Spring Break

So we did a lot of things over Spring Break - some work, some play. I tried to capture most of it on film. Here's the day by day replay. . . Monday - Strawberry picking at Akers of Strawberries. And the Frozen Strawberry Yogurt with fresh strawberries and whipping cream was to die for! Lotsa fun times on the John Deer Tractor.

When we got home the girls decided to use the extra bird house paint to face paint each other.

And here is the results of all the yard work from the past weekend plus the bales of pine straw Aly helped me spread around. Beautimus.

Tuesday - In the morning we went to the grocery store to "restock the food storage". Very interesting with two carts and four kids. Aly and Lise were huge helpers though. Afterwards we went swimming at a friend's house. Nice and relaxing.

Wednesday - Aly invited a friend and went to the Niceville Park. We met some other friends there and had a picnic lunch. Very fun.

Unfortunately this is how Kylie spent most of the week - sitting in a stroller. She was a trooper though.

After the park we headed home to tackle the mondo task of actually putting away the food storage - BEHIND all the other food - to make sure to "rotate" properly. Next it was a trip to Walmart. My kids LOVE trips to Walmart, can ya tell? I was trying to figure out what size of life jacket we needed to buy in the sporting goods, turned around, and this is what I saw. The girls have been saving their money and so looking for stuff to buy is always an adventure. Aly's trying to save for an ipod touch (good luck with that!), but we came home with things a little more in their price range: Aly - Kid scrapbook kit, Lise - Kid bowling set (so she can get ready for the pros!), Kate - four square ball.

Thursday - By Wednesday night the girls were saying, "Can we just stay home tomorrow and have a lazy day?" I couldn't believe it - I actually "Spring Breaked Out" my kids! So Thursday we slowed down a little, went to Library Story time, got Aly and Lise a haircut, and then just hung around the house and let the girls play with their Walmart treasures.

Friday - On Friday we had a playdate with another family that just moved into our ward. Aly and Lise really hit it off with their two older girls - yippee! Then we came home and made Dad's favorite cookies - peanut butter with hershey kisses on top. Top that off with the ever famous family movie night, and I'd say Spring Break was a huge success!!

Saturday we started our "Garden": two tomato plants, pumpkin plants, cilantro, carrots, and a pot of flowers for the girls. Of course we had to do pots again because we literally have no yard in the back. But this should work well, and isn't this natural common area/park next door beautiful?

And finally, I got what I wanted for Spring Break - a date out with my hubby! After a week with everybody at home I knew I'd need it. It was the traditional dinner and a movie, but it was awesome! And the girls love to be babysat: movies with popcorn, playing hide-and-seek, ice cream, and stories. What could be better?

One Cutie Patootie

I couldn't help sharing. Now is she a cutie, or what? Kylie has been growing by leaps and bounds in this past month. In addition to learning to clap, she has also got the hang of the johnny jump up, and loves to be a little frog. She's started saying "mamamama" and "numnumnum" in addtion to "dadadada", and she can also hold her own bottle! She has started showing an interest in other babies and always wants to "talk" to them. She's started this funny sniffing thing too, where she scrunches up her nose and sniffs really fast at you. Kate did that too - could be allergies? Anyway, it's hilarious. And finally, she has really started to show an interest in being mobile. She keeps trying to crawl from sitting, usually ends up flopping down on her belly, and then either spins herself around in circles or scoots herself backwards. I don't think crawling is far behind.

A funny story about Kylie. The other day I ran out of diapers at church (after Kylie had gone through one wet and two poopy diapers during the 3 hour block!) Luckily, I had an emergency pull up for Kate in the bag. So I tried it on Kylie and "oila!" it fit. Kinda weird. I don't know if kids bums just stay the same size from 6 months to 3 years while just their legs grow or what, but apparently Kate and Kylie have the same size tooshies.

Oh, but I do have to mention, despite what these pictures would have you believe, that there are times when Kylie is not too happy. She's thrown a temper tantrum or two, even. Mostly when she wants something and you a) don't let her have it (like an open pen), or b) take something away from her that she is really enjoying (like the program at church or any other piece of paper she's grabbed.)

But despite that, most of the time she really is just this - a cutie.

Awesome 80's

Okay, so we have had some days here where it has actually gotten up into the 80's, and we are LOVIN' IT! I realize that 80's in March means smouldering sauna later on, but for now, I'll take it! Here is a picture the girls took one Sunday when they were dressing each other up in multiple outfits and "modeling" them. Our house continues to be Lise's "school". If she's playing outside, her class is at PE, when she's on the computer, it's computer lab for the whole class, art, music, etc.

This particular weekend it was Aly's turn to choose the family activity, so mini golf it was.

Kate did not actually want to golf, but rather enjoyed climbing on the decor.

