Did I mention - outside?

Today was a gorgeous, beautiful, pretty, nice day. It was hot and sunny, and there was not a flake of snow to be found. In other words, perfect. We got a ton done, including hauling a bunch of ugly junk from the yard to the dump, and putting together the awesome dome climber that Buppa gave the kids for their collective birthdays. I really did most of the work, I just let Luis pose for the picture.



Taye was so anxious to climb it, we had to repeatedly remind him that he couldn't climb until it was all done. When it was finally done, he was at the top in record time.



And practicing his new daredevil moves - no hands! (On a side note, look at my pretty woods. There's a river back there, you know.)



The neighbors were out working in their yard too, and at one point the boys noticed the scratching noise under the fence (Mark was weeding). They discussed whether it might be one of the dogs, and decided it wasn't. Taye asked me what it was, and I told him "probably a monster..." He laughed and told me it wasn't. A minute later, Darius started in, "But Taye, look at those big feet! Those big feet look like monster feet." Luis and I were giggling the whole time, and after a minute, Mark caught on. He started talking in a growly 'monster' voice. The boys loved it, and made sure to tell me later that I was wrong, the monster was just Mark.



Meanwhile, Mya learned a new trick. Drumroll, please...



and she stuck the landing - ta-dah!


Rinse and repeat a dozen times. All in all, a great day.

Easter Eggs

Our eggs are prettier than yours, nah-nah!

ExCL

In the fall, we joined a place called "Extras for Creative Learning" or ExCL. They get donations of office/craft supplies, and random goodies which they put out for members to take. We get a certain number of visits per year, and can take as much as we want on each visit. We hadn't been since we joined, and Luis has been wanting to come, so we went out there this weekend.

They had so much cool stuff this time. In addition to tons of craft stuff, we also got a wooden tabletop hockey game, a Little People farm, and toy golf clubs (to play Mario golf, of course). As soon as we got home, Taye had me make him a Mario with some of the sticky felt we got. He then added stickers to give Mario 'star power.'



From there, we found other uses.


The sticky felt has been the big hit so far, I wish we got more!

Fun for Everyone

For Taye's birthday, we got him a swing for inside the house. We knew he would love it, but didn't realize how fun it would be for pretty much everyone. Let's just say it's a good thing we got the industrial swing brackets!

Bath time

The other day, Mya finally took a bath, for the first time in months (I did make sure to clean her, if you're wondering). She without a doubt went through the longest bath strike of any of the three. She would scream like nothing I've heard if I tried to put her in the water. I guess she just didn't realize all the fun there was to be had.




Now she just screams when I take her out, I just can't win!

Last week Kirsten, aka Super Cookie, came to visit and babysit for us. My kids (and puppy) are in love. When I came home, Darius showed me his picture of Mya. He even made her some blue toes.

Outside!!

I think it's safe to say that spring is really here. We have been soaking up the outdoors as much as possible. We've already had two picnics, and hours of time on the swingset.



As much as we're all loving it, there is one family member who is particularly loving it.



For Nana:

I just like spring, spring is my favorite.