Mother's Day

Doug was so good and bought me flowers and a card. The flowers are so pretty.  I ordered some new aprons, but I guess those count as coming from him too. :)  Tyler made me a card at school and for primary the kids wrote on flowers saying why they love their mom's or something nice they will do.  It was pretty cute.  My mom sent me a card too.

I left sacrament early to help set up the primary room and I missed the chocolates that they were handing out.  I figured Doug would grab one for me, but he didn't.  He went back after church to look but didn't see any.  Oh well, guess I'll have to eat some chocolate chips.

The girls wore their new dresses they got for their birthday.  They were excited to do their hair in hearts like we did for Valentine's Day.  So much fun.

Weekly report

Other things that happened this week:

We went to the library on Monday and then we went to Toys 'r Us  to let the girls pick out a toy from the money that Grandma Petersen sent.  I was pretty patient until the very end.  I let them look all over the store and try out different things.  But trying to decide was a bit tricky.  In the end Jenna chose a vacuum and Kaylee chose a pretend learning phone.  We did some grocery shopping on the way home as well.  It was a long day of errands and we were all tired.  I think we got home so late that I didn't even have the girls take a nap but they did ok without.

Damon had scouts on Tuesday, Wednesday I had book group.  We talked about These is My Words.  I almost had finished reading it again.  I read it years ago, but I needed a refresher read.  It is such a cute book.  Thursday Chris did a cute little Mother's Day program at preschool.  They sang us a couple of songs and we had a little luncheon that they helped prepare.  They made us cute 'mom' necklaces too.  Chris's preschool teacher is amazing, the best we have had.  I wish she would be available to teach my girls in two years.   I also had my presidency meeting in the evening - so two nights of trying to get the kids to bed quickly so I can leave by 8:00 and then getting home late 10:00+.

Friday I watched my friends two girls in the morning.  One is 6 months old and I am reminding of how much I don't miss the baby stage.  I am very grateful to have my kids all be 3 years and older.

Saturday was  crazy busy.  I got up and got ready quickly and went grocery shopping.  I hadn't done any pantry shopping for awhile so it was a bigger trip.  I always fill my cart to the max and end up having to have 2 carts to make it to the van.  It took me about 3 hours to get there, shop, unload, and put everything away - tiring.  Then Doug ran some errands to look at twin beds for the girls.  While he was gone I took the kids to our community pool.  This was our first time going and we had a fun time.  There weren't many people there.  I bought puddle jumpers for Chris and the girls and 3 kick boards.  Kaylee was a bit clingy and didn't like it as much.  The water was a bit chilly but it was warm enough to not be freezing.

Tyler had a quick break then went to his soccer game with Doug.  Damon went too because they went to look at bikes afterwards.  I worked in the kitchen all while Doug was gone making lasagna and cleaning up - so I wouldn't have to cook today, for Mother's Day :).

They got home around 5 and we had dinner and got the kids ready to go.  The YW put on another fund raiser to babysit.  They have fun activities for them to do and let them watch movies too. (Damon was a marshmallow man as we left). We went to a Thai restaurant with two other couples from the ward.  It was great to sit, eat, and talk without having to find a baby sitter.  We got back home around 9 so bedtime was a bit late.  The boys slept in but Jenna still joined us at 6:00 - not a very nice Mother's Day present.  She did stay with us in bed until about 6;45 so I guess that is sleeping in a bit.

Later in the evening on Saturday our beds were delivered so now we have two twin beds to put together for the girls.  I'm excited to use their cute quilts again - they have been sleeping on crib mattress on the floor and the twin quilts were too big for that.

 Random shot:  Damon playing with the girls' new cupcake game.  It's kind of fun to make different cupcake combinations.

Swimming lessons

We started swimming lessons this week.  We were scheduled for Mon/Tues/Wed but Wednesday was cancel due to rain - that's the downside of having lessons in an outdoor pool.  But I can't complain since the pool is 1/2 mile away in a friend's backyard.  A senior from the ward is teaching.  He is on the swim team and has competed nationally.  He is really good with the boys and they try to do everything he ask them to - with a good attitude.  Wow, I wish that would happen for me :).