Chris was very creative in his stances, to make sure to sink the shot.

Of course this place was a major tourist trap, which we of course fell right into. Right next to the mini golf were all these little kiddie rides and we let the kiddos to pick a couple of their favorites. The smiles on their faces were worth it though. Kate absolutely loved riding in this airplane - she rode it twice, once in the front seat, and once in the back.

Aly and Lise enjoyed bumper cars and the mini racetracks - pedal to the medal, baby!

Okay, so sandwiched in between our exciting weekend adventures, I'm going to tell you about what has been happening during the week. First of all, Aly has lost 4 molars in the past couple of weeks - all on top. It's amazing to me that she can even still eat! A couple of them should have come out long ago, but her braces were holding them in, so they had turned brittle and ended up coming out in multiple pieces - not my funnest tooth extraction experiences. TMI? Well, welcome to the O'Gwin home!

Also, I finally found a hairstylist here (one of the things I hate most about moving, along with finding a dentist and picking out new radio stations for my car.) So I got my first haircut in 9 months, since the last one I got when I was 7 months pregnant with Kylie. And guess what? My hair looks just the same. :) But anyhoo, when I went to the salon, it was like I was in the movie Steel Magnolias. The lady stying my hair's voice even sounded just like Dolly Parton's and she kept calling me things like "sugar" and "puddin'". Plus all the other ladies and hairstylists knew each other and they were just having a riot laughing about everything. I'll definitely be going back . . . in another 4-5 months. :) And here's a few quotes of the week:

I was getting on the girl's case for leaving the back door unlocked at night and said the following:

Stacy - Do you want a robber to just walk right through our door?

Aly - No, he'd think our door was locked and just climb through the window anyway. The kids are often making fun of my obsession with lists, thus the following conversation:

Stacy - Can you guys help me remember to _____?

Aly - Why don't you just right it down on a sticky note?

Stacy - Do you think that's important enough to write on a sticky note?

Aly - I don't know, but you write a ton of things that aren't important on sticky notes. Kate was pulling on Lise's clothes, then tripped and blamed it on Lise:

Kate (outraged at the perceived injustice) - See!?! I told you!

Lise (completely calm) - You didn't tell me anything. And finally an honorable mention to Kate for using her noodles to be a walrus at the table. Dinner and a show - always.

Here is a picture of Kate to remind me what a sweetheart she can be. (She recently got a haircut as well, as we are still trying to recover from her self-cut.) Lately she has been picking the absolute worst times to tell me how much she loves me in her sweet little voice - like when I'm getting frustrated at Aly and Lise, or 5 minutes after she's thrown a major fit and I'm still seething inside, or while I'm trying desperately to scrub the crayon out of the carpet in her room that she colored on passive aggressively because I sent her to her room for coloring with crayon on her body and car seat! In a few of those moments I have found myself saying to Kate, "well, if you love me, why don't you do what I ask you to?" or "why do you ignore me?" And then in my head I hear the words, "If you love me, keep my commandments," and I wonder to myself just how many times I have done the exact same thing to my Savior. Sometimes I think that one of the reasons that I have the opportunity to have Kate as a daughter is to help me see a clearer picture of myself. She is helping to knock off some of my rough edges, no matter how painful the process, so that I may become smooth and polished. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a mother to all my children. They each teach me so much in their own individual ways.

Last weekend we did the spring cleaning of the yard - leaves raked, mowing, edging, trimming the hedges, etc. Afterwards, it was time for the beach! This was our first time doing the full out beach experience where we were actually going to get in the water. As you know, this requires massive amounts of gear - especially with children. But I was all over it. Check out the awesome beach cart I found at Walmart. I'm not sure if it says "beach savvy" or "beach geek", but either way I'm loving the toting capabilities. I also love my beach chairs (below).

For some reason Kate things that the same rules that apply to taking a bath also apply to going swimming, i.e. taking your hair clips out. So she immediately became Cousin It, since all of her hair seems to want to grow straight forward.

This time when we went the tide had receded to leave a mini lake of water, 2-3" deep, which was totally perfect for our little ones. Kylie loved splashing her feet in it (and sucking all the salty water off that green sand rake!) while the other kids had fun burying themselves, digging holes, trying to make a way too watery sandcastle, and finding shells with the mussels still inside of them and letting Dad pry them open. We also ventured out into the ocean a little bit. Aly and Chris even went boogie boarding and Kate loved having her dad pull her on a boogie board in the mini lake. Another great day at the beach. (Actually, another great couple of hours at the beach, which is usually about how long we end up staying there. But it's the perfect time frame for our family to hang out before people start getting cranky. That's the benefit of having a beach locally, I'm discovering.)

