Spring Madness!!!

 Spring is always crazy, crazy around here! 

We've got Sarah and Hannah's birthday's, our anniversary, spring break, a couple fun little holidays, all the new activities, yard work and sports that the spring brings, add  in the demands of a new little baby, and we are CRAZY busy!!!

I guess even Hannah finds it exhausting. She has been falling a sleep in the afternoons, often in funny places like on Daddy's back while playing games.

I am going to attempt to catch up on the fun birthday parties, and a post dedicated to my WONDERFUL  husband of TEN years!!!

But for now, here's spring break and our new family hobby.

Spring Skiing

The kids have recently discovered their new love for skiing.  We took them up several times to Bogus for night skiing. 

Hannah and Anna patiently wait their turn. (Scott was only taking 2 at a time while he waited for Caden and Sarah to get the hang of things.)

Even Grandpa Smith and aunt Tanya met us up there a few times.

Hannah's turn

Caden was so proud of himself for learning how to get on and off the lift on his own He always wanted to go on it by himself. 

Scott could not ever get Sarah off the hill. We were always the last to leave at night (yes, that is 10 pm on a school night, we don't win the parenting award in anyone's eyes but our kids, who think it is so cool to stay out so late!). Even in very snowy conditions like here, Sarah wanted to go over and over. The child has no fear and even went down several runs other than the bunny hill. 

 Spring Break

While most escape to sunny places for spring break, we chose to spend our time at a very snowy cabin with friends at the Tamarack ski resort. It did not disappoint! 

 

Caden jumps off the deck.....

and falls on his face in the deep snow.

The dads take the kids skiing while the moms stay home and work on more project than I usually get done in a month. I totally recommend this type of vacation. 

The future crafters. It was so funny to listen to these two as they pretended to be moms who were sewing together. 

Here's a glimpse of the mess created when you have 6 kids, 1 baby, lots of snacks, fabric, and 2 sewing machines.

Tired after a day of sledding and skiing.

 Just some of the projects I got done.

a banner for a friend's baby room. 

Spring banners

Easter pillow cases

 Little Soph was so happy to be back home with her own bed!

Spoiling the Birthday Girl

Sarah LOVES anything "girlie" 

Last year her and her friend Londyn got their ears pierced for her birthday, so she wanted to do something with Londyn again. 

Sarah really wanted to try out pedicures.

It was a really fun Mommy and daughter date. Thanks  Londyn!!!!

Made with Love

I opened up a can of soup for the kids to eat for dinner, and Hannah was so excited to discover that one of her potatoes was shaped in a perfect heart! This discovery was even more exciting when she noticed that she also happen to be wearing her heart PJ's! 

What's that big bright thing in the sky!?! 

The sun decided to make an appearance the other day and what an excitement it was for he kids. 

Hannah asked me why it was so bright outside.

Caden asked if he could go for a run When he came back he said that it was, "so bright and dyin' hot!"  

In fact, it was SO BRIGHT that big huge sun umbrellas were required along with bare feet and short sleeved tees.  (it was only in the low 50's)

Observations

The kids have been cracking me up lately with their observations. 

Sarah yesterday as she described to us what the leprechauns did to her classroom:

"We left these cups out and the leprechauns  came into our classroom at night and shrunk them, and chairs were "thewin"  around, and blocks were out, and glue sticks were on the floor , and some of our books were out and it was a mess...........(she paused for a while and you could see that she was in deep thought).....my teachers desk was just fine, they didn't do anything to her desk!"

Caden, when he saw what the leprechauns did to Sarah's cup:

"That is how we know that leprechauns are real, cuz how would a teacher shrink a cup!" 

This morning Caden comes down and says: 

"Mommy, the Easter bunny isn't real, cuz, like there is such a thing as a huge bunny that brings you stuff!"

Sarah says,

"What about Santa then?"

Caden replies,

"Of course Santa is real Sarah, Mom and dad could not have bought BOTH of us a DS."

I was playing a Brain Quest game with Sarah. One of the Questions was, where does daylight come from?
The answer was the sun.
Sarah's response,
"Jesus"

My little monkey!

Hannah 1 1/2 yrs old

One of my favorite things about raising children is watching their unique little personalities develop. While they all have their similarities, there are those silly little things that make them "so them" and set them apart from the rest in the mix. 

I will never be able to look at a monkey again without immediately thinking of Hannah! 

At 1yrs old, when Hannah could barely talk, I remember she begged me to get her these monkey jammies. I couldn't get them off her. She wore them the whole day! 

Hannah 2yrs old

When she was 2 Hannah insisted on being a monkey for Halloween. I took her to her playgroup Halloween party and she was the only non-princess. She was not upset by this in the least. In fact, she came home and said, 

"mom, none of the other girls wore costumes today, they just wore dresses to play group." 

She seemed very confused by this, as princesses just weren't her thing. 

Hannah 3 1/2 yrs old

Hannah recently asked me if we had any bananas. I told her that we didn't, to which she replied,

"mommy, you have to get me bananas because I am a monkey and we eat bananas!" 

On a recent trip to kohl's, I grabbed some cute little outfits for the girls, something Sarah just LOVES! 

Hannah however was not so pleased. She had spotted these monkey jammies and wanted them really bad. I told her if she chose those, she could not have the really cute little spring top and cute shorts. She was totally cool with that, and we came home with monkey pj's. She wore them for 2 days. 

Children are naturally very passionate about the things they love and their list of favorites change as they grow, but sometimes they fall in love with something so much that it becomes a part of them and that's where the silly, unique, and " that's so them" comes in. 

I love my little monkey!!!!

It's moments like these

Sometimes life can get a little crazy busy, but every now and then, there are no Sunday morning meetings, our calendar is totally empty, it's 10am, the kids are still in their pj's and everyone's happy. 

It's moments like these I wish I could freeze time for just a while. Keep my kids at this young and happy state, playing with their marble works!

They had to use a bench to reach the top