It's Great to be 8

If you cannot tell, we've reached birthday season at our home. This year, Mariah turned 8!!! She is very excited for her baptism which will be on Saturday, April 16th - post to follow.
She got a new bike for her birthday and was so happy to have nice weather to ride around in. (Lindsay got a bike too on the same day. It was a little late for Lindsay's Birthday, but she didn't seem to mind.) It was general conference, so we spent most of the day at home. We put up the trampoline in the back yard and let them play. Mariah was very specific about wanting white cupcakes and frosting. We added sprinkles just for fun.

Lindsay turns 3!!!

Lindsay is a delight and a devil. We love her. She loves all things Dora and Diego right now. So, she wanted a Dora party. I thought it would be fun to make her a pinata for her day. (see previous blog). We also had Dora cupcakes (ie frosted cupcakes with Dora whistles stuck in).
She put in a request for Chinese for dinner (as she says - Me thinking Chinese food) and ate Cheetos - which is all she wanted on her special day. She got fairy wings and a notebook from Matt and I.

Lindsay is really is into dressing up these days. For about the last year, I have had a hard time getting her to wear pants. I'm so glad winter is on it's way out and I won't have to keep her warm. Here are a few of my favorites dress ups lately...

Spring Break 2011

We had an awesome spring break. It started by going and seeing Nomeo and Juliet in 3D. No flash so our pictures didn't come out, but trust me when I say my girls look adorable in those 3D glasses.

Monday we started making our pinata for Lindsay's birthday. It was a week long project. What was I thinking? Actually, what was every Spanish teacher I had through 4 years of high school Spanish thinking? Letting 100 students make these must be a nightmare. Anyway, we had fun and got plenty messy. It was a good idea in theory. I think the final product was great, but a little more mess than I bargained for. Would I do it again - of course. But maybe I will wait a few years. I'm too tired to think about doing it right now.

Tuesday we left for Nauvoo. Matt and I attended the temple and we stayed that night to make it a mini-vacation. We went on carriage rides (again) and saw the play that night (we had forgotten how funny it is.) It was such nice weather that the next day we ventured out to walk the Trail of Hope (that's what it is called now. When the saints were leaving Nauvoo they called it the Street of Sorrows). It was very touching. When we got to the Mississippi River we played for awhile and looked at the monument to the Saints who died while traveling to the Salt Lake Valley.



Thursday we went ice skating. FUN!!! Matt is pretty good on two thin blades of metal. If he were bigger (a lot bigger) maybe he could take up hockey! Mariah got pretty good by the time we left. Ruth went around twice clinging to the side rail and called it quits for the day. Lindsay went around once, making Matt hold her in the air, but refusing to put her feet on the ice. Needless to say, she loved it and Matt called it quits for her. Ruth and Lindsay had to settled for Popcorn.



Friday we went to the Veterans Museum in Waterloo. What a fabulous place. The girls got a little bored, but Matt and I would love to go back and really see it. I am grateful to those who serve in our Military. They have made HUGE sacrifices. The museum is named after the Sullivan Brothers from Iowa. They were five brothers who all served in WWII and were all killed in the pacific theater.

March Madness- Mostly Mariah

March was a very busy month with Mariah. She started piano lessons. We are all happy that she is adding a few new songs to her repertoire.

She also participated in the Math fair at school. Her project was telling temperature. Mariah has done a lot of adding to negative numbers with the winter her in Iowa.

Also, her grade put on a fun production of a musical called "Dino-Stars." It was very funny! Mariah did a great job and remembered all her hand, head and body motions. Watching was great fun.
I love Maiah. Here I was trying to get one nice picture of her before her concert. Silly, Silly girl - she knows how to put a smile on our faces.