March

Ivy loved being outside on the grass. We were at Old Mill, waiting for Molly and Stocky to get done with school so we could go do something fun.

Our fun thing was to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa at City Creek so Brynn could do her birthday shopping. She went off on her own with G & G while Molly, Stockton, Ivy, and I did some Easter clothes shopping. We met up for dinner at Johnny Rockets before going home. This has become a fun tradition!

Ivy trying Molly's headphones. It is fun to see her curiosity and see her figure things out.

I left the kids at home with Justin all day while I was in Plain City for a funeral. Justin sent me a few photos-I guess to reassure me that the kids were happy with daddy.

It was a nice day so they spent most of it outside. Justin set up the trampoline for them so that was super fun and exciting.

Brynn doesn't seem to be as tired in the afternoons so she rarely takes naps anymore (except in the car) so I took advantage of this chance to rock her one day. She fell asleep and since Ivy was napping, I held her for longer than normal. She is growing up too fast.

Brynn discovered Molly's rollerblades and practically spent two whole days wearing them around the house.

She wouldn't even take them off to eat lunch.

We went to Riley's birthday party at the South Davis Rec Center. Talk about a fun pool! The kids had a blast swimming with their cousins. Ivy also loved her first real time swimming.

Cam, Molly, Stockton in the lazy river

Stockton had no reservations about the water this time. He just jumped right in and started playing. He couldn't believe it when we were done and I told him that he used to be so scared of the water.

Soaking up some sun. We've done a couple of wagon rides but I usually stick to Ivy's push car since after a little bit, she tries to stand up in the wagon.

Stockton got his Valentine's date first this year and he chose me. His date from me was to go get ice cream. It worked out perfectly one night-the teachers at school were working at the Diary Keen to earn money for the school and he really wanted to go see Mrs. Lontine. He ordered a pina colada cone and I got an Oreo shake. He ate all of his and half of mine. Love my boy!

Legos with Brynn. I love Legos and would build stuff with my kids anytime they asked. (I think it's much better than playing house or some other make-believe game.)

This is our neighbor, Raylie. She is the little sister to Easton and Corbin. Isn't she a cutie? She is about 7 months older than Ivy so someday these two will be best little buddies. This picture was not posed.

Out for another walk.

When Stockton first got his electric scooter he had a couple of incidents that made him scared to get on it again. But I told him he needed to get on it again. I told him I would ride it with him until he was comfortable to go on his own. It took us about two houses down from ours until he was ready to try it on his own and he had to no problem at all. Now he loves to zoom up and down the street on it.

Ivy and I sat outside and watched the kids go up and down the street. Stockton has a soft spot for his baby sister.

Ivy likes mowing the lawn. This is embarrassing because you can actually see how bad we were at getting all those leaves up last fall. We have a lot of work ahead of us!

Justin thought it would be a good idea to burn the dog kennels. He had taken down the dog runs the week before but the dog houses were still there and they were just gross. I thought he would kind of chop them up and burn it in the fire pit but he just lit them up where they were. It got a little bigger than he thought it would and he was worried someone was going to call the fire department on him but he kept it under control. I'm not sure he would do it that way again though.

That area looks much better now and is ready for a swing set to take its place.

March 14th-Justin turned 34. Brynn and I made the traditional Twinkies. This has become so much easier since my mom gave me that nifty little tool a couple of years ago.

Molly found a recipe in her recipe book for a corn and black bean salad and wanted to make it for Justin's birthday dinner. I got her all the ingredients and she got home from school and started on it right away. It took her an hour and she did cut her finger a little chopping the tomatoes but she did a great job and it was yummy. She really enjoys doing more and more in the kitchen.

His parents and Brett came for dinner that night. They gifted him an ice cream maker and then we had the traditional Twinkie tower.

From the kids and I he got a punching bag.

He also got some sweet birthday snuggles before bed. We sure love this guy and appreciate all of his hard work!

Brynn found the tap shoes. She had so much fun it makes me want to look into a tap class for her next fall.

Ivy on the balance beam reading her favorite book.

During the cold winter I would let the cat in each morning for a fresh drink of water and to warm up. Then I would put him out on the back porch and fill up his cat food. Ivy thinks the cat is funny and likes to pull his tail. He's fairly mellow and doesn't scratch her. She's waving to him in this picture.

I about died one day when I came in the house to see Stockton wearing this monster costume. To say it was too small is putting it mildly. I could not stop laughing. I have no idea what game he and Brynn were playing.

Ivy is into more and more things, although at this point she is not as bad as Stockton ever was.

Plus she is super cute so I can't really get too upset with her. She's wearing her green, for St. Patty's Day. I colored the milk green and told Stockton that there is no such thing as a leprechaun. That's all my mom ever did and I thought it was great. No need to over-complicate things, right?

Ivy's favorite book right now is "Your Baby's First Word Will Be Dada" by Jimmy Fallon. My mom gave it to her-I think to be funny. But she is really into animals right now and so this is the book she goes to every time we sit down to read.

Brynn and Corbin. Brynn's wearing her green.

We got our window wells covered. This was priority for me with Ivy walking around outside this spring.

Corbin helping Ivy on the roller coaster. He is a sweet boy and always very solicitous of Ivy. He will also just randomly hug her or tickle her. It is cute to see.

