Miss Mallory

I am really enjoying having a girl and doing girly things with Mallory...like dressing her in tutus:) Ok, Scott thinks I'm a little ridiculous, but I got this little tutu for Mallory this week at Next Generation. It is the best, most darling, adorable store ever for little girls! The whole store is filled with delightful little dresses and outfits, cute tights, hairclips, headbands, and so much more...Love it! Anyways, I'm not sure really why I got it, cuz there's really no practical place for her to wear it...but I think she looks cute in it:) So tonight after the kids went to bed I took Mallory outside and took pictures of her in her tutu:) The pearl necklace she has on actually belonged to my great-grandmother...so from her, to my grammy, to my mom, to me, and I will pass them down to Mallory...so five generations! Mallory's middle name is Renee...just like me, and my mom, and grammy...so the pearl necklace is getting passed down with the name:) I just love Mallory so much...her sweet disposition... This may sound cheesy, but as I was taking pictures of her outside tonight, I started to think of the many times I would take pictures of her like that...at her dance recitals, her baptism day, school dances, her wedding, etc...and I started to get teary-eyed and just filled with love for this little girl of mine...thank you Heavenly Father for sending me this precious girl. I love my darling daughter:)

Garden/Trampoline

It's almost planting time again! Our friend from church, Troy Anderson, came and roto-tilled our garden this weekend. I had him take it a bit bigger this year. Last year was kind of an experiment, and now that I know I like gardening and can actually do it...I want to plant more this year:) So we went from a 15x20 garden last year, to a 20x25 one this year....and it may continue to grow each year:) I am excited to get started. Tomorrow for FHE we are talking about our Earth (I've been inspired by earth day)...we are going to talk about things we can do to help the earth...like use reusable grocery bags, do things to save energy, plant a garden, and we are going to set up recycling boxes so we can take things to the recycling center. I thought this year I'd try giving Tanner ang Logan their own mini-garden where we block off a little plot of the garden that is specifically theirs to pick what they want to plant, and they have to plant, water, weed, and harvest their little plot:) So here's a pic of the garden taken from the house.

Also, on Saturday we got the kids a trampoline:) (No, that is not them in the picture:)...that is the picture on the box...Scott will put it together soon. We had decided to get Tanner and Logan a trampoline for their 5th birthday this summer, but thought we'd get it a little earlier (rather than mid-July), so they could enjoy it for the whole summer. So it is an early 5th b-day present. They are very excited. I believe with four kids, they will all get many years of use out of it:) We had a trampoline when I was a kid and I have many good memories of many hours spent outside in the backyard on the trampoline.

Happy 5th Anniversary to LAPOM!!

On Friday our twins club celebrated it's 5th anniversary. When I joined the club, the Livingston County chapter had just started and I was pregnant with Logan and Tanner. These ladies welcomed me into their group, brought meals, offered advice, passed down their matching clothes, and just basically became good friends. I think being moms of twins, we always have that in common which unites us in a way. Anyways, in honor of celebrating the club's 5th anniversary they had a party at Rainbow Recreation and rented the place out, ordered pizza, etc. It was alot of fun. Also, the club planted a tree at Baldwin park in a kind of "anniversary ceremony" to commemorate the event. (We weren't able to go because it's Sunday and we had church:) Here are a few pics of the party at Rainbow Rec. Tanner and Logan begged me to go on the trampoline with them...I think they were sorry once I got on there because they discovered I'm a total trampoline hog (as you can tell from the picture:) Anyways...Happy 5th Anniversary to LAPOM (Livingston Area Parents of Multiples)!!

Warming Up!

I LOVE summer! Ok, so it's not officially summer yet, but it sure does feel like it! This weekend has been so nice. After a long winter it's so nice to be able to enjoy sunshine again:) Here's a few pics of the kids...feeding the ducks, enjoying Dairy Queen, at one of our regular summer hangouts...Imagination Station. I put a picture of Preston on here too. He is so brave! He climbs all the way up the McDonald's play structure every time and just plays:) (Tanner and Logan were always too scared to do that at his age). It's always fun when I have to climb up in the play structure to get him and bring him down:)

Easter Sunday...All ready for church

I really enjoyed celebrating and remembering the real reason for Easter. I am filled with gratitude for Christ's atonement and for his resurrection and the chance that we all have to live with him again someday. I really tried to share this message with the Young Women today in my lesson at church and with my family here at home. We had a special reverent Easter dinner today and enjoyed reflecting on what we have talked about this week in regards to the last events of the Savior's life, his crucifixion, and resurrection. It was just a great day today and for that I am grateful. Here are a few pictures of the kids in their spring-y Easter clothes...(sorry a couple aren't turned)

Excited Boys!

