Green, Finally!!!

So May in Colorado is the big pay-off for all the cold and snow of winter. The world outside transforms daily. Flowers are blooming, grass is getting greener and the trees are coming back to life. It makes me crazy to wait so long for the warmer weather, but getting to see springtime almost makes it worth it. The girls and I worked this afternoon planting flowers in the backyard. They love helping!!! Gracyn did great for her first year....though she may have eaten some dirt. They also loved finally having warm enough weather to play with the water table they got from Aunt Tressia and Uncle Bryan for their birthdays. I love the new colorful view from my back windows.

We went to The Melting Pot, last night, to celebrate Tommy's 32nd birthday. Ryan and Sarah brought their two little girls over and we had a babysitter watch all 5 girls. Dinner was an experience....my first with fondue. We all loved the cheese sauce that we started with and then I ate Tommy's salad and mine. I am not so sure about the main course....I am not the greatest fan of raw meat and may have even gagged a few times. They suggested you cook the meat approximately 3 minutes....I cooked mine 15, just in case. It works for us though. I ate both salads, Tommy polished off all of our meat. Finally the highlight of the evening came. That dessert is amazing. It was a great night, a break from the everyday. I may have to get a fondue pot and start melting my own chocolate.

A Few More

I give up and Blogger wins....which means, here are a few extra birthday party pics in a separate post....just pretend they are part of the next post, like they should be.

Addison's 5th Birthday Party

We celebrated Addison's 5th birthday today, with a puppet show. The show was great, the kids laughed and had lots of fun watching a talking book, an orangutan, a bookworm, and Jack-and-the-Beanstalk. Next we ate delicious Barbie Cake and visited with our friends. After the party, a few families headed out to dinner at a local pizza place....14 people...6 adults, 6 little girls, and 2 baby girls with highchairs (I don't think either of them ever sat in them). It was crazy but fun. Finally we came home and opened her presents. She got lots of cute gifts, plus between her savings over the last few months and birthday money/gift cards, she has about $160 to shop at the American Girl store on Tuesday. She can't wait. It was a great day celebrating my girl....hard to believe she is almost 5!!!

We put Gracyn in the cake box, so we could get the party set up.

If she wasn't contained in the box, she was climbing everything!!!

Baby girl LOVED the puppets.

The talking book, a big crowd favorite.

Happy Girls!!!

My sweet 5 year old.

The Barbie Cake of her dreams.

My sweet family.

Friends.

Opening Gifts.

Another American Girl card.

This morning Reagan said she wasn't going, just bring her some cake, but she decided to join us!!! :)

Gracyn loves to be upside down.

Daddy and his girl.

Reagan had earned a special prize, so I got her the doll chair. I knew Addison was getting one, and they love to put them in the chairs and do their hair.

Phonics and Donuts

This morning, the girls and I were working on a paper chain, to count down all of Addison's upcoming birthday events. For Monday, we were writing "donuts" on the chain, since she is taking donut treats to celebrate her birthday at school that day. I told her the "D" and then she said, "Hold on, don't tell me anymore, let me think a minute!". She then sounded out the rest of the word completely on her own. I was so excited for her. What a big girl she is getting to be. And, can I tell you how proud I am that besides family members and the easy 3-letter words, "donuts" was the first word my child spelled. She is a girl after my own heart.

Peek-A-Boo

Gracyn was quite the ham, while playing peek-a-boo with me this morning. She was hiding behind the door of their little cottage and would then throw it open and laugh at me. Pure cuteness!!! Wet cuteness, do you think all that drool might be an indication that she is getting a few more teeth?

In other Gracyn news, she is on the move!!! Something finally clicked with her Sunday and she is standing on her own, getting herself to standing and taking 5 or 6 steps at a time. She is so proud of herself and she gets a big cheer from the crowd each time she does it.

Swim Lessons

Addison and Reagan started swimming lessons as a local swim school this morning. They did a great job, and each of them did things I had never seen them do before. That is good, because for the price of these lessons, I am expecting some swimming on par with Michael Phelps in the next few weeks. Addison came out happy to report that her teacher said she was, "Amazing!!!". And, Reagan went under water, floated on her back and retrieved things from the bottom of the pool. They did a great job and they can't wait to go swimming with Daddy this week, so they can show off their new skills.

Getting that cap on her head was no easy task....Mommy needs lessons.She is thinking about this cap, she isn't too sure!

Doesn't she look like she belongs on the back of a Harley....Lord, help us!!!

Sweet sisters, ready to go.

Gracyn, the ever-present, cheering section.

We have entered the one-year-old awkward hair stage, can you tell?

She Fights

But she doesn't always win!!!

I have always heard that turkey has some sort of pheromone that makes you sleepy. Maybe I should be feeding it to her at 3am.

Date Night

Daddy and Reagan's date night, that is. Sunday evening our church hosted a father/daughter luau. It was the perfect opportunity for Tommy to do something one on one with Reagan. She had just received perfect luau attire, that her friends brought her back from their recent vacation in Hawaii.

They had a great time together, the highlight being the "hupa-loop" (Reagan's name for hula-hooping) contest. She "won" that giant lollipop and by the look in her eyes, I think it may have been a highlight of her life. Her sisters were quite envious when she came home licking that thing. I am glad my sweet girl got to have a special night out with her Daddy.