Decorating Eggs

This year we dyed our Easter eggs with Kool-aid.  It was a great way to go.  It smelled great and the colors turned out great.

Nothing beats Susie's body language and expression in this picture!  She was mesmerized by the whole process.

 Grandma even got in on the decorating fun.

 The finished products.

A trip to Grandma Lemmon's

One of my all-time favorite places to visit is Grandma Lemmon's in Los Osos.  I have so many great memories there and it is so fun having my children to make new memories there in some of my favorite places.  

My grandma was watching a little girl that week during her spring break so she brought over her huge horse.  Nina was beyond delighted.

 Here we are at Montana de Oro playing with the rocks on the beach.

 Susie did not hesitate to join in the fun.

 No trip is complete without a visit to feed the sea lions and see the aquarium in Morro Bay.

 We visited Cal Poly to see all the animals and it was the perfect time to go.  There were tons of baby animals and we even saw a baby horse being born!

 A calf in the background.

 We headed over to beautiful Avila Beach and went on the pier.

Dewar's field trip

One of my favorite things to do is go on a preschool field trip.  We always get to go to the most fun places and they usually involve good food.  This field trip was to the ice cream and candy store Dewar's.  We got to go on a tour of the facility and most importantly we got to sample their candy and ice cream.

Here are the girls sporting their hair nets ready to go inside the candy making room.

 Here they were explaining how they make their delicious chewy candies.

 The machine that stretches it and rolls out the candy.

 Waiting for their ice cream.

Sister, sister

In the past couple of months the girls have started interacting so much more and really enjoying their time together.  It makes me so happy to have two little girls close in age.  They have each other now and they will always have each other.  I know I'm still grateful to have my sisters.  Here are some of the perks of having a live-in playmate:

You have someone to read with.

 You have someone to be goofy with.

 There's someone to watch movies with.

 Someone to snuggle.

 Someone to wait with you.

 Someone to celebrate big moments with.

 Someone to play with under the table, (side note: this is the same table we had when I was growing up and I used to do this with my siblings.  Brings back so many great memories.)

 Someone to laugh with.

Although some moments have been tough this last year, it's these moments that make it all totally worth it.

Susie is 1!

Remember this?  I do, as if it was yesterday!  I really do wish I could make time slow down because I am having way too much fun with my kids and they are growing up way too fast for my liking.

 It's amazing how one little gal can change your world, but certainly Susie has.  This little girl has personality plus.  Strangers have told us that she just looks like she has a special feisty little fire inside of her and they couldn't be more right.  She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it.  I mean, look at that face, do you blame her?  She has a great personality and can do some hilarious things to get your attention.  She is one of the best things that ever happened to her and we love her so much.

 A few things about our Susie Q:

• She weighs in at a whopping 17 pounds 12 ounces (5th percentile).  The doctor is not worried because he said she has plenty of fat on her and her bones must be light (ha ha).
• She is 25 in. tall.  Pretty small for her age.
• She has no teeth yet.  Luckily she still loves baby food and is wiling to gum up any other food we give her.
• She is crawling but has absolutely NO desire to walk.  If I try to get her to walk by holding her under her armpits she screams and me, her legs go completely limp, and she falls to the ground.  We are not going to fight it at this point.  I don't mind, it just prolongs the baby stage, so I'm not complaining.
• She loves to play with Nina.  She wants to do everything Nina does: read books, play with dolls, do puzzles, etc.
• She still LOVES mom best.  She always wants mom to hold her and is still my clingy little orangutan.  My left arm is growing quite strong because of it.
• She says: mama, dada, da (dog), baba.  She impersonates dogs (sticking her tongue out) and monkeys.

Bugseum Field Trip

We took a preschool field trip to the Bugseum in Shafter.  It's a really neat place and is the main headquarter where all of the butterfly kits are ordered from throughout the world.  The kids had a great time seeing all of the different kinds on insects.  They even got to pet a hissing cockroach.  

Here is one van full of kids ready to go.

Our little preschool group.  Absolutely impossible to get them all to look at the camera at a place like this.

Things that make me smile

Parenting is definitely filled with challenging, sanity questioning moments.  But it is also full of moments that make you laugh, smile and feel extremely grateful for the unique and lovable little souls you have been blessed with.  As I was looking through my phone photos, I came across some pictures that made me smile.  Hope you enjoy.

Bath time is a favorite for me.  I read somewhere: If your kids are crabby, put them in water.  So true.  Sometimes my kids go for a swim in the tub in the middle of the day.

 Doesn't get much happier than this!

 I can't tell you how much my girls loved this shopping cart.  They laughed and giggled the whole shopping trip.  Definitely worth pushing that big hunk o' junk around the store.

 I love having my little "helpers" with whatever I'm doing.  They are always so interested in anything different that I do.  Susie especially loved gift wrapping at Christmas.  She played with the ribbons for hours.

 Love this ritual that Tyson and Nina do.  "I love you this much."  Now they just abbreviate "this much".

 Who couldn't love this face?  Even if it is a bit black and blue with crawling mishaps.

 Nina's new glasses.  I also love how Tyson's biggest concern was how Nina's self esteem may be affected.  He makes sure to always tell her how beautiful she is in them.  (Ashamed to admit that I was more worried about her breaking the glasses or refusing to wear them.)  Dad definitely takes care of his little princesses.