April Showers

We kind of went from very cold, snowy weather, to fairly warm, dry weather.  So, a couple days ago when it started to rain, the girls made the most of it by playing in the wet and muddy conditions.  Their clothes are still soaking in oxy-clean!

Washington DC...repeat

David had a conference in Washington DC for the American Association of Cancer Research.  He also received a research award (travel money) and was able to present a poster at the conference.  So, he invited me.  At first I was reluctant because it sounded like too much work to get babysitters for an extended weekend, but after talking to our friends the Runyans, we found out they were planning to attend a conference the next month, so we decided to swap! We had a really good time and because we were just there in August, we didn't feel the need to just sight see, so instead we enjoyed the city, some great cuisine, (thanks to a former DC friend's recommendations) a really nice hotel and just being together.

We were even able to meet up with Dave's dad who is currently serving as a mission president in Canada, but because most of the East Coast Mission Presidents were in DC for a conference as well, we were able to visit for a short time one evening, but it was fun to see him!  So, thanks Craig for letting us stop by so late.

Because Jeana and Abby's cousin got a monkey while we were in DC over the summer, that was their one request from me.  Anyhow, I got home in the afternoon and gave them their souvenirs and Jeana put hers right to work.  The monkeys did homework while she did homework (if you look closely, you can see them all holding pencils).

Camping in Kentucky

I think our whole family was ready for a break, especially Dave.  So, when the Runyan Family invited us to tag along, and even though Dave really didn't have time to take off, he did anyway and we went camping down by Mammoth Caves in Kentucky.  It was a beautiful national park, but a drive.

We did do a little caving or rather playing with flashlights under the ground.

And we all, including baby Kate, made the 2 mile hike.

Notice the girls all have two braids in their hair--thanks to Deanna.

Runyan family.

Funny thing is, the water and mud was the the girls favorite part of the trip, I'm sure the water was cold, but during the day it 80 degrees and at night 50, so I guess to them the mucky water was refreshing.

This is the mud they found in the first five minutes of our trip.  Way to go girls!

Easter Festivities

We had a lot of fun spring Easter festivities.  We had an egg hunt and breakfast at the church the weekend before Easter and as seen in the picture, there were some extra large eggs to be found!

Abby was putting her mothering skills to use holding one of her favorite little baby girls, Kate.

The group showing off their new found treasures.

Oh a basket full of eggs.

Egg gathering.

We also went to a community egg hunt at a local church and they gave away two baskets, one for a boy and one for a girl.  There were probably 100 kids there and Abby won the basket for the girl.  She was very tickled to say the least.

Ready to hunt and ready to go.

I still find it odd to have pictures with a dressed-up Easter Bunny if feels so different than say Santa Claus, but oh well, the girls enjoyed it.

We tried to make the hollow rolls where you tell the story of Jesus and wrap dough in around a marshmallow and then when baked, the roll is hollow inside because the mallow melts (aka the tomb), but yeah, mine didn't have as much success, they were mostly hollow.  Oh well, they were covered in cinnamon and sugar, but the girls still ate them for breakfast!

We did tie-dye egg dying this year, the girls had a good time as evidences by the many traces of colors left behind on their hands.

The final results.

These are the best shots the girls gave me of them with their baskets.  They were in a hurry to put them in a bag so they didn't get mixed up.

Abby's Easter basket(s).

Dance recital

Abby decided to do tap dance this year and for their recital theme they did bugs.  The costumes were really cute.  They had ladybugs, butterflies, bumblebees and Abby's group were spiders.  They danced to a really cute jazzy rendition of Incy-Wincy Spider.

She gave me a quick pose and two shots, so this was the best I got.

In the end though, she was mostly excited to get the traditional rose bouquet from her dad. Though it seems kinda silly it comes from him since he doesn't do the planning or the purchasing, but my girls love it when their dad gives them flowers and so that's the way it is! Very cute.