After the beach Chris and I totally caved on our resolve to not take the family to a restaurant after the beach. But we planned ahead this time! We brought a change of clothes and a comb, so we actually looked semi-decent. Plus, both Aly and Lise made the "A" Honor Roll in their school for having straight A's on their report card (woo-hoo!), and so they got a "kids eat free" coupon to Fudpuckers, which pretty much guaranteed a kid friendly restaurant. And oh was it ever!

This place was more of an experience than a restaurant. It had an arcade, prize gallery, playground, t-shirts for sale, and a bunch of live baby alligators that you can pay to feed or hold. It was kind of like Chuck-E-Cheese meets the Jungle Cruise petting zoo. Plus it's the type of place where everybody writes their names on the walls and tables with a sharpie - totally Kate, I mean, kid-proof. Kate was loving this place. She was so excited that when her food came out she yelled, "Oh! I always wanted an orange slice with my mac 'n' cheese!" Like it was the best thing that ever happened to her in her whole life. Gotta love Fudpuckers!

And finally, we will end where we began . . . another calm Sunday activity. This time it was painting these cute little birdhouse windchimes. I love the girls ability to self entertain on a Sunday.

Kylie Can Clap!

Just for Fun

Until I have more time to blog, here is a video of Kate's latest accomplishment - learning to climb up on the counter. This has opened up a whole new world, let me tell ya.

Time Marches On . . .

So it's March, and I think we're finally pretty much "settled in" to Florida. We've gotten into a routine: Monday - laundry and cleaning, Tuesday - grocery shopping, Wednesday - fun playgroups at the pool, Thursday - library story time and visiting the girls at school for Mile Club, Friday - DAD COMES HOME! It works out pretty well. I've been trying to meet new people and there's a ton of fun people in my ward . . . unfortunately about half of them are moving this summer. Oh well, new faces will appear and I'll get to have the chance to welcome them! As for some of the specifics of what's going on, see below. So Chris was super nice and let me go to our Stake Women's conference while he watched the girls (I took Kylie with me). It was so nice to get a little break from the kiddos and socialize with other women - thanks, hunny bunch! While I was gone Chris and Aly made this AWESOME bike rack for the family bikes, with a bin on the end for roller blades. Bike clutter is my biggest pet peeve in the garage. I LOVE this thing! Chris also hung some hooks on the wall for the scooters. The garage looks awesome!

After the work, it was time to play! That week was bowling - Lise had my favorite bowling release stance. Everyone gets a little credit for Kate's score, as she didn't want to bowl until we were leaving. We obviously need a little practice, as per the scores below. And these scores were even with the bumpers up for the kids! I'm sure we'll go again soon. :)

This past week we took the girls for a movie and ice cream. Lots of fun . . . even running back to the car in the rain!

Monday the girls had no school for a teacher work day and so we decided to go to the park. Doesn't Kylie look like a character on Mario Cart?

The park we were going to go to was closed, so, thanks to Gary, my GPS guy, we ended up finding this awesome park (see the beach/water in the background?) There were some bench swings that I could sit at and look out over the water while watching the kids play. It was super awesome! Plus, Kylie got her first ride down the slide. Whee!

The creative juices are still flowing over here and I love how the girls always want to turn garbage into art . . . like how Aly turned an egg carton into her laptop. On another note - Man! - that girl is growing like a weed - she is eating a ton (3 grill cheese sandwiches for lunch, a hamburger and a hot dog for dinner, etc.). We had to go out to buy her the next size up in dresses and it was a reality check for me. First of all, clothes her size are getting a little more pricey. Secondly, even though she's only in 3rd grade she's wearing the 10/12 size on some things and it became very evident that from here on out it is going to be a treasure hunt with a lot of undershirts and layering to keep things modest. Lucky for me Aly is totally on board with the modest thing, so it's her and I against the fashion industry, instead of her against me. And that's how I'd prefer it. I'm just going to have to gear up for clothes shopping with Aly.

Analise was totally into Dr. Seuss's birthday this year - she had this outfit planned for weeks! She has really taken off with reading and is constantly trying to coax Kate into playing school. (Kate usually turns this into a negotiation where she'll play school if Lise will play dress-ups or hide and seek with her.) Analise has also been into the arts and crafts and the family frequently finds gifts that she has made for us on our bedside tables. Also, do you see that front tooth missing?

Kate wanted me to take this picture of her and the mannequin when we were out shopping. She ended up pulling the arm off, but luckily it was stuck on magnetically so it was an easy fix . . . She and I have been butting heads lately on her ultra independedness and selective hearing, but I do have to say that she is usually pretty good when we're out running errands. Maybe that's why we run so many of them!

And look at this cutie! And no, I'm not bias. I took Kylie to get her picture professionally taken last week and the lady asked if she could put some of Kylie's pictures up on the wall! So yeah, she really is that cute!