Weekend at Grammie at Papas

Dave had a busy weekend earlier this month so the girls and I ran down to Cincinnati. Papa has started a tradition of painting the girls nails. Avery hasn't ever wanted to participate, but she did this time! She sat so still I couldn't even believe it. She would point out one finger at a time and let him paint them. There was a little polish smeared on her feet and carpet:) Addison had a pattern picked out and Papa did a great job fulfilling her wishes. The next day we drove downtown to Findlay Market. I loved looking at all the different vendors. We picked out some yummy breads and cheeses and went to a park for lunch. It was the perfect windy day for a kite. Papa helped Addi get it going really high and for a long time. Addison wondered all over the park with the kite. She keeps asking if we can go back and fly it. We ended the day by going to Skyline and then I headed back home with the girls. It was a great distraction to Dave going on a campout and then chaperoning a youth dance. The girls want the weather to be warm so bad! It keeps flipping back and forth on us. Addison got a new bathing suit and wore it for two days inside. It came with a funny little swim cap that we couldn't even get to fit on top of her (large) cute head of curls. Addison is still loving her preschool group. They all are obsessed with Elsa and want to wear their dresses every time. We usually give in at the end and they prance around happy and smiling. One of the little girls is moving this summer and the other will go to a different preschool this fall. This has been a fun group for Addison and I'm grateful for the little friendships that have developed from it. We've been bundling up and going on family walks after dinner. This was always a favorite thing to do in Buffalo because we would end up at the Quinn's house! Avery is a slllooooww bike rider and it drives Dave nuts:) She Fred Flinstone pedals it and going very very slow. He ended up convincing her to push the back of her bike instead. I've since gone and found her a smaller little car to ride on. We're looking forward to hooking the bike seats on soon and riding this summer !

Easter Pretties

Since Easter is on conference weekend we gave the girls their Easter dresses early. They got matching dresses this year and loved it! They especially liked the necklaces they got. Looking at them dressed alike reminded me that Avery is growing up. She isn't a baby anymore and is growing into a toddler like her big sister. Avery is starting to mark her territory and Addison is learning to share with her. I love these two wild girls and love that they get to be sisters. I teased Dave that we will only have a house full of girls so he needs to get used to the dressing up:) I've found some other cute matching dresses for the girls this spring. It's so much fun to dress these two little ladies!

Egg Hunt Pros

We're on our way to celebrating Easter almost every day around here. We started out with an FHE lesson on why we celebrate Easter. We've already been to two egg hunts and countless "practice" rounds in the back yard (hosted by Addison). Addi throws all the empty eggs in the back yard and then works her way around and finds them. Avery is devastated as she discovers that there is NO candy in the eggs that Addison throws. I helped host an egg hunt for playgroup last week and it was a hit. There was a great turnout and we had a ton of eggs. Avery was timid at first and then got the hang of it. Dave had to work last weekend so I took the girls to a fun Easter activity at the YMCA. They got to participate in an egg hunt, meet the Easter bunny and have breakfast. It was the perfect activity to keep us busy. The girls didn't even cry by the bunny! My parents came up for the afternoon and we dyed some eggs. Avery was a pro at dropping the eggs (more like throwing) into the cups. We also found this really cool egg event put on at the local high school. It was a helicopter egg drop. A few helicopters dropped thousands of eggs from way up in the sky. It was an absolute zoo and Addison only got a few eggs. Poor Avery was kept strapped in her stroller because of the crazy crowd and I was by myself.The general women's broadcast was this past weekend as well. I always enjoy being spiritually uplifted before conference follows the next weekend. Living close by my mom we've started a little tradition of going out to dinner before. We picked Olive Garden this time and it was so yummy! Dave had a day off work today so we braved the zoo during spring break. It was kind of a bad idea. We had a hard time finding parking and all the exhibits were packed. It was a good thing we have membership and it didn't matter that we left after a couple hours! We had the sister missionaries over for dinner which the girls usually love. I think they were tired from the zoo and being out in the sun with no naps. One of the sisters had never had Skyline before so we introduced her to that. Avery pulled out all her fancy tricks and threw noodles everywhere including her hair. It took both Dave and I to clean up afterwards with sweeping and mopping.

Avery had her 18 month appointment and is a little delayed in a few areas. I have to set up an appointment with the state department to have an evaluation. Avery's speech isn't as developed as her doctor would like and she still is having a difficult time expressing her feelings. Hopefully the evaluation happens within the next couple months and we can start working on things at home. Easter is this Sunday and so is conference. I love when these two fall on the same day. I'm hosting dinner this year and it's the one holiday that I enjoy cooking the meal. Addison is hoping that the bunny brings her a Frozen fishing pole:) I'll cross my fingers for her!

Warm Weather!

