1st Playgroup Date

A playgroup was formed in our ward and today was the first get together at a local area park. Except that I accidentally stopped at the wrong one...

Oh well. At least it had some pretty scenery and was just down the road from the correct park. :)

We finally got there and the kids were bouncing around with the other kids! Looks like this playgroup is going to be a big hit! The perk of it is that I can now talk to my friends while our kids play. Win/win is definitely the way to go!

Thirty

The day has finally come: I turned THIRTY! An age I remember when I was a child that seemed, well, OLD! But now that I am at this age, I can honestly say I don't FEEL old. (And I certainly hope I don't look it either!)

The celebration started with a sweet card/poem from Aubrey. She made it for me in art class at school. I just love her!

Calls from family and friends wishing me a Happy Birthday.

The kids and I met up with a friend for lunch. Pizza and good company!

And then my family took me out to dinner! My hubby told me that I could pick any place. Let's be honest though. With young kids, any place just isn't the case!! (The Melting Pot will have to wait for another day!) I was actually just happy to spend the time with my cute kids and wonderful husband that I decided Red Robin would be perfect. The kids are happy there and when they're happy - I generally am too! :)

Andrew and I arrived separately so I could join them at the restaurant after I fed him. John must have found this window of opportunity to share with the employees at Red Robin that it was my birthday. They even knew who I was when I came in to be seated! So after dinner, I was embarrassed by a group of singers and ice cream on the house. It could have been worse I suppose. They could have asked me to stand on the chair! hahaha I would have graciously declined! :) But don't worry; I will be getting him back when it's his turn.

I usually have a salad or wrap but since it was MY day, I splurged and had their famous cheeseburger with a strawberry freckled lemonade. Boy did I forget how big their burgers were! Wow! I couldn't even finish half of it. The girls brought amazement to our table. Aubrey reading the jokes on the paper coasters and Jocelyn was on a balloon high bouncing in her seat. I even caught Aubrey throwing up her hand a time or two to prevent it from entering her "area." And Andrew just slept all cozy in his car seat.

The day couldn't have turned out more perfect!

Soccer Updates

Aubrey's soccer team has won their first two games so far of the season! The first game they won 7-0 and the second game they won 3-0. They're doing awesome out there on the field. She's been playing sweeper lately and really enjoys it. This season's coach is actually the same coach she had two seasons ago and we're so glad she's back on her team. Apparently last season there was a problem with the parks and recs system and took the coach out of the loop so we were stuck with a mediocre coach. I do have to say though that this coach last season, as much as we didn't care for him, he pushed them to get higher than their level so this season it really shows on the field!

After the last game was over, Jocelyn was in the truck with me and Andrew and Aubrey rode in the car with John and I have to note another funny saying from Jocelyn. A car in front of us stopped rather quickly because of another car ahead was waiting to turn so because of this we had to stop rather quickly as well. Not the "tires screeching" kind of stop but you know what I mean. The purse falling off the seat onto the floor kind of stop! :) Right after this happened, Jocelyn said to me: "Woah! Let's not do that again, okay?!?! That was SCARY!" I couldn't help but laugh. What a funny girl!

Here are some pictures from tonight's soccer game:

{She caught me snapping her picture here!}

{And again}

{Of course her attention span doesn't last long at this age. The crackers out won her desire to watch the game.}

{Now I see you, now I don't!}

I know this picture has nothing to do with soccer, but I had to post this adorable picture of Andrew somewhere! :)

{I layed Andrew on our bed while I was helping to get the girls off to bed and when I came back to where he was laying, this is how I found him. I just love how he's holding his hands together!}

American History Museum

It was the first day of Aubrey's school spring break and our family drove up to Washington D.C. to meet up with my cousin and her son for the day at the National Museum of American History. Our goal while living out here has been to see as many monuments and museums as possible. Especially when most of them are free attractions! Andrew is almost 4 months old now and I'm finally feeling like it's a good time to get out and travel a bit more again. Here's some of the photos I took on our adventure:

{Sign in front of the museum}

{Girls playing with blocks on a level board}

{Girls playing with magnetic items - a science exhibit of some sorts}

{Gigantic telescope!}

{Jocelyn and her cousin wrestling around in the kid play area}

{My cousin and her son}

{Jocelyn spent much of her time at this table - coloring! :)}

{Jocelyn in front of a train}

{And another train}

{Andrew preferred being held over sitting in the stroller. I sure didn't mind!}

{History on our hometown: Portland!!}

{Cousins & best of buddies}

{Our fam!}

After lunch, we stood in a VERY long line to see the National Treasures of Popular Culture and here are a few pictures I took from there:

{Dorothy's Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz}

{Kermit the Frog! My girls were like "Who???"}

I wish I remembered more of the trip so I could tell you some more things that we saw and did but it's just not coming to me. If you click on the links to the Museum, it will tell you more of what they're showcasing.

