Update- Birthday, Ear Piercing, Goodbye

Hey everyone, I'm on my new computer, and it runs much faster, thanks to Rick. I haven't downloaded pictures for a long time, so I'll try not to make it too long. No promises though.

We've had a busy April. I'll start with Rick's birthday.

I mentioned in a previous post that the girls wanted to dress up for his birthday dinner. This is what they wore. So sweet!

That's quite a little fire on the cake there. We had to sing fast! :)

This is the end of the movie when all the kids were sitting on Rick's lap. I love it. They love their Daddy so much, just as they should.

The next big thing was the girls getting their ears pierced. I think I mentioned that they had to earn it by being good and earning beans. They had a few not so good days, but mostly they earned it pretty quickly. I am still not sure I should have let Rick talk me into this, but the girls love them and take care of them pretty well for how young they are. We got a little choked up while we were there. I know its a lot of pictures, but again, this was hard for me so deal with it!

Annie before

Annie during

Annie after. She chose green birthstones (I don't know what month.) No tears, no flinching. I am amazed by my brave daughters. Rick tried to talk me into it and I still didn't dare and was secretly relieved that they wouldn't do mine while I'm pregnant without a doctor's note.

Carlyn before

Carlyn during. Notice that she has her lamby. Anyone who knows her well know her lamby too. She chose lamby that night to comfort her.

Carlyn after. She chose the pink birthstone, of course. Again, no tears and not even the tiniest flinch. Tough cookie! For at least a week they proudly showed their ears to everyone. They'd say, "Look, I got my ears pierced. I didn't even flinch!"

Darren was bored out of his mind and screamed through the whole thing. He also went through at least 2 suckers.

Now I need to mention that my brother,Mathew, had let us know he was working in Canada for the summer and would be leaving in May. I was having a hard time with it because we're pretty close and see him a lot and my kids just adore him, especially Darren. Plus, I'm pregnant and he won't be here for the baby to be born. I'm not sure why this is so huge to me, but it is. So we had their ears pierced on Friday night the week before Easter. That weekend was also conference weekend and a family Easter party on Saturday morning (to be blogged about later.) So Saturday morning I had everything timed just right so that we can eat, bathe, get ready and watch conference then leave to the party immediately after. Well, Mathew threw it all off :)

Rick hadn't gotten much sleep that night (thanks to WOW) and was sleeping in while I showered. Next thing I knew, Rick was up and dressed. I was surprised and he said I had a call from Mathew who was on his way to Canada that day and wanted to say goodbye to us on his way out! I just stared at Rick then finally said, "You're a little late for April Fool's." He laughed but then said it wasn't a joke. Mathew was on his way. Well, I lost it. I bawled while I got ready. I know he's a grown up and I think this adventure will be really good for him, but I still miss him. Its hard when you get used to someone being there, able to come play games or watch the kids most times when we'd call. (Mathew, if you're reading this I don't say it to make you feel bad. We really are excited for you.) Anyway, he came by hugged us, used our computer, then was off.

Look at that smile! Any questions how much she loves Mathew? He lived with us when she was born and for awhile she liked Mathew at least as much as Rick.

I don't think Darren would have been smiling if he had known he wouldn't see his buddy for such a long time :)

Carlyn is old enough to understand better what was going on and was a little more clingy to him, but it was also really sweet because every prayer for over a week prayed for Mathew to be safe and have a fun time in Canada. How sweet is that?

A busy week

We started our week last week with a family home evening flying kites in the park. It was a really windy day so I cajoled Rick into going. He really didn't want to but we had a lot of fun when we got there. We had cheap kites from Wal-mart and they were amazingly good flyers. Carlyn had a lot of interest in flying them but Anneliese lost interest after a few minutes. Darren played with a ball for a few minutes and played on the playground, mostly throwing wood chips, the rest of the time. Carlyn said, "Look. I'm a master at this!" She was great too. She got it really high all by herself.

Darren with his ball.
D on the slide. Probably with wood chips in his hands.

