Our Sunny Day

The worst news about Easter weekend was that Derek was out of town for the best weather day we have had in 6 months. I taught my two classes in the morning (water aerobics and Bodystep). I was tired, but I couldn't let the good weather go to waste! (Especially since the forecasters weren't even pretending it might last.) I came home and attacked the weeds in the front lawn and mowed front and back. I took the girls for a slurpee after that and got the brilliant idea of washing the car at a drive thru wash. Of course everyone else had that idea too. So I ended up at a do-it-yourself wash. When we got home I still had to cook dinner and clean up the house before Derek got home. I am still in pain from all of this work. What an idiot. (But we don't say that word in our house--so I will have to say what Sarah said today "b-idiot!" followed by "I didn't say idiot mom!") But the yard looks sweet, the girls had a BLAST playing outside and I will recover. (I hope sooner than later.)
My front flower bed. Sarah only managed to uproot one tulip. I never got any pics of my hyacinths because the girls beheaded them all :(

Libby figured out she could climb this little tree in our front yard. She only fell out once!

Happy Easter!

On Wednesday of last week I realized Easter was looming! I hadn't done any prep, decorating or planning. Luckily Derek was supposed to do shotgun qualifications and they were cancelled. So he was home all day, and I did some serious shopping. (BTW, serious shopping gets rough on a pregnant body...but I managed to hit 5 stores or so between groceries and easter basket stuff.)

Here are the resulting baskets :) Pretty fun.

I painted Libby and Sarah each a frame for their room--and used it to mark the basket that was for them. They each got a swimsuit, flip flops, sunglasses, and a mermaid Barbie. Oh yeah, and a movie and a game for preschool time. So I went a little overboard? Yeah. Libby has already worn her swimsuit about 1/2 the time since then. I am hoping that all the sun related stuff will bring out the sun.

I have to give Derek props. He had a boys weekend with his high school buddies in Portland over the weekend. He managed to get up at 4:30 on Sunday morning to be back for baskets and egg hunts before church. Then he came for sacrament meeting and went to work the Mariners game. He got to come back in time to go to dinner at his sister Alayne's house. Whew. Busy day!

Fun in Utah

We had a great trip to Utah. I got to forget about myself and stop bemoaning my pregnant-ness in order to help plan my sister Rachel's wedding. So fun! In one week we found a reception center, met with 2 florists, one cake decorater extraordinaire (I highly recommend coconut vanilla cake!), chose announcements, and managed to have some fun too. I finally got to meet Brad, the lucky guy. He will be a great addition to our family, although Derek did bemoan the fact that he isn't really a sports fan. He is more of another addition to the acting, movie loving part of the family. He is very fun. Apparently he is a very competitive game player. That will make Derek happy!
The girls got YET ANOTHER COLD while we were there. But they had a blast playing with Bryn, Brian, Emily, and Grandpa and Grandma while Rachel and Brad and I ran around doing wedding stuff. Actually, Brad became an instant favorite with the girls too.
I enjoyed all the good food I love in Utah that I can't get here. Super healthy stuff like La Frontera, Carl's Jr. and In and Out Burger. I gained a few extra pounds while there. But, only 7 ish weeks to go!

Derek missed us and was very glad we came back...just in time for him to go away for a weekend with the boys (his highschool friends) in Portland. But he promised to be back in time for Easter eggs before church on Sunday.

The girls with their travel backpacks. They did quite well on the flight because we borrowed Maren's mini-DVD player and watched one of Alayne's Barbie Movies.




Grandpa let the girls ride on the suitcases while we waited in line to check them. Why are my flights out of SLC always delayed? So annoying!

I couldn't tell if the girls were really impressed by In and Out Burger or not. Libby prefers Burger King (or King Burger as she called it the other day) because she loves Chicken fries.

Mommy Knows Best

Sarah absolutely insisted that she didn't need a nap today.
Hmm...

Libby covered her up with the blanket. So cute. They are such fun together. At lunch today they were pretending to be each other. Libby had Sarah's blanket and insisted that I call her Sarah and vice versa. It was kind of crazy having them so close together, but I am glad now :)

Amos 3:8 er 7

Since Christmas we have been working on memorizing one scripture at a time before bed. The last few have kind of gotten mushed up together somehow. Every time we say "Amos, chapter 3, verse..." and let the girls answer, they say "8". Both of them. Then, they do pretty well in the scripture until we get to the end, "he revealeth his secrets unto the least of these my brethren." So funny. I guess they are getting some good concepts, even if they aren't the correct ones.
We did Amos 3:7 along with introducing the pictures of the current apostles and prophets so they would recognize them when they saw them speaking at conference. It worked pretty well, Libby knew them all. But she thought Elder Scott must have cut his mohawk (I guess his picture does look a little like he has a mohawk) and some have aged enough that she couldn't decide who they were. Sarah just loved to point to the pictures on the closet and have us say the "names" again and again. She did learn a few. Anyone she didn't know she would say "Hales."

50 Nifty United States

I have been teaching the girls one of our family favorite songs. I figured that since they were pledging allegiance to the United States, they should know what the states are, right?
We started learning it about 3 weeks ago. They picked it up pretty fast. It is long, though, so they struggle with the stamina to go the distance. I offered them a whole candy bar if they could sing it for me at preschool. Needless to say, neither got a candy bar for their work on Wednesday, but I thought it was cute enough to share.

Sarah Says the Pledge of Allegiance

She does miss one line when she gets distracted by almost dropping the flag...but I think it is forgivable.

Sarah's Playtime

Derek walked into the room today while Sarah was playing with her Barbies. Here is the conversation he overheard her creating between her dolls.
Doll #1: "Those are my clothes you idiot."
Doll #2: "In our house, we don't say idiot."
Doll #1: "Sorry Mommy."
Doll #2: "You are going to get a spanking."

Hmmm...I am not sure exactly what that says about my parenting.

Daddy's Little Girl

Yesterday Derek was watching the NCAA basketball finals and also a bit of the Mariner's baseball game in between FHE and dinner and getting the girls in bed. Sarah showed herself to be Daddy's little girl when she kept asking, "Can't we watch Football? Or Wrestling?"

Cooties!

We had a good conference weekend. We pulled the couch into the kitchen where the computer is, and I relaxed watching some amazing talks. Our friend Jen came and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon session with us. So fun! On Sunday evenings I have been trying to start a family tradition that was something I loved in my own family--game night! We have tried Chutes and Ladders, and Dora Memory, but our abbreviated version of Cooties was the most fun so far. We all had fun making our Cooties, and then we played with them for a bit afterward. The new version has all kinds of fun parts, not like the version we had as kids where all the legs, tongues, etc. were the same. But, the heads do not stay on the bodies very well.