Family fun

The kids loved the Disney Headbands game so Chase got the original one for Easter. 

We all started laughing when Derek put the unicorn card up. 

I thought Zoe looked like a flapper with the headband on the side and her hair curled like that.

Growing kids

Maeley is growing her bangs out. As much as she likes to have all her hair down those pesty bangs end up in her eyes. I can't believe how big she is getting. She loves to read. She reads so much after we put the kids to bed we have to check on her to make sure she went to make sure she went to bed. Otherwise she will come downstairs late and tell us how much she read. Or there are the days she wakes up at 5am to read. I can't believe what a book worm she has become. Yesterday she told me during the summer we will need to go to the library often to get her new books. 

Chase is happily showing off his new shoes. He loves to run. In fact I love racing him. Those are some of the best workouts, he's fast. He also love to eat. Seriously I'm worried what its going to be like to feed him as a teenager. He is doing so well at school. He has many friends and really enjoys it. He does very well at reading and math. When he isn't too rushed he has great handwriting. He has so much more confidence now than he had before school started. This week he was an especially happy kid when he had mom and dad help build all this Lego sets. We are getting ready to start his bedroom. 

Silly Zoe. She didn't want to miss a chance getting her picture taken. She has been having headaches over the last couple months. I took her in to find out she had a sinus infection and seasonal allergies. She had to get an x-ray taken and she was so good. She stood perfectly still and did exactly what she was asked to. I will not forget the look on her face when she saw the x-ray. She was a bit horrified. We have so much fun doing things together. She's such a good sport riding in the car to and from the kids school twice a day. Zoe loves to go to my parents and bake cookies with my mom. The funny thing is she enjoys baking them more than eating them.

This is a great picture of them. I love these kids! I'm lucky to be their mom.

Baby chicks

My parents sadly don't have animals any more. They do have some wild chickens that roam between a few houses. Lately they have had many hens lay eggs in their yard or chicken coop. I think there has been 5 hens within the last couple months. As you can imagine the kids love them. Finally I remembered to bring my camera last week and snap a few pictures. 

I absolutely love this picture! My dad loves having chickens roam his yard. They all come to him when he goes outside expecting to be fed. This momma hen didn't even care that my dad took some of her babies from her for a few minutes. Our kids are in love with all the baby chicks. Plus, I love Chase's grin it has always reminded me of my dad. 

Easter and a birthday

On Easter Derek turned the big 3-0. Before the kids found their Easter baskets and eggs they gave Daddy a card and some candy. His big birthday present hopefully will be done next weekend, epoxy flooring in the garage. 

The kids got outfits from Mom and Dad. 

Excited over what they found in their baskets. 

There definitely isn't a lot of hiding the eggs in our back yard. Chase said it was too easy, and that next year we should do it inside. 

A very quick family picture before leaving for church.

Chase didn't get new church clothes because he really didn't need any. Instead he received a nice outfit. 

More Easter activities

This year Easter definitely got a lot of attention. Makes a big difference now that we are near family again.

Friday night we had Derek's parents over to dye Easter eggs with us.

The kids had so much fun.

Saturday morning we met at a park with Derek's family and had a nice family Easter breakfast, egg hunt, and lesson.

Can you tell she's kind of obsessed with the color purple?

Cute cousin Lydia

Backyard oasis

When we looked at this house I was in love before heading upstairs. The backyard definitely played a roll in that.

We have synthetic grass! I couldn't be more happy about it either! 

It's not a big backyard but definitely adequate for our needs. 

Eventually we'd love a huge umbrella and outdoor patio set over there.

The previous owners finished the backyard in July of last year. I'm so happy we get the enjoy it!  

Easter festivities

This past Saturday our new ward had an Easter Egg Hunt. First off, wow! They certainly know how put an activity together.  They had approximately 3,500 eggs. As you can imagine our kids had a great time.

Here's the candy from the ward Easter egg hunt. And a sneak peek at our new house. 

Then Sunday my family got together to do an Easter/Mom's birthday party.

All the kids made super cute race cars.

While Chase was getting an egg he found, Boston was too but it was from Chase's basket.

Devan and Maeley

Now these kids have way more candy than they need. Possibly more than what they got for Halloween. 

We all had so much fun can't wait for this weekend!

The girls new bed

We had ordered a new bunk bed for the girls over President's Day weekend. It was delayed because when it came in it was the wrong one and we didn't like it much. So we had to wait again. That meant the girls slept on mattresses on the floor a couple nights. I got the call the bed came in Friday afternoon. I was not expecting it for another week so it was a pleasant surprise. We had already planned with the kids that we would do movie night. After Derek came home from work we quickly went to pick it up, came home, ate dinner, cleaned up then we enjoyed movie night. When it was time to put the kids in bed we decided to have the girls sleep on the floor in Chase's room so we could set up the bunk bed. That was a great idea because the next morning seriously felt like Christmas. I could hear the kids waking up so I quickly jumped out of bed and closed the girls room until everyone was ready.

We had some very happy girls. Zoe's response was, "I loooove it! She was thrilled with the purple polka dots on her new bedding. I'm so happy we decided on getting a new bunk bed. The old one was twin over full and this is twin over twin. Their new room isn't as big as the last house so this fits much better in here.

Later that day Derek and I went to Ikea and bought some picture frame ledges and lamps for the girls. Its so perfect for them because they always read/look at books before bed. 

Maeley spent most of Sunday on her bed reading. She finished 2 chapter books. She is quite the book worm.

Now we need to focus on Chase's room because he was feeling a bit left out. And by the way we are loving our new house! 

Valentine's Day

As per tradition the kids woke up to see that their door had been heart attacked. 

They also each got a bag with treats and other things.

We definitely do more for the kids for Valentine's Day than Derek and I do for each other. This year it didn't make sense to get each other gifts when we are buying a house. And that's perfectly okay with us. 

Maeley and Chase had a great time at school giving and receiving Valentine's. I think Zoe felt a little left out. 

Our soon to be house

We are in the process of buying this house. We couldn't be more excited to finally be getting into our own place. I can't help but think about it all the time. Nor can I help but decorate the whole place with our things in my mind. The kids are thrilled to finally be able to play with toys that have been packed up for the past 6 months. I can't believe its been that long, but at the same time it feels like we left Rio Rancho years ago.