4.11.2012

Mostly pictures...a few words!

I have had such a hard time keeping up with time so I am catching up with a quick pic preview into our month!
St. Patrick's Day in Erie is insane!!! There are a ton of Irish folk and people take the day off and drink beer all day!! Since it was Saturday and the kids were out of school, it was even crazier! We decided to join the crazy and the nice weather and went downtown! I didn't even know that Erie had THAT many people. AND ALL OF THEM ARE DRESSED UP!! Even the old women!! ***Oh...except for that guy in the orange shirt right behind me!***
Waiting for the parade!
The floats all throw candy in true parade style!! The kids thought that was sooooo cool!
 Let me back up...Of course the Leprechauns turned our milk green and left them gold and necklaces for the parade!!
 
 Isabella's favorite part of the holiday was when the naughty little Leprechauns peed in the preschool toilet and made the water green...AND THEY DIDN'T FLUSH!!!
And of course I made a fancy dinner (we had the missionaries over!) the table was decorated with treats of rainbows and gold and lots of green candies. Dinner was all green too....kind of gross to think about, but it was a lot of fun!
We took a trip to the Palmyra, NY temple. John and I took turns doing a session. While he was in the temple, I entertained the kids at the Visitors center.
After a 3 hour drive, Lucy just wanted to crawl and crawl some more.


Hailey really enjoyed reading all about the restoration of the church. She couldn't get enough!!! It was so cold outside and raining here and there so all of the wonderful outdoor church sites that are in Palmyra were not an option so we went to the Grandin Building where the first Book of Mormons were published. Fascinating!!! While I enjoyed a session John took the kids to lunch and to the Hill Cumorah during one of the drier moments!
We also have enjoyed our zoo a few times already this season.
We went with our besties...Jandi and Lincoln and little Jude!!
I am not one to take pictures of animals...BUT this was hilarious. This little otter (one of my favorite animals at the zoo) was slurping his tongue all over the glass...repeatedly. Cute little otter.
Lucy is SO over being in the car seat. Or the stroller for that matter. She wants to get down and crawl around...but until she can walk...she remains. I actually end up carrying her on one arm and pushing the double (empty) stroller.

Our Chick-fil-A here is RAD! They are always giving away free food and providing our family with hours of entertainment and fun!! If the kids dressed up as Princess or Pirates, they got a free kids meal...plus other free stuff including an awesome face painting!

Talon is PETRIFIED of the cow!! It's really, really bad! He figures the cow can't get him if he's under the table. Good theory!
Lucy is gaining an early love of chicken!!!
John had a birthday!!! Wow. That is a lot of candles sweetie. I guess I have only a few less. Are we seriously getting old? We tried to make it such a special day for him and to make him feel special!

I think we succeeded! He asked for "real" food instead of one of my healthier diet meals (which is basically all we've had for 6 months!) He requested one of the worst...but it made him SOOOO happy! 
This book has been one of Talon's favorites since he was 1 years old. His entire 2nd year of life, we read this every night before he went to bed. The last few months Talon has been talking about making a cake for his dad's birthday just like Spot did. SO, we made a list (just like Spot), went to the grocery store (just like Spot), cracked eggs (just like spot), made a mess (just like Spot), cleaned it up (just like Spot), baked the cake (just like Spot), and then decorated it (just like Spot). He had his book right beside him the entire time. It was very cute. John loved it!!

Then Easter came and went...man the time is flying!! It was a cold Easter...bummer! We still had a lot of fun! The kids woke up to hidden Easter baskets. Talon is also afraid of the Easter bunny and was so nervous about the bunny coming into his room that night. He made us PROMISE that we would not let the bunny into his room. Hailey slept with bunny ears on her head all night long.
They got a few new church clothes. Every year I plan on NOT doing this, and every year I succomb to the pressures of our society because there are so many CUTE SPring clothes and they have such a great deals. I couldn't help myself. All three girls matched (thank you Children's Place) and Talon and John had similar new ties. I also had a new outfit...my favorite part were my new HOT PINK high heels.
GOOD MORNING LUCY!!!! The Easter bunny didn't forget about her! Can you see that hamburger in her hand? It's a play one...plastic. She loves it. She plays with it all the time!

Good morning mommy and daddy!!


I feel sad that you can't see my shoes. We did not do good with our pictures. I used my ipod because I couldn't find my camera. And we couldn't set up a timer or anything so we took turns. Me first.


Just kids.
Now John. As if you needed an explanation.
Easter dinner was incredible. I mean like CRAZY GOOD. Dessert too. It was so yummy. My mouth is watering just thinking about all the deliciousness. I went off my calorie counting just for the day (and may or may not have gained 2 pounds). We had our friends over (Jandi and Lee and their great boys!) We did our annual Easter egg bash but I haven't downloaded this pictures yet, so until then....
On a quick end to this ridiculously long picture post...I just want to share my thankfulness of my Savior...who bled and died on the cross. Who felt pain and sadness for me. I am so grateful to be a member of the true church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I'm so thankful to have the truthfulness of the gospel in my life. The peace and joy that I have is not a coincidence. It is because of the knowledge that we have. If you want to learn more about my church you can go here.