Spring Break Hair Cuts

The kids and I all got hair cuts today. We all were in desperate need, I had cancelled my appointment earlier in the month because I couldn't think of what I wanted, then I saw Kathryn Morris (the girl off of Cold Case) and I knew I wanted her hair. Aunt Paige is so good at what she does, I really like it! Ash has been trying to talk me into letting her cut hers short and I finally gave in, it is cute. She loves it too. Ash before:

Ashley and Paige, during:Ashley after front shot:Super short (for Ashley) back shot:And shot with mom:We had a great time in Paige's cute salon too. It was Emma's first time in a salon so we had to try out every apparatus in there, thankfully Aunt Paige is a good sport about our craziness!

I knew Justin would feel left out so I cut his hair last night before we went: it was a pretty fast "butcher" job, you think I would start getting better at this hair cutting stuff....guess not! After:He had to try out the pony seat at Paige's salon, and he got his hair combed just for fun!

Emma just got a little trim, she didn't want it short, Emma before:During: (with little Sis in the back ground)

Emma's after shot: (see I told you we had to use ALL of the apparatus'!)And a shot with Mom:

I have bangs again! So fun!

Easter Sunday?

Since General Conference falls on Easter this year we wont get to wear our Easter dresses on Easter, so I let the girls wear them yesterday. They all looked so cute. I thought I wasn't going to go matchy matchy this time, but it ended up just matching, I cant resist! They all looked so cute and Justin was handsome. Easter isn't so fun for boys though and he is starting to realize it too...... They do have to wait until Easter for their Easter baskets. That will be fun for a stay home Sunday! Cant wait!

Kollin Nielson Memorial Bridge

This weekend I traveled to Washington to meet the rest of my family for the dedication of a bridge for Kollin. It was a really nice ceremony, I thought it was just going to be a small thing with just our family. It actually bothered me about how many people were there (like 40ish or more) but then I realized as we got to visiting that they were all co-workers, or friends, people who cared about my brother too, others have been mourning his loss too, not just family. It was nice to see all of them who cared and thought so much about Kollin. Everyone of them had a story or two to tell about him, it was great! It was about an hour long ceremony including Luke getting to do the unveiling of the plaque, quite appropriate I thought, it was cute! We had a great time visiting with family and friends. I was thankful that the City of Kirkland and the Department of Transportation and Kiewitt (the company Kollin was working for) would all do this for Kollin (and us). It was really cool!

Kollins Kiewitt family.

It was a great weekend, all of my sibling were there except Kiley, a couple of us stayed in Seattle for a couple of days to shop til we dropped! Of course we had to go to IKEA, and get lost in some GINORMOUS mall ! It was a fun little sisters (and mom) weekend.

Easter Ears

It was my turn to do the craft for story time this week. I just found some bunny ears for the kids to glue cotton balls on:They turned out a little "floppier" than I would have liked, but they work.

I only made one pair for an example and Claire kept wanting a pair of her own "Easter ears." I had to do a double take and yep, that is what she was calling them, pretty cute I thought! Our house is all the rage with Easter talk right now. The girls are on Spring break next week so they are having class parties on Friday. Emma is singing an Easter song that Ashley's class has been singing and Ash is being the bunny I guess?!

Its so fun how our home decor can also be used as "props" for all sorts of things!!

More From CALIFORNI-A

One of my good friends here grew up in CA, where her family still lives and her husband just got back from a little trip home and brought us these:
FRESH, yeah, like from the Pacific Ocean, so cool, we are SO clueless! We have always been landlocked our whole lives!! Emma was the only one brave enough to hold them.

Even a little creepy for her too though!

Didn't your Mother ever teach you NOT to play with your food! It was YUM! We had a fun time "dissecting" them, as much as we could stand it, and we also realized we know NOTHING about crabs, or is it crab??? Sounds like a good homework assignment!

When Life Gives You Lemons

What do you do with them? I need some recipes! Some of Ryan's seasonal workers are back from California for the Summer. They work on some sort of citrus farm during the winter (in CA) and always bring me a bunch of lemons and oranges. There were a couple of HUGE oranges:

They are so FRESH, right off of the tree! I love it every year when they come back and they know I expect some yummy fruit!