The boys have already improved a lot even with just two lessons.  I'm excited to be swimming a lot this year and to have the boys learn how.

The first lesson Doug was home and I just drove the boys back and forth from home so they didn't have to hang around the whole time (they are each getting 1/2 hour private lessons).  The second lesson everyone came.  It was a bit cloudy and cool so I didn't put the girls in their swimsuits (I had thought about just hanging out with them in the hot tub during the lessons).  But by the end of all three lessons the girls were basically drenched.  They had found a watering can and were carefully filling it up at the edge and watering the grass.  Then it progressed to wading at the edge, then Kaylee tripped and got her front all wet.  I let her wear Chris's shirt but she got that wet too.  Oh well, they were having fun.  The boys were a bit cold for their lessons, but they did well.  We will hope for better weather this next week.

3 years old!

Jenna and Kaylee are now 3 years old!! It's crazy to think that we have had them that long.  It definitely is getting easier the older they get.  They are so much fun and they were so cute with their presents and their birthday party.  

 Of course they wanted to open their presents right away, but we made them wait until after breakfast.  It was nice that it was a Saturday, so no real rush.

 They both loved this Curious George 'jack-in-the-box.'  Grandma Petersen has one similar and they love playing with it, so I thought they would like it.

I found a deal on some Anna and Elsa dresses and even got some matching doll ones.  It is a company in Utah that tries to make modest, comfortable, affordable and washable dress-ups.

 The stuffed unicorns were a big hit.  Now we have to keep track of another animal to sleep with, sigh. :)

This is Jenna with her Elsa ice powers:

 I got them some dolls and things to go with - let's hope they play with them.

We waited to put this together until the night before.  I didn't realize it was going to be so involved.  Way to go Doug for staying up late to get it done.  

 Cut new birthday outfits!

 We had a tea party with some friends.  They each got a hat and little tote bag with goodies as party favors.  I have to say it was kind of fun getting ready for this party.  Girls are just fun.

 Damon helped decorate:

 We played with dress-ups and danced.

And blew bubbles. 

 With a cupcake at the end:

They were very excited about the new balance bike so now they both can ride.  We do have to take turns with who gets the new red one, but they are pretty good about it.  Jenna can go pretty fast now and can coast for a bit.  Kaylee hasn't practiced as much, but she is also getting good.  We have ridden to Chris's preschool a couple of times now.  I just wish there were sidewalks the whole way.  I get tired of telling them to stay to the side.  

 Two cute birthday girls: I love them so much!
We were tired of cake from the leftovers from scouts, so I made big sugar cookies.

The first butterfly came out of its chrysalis on their birthday so that was a fun present too. 

House projects, scouts, soccer, and beans

So I hosted a Girls Night Out at our house last Wednesday, the 29th of April and I wanted to get a few things done for the house before then.  I made these coasters out of an old book that I just used for decoration and I made this mirror from spoons.  

I hung most of the pictures for our big wall collage - I think I did a pretty good job of measuring.  Doug usually does the hanging because he is very precise and does a great job - but he doesn't have much free time so I decided to try it myself.  I had him help me with the ones that hung from two spots - those are harder to hang straight :)  Yay for another big project done.  The pictures are almost a year old now, but oh well, they are going to stay there for a while longer.  

We had an Arrow of Light ceremony for Pack Meeting last week.  I did the cupcake display.  It was easy, but it was a very busy day so I barely got them done in time.  I was glad I had made the frosting and cupcakes in the morning so I just had to frost them quick in the evening.  

 Just a random, funny thing to post about Damon.  He likes to split open his green beans and take out the bean inside.  He makes a small pile of these and then eats them all together.  Funny boy.

 Doug remembered to take some pictures of Tyler playing soccer.  The rest of us stayed home this week.  It was the girls' birthday so we let them stay home and nap.  Tyler almost scored a goal, but the goalie blocked it.  Their team lost - but they had good spirits.  They are at a disadvantage because the coach was asked last minute to help and the team is getting split up because of too many kids.  So hopefully next week things will be a bit more organized.