Molly was asked to play up with the Premier team since they were going to be short a player. This was so exciting for her. She was anxious and a little timid but she did a good job and was so happy to be asked to play with them. She has worked hard all winter in practice so her hard work paid off and we were super proud of her.

Justin bought a truck. His car was due for registration and it needed new tires so instead of putting money into that, he found a great deal for a truck. We figure it will come in handy with all the yard work-not to mention the fact that we can't really all fit in the Pilot when we want to do something like camping.

Molly made this hat at an Alice in Wonderland party.

Isn't this a sweet picture of Justin and Ivy?

It was sweet until she decided to be Miss Independent. Still cute though.

The kids got a good laugh when Justin rode off on Stockton's bike.

It was even more funny when he tried to ride off on the smaller green and blue bike-when he tried to pedal he just fell backwards.

We took a drive in the truck to test out where we wanted to have the kids sit. We drove to the Wasatch State Park in Midway. On our way there we put the three older kids in the back with Ivy in the front between Justin and me.

We played at the park for an hour or so before heading home.

Ivy was so funny with the ducks. She would have run right into the pond if I wouldn't have stopped her. She kept pointing at them and quacking and laughing.

We decided that we actually did not like having Ivy in the front so she got put in the back and Molly gets the front middle now.

Molly got to go to her first temple dedication (Provo City Center Temple). She was jipped from going to the Ogden one-it was one week after she turned eight but one week before she was baptized so they didn't let her go. And Payson's dedication wasn't broadcast to the whole state. She went with Justin to the morning session and then I went solo to the second session.

One morning Molly came up and told me to stay in bed as long as I wanted (it was a no-school day). When I made it down a little while later, she had made chocolate chip pancakes completely by herself. She needed help getting the stove on and some flipping but all the measuring and mixing she did independently. She even garnished them with whipped cream and mini chocolate chips. They were yummy too!

Justin got my dad's old Foosball table. That has been fun for the whole family. When we were freshmen in college we played a lot on his roommates' table and we got really good at it-we were the couples champs for the apartment complex for a while. This has been on Justin's want-list for a while now.

Ivy likes to go up there and stand on the chair and then call for me until I come get her down because she can't get down on her own for some reason.

We usually decorate eggs with Justin's family on Easter Sunday but with our late church I knew there probably wouldn't be enough time to do it then. So I did it at home when they had a day off of school. I was happy that it was a nice day so we could take it outside and then I wasn't paranoid about the mess in the house. Molly got creative with her eggs.

I took Stockton to his SSP (parent-teacher conference, why do they always have a weird acronym for it?) where I heard glowing reports about him. My favorite, though, was this assignment of his hanging in the hall just outside of his classroom.

Sometimes the older toys get pulled out for a few days and that is fun for Brynn because she feels like everything is new. Each time we do this, we leave it out for about a week and then pack it all away again.

I took Molly to the Women's Conference with my mom and sisters since we were down there for Easter.

Sister snuggles.

Ivy got to tag along with Justin and I to Home Depot. We left the other kids at home for an hour with my phone and strict instructions not to open the door to anyone. We got lots of paint and some wood for closets and trim. She had fun playing in the truck while everything was getting loaded in the back.

I stayed up with Justin late one night to do some sanding downstairs to prep it for painting. He had been dragging his feet on this and I can totally see why! It is a gigantic pain! We sanded the ceiling and ended up with white all over our faces and hair.

Ivy was confused when I first showed her the doll stroller. I kept trying to get her to push it but she just wanted to sit in it.

My mom and dad came for a few days so my dad could help with the basement. Instead of staying with us they stayed at a local hotel so that meant that the kids could go swimming for an hour one day after school.

Brynn had been begging for days to try on my wedding dress so I finally got it down for her to try on. It was huge, of course, but it made her so happy.

She wouldn't let me forget about the shoes!

And look at little Ivy back there. She thought it was so funny to stand on the train of the dress.

Then Justin made me put it on. Twelve years and four kids hasn't really changed my body too much-I'm pretty much the same size I was in high school. Not sure if that's good or bad?

Justin doing some texturing on the ceiling. This basement has definitely been more work than either of us realized it would be. We are definitely ready for it to just be done!

Justin enjoys Brynn's company when he's down there all by himself. She likes to help out where she can and chew sunflower seeds. She just crunches on seed and shell and spits the whole thing out.

Brynn has her eyes closed in this picture but just documenting that she is all signed up for Kindergarten. Can't believe this and I am not super excited. I will miss our days at home together and our plans. She has always been my little side-kick and momma's girl.

This is a game that Justin plays with Ivy at night. He puts her on Molly's bed then backs up, yells out some football plays, and tackles her back onto the bed. She loves it!

Molly had her 3rd grade program. It was about American Heroes and I was impressed. It was almost a whole hour long with lots of songs and they had really practiced hard and knew all the words. Molly even volunteered for a speaking part and that is kind of a big deal for her.

The next day was Grandparent's Day. Both of Molly's sets of grandparents came up to attend. They were treated to lunch at the school and the program. They also did some questionnaires, I think. Parents weren't invited so I don't know how it went but both grandma's said it was so good and they all loved the time spent with Molly. My kids are blessed to have loving, supportive grandparents.