Cookin' up somthin' cute!

Don't you want to just put her in a bottle and keep her this age forever?!? Well, maybe without the terrible two's tantrums...

The Sun Finally Shines on Syracuse!

After months and months of snow, coldness, and cloudy skies the sun finally makes an appearance! Although we have had random glimpses of warmth in the past few weeks, it has been a glorious weekend. We tried to find a new waterfall at Fillmore Glen State park, and even though we were unsuccessful at seeing the falls we managed to have a great time.
Looks like Kris needs to escape from the hospital and hit the gym a little more often. Or at least all the nurses need to stop trying to get his attention by sneaking him cookies and donuts!
Spiderman, spiderman, doing whatever a spider can... Joshua is part monkey and part spider and part just crazy.
Nothing is more sweet than 2 sisters having a blast together! They were laughing so hard I thought they would fall off the teeter totter.

This is how Gabriella wanted to walk down the trail. She squeaked and pulled at my neck until we were close to Kris and then she grabbed a hold and wanted us to continue on. This little girl thinks she can have whatever she wants, and she is usually right. This little river went right over the road and the kids really wanted to stick their feet in. I did too:) Bree wanted to step into a deeper part and when I told her it was too deep and that her clothes get wet she fixed the problem lifting up her shirt. Almost a good idea. She loved the water and did not want to get out. It was a fun day and it was so nice to be in the sun again!

Gabriella's Birthday Celebration

So, we finally got around to celebrating Gabriella's birthday yesterday. Luckily she doesn't have a clue when her birthday is supposed to be. She insisted on being silly for her picture.
Thanks Aunt Christy and Aunt Katie for the fabulous gifts. She was totally surprised, no really, even though she picked them out herself she acted as though it was the first time she had seen them. Thanks for thinking of her!
We have given all of our girls a bitty baby doll for their second birthday. Gabriella was just as thrilled about hers as her older sisters were when they received theirs. She hugged the box and couldn't wait for us to get her out. She kissed and hugged the doll until she remembered she had more presents to open.

My parents gave Gabriella a fancy crib for her new baby doll. When we took all the parts out of the box to put it together Bree immediately put her doll in the box and told her to sleep. It just goes to show us all once again that kids are just as happy with the box a toy comes in. Could have saved you a bit of money Grandma and Grandpa, sorry about that.

It took two tries to get both candles out, but she did it! Joshua was disappointed that we didn't let her squish the cake in her hair like last year. I tried to explain that was a thing that happens only on her 1st birthday but he thought I was pretty lame. What can I say, I am.

Happy Birthday little Gabriella Jordan! We love you and your spunky personality, it keeps us all smiling! But, I must insist that you STOP GROWING UP!!!!

Dancing Queens

Samantha took Jazz dance classes this year and really became quite the cute little dancer. She improved a lot and really learned how to control her body. Plus, she was definitely the cutest one on the dance floor!
Mariah did the Hip Hop dance class this year. She is a great dancer and always lights up the stage. (Wow, do you think I am a little too proud of my kids?) She even got a chance to use some of her gymnastics skills with a solo round-off to the splits in the middle of the performance. GO Mariah!

How long ago was Easter???

Every time Gabriella dropped an egg into the dye she was thrilled with the magical result. She would clap and squeal with delight, it was hilarious to see her so amazed. She also found it to be a great time saver to squish more than one egg into the dye at one time.

Joshua stuck with the blue dye and made many beautiful blue eggs.
Wow, what are we going to do with all these eggs???
It was chilly and windy on Easter morning and of course we were not on of things enough to take the kids picture before church. We are wishing Spring here every chance we get!

Serious Birthday Girl!

I wanted to quickly post a picture of our Gabriella to wish her a happy birthday! She is 2 years old today. She is a firecracker who keeps us all on our toes. She is the boss of the house and she knows it. She manages to leave a trail of giggling people wherever she goes.

This came in especially handy as she and I just got back from Utah where we attended my sweet Grandmother's funeral. Gabriella made all those around her smile and that is what my Grandmother would have wanted us to do. We all love her and try to look for the good in all her craziness! Happy Birthday little Bree! Watch out world, she's 2!

It's your lucky day! Or month to be exact:) ZinneyLou, maker of the cutest totes in the world, is running a special for the month of April. Get $5.00 off any size tote! She makes a few different sizes--perfect for purses, diaper bags, church bag and scripture bags. They are excellent quality and come in so many fun patterns. Check out Zinney Lou's adorable totes, but be warned, you will want more than one!

Strong National Museum of PLAY!

One of the best things about moving to upstate NY is that we are close to the Strong National Museum of Play. Seriously, a museum about playing?!? I was in love the first time we went there. We have been about 6 times in the past 1.5 years. It is a fun place for kids to explore, play, have fun and learn. We rarely get to see the whole museum in one visit because there is so much to do. Often we have met our awesome friends the Daytons (who live in Buffalo) at the museum. We will miss them at the museum as they will be moving out west in a few weeks. So before they move we decided we needed to meet up one more time to play. It was a fun day, I wish we both could have stayed longer!
Mariah is trying to read to all 6 kids in Big Bird's nest, but baby bird Christian is flying away...
The museum was having a Dr. Suess celebration the day we were there. The kids made these awesome Suess inspired hats
Joshua giving Bree a ride in the Sesame Street cab. Don't worry Bree quickly managed to take over the driving resposibilites.
Joshua is better suited for driving a race car anyway. This is his favorite thing in the whole place. He is watching a screen that is simulating a real race. They have big lights that tell him when to go and if he jumps the gun he gets a false start. He is very good at it, and serious about it as well:)
Gabriella loved to help her sisters build a big tower, they could have done without her help. She is a bit of a monster!

Where is the baby?

This is a phrase I often holler out to my older kids when it has been a few minutes since I last heard Gabriella (she is almost 2, I wonder when I will stop calling her the baby). Anyway, we all went on a search for her because we couldn't find her anywhere. I walked into her bedroom just in time to see her closet door slowly close. I opened it and found Gabriella hiding in this spot. She was VERY proud of herself for getting all the way up on her dresser and closing the door. The older kids thought she was quite clever as well. Nothing is safe in our house with this climber around!

Two little monkey's jumping on the bed...

I was baby-sitting sweet Janie a few days ago and I let her go in and wake up Gabriella from her nap. Gabriella was so excited to see her, but also very confused as to why she was there. I put Jane in bed with Bree along with a few books. They were so funny. Of course as soon as Bree realized she was holding the "Monkey's Jumping on the Bed" book their quiet story time erupted into spontaneous jumping. It was so cute to her these little monkey's singing about jumping on the bed. Silly, silly girls!