I am FOR SURE making a lemon pie, I ♥ Lemon pie!

Emma and Her Friends

Yesterday Emma stayed home from school. She just needed a day off I guess. Ryan was mad at me for letting her stay, but I kind of wanted a day with Emma too. SO she helped me get the house cleaned and then we went to Jerome to see one of the ladies I visiting teach, (she is in the hospital). We did some groceries and went to lunch at McDonalds. While we were eating, well I was the only one eating, everyone else was playing I heard Claire's name being shouted all over playland. I figured there must be another Claire there too, none of my kids were shouting for her. Well Claire comes off of the slide and this trail of kids come running behind her shouting her name! Emma had told all of her "new friends" to help her keep track of Claire. I am pretty sure every kid there was taking care of Claire for us. Emma came to eat a little and one little girl just stood and waited for her. I asked her if she needed something, she said she was just waiting for Emma. Oh Emma is such a friendly little socializer!

Cheer Clinic

The Cheer Clinic was a success! The girls had a great time!Ashley doing the dance.


Emma cheering!

Claire's cute uniform from Aunt April! Thanks!

Poor brother gets dragged around to all of these girlie things! He didn't mind he got to play basketball and wear shorts!!! So cool!

Emma's BIG News!

Emma taught herself to ride her two wheeler this weekend! In all of the kayos of moving Bob and Sara, plays, and cheer clinic, she somehow found time to ride her bike!




Look at her determination!

It is so just like Emma to do it all by herself! She wants to do everything by herself! Except when she doesn't of course!
YEAH Emma!

The Pied Piper Play

Ashley and Emma got to perform in the Pied Piper Friday night. They had a great time and it turned out really cute! Ashley did say she would like to be with the rest of the third graders next year (instead of all of the younger kids). I told her she had better start growing then! Poor kid might always have to be a rat/skunk/seahorse. Emma doesn't mind being the rat again, but she will probably be the one who gets a bigger part next year, seems like it works like that most of the time!
She is TRYING to have a great time!No need to try here, Emma makes a great little RAT!Another busy week down!!

This March(y) Week

We have just been hanging around this week. Ashley and Emma are working on a school play again and are both pleased to be performing as RATS, yes, rats. I was afraid Ash was not going to be happy with that but when we got out to the car she said "Mom guess what, I get to be a rat!" I took that as her being happy about it. They have been rehearsing and getting ready for the show tomorrow. They also get to perform their cheerleading skills on Saturday night! I cant wait to see how it all turns out, it is so cute!

Justin, Claire and I have just been hanging around the house. Today we had story time and this afternoon we made some cookies.

Claire is showing her "goggles"She has been watching lots of Dora and Diego this week too.

Ryan is busy, busy. He is feeling the PRESSURE! He is frustrated with not being able to do it ALL. I will be glad when summer is here, things mellow out for a little bit, before the BIG storm anyway! He is tired, and working hard. We have been practicing our massage skills on each other that we learned from our class in February. It helps to relieve some of the days stresses! The snow is just about gone, and so is the mud, thankfully! I cant wait for the grass to turn green again.

Ashley's Sunday Birthday Party

I think we are finally done celebrating Ashley's birthday! She decorated her own cake with lots of Littlest Petsthe frosting looks not so good, but it really was yummy, it was a little runny, but I wasn't going to waste any so I dumped it ALL on the cake, it was a GOOD cake, not so much pretty......she didn't leave any room for candles either, she only got one on the very edge, silly girl! and got more presents from Jaci and Tayson. What a spoiled girl!
Another posterity picture!

Sunday Shots

We LOVE Sundays at our house! It is so nice to have everyone together and nowhere to be, and to worship! Gotta love nice clean, (I wish I could add well behaved) pretty children too!

Ashley in Wonderland!

Ryan and I took Ashley to Alice in Wonderland last night. We loved it, Ashley really loved it. It was fun to see in 3-D too. All of the people in the theater (and us) looked so funny with those big geeky glasses on, but it was fun! The movie was not like the last Alice, it was about her 13 years later going back to Wonderland. We had fun, Emma cried because she didn't get to come, the kids all stayed with Grandma and Papa and had a good time. We went out to eat afterwards which was fun too, Fun times for Ashley! She is growing up WAY to fast!