she got to open the boys' present before they left for school. They had picked out a daisy pendant and earrings for her, which I made into a bracelet and necklace. She also got a ring from Zach and a jewel from Connor.I've been telling her that we were going to a special place for her birthday. We drove to the mall and went to Build-a-Bear. She'd never been there. Probably never even seen one. I don't think I've ever taken my kids to the mall since we've lived here...I'm not a shopper. She was so excited to pick out an animal. She chose a gray cat. Connor was TERRIFIED of the stuffing machine and kept saying "We pay now? We go home now?"She named her cat "Caddy." She said it was like cat, but with an EEE on the end. "But we have to spell it with a "D" because it sounds like a "D" Mommy."

Caddy got a fairy costume (it has rainbow wings that you can't see in the picture) and her own pet puppy.

After lunch at McDonald's we decorated Savannah's cake. We had found an M&M butterfly cake online that she wanted to do. When I bought the Easter M&M's there was a picture of the cake on the package too. She loved helping to sort the M&M's by color.

...and "frosting" the extra cupcakes

For dinner she chose fish sticks and strawberries. Then we had cake and opened presents.

She was VERY excited to get dress-up eye shadow and two new colors of nail polish.

She got a super cute kindergarten outfit from the Strongs (she loved it...just can't tell from the picture).

And a "beautiful" Barbie from the LeSueurs.

I can't believe our little girl is five already. Time flies when you're having fun!

Easter Weekend

We've had a great Easter weekend! On Friday the kids "helped" me make rolls and apple pie.And of course Connor needed a bath after. When he got out of the bathtub he said "Let's play more pie! It's so fun!" Oh, and Zach lost another tooth at dinner. He scored two nights in a row...first the Tooth Fairy, then the Easter Bunny.

My brother Steven, Sarah & Max came on Friday night. Saturday morning we went walking on the trail. Then we came back and had a little egg hunt in the backyard. Max liked shaking the eggs...

"I found a coin Mama!!!" Connor dumped out each egg right when he found it...in the grass.

In the afternoon Max had to make a little trip to the ER after getting into some pills in Sarah's purse (while we all thought he was napping). Luckily he's okay and everything was fine. While they were gone the kids made forts out of the box that Savannah's dresser came in. When they started fighting over it I told them we'd have to put it outside in the garbage. Zach said "Well I'm just going to save up my money to buy my OWN box!"

Steven & Sarah got back just in time for Easter dinner. It was so nice to have them here, even if they could only stay for a little while. They kids all loved playing with Max, and I think it got them more excited about the baby coming.

This morning I woke up to the sound of Connor shouting out the colors of all his jelly beans. The Easter Bunny came! Jacob & Zach both got a tiny little lego set.

Connor got a "bubble bucket" to help him not spill all the bubble solution.

...and Savannah got a 'Lil Bunny Webkinz.

Steven's family left after breakfast to drive home for their own Easter. Thanks for coming!!!

We watched General Conference...

...and then colored eggs. It was a great weekend!

Connor had fun playing with Max while he was here. It was so funny though...every time Max was in the high chair Connor would come over and say "Touch me Baby Max." Then as soon as he touched him he would say "Ew YUCK!!!" Then go back for more...

The dress...

I got the most amazing package in the mail last week. It was from a friend in Tucson that I haven't talked to since we moved. To make a long story short, she runs a bridal rental business and I had given her my wedding dress to use as she wanted. It had a tear in the sheer part on the back and I couldn't sell it. She had hung on to it and was reorganizing her stuff. When she found it she decided to make it into a baptism dress for Savannah, as a gift to me. It's even more meaningful now, knowing that Savannah will be my only girl. It is a little girl version of what my wedding dress looked like. It was such an awesome gift and Savannah was SO excited when she saw it. I can't wait for her to use it in 3 years!

(Back view)

Some favorite pictures...

I'm going to miss walking around the corner to find this...a ballerina having a tea party. I've got to enjoy it while she's little, since she's the only girl.Classic...

The picture says it all. Those are roly-polies in the bucket.

Cousin #17

Congrats to Dallin's brother Justin and his wife Tanya! They had their baby on March 30. His name is Trenton Davis Strong. The kids now have 17 cousins...2 on the LeSueur side and 15 on the Strong side of the family.