another new park

a new use for dumptrucks!

i love the raised arms!

braden called this a tickle plant:)

they had some new equipment at this park
that the kids hadn't seen before

someone let Cailey borrow their scooter for a while
and she loved it!

rolling down the hill

whee!

sweet smile...the girls LOVED holding addison!

meet macy!

Before being groomed:

after being groomed:

Meet our new 7 month old adopted puppy named Macy! We always said if we had another girl we'd name her Macy, so here she is! Not exactly what I was thinking but she is SO cute and sweet. She's a Cavachon which is half Bichon, half Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and will stay the size she is now. The kids are super excited about her and have loved taking her on walks, playing with her, feeding her, chasing her, and just sitting with her.

mommy according to Cailey and Braden

I got this off of Laura's blog and was very interested in having Cailey and Braden do it! I wasn't sure what they would say but they both answered right away, had fun, and gave some cute answers! I asked them the questions seperately so they wouldn't be influenced by what the other one said.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
Cailey: "Can I have a kiss?"
Braden: "I love you"

2. What makes Mommy happy?
Cailey: "by me behaving"
Braden: "when I say, can I do anything for you?"

3. What makes Mommy sad?
Cailey: "by me not trying my best"
Braden: "when I get hurt"

4. How does your Mommy make you laugh?
Cailey: "by making silly faces"
Braden: "by tickling my armpits"

5. What was your Mommy like as a child?
Cailey: "you had glasses"
Braden: "you were like a girl" :)

6. How old is your Mommy? (31)
Cailey: "31"
Braden: "35"

7. How tall is your Mommy?
Cailey: "30 inches"
Braden: "really tall"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Cailey: "to play games with me"
Braden: "play games with us and read to us"

9. What does your Mommy do when you're not around?
Cailey: "stay home and play with Braden and Kinsey"
Braden: "do your computer or read"

10. If your Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Cailey: "sign language"
Braden: "singing"

11. What is your Mommy really good at?
Cailey: "not eating lots of junk food"
Braden: "cooking"

12. What is your Mommy not very good at?
Cailey: "fixing the computer"
Braden: "you are good at it all"

13. What does your Mommy do for a job?
Cailey: "teaching school"
Braden: "teacher"

14.What is your Mommy's favorite food?
Cailey: "salt" (anyone who knows me well is probably cracking up..I know I was!!:)
Braden: "Chick fil A soda" (so true:)

15.What makes you proud of your Mommy?
Cailey: "when you picked me up early from school and didn't forget me"
Braden: "you cook so good"

16. If your Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Cailey: "Wendy"
Braden: "Tinkerbell" (they have really been into 'playing' Peter Pan lately!

17. What do you and your Mommy do together?
Cailey: "we read books and play games"
Braden: "hug and kiss, play games, and read"

18. How are you and your Mommy the same?
Cailey: "we look like each other"
Braden: "we are both silly"

19. How are you and your Mommy different?
Cailey: "we have different hair"
Braden: "we don't have the same skin"

20. How do you know your Mommy loves you?
Cailey: "because you snug me and tell me you love me"
Braden: "because you hug me and kiss me"

21. What does your Mommy like most about your dad?
Cailey: "that he gets you directions" (she knows me well!)
Braden: "when he picks you up" (not sure what that's about but it's cute!)

22. Where is your Mommy's favorite place to go?
Cailey: "the beach"
Braden: "to stores"

cooking crayons

We had some crayons that needed to be thrown away and I'm so cheap that I figured they could be 're' invented so we cooked them and made some NEW chubbie crayons!

peel crayons and put in a GREASED muffin pan
(we used a mini muffin pan)

mix up colors to make it interesting

cook in a 250 degree oven for about 8 min or until melted.

take them out CAREFULLY and swirl them with a toothpick (opt.)

i wanted mine to cool fast so I put them in a freezer for 5 min.

lightly tap the back of the muffin pan
to release the crayons

The kids thought this was the coolest thing ever and LOVED being able to take the paper off and break the crayons:). They helped come up with the color combinations too.

Dd for Daddy!

Dd is for drum!

Dd is for dots! We were also working on patterns:)

This was my favorite letter craft we've done
so far and it was Braden's idea! We did a D with 7 d doors on it and
inside each door there was a different Dd sticker.
(daisy duck, dinosaur, Dora, Daddy:), dragon, dog, dolphin,
and dump truck!!)

Dd is for do-a-dots!

We did Dd last week for Daddy's birthday:)!

Crafts and Activities: played 'hide the donkey' with a plastic donkey and 'pin the tail on the donkey', played duck, duck, goose (which was hilarious!!), sorted diamonds, did a 'dime drop' game (where they stand up and drop a dime into a bowl...the object is to see how many they can get in), dinosaur dig, played charades with various Dd animals (dog, duck, dragon, dinosaur, donkey, deer), dug and drew Dd's in dirt, drummed, played detectives and went on a hunt for Dd's, played dress up (doctor, detectives, dancers, and divers), danced, played dodge ball,

Foods: Kinsey had a SUPER time eating foods that start with Dd this week! Donuts, dates (that we put in the shape in a Dd), dumplings, duck*, drumsticks, doritos, deer*, dill, dirty rice, dijon mustard, dressing, drinks, danish, and dessert!

march snow storm

praise the Lord snowman!

happy snowman

warm snowman

We got our second 'big' snow of the year and it was in March!! I remember when we lived in MA it snowed as late as April 1st but this was big news for NC. The kids were excited about it and played outside before Brian went to work. Later in the day they went out for a snowball fight and made snow angels:). Oh...and as soon as they went outside they all wanted to eat the snow and catch snowflakes in their mouths!

visit from an old friend

My good friend, Adele, came to visit us for a couple hours last weekend and we hadn't seen her in TOO long:) so we were all happy to see her! She brought Emily with her (who was two weeks old the last time the kids saw her) but Jamison stayed home with his dad. Cailey and Kinsey loved holding Emily and playing with her! We met up at church because Cailey had a mission dinner to go to that night. (I DID get pictures of her playing some cool games and posing with Lindsey but my camera erased them..grumble, grumble). Anyway, while Cailey was at her dinner we went out to eat with the rest of our family, Adele and Emily, and the Williams and had a great time (once Beth got her food, anyway:)! I'm so happy Adele was able to come up to see us:)!!

nuf said

true servant's heart

Braden's FAVORITE words to say are, "is there anything I can do to help you?" He truly has such a servant's heart and wants to help with anything from getting a drink to emptying the dishwasher! He constantly takes initiative and cleans up a room without being asked. Now that he's getting older he asked to learn how to do more things like: make salad, rinse dishes, fold clothes, and clean the counters. This sweet boy is going to make a great husband when he grows up!