Car Swap

Out with the old-er in with the new-er.  It was a little sooner than we had really been anticipating to buy a new car, but we found a great deal we had a hard time passing up and it gives us a little time to make sure everything is running well before we make a long trek to Canada (hopefully) this summer!  David replaced the breaks, fixed a few more things to sell his car and when the first person came by to look at it, the check engine light came on AGAIN.  Luckily, the family didn't seem to concerned, but had we realized how many calls we would get and how quickly it would sell, we probably would have priced it differently!  Oh well, it is out of our care and it was a good little car and David learned a lot from fixing it.  However, here is a picture of our new car.  Downside: less space and no sliding doors.  Upside: Eight seats, cupholders and lights that push on and off (highlight for girls), I get to keep my garage (a minivan wouldn't fit) and towing power?! yeah that was for Dave.

Abigail's 6th Birthday

Abby had been counting down for months to her birthday.  She also had several party ideas that she has been planning since her last birthday, but finally about 2 weeks before the big day, she decided she wanted to have a puppy party.  Everything seems to revolve around puppies and dogs since Annie came along.  She even wanted a puppy in a purse for her birthday.  She is one of those kids who once she likes something, she wants everything with the same theme.  Dogs it is.

Here was the highlight of gifts from mom and dad.  It even moves and makes noises, so of course we all love it as much as her?!

She also saw a newborn cabbage patch baby who was inside a cabbage and once you took it out, you could see if the baby was a boy or girl and then came with a little outfit based on gender. She wanted to buy the toy with her birthday money but made it VERY clear by throwing an unnecessary fit in the store, that she would not play with it if it wasn't a girl.  So, standing there in the store, knowing these dolls were made mostly for girls who probably want girls, I had to open the packaging and peak knowing it would lead to disaster if I didn't.  We chose well, and she has loved it since because she got her girl.

I thought I would just make invitations because the party was a little more last minute this year and I couldn't find any that fit her party theme, that is until after I spent 2 1/2 nights using a cricut to make them.  Gee I wish I would have gone to the dollar store first, but oh well, Abby was excited.

We used the pampered chef can opener to open several cans (yes we ate taco soup for a week) withouth sharp edges, then filled them with puppy chow (muddy buddies) and then sealed with hot glue.  The sealed can idea I stole from my sister-in-law who used them for teacher gifts.  I thought it would be hard to plan activities with her theme choice, but I only had to spend an hour online to discover it wasn't hard at all.  All my other ideas were pretty much stolen from people who are much more creative than me and who actually post their creativity on the internet!  Thanks!

Party included: doggie bags to take home (with a ball and puppy chow), puppy chow and scooby doo graham cracker bones, a frisbee and dog toys for game prizes, colars for the kids and their new found friend, and of course a puppy cake.

Abby didn't want Annie left out either, so she got a party hat. 

The kids played Puppy says (simon says) and then had to go on a dog hunt to find the lost puppies who needed a good home.

The kids went through a 'doggie park' obstacle course to find these furry friends.

Then they had 'corndogs' for a light lunch and of course ended with cake.

This was my first attempt at using fondant.  It took a while to find the right supplies and I watched a few videos on youtube because I hear fondant is hard to work with.  It was definitely a long project, but something new to try.  I had a lot of fun with it until the end when I spent two hours trying to make my own dogs out of fondant, needless to say it failed and since by then it was almost 11pm I thought the cake had failed, fortunately, David suggested using littlest pet shops my kids already had.  GENIOUS!  The funny thing is, the little dog house and animals unintentionally matched the cake perfectly and the cake was saved...had I just used those in the first place, the cake would have been done much sooner!

Abby was walking around in one sock so I asked her why.  She informed me that one sock got wet so she took it off, but wanted the other one on still.  That's my little problem solver.

And of course all the fun girlie gifts.  I must admit it was probably the most fun of the birthday parties I have thrown.  Surprisingly, it went really smoothly even though I had to tackle it myself because David had a busy day at work.