New Dos, Friends, and a Little Randomness

Today Ainsley and I got new looks. Ainsley came up to Chant and said, "I want my haircut." Okay... And she loves it. I do too! Hopefully she will quit chewing on it and her hair won't be so snarled.































I recently discovered that my hair is not the dark blond that I thought it was. It is more like light brown. I decided to try going more natural. And all the hard work of growing out more hair. It ended up laying in a pile on the floor. Oh well. i like my new do!









The randomness. I just thought it was cute.












There is something about seeing Brinn in her soccer uniform and and short hair that just makes her seem so much more grown-up to me. I cannot believe she will be starting Kindergarten!

Since we have moved to Missouri our lives have been blessed with the most amazing friends. I am so grateful for the friendships that I have and how much they mean to me. I am equally grateful that my kids have good friends as well. I love this picture of Brinnley and Ellie talking. It sums it up. Ellie is such a sweet little girl. I count Brinnley lucky to have her. And I just think this picture shows her personality so well.

And this picture is just perfect. I love their expressions. Alex is another one of the girls special friends. She is such a sweet girl. She loves skirts and pretty things.

Both myself and the kids have many more friends that have made our lives here complete, these are just two of them. We love you all!









And I just couldn't resist because I think this little lady is beautiful!

Botanical Gardens cont.

I truly loved our afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. My favorite place was the Japanese Garden. So beautiful! And it is just such a peaceful place. Even though there are people everywhere, it is just a mellow atmosphere. The girls and I took rock paths and checked out hidden little places. We saw water snakes and turtles. And we enjoyed the beautiful weather. Such a wonderful day!

Botanical Gardens

Thursday we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was our first time there and we loved it. There is a kids part and that was one of our first stops. Everything was so fun!
Here they are climbing the tree limbs.












Attempt at a family shot. Didn't go so well.









I love these floating glass balls. Right up my alley!













The kids went down this slide over and over. It was the funnest thing ever!











And then the beehive was pretty cool!














More pictures to come!

Day at the Zoo

Chant finished finals Thursday. He didn't have any tests Wednesday and the weather was beautiful, so we took advantage and went to the zoo.

The kids waiting patiently for Mom and Dad to get everything gathered up.












We went to the zoo last year, but Porter was too little to even have an interest. This time, he was fascinated. His favorite were the monkeys and the giraffes.



















We had to peel Porter away from the giraffes. They were close enough to touch a few times and he kept leaning way over the fence to see them. He loved it.












Ainsley climbed up on this bench and said, "Dad, take a picture."

It was a great day! We have a few more trips planned for the break. Making memories one outing at a time!

A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend Brinnley had her first soccer game. She was so excited! This little lady prays every night that she will do well at soccer practice and at her games. Well, her prayers were answered. She scored her first goal! (It was a joint effort.) It was pretty awesome! She wanted to tell everyone the second the game ended. She is loving soccer and I am so glad we had her do it.

(Warming up before the game)


Brinnley, Alex, Ellie, Evan, and Carson














Ellie and Brinnley













Another first happened Sunday. Ainsley gave her first talk in Primary. She was so excited! I was worried she would be shy, but she stepped right up to the podium and spoke loud and clear. She even pushed Chant's hands out of the way so she could put her hands on either side of the podium. She spoke about Joseph Smith. She did great! I am so proud of my girls!












In other news, this is my view from my front porch. Isn't it lovely! I just love spring in Missouri! Gorgeous!

First Crush

I knew this day would come, I just didn't know it would come so soon. But it has. Porter has his first crush. I knew he had a thing for Jenn from the tv show "Hi-5," but today it officially jumped to a crush when he blew off the vacuum. Here's the story. Porter LOVES the vacuum. He follows me around and is always right in the way. In fact, I have almost sucked up a few little piggies a couple times. He cries and whines until he gets a turn to run the vacuum. Then he claps when he is finished. Well, today Hi-5 was on and I wanted to vacuum the living room. Brinn asked if I could pause the movie until I was done. So I did. Porter got mad and started to scale up the side of the shelf where I keep the remotes so he could turn the movie back on. I figured if he didn't care that he couldn't hear, then neither did I so I turned it back on. When Porter saw I had the remote and was turning in on, he scurried over to his spot on the couch. But then I started the vacuum again. He got off the couch and ran over to stand with his nose touching the television so he could hear. He completely ignored the vacuum and I think he even showed a little disdain for the thing that was overpowering the sound of his beloved Jenn's singing voice. I have never seen that little man hold so still as when Hi-5 comes on. And his face lights up when Jenn is on the screen. Starting young, just like his Daddy. ;)

Easter

Easter morning we awoke to the sound of seals barking in the form of three hacking children. They sounded awful! And later in the day Brinn got a fever and had no energy. At least they had enough excitement to get their little bodies going for the Easter morning festivities.

The kids awoke to find the Easter Bunny had indeed come. He brought both the girls Easter dresses, stickers, coloring books, and candy.




























Porter found his basket held wonderful surprises: two cars and two Transformers. That little boy was in Heaven!











After checking out the goods, the kids went on their egg hunts. Ainsley was very careful when she put her eggs in her basket because she didn't want them to crack.












Brinnley was a little more crazy!

















Porter didn't get it. He would put them in his basket and then take them out and put them back where he found them. I guess there was no appeal for real eggs. Bring on the plastic ones filled with candy! Here he is clapping for himself because he lined the eggs up.






And yesterday was Conference. How wonderful to sit and listen to the words of the Lord's servants and our leaders. I was filled with the spirit as I listened. I noticed a definite theme. Love one another and teach our children. I left the last session with a deep desire to do better and be better. Such powerful messages! And I am filled with gratitude for my Savior and His sacrifice for me. I know He lives and that because of Him we will all be resurrected. How grateful I am for the Gospel in my life!

Colors of the rainbow

Saturday afternoon we dyed Easter eggs. This was Porter's first time. He loved it. He dropped the eggs in the dye and stirred them around with the spoon. (When I say dropped, that is what I mean. A good portion of his eggs were cracked.)


























Ainsley and Brinnley used a white crayon to color designs on the eggs before they were dyed. They looked very cool!
















Porter was really mad when all the eggs were dyed.












The rainbow of eggs and yellow fingers.