Happy Easter!

We've had a great holiday today! 

We started the weekend out by dying eggs on Friday night:

(Shane was working on the car like I've been bugging him to for the last couple of months, so he was excused this time.)

All ready!

Patiently waiting...

I helped them put the eggs in the cups without breaking them, but the kids decided which color and how long to leave it in for, and then they put the stickers on all by themselves. It's so nice having them old enough to do things on their own!

 Late Saturday night the Easter bunny came!

They each got a toy, bubbles, and candy.

It's blurry, but Kaden was SO excited to play with his new Skylander's thing that he wouldn't hold still.

Lexi had just rolled out of bed. haha She loves her new Ariel toy.

Ari's face cracks me up in this one. She had just rolled out of bed, too, and she LOVES her Rapunzel toy.

Muffins for breakfast!

New Easter clothes!

The girls picked out their dresses last month and Kaden picked his shirt and tie, but honestly they had all forgotten about it. It was great. :)

After church, lunch, and "naps" (no one fell asleep, but they stayed in their rooms for a good 15 minutes *eye roll*), we headed to McKay Dee to see my grandpa (more on that in another post tomorrow), then went to Shane's parent's house for dinner and another egg hunt.

I had to zoom in on this one because he just had the best smile! (The girls were all blinking...)

Ryley, Lexi, Kaden, and Ari (Damon, the 7 month old cousin, wasn't there)

 After dinner, we headed to the basement for the egg hunt.

These pictures don't quite capture exactly how the hunt went. There was SO. MUCH. CANDY. Those buckets that the kids brought were each filled to the top and then some. And Shane's mom had gotten each grandchild sand toys and filled the sand bucket with more candy, toys, and a book for each. Grandma Porter sure knows how to spoil her grandkids! They left very happy little kids. :)

 

We saw about six deer on our way out. This was the only picture I got - they didn't hang around too long. Ari is now requesting we have a pet reindeer that she can ride (we saw the deer jump-running and Ari LOVED that). It was a really fun day and next year I'm not getting the kids any candy - just toys.

Kaden's Bee Book

As I've said before, I so, so love Kaden's charter school. For the last month, his class has been learning all about bees. I'm not joking in the slightest when I say that he knows more about bees than I do now. They had some real beekeepers come talk to them and let them taste bee bread (not bread with honey on it - it is something that the worker bees eat in the hive. Kaden said it was yummy), then last week they went on a field trip to the Ogden Nature Center to see a live bee hive in action (through clear glass). They are wrapping up the bee subject now, so for their last project, they got to write a short story about a bee. The only requirements were that there were at least five details and five illustrations.

I only helped a little. For real. A very, very little with some spelling problems.

Here, for your entertainment, is Kaden's bee book:

The Lion Chasing the Bee by Kaden Porter

"Once there was a bee sitting on a flower. He was reading a book about pollen. He saw a page that honey bees can't fly."

 

That's the bee's surprised face upon finding out that honey bees can't fly. hahaha

"Then a big lion came! The lion wanted to eat the bee. So, he chased the bee. The bee ran away."

"While the bee was running, he tried to fly. Then the bee got trapped in a pet cage."

 "But the trap was not for bees. It was for a frog because there was a pond. He called to the other worker bees."

 

"The Queen told the worker bees to go help. Then they brought the bee back to the hive and fed him bee bread. Everyone was happy except the lion and the frog."

 

Check out that bee hive

"The End"

He was so proud of his book! He worked really hard on it for a long