Daddy running after helping Annie get her kite up.

I know its hard to see but Carlyn is there all by herself and the kite is pretty high. She was doing it by herself. I let it go and she did the rest.

St. Patrick's Day was on a Tuesday and didn't turn out as we expected :) My mom couldn't come for our regular Tuesday visits. I had called my grandma to tell her we would eat at home and then head out. As soon as we were ready to leave my friend Denise called and said she was on her way to visit and also had some things to drop off. She had a garbage bag of barbie dolls and brat dolls. It was like Christmas at our house :) I have some extra brat doll bodies if anyone wants them. I don't like to keep the ones that don't have clothes. I never did make it to my grandma's house but we had a great visit with Denise and her two youngest kids. Carlyn must have been excited for St. Patrick's Day because she came up all in green and helped Annie wear green too. She kept asking when I was getting dressed so she could pinch me. :) I told her when I got dressed I would wear green. I made green eggs and ham for breakfast and it grossed me out and I don't think I'll do that again! I forgot what we had for lunch but we had taco salad for dinner and I figured the lettuce was green enough for me.

Annie in her green. She has on one of Carlyn's denim skirts and red tights. I did their hair all fancy too with lots of green bands in it (not in these pictures). They loved that.

Carlyn in her first outfit. The green sweater and tights are so cute, but don't match. She also decided it was too warm to wear the sweater and changed into a cute green top.

Rick wanted me to take this picture because Darren never sits still like this. I think he was watching Jungle Book, his new favorite movie.

Our ward had a Primary talent show on Saturday. I'll have to put a little clip on of Carlyn later, but I don't know how to do it from the other camera. Rick used our digital one and took several pictures of Carlyn's dance, but the lighting didn't work well so he took video of Annie's on it. This is part of Carlyn's dance class that are in our ward doing "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted. It was super cute and Carlyn was very enthusiastic. She's on the left and I'm sad I didn't get a better picture of just her. They have aprons on over their leotards and holding scarves.

Annie was in a group with the Sunbeam girls (and a cousin of one girl-she's the tall one) and they did a cute little dance. I chose this one because you can see Annie best. She's in the front right to start with the pink leotard and shoes. She's the smallest I think.

On Sunday the kids went with Aunt Belinda and Josh while Rick and I went to the Draper Temple dedication. They were so excited, even Darren, as they waved goodbye to us from Belinda's truck. Mathew came up last night too and we finished the night with a game of Cities and Nights (Settler's expansion.)

It was such a nice week weather wise. We went for a walk everyday. Yesterday was fairly cold and rainy and this morning we woke up to snow. What a change! I think it was last Thursday we were walking around the block and a neighbor lady came running out and gave us St. Patrick's Day bags of candy. She said she just missed us on St. Patrick's Day. It was so sweet and unexpected. Carlyn now wants to take her something in return. She's so thoughtful. I love it.

Skating, Sleeping, Silly Pictures

Darren rarely falls asleep anywhere except his bed and sometimes the car. I had to capture this cute picture when he fell asleep watching tv at my grandma's house. I love it!

Our neighbors let us know about a free skating night last week at the Ice Center in Murray. Darren and I watched while Rick took the girls skating. This is Carlyn and Anneliese with Olivia, our neighbor's daughter. Rick went around a couple times before he dared take the girls on the ice. Then they'd barely started when they had to leave for the Zamboni. That was Darren's favorite part of the night.

This was toward the end and if you can see Carlyn is in the middle with Brian and Will on either side. It was really great of them to help and Will especially was really sweet. Annie's feet were hurting so she was sitting down at this point. Rick was just getting some laps in but is there next to Brian.

This isn't the best picture, but Anneliese was hesitant, understandably for a 3 year old, so she was either hanging on Daddy or the wall the whole time. If you notice the bottom left corner, that's Carlyn. She didn't look like she was having the greatest time. I was chasing Darren all over the bleachers the whole time so I still got my exercise in :)

I was trying to get a picture through the glass of them and Rick asked for the camera. This is how the girls were for a good part of the time and Darren was so excited to see them because we'd been sitting there for a long time according to him.