Easter

Our family spent Easter going to church in the morning and then having dinner and an Easter egg hunt in the late afternoon with friends. I of course made deviled eggs. Easter doesn't seem complete without them. Had them growing up as a child when going to the grandparents and has been a tradition ever since. Food aside, Easter is one of my favorite celebrations and times to reflect on Christ and all that He has done for us!

{Easter baskets at home}

{Aren't their bunny ears so cute? :)}

{Andrew off in dreamland while at our friends.}

{Let the Easter hunt begin!}

That Darn Mouse!

What was supposed to be just a family movie night turned into something WAY more exciting. We bought the kids The Tale of Despereaux as a surprise for tonight's family movie and boy were they ever excited to find out what we were watching. I even laid out blankets galore for them to lounge on and watch with their little cup of jelly beans. (Yes, we broke out a little bit of Easter candy early! I couldn't resist.)

After the movie ended around 9:30pm (way past their bedtime by the way) and since church is early in the morning, I had to scoot them off to bed quickly. Aubrey was in brushing her teeth and I was in Jocelyn's room reading her a story with Andrew on my left and Jocelyn on my right in her rocking chair. As "Big Dog Little Dog" was coming to an end, out of the corner of my eye I saw something small scurry across her floor. It ran from the side of her bed, out her door and around the corner down the hall to who knows where. I dropped the book (not Andrew!) and chased after it with Andrew in tow and left Jocelyn behind in her chair. What was it you ask? A MOUSE! Does anyone else find it super ironic that we watched a mouse movie to then find a mouse in our house??? Especially since we haven't seen one in our house (let alone upstairs) since we moved into our house 2 1/2 years ago?!?! So naturally I freaked out and accidentally scared Andrew who was falling asleep for bed. We searched high and low and about an hour later as I was putting Andrew to bed finally after having to do some serious rocking, I decided to open our hall closet and check around. I kicked the bottom shelf with my foot (sock on luckily) and it darted out from behind an extra pillow BACK into Jocelyn's room. So John and I (mostly John as I'm terrified at this point and trying to find traps as quick as possible) search high and low in her room WHILE she's sleeping. I put up the baby gate across her bedroom door thinking it would be a good "trap" and as he finally found it behind her bed, it made a b-line for the door again as John followed quickly behind with a q-tip box and lid. This thing was DINKY but I didn't think it was so dinky to jump THROUGH the baby gate holes. Wow did I ever underestimate the powers of a mouse! Where it went next made me shiver even more than before. It went into our bedroom. Which is also Andrew's room. Those that know me know that I absolutely hate rodents and insects. I was petrified at this point. John found it underneath Andrew's changing table and almost had it until it ran into my closest. I swear it's out to torture me as long as it possibly can. So after lots of banging walls and shoes in the closest and searching with a flashlight, it ran out the closet door. The only way we knew this is because John screeched like a girl (who can blame him) as he felt mouse paws jump on his feet as it fled into the night. Or until he found it back again underneath the changing table anyways. He was trying to shove towels in front of the table so it would only have one side to exit. When he looked back under to check and it was GONE! What the heck???? And that's unfortunately where the fiasco left off. My OCD went into overdrive with this ever annoying incident that I decided I had to let it go or I'd literally go crazy. (Trust me, inside I'm still screaming "get the mouse!" but I'm exhausted and with it being Easter Sunday in just a short while, I'm needing all the sleep I can get!) I'm still clueless why we even have mice as I keep our house rather clean! Very frustrating. And we don't even eat upstairs so what is it attracted to? It's 1 in the morning and I have to be up in 6 hours. I don't even know how I'm going to get any sleep knowing there's a mouse on the loose. Looks like this mouse has bravery and courage to escape our attempts. Much like Despereaux! What a night! Can't wait to by some REAL mouse traps. Hate the things but hate mice in the same living quarters even more. Wish me luck! I know I'm going to need it.

HAPPY EASTER everyone! I'm behind in posts but expect to see a few soon as I catch up. :)

Girls Having Fun!

I took Aubrey and Jocelyn to the park in the afternoon to play. Andrew stayed behind with John. It was a little too cold and windy out for him to be outside and not that I didn't want him there with me, it was fun spending some quality time with my two girls. I think their faces say it all! :)