While we were living in Mt. Vernon the young mothers of the branch invited me to be a part of their at home preschool group. I am so grateful they did! The kids looked forward to it every week and it was such a help through the cold winter months. One of the weeks that I taught I remembered to take a picture. We learned about transportation and as snack they got to make traffic lights out of graham crackers, m&ms, and nutella and little cars out of apple slices, toothpicks and grapes.
When it was my turn to teach we always met at the church. As I was cleaning up Tatum drew this awesome self-portrait. I had to a take a picture of it. Check out that hair!
During the Priesthood session of general conference it is a tradition for the girls to out for ice cream. We headed to DQ and Alissa and Genevieve joined us. And we let Declan come along even though he isn't girl. :)
We got some fresh air between sessions on Sunday. It was beautiful temperature wise but soooooo windy.
Grandma's house is the best place to live when you're 2. All the treats to make your teeth turn black. ;)
In April we went to the temple with my parents. They ended up not being on the schedule to work so we got out of there sooner than we expected. We stopped at a little playground on the way home and let the kids play for a bit. Tatum got to try out this stand up teeter totter with Papa and daddy.
Our offer had been accepted on our house so a lot of shopping or house stuff happened in April. I actually took this picture to remember what the rug was called because it was so soft, but I had to keep it when I saw that perky little face in the background. I think the kids might have gotten tired of all the errands...
Story time was a weekly habit for us in Mt. Vernon. The kids loved Miss Kathy and her stories, songs and crafts. An extra plus occurred in the spring when the geese that live at the nearby pond had goslings. We always had to stop and see them. It was amazing to watch how quickly they grow and change. And extra fun to watch with friends!
Later in April we headed to North Liberty. We wanted to pick up our bikes from the storage unit and we also checked out a kite festival they were having and the spring celebration at Forever Green.
The kids loved seeing the animals.
But the kite flying was probably the highlight. It was the perfect weather for it.
Declan's favorite part was definitely the fire truck they had parked there for the kids to see. In this first picture he was saying "it isn't working!" with genuine frustration. Apparently he was truly expecting to just drive it down the road haha.
He got over his disappointment quickly.
Another day at story time. Working on a look and find with Matthew.
The geese and goslings!
There's that orange chair again. And a little girl sitting like she's a real big girl. Speaking of growing quickly.
Declan got sick in April. He did a lot of sitting on the toilet and sleeping on my lap for a day or two.
Luckily he was better for preschool on Friday. It was pet day and the kids decided they should carry their dogs to preschool like this. Pretty clever, I'd say. And cute. :)
Videos from April:
Declan really mastered his balance bike this spring. I love watching him whip around on it. I feel like a tried fifty times to get a good video of how he rides it. But it's impossible! I can't keep up and these videos from the back just don't really show it. Oh well, it's still pretty funny to watch him racing Tatum.
This video cracks me up. At story time one week Miss Kathy brought in fresh eggs from her chickens and let all the kids crack one. She did it in a bucket on her lap. For the next few days we kept catching Declan "cracking" his plastic Easter eggs into this plastic bucket. :)
Declan loves to "go for a run". In the house, outside, anywhere but the track. His mannerisms always crack me up.
March. Man it feels like that was a long time ago. But it's time to start catching up. I'm not sure I could really tell you anything we did if it weren't for a few pictures we took. So I'll tell the story of our March using our pictures.
We were still living with my parents, much to their chagrin I'm sure. We dyed Easter eggs together.
The kids got Easter baskets with the usual candy and a book.
We tried to take some pictures of the kids in their cute Easter outfits. With a two year old and this first face you can kind of guess how well that went.
Close. This one is so so close.
But this one is probably my favorite. It was a cool and rainy day so they weren't excited about being outside for any pictures. I'm not sure how Brennan managed to nab this one but I'm so glad he did.
Declan and Papa were twinners. I have a lighter version of this picture somewhere but I can't seem to locate it.
Brennan had a birthday. 29! He's getting to be an old man. We didn't do a lot to celebrate, I'm embarrassed to say. I made him his favorite cake and the dinner he requested. And we did get to go out to lunch together without the kids which was fun.
It was still snowy at some point in March and we put Tatum to work doing the shoveling. I took pictures from the comfort of the house. Haha.
I picked up cross stitching. I cross stitched some pretty simple things when I was quite young but recently came across these adorable family portraits and had to give it a shot. It has been a really fun hobby.
On a warmer day in March we headed out to Palisades Park for some exploration.
We looked at a lot of houses in March. Just like we did in December. And January. And February. We rewarded the kids with some park time after one showing.
My mom has this little orange chair that's just a lawn ornament. I think it's supposed to have a potted plant on it or something. But my kids LOVE to sit in it. It really is the perfect size.
On another beautiful March day we took a drive to Dubuque with Grandma and Papa during Papa's spring break. Unfortunately Eagle point park was still closed for the season so we just played at a playground by the Mississippi River and did plenty of throwing rocks in the water.
I was introduced to Jamberry nails sometime in February or March. I hosted an online party and then ordered quite a few. I got some junior ones for Tatum. She is kind of a wimp about having to put heat on them so we don't do them often. They sure are cute though!
Double piggy back ride to bed!
I took the kids to a Lego party at the library. This was actually the same day we went and saw what would be our new house for the first time. I was worried the kids would be too young for the Lego day, especially Declan. But they really loved it! They could have stayed all day!
Tatum's fire station creation. She did everything but the cars completely on her own. :)
We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade in Cedar Rapids.
My dad had a birthday in March as well and I made homemade apple pies for him. I am no pie maker. But I really do find it fun as long as I give myself enough time to not feel stressed out. They aren't real pretty but I thought they tasted good.
We took the kids to free night at the mall in Coralville. As many carousel rides as they could stomach. They were in heaven!
Hanging out with these two cheeseballs at the Costco food court.
They hit the jack pot at the Mt. Vernon Easter egg hunt. Tatum even won a board game!
Egg wars!
We attended many of Caden's track meets. Declan would wave to him every time he came around the track and then would always turn around in frustration and say "he not saying hi to me!". He couldn't quite grasp the concept that maybe he was concentration on the race.
I don't even remember why we took these pictures. Probably to send to Brennan while he was at work. They are certainly winners.
And that was March, in no particular order. A pretty low key month for us, but really that is a blessing.
Videos from March:
This video probably seems short and pointless and more or less a mistake. Which I suppose it was. But I have to include because of Brennan's evil laugh.