It's here! It's finally here! The sun is gone and we've all snapped out of our winter blues. We've been taking full advantage off all the sunshine this past week. With daylight savings time we've been staying up later and playing outside. Avery is loving being able to go in her swing again. Addison pushes her over and over:) We've taken a few walks around the neighborhood and hope to continue to do it a lot. We've got out our Easter decorations and Addison made a fun egg shaped banner to hang. She could color for hours and hours and I love it! She colors very carefully and then glues little pieces that she has cut out. I've started doing some home workout videos and so far I'm committed. My foot is feeling great and the girls love to roam around trying to do the workouts with me. One of Avery's favorite snacks is a blueberry smoothie. They are dark and MESSY! Sometimes I don't know why I give it to her since she ends up throwing it on the ground and all over her body! This past weekend I got to go to Time Our For Women with my mom in Indianapolis. It loved it and it truly was a pampering for my soul. The speakers are always amazing and the music is so powerful. I end up crying, laughing and listening all in the same moment! We got to stay in a nice hotel and enjoyed eating nice lady food. We squeezed in a little shopping on our way back and then headed home to the little ones. I scored some clearance clothes for Addison this fall. This was my fourth TOFW with my mom and I look forward to it every chance we get to go. I found a bench for the end of our bed that I've been searching for! I scored it marked down due to a small scratch on the leg that you can't even see. I love it and now I just have to convince Dave to pick out some night stands:) These past couple of weeks the girls have been so patient in driving around with me. I've had a lot of  things to take to people and our ward is so spread out. They sit in the car and color, eat, sleep and sometimes I give in and let them watch a movie. I'm teaching them about what it means to serve someone. Addison seems to be picking up on what it means and gets excited to help me drop off a nice loaf of bread or card to someone in need. This calling is teaching me to truly have Christ like love for everyone.We're headed to the zoo tomorrow with Grammie to enjoy the almost 70 degree weather!

Water Please

We've hit the phase where Avery LOVES the toilet brush. I actually got a nice shower today while she scrubbed away. There was so much water on the floor that she slipped and hit her mouth on the toilet bowl. There was a lot of blood and tears. Addison finished her second session of swim lessons and loves it! Finally!!!! She is getting more confident jumping into the pool with her life jacket on. She had an amazing teacher who pushed her and didn't let her whine on the edge. Dave's on call tonight and I'm gearing up to catch up on some tv and crafting:) 

Snow Days

We got dumped on these past two weekends with snow. Somehow Dave talked me into going sledding:) We went over to a friends house and used their back yard. By the end Addison was climbing up the hill herself with her sled. Avery enjoyed sitting on someones lap going down and only ended up with one bruise of her cheek. Dave and I have been better about getting babysitters or asking my parents to watch the girls. We went out to get Thai food and then walked around the mall last weekend. It was a nice evening out and of course I enjoyed not having to make dinner. I took the girls down to Cincinnati last week to meet my mom for lunch. The girls were wild at lunch, but we had free coupons so it made it worth it! Addison loves to play dress up at Grammies in all of Katie's old dance costumes. Addison has NEVER passed out on a couch or taken a nap in a random place. It got really quiet and I went down to look. She had fallen dead asleep on the couch! We party hard when we're at Grammies:) It's our turn to host preschool again this month. We learned about the letter N and the girls had a blast. Addison loves to have it at our house which makes the efforts worth it. The girls loved making noodle necklaces out of colored noodles Addison and I made. Addison loves to learn and create. She reminds me so much of myself. Avery likes to sit and pull at my leg and cry during preschool. One of the girls call her , "Angry Avery". It's really sad and funny at the same time. We've been meeting a friend at the science museum for a couple weeks now. The girls love it and Addison enjoys running around with her little boy. Avery has perfected her "cheese" face and now her "scowl" face. She is starting to say more words and when she says them it is really soft and quiet. She loves to say, "Hi" over and over.  Her favorite thing to do is run over and hang and pull at the food pantry. She screams and cries until someone opens it and she steals a pack of fruit snacks. She's a little sneak and she knows what she wants! Her hair is starting to come in and it looks like it's going to be curly. She loves to sit and let me comb it in the morning while she sits in the sink and brushes her teeth. Grammie and Papa came up over the weekend and brought us dinner and dessert. It was such a nice surprise and the girls were really happy. Dave and I convinced my parents into letting us sneak away to go see a movie. Addison talked my parents into letting her stay up late and watch Frozen. Grammie braided her hair like Elsa and helped her put on her magic ice gloves. Things are crazy busy between balancing new callings and family life. I had three meetings last week and I was exhausted by the end of the week. We've had to juggle the girls with us a couple times and they are learning to behave. The busier I get the better I am at preparing a head of time. I've had dinner on the table and am finding more ways to spend time with the girls. The girls are starting to play better with each other and I love watching it!