Not the best picture, but I had to put it in to show how brave Carlyn was getting. I was so proud of her. She did fall several times but she did great. She was grinning the rest of the night and saying that she LOVES ice skating and can she take lessons. We can't right now, but I'd like to keep that enthusiasm up. She asks to go every day now. Rick did really well too and didn't fall once.

Friday night my sister's high school choir and her 4 kids, my Mom and Dad, my brother and his girlfriend all were going to the BYU Men's & Women's Chorus Concert. My sister said they ended up with extra tickets and Carlyn and I got to have a Mommy/Daughter date. She'd specifically asked for one recently and we realized it had been awhile so this was perfect. Even though it was Friday 13th and Rick and I were having an off day, we had a really great time. We even got ice cream at McDonald's afterwards and she felt so special. She told me that she loved it so much that she could just hug me for the rest of my life :) That made it worth it for me! We really loved the concert and had a great talk in the car both ways.

My parents stayed over at my Grandma's house Friday night after the concert. Saturday morning while the men moved a pool table for my Dad, my mom helped me with my house and a few things I had to do. I'm realizing that we just don't have enough room for 6 people in this little house and I'm feeling crowded. So I'm having to get creative with a few things. I'm no good at that. I did set up the toddler bed in Darren's room and that's this picture above. Saturday he was so tired that he didn't even fuss or get up. He just fell right asleep and I had to take a picture. He's taken naps on the bed but won't go to bed at night on it. I'm okay with letting him get used to it first.

While he was napping the girls were playing. I'd done a little rearranging (not done, as obvious in the picture) and they liked the change. Here is Annie folding socks. I hate that chore and I wish she could really mate them because she's always playing with them. Plus, there seem to be a ton of ones without mates. UGH. They had been to a birthday party and then played at McDonald's while my parents, Mathew, grandma and I had lunch. The kids weren't hungry but they ate half of mine :) I should have taken pictures of them after the party with their tutus and hair clips and crowns and decorated goblets. Thanks Jess they had a blast! Also, I got a lot done with my Mom's help and I feel a lot better though I've still got a lot to do.

Then they started taking pictures of everything. They took at least 20 of their play kitchen and several of each other. These were my favorites, but not the funniest. Carlyn took this of Annie.

Annie took this of Carlyn. Good pictures. Maybe they'll be photographers :)

Another thing Darren has gotten in the habit of doing is washing his hands in the bathroom sink. Yes our bathroom is that yellow! Short story: our other bathroom has rubber ducks and is so cute. When I was pregnant with Carlyn Rick painted the bathrooms (both of them) to match the ducks on the shower curtain. I love it in the other bathroom. :) Anyway, Darren is standing on a cute stool our neighbor gave us and if I can't find him, this is where he is. He turns it on, tries to get soap, and washes his hands. He usually won't stop on his own so I have to turn it off, dry his hands, and pull him out of there. It really is cute though. You can't see in this picture, but he's standing on his tippy toes. He just wants to do big kid things like the girls. See how proud he is of himself!

Random Pictures

While the men were at the Priesthood session we women went to Training Table. Ok, poor Darren was dragged along. 1 male with 10 females. He grabbed my sweater in the van and hid in it half way and this is what I found when I opened the door. Silly boy! These 2 aren't usually snuggly to each other. Usually it is the opposite. Carlyn was fighting it, but Annie said she just wanted a snuggle. Cute.
Later we went to D's bedroom after hearing his screams. We found Carlyn changing his poopy diaper! She was using a lot of wipes, but was doing a pretty good job. Rick stepped in to finish while I snapped a picture.
This is a typical day with Darren. He fights getting dressed and climbs anything he can.

Carlyn and her friend. Aren't friends great?
This is the kids doting on a little boy I was tending. They just love him. Even Darren.

Ring around the roses (or tulips & daffodils)

The girls in my Grandma's back yard. Posing, of course.