So here's the boys Saturday morning enjoying their Easter surprises...they were very happy and excited:)

Playing Easter Bunny!

I absolutely love playing the Easter Bunny. I enjoy picking things out for my kids and surprising them. I think I actually get more joy out of giving them things than they do getting them:) Usually, by the time an actual holiday is here, I've had most of my fun (planning and shopping) and I can just sit back and watch the kids enjoy their surprises. In our house, the Easter Bunny comes on Friday night so that Saturday can be all about "Bunnies and Chocolate" and we can reserve Sunday for celebrating and remembering the true meaning of Easter. So here are some of my surprises set out on Friday night...their baskets (initialed so there is no confusion:), a couple dresses for Mallory, new sleeping bags for the boys, and of course, the big hit...new bikes! I really scored with these. I have a friend who has 7 year old twin boys and she sold these to me for $15 a piece!...and they've hardly been used. I love great deals:) The boys will get lots of use out of them I'm sure!

Church Primary Easter Party

We started out Easter weekend by going to the Annual Primary Easter Party. I wish I had more pictures, but my hands were too cold to take the camera out. It was absolutely FREEZING! We were totally looking forward to this and had a great time last year, but because of the weather, the kids didn't want to play any of the games and the babies were crying. Eventually we went and sat in the car to warm up and then came out to grab some leftover food and do the egg hunt. It was mainly my fault...I didn't dress us warm enough...it had been so nice just the day before! (teaches me to pay closer attention to the weather report). Anyways, the boys were pleased with the candy they got from the egg hunt, and afterwards reported that they had a good time (even if half of it was spent in the van:) haha

Easter Family Home Evening

We did the following Easter Family Home Evening this week. Our family really liked it so I thought I'd share...

Sing: Did Jesus Really Live Again?

Fill an egg carton with hollow plastic eggs, each containing one of the following scriptures: (as you are reading them show and pass around the symbol that goes with each scripture...the objects are listed)

Egg #1 Luke 22:42 and 44- Sacrement Cup
Egg #2 Mark 14: 10-11 and 44-45- 3 Dimes
Egg #3 Matthew 27:27- Soap
Egg #4 Matthew 27:29- Rope
Egg #5 Matthew 27:28- Thorns
Egg #6 Luke 23:33- Cross
Egg #7 Mark 15:24- Dice
Egg #8 Matthew 27:51 and 54- Rocks
Egg #9 John 19:40- Linen
Egg #10 John 19:40- Spices
Egg #11 Matthew 28:2- Large Rock
Egg #12 Matthew 28:6, John 20: 15-16- Glove (to show resurrection)

We just kind of summarized the sriptures for our kids, and I have the lesson plan with the commentary that goes with each scripture that I used. I also displayed all the pictures of Christ's last week, crucifixion, and resurrection. Our kids really liked this lesson...with all the "hands on" objects.

Sing: He is Risen

Make the following Cookies for a treat the day before Easter and have them Easter morning...

I have the recipe and lesson plan for "Empty Tomb Cookies". Each ingredient in the recipe symbolizes something about Christ and his last week, crucifixion, and resurrection. Then you put the cookies in the pre-heated oven, "seal" it up like a tomb, and turn the oven off, and then the next morning when you open the oven, you have cookies that are pure white and they are each hallow, like Jesus' tomb. If anyone is interested I can post the recipe and lesson plan or e-mail it directly.

Just thought I'd share some things to celebrate the real meaning of Easter... Bunnies, baskets, egg hunts, and chocolate are fun...but I love Easter for what it really means and the true reason why we celebrate...

Happy Easter!

Julie

Coloring Easter Eggs!!

It just wouldn't be Easter without the annual dying of the Easter eggs:) The boys had a lot of fun...and this time they actually did them all by themsleves once I got it set up for them.





The finished Product...

LAPOM annual Easter Party

Today we had our annual LAPOM (Livingston Area Parents of Mulitples) Club Easter party. There was lots of great food, Easter games, an egg hunt, a visit from the Easter Bunny and much more. A great time was had by all...here are just a few pics...

Going Green...

Going Green...Doing our part to conserve water:)

More Museum Adventures

While Brenda and Cori were here visiting we took them to the U of M Natural History Museum. Tanner and Logan love that place because they are sooooo into dinosaurs. They can read and pronounce every dinosaur's name...tell you what it eats, how much it weighs, how tall it is, etc. etc. This proves very difficult for me since I don't know any of that stuff! They research on the computer and read books about dinosaurs all the time and then try to impress me with all their cool dino facts:) Anyways, here are some pictures of us at the museum. I had to throw the one in of Preston and I kissing:) He is so sweet...I'll say "give mama kisses" and he gives me like 10 kisses in a row:)...gotta love slobbery baby kisses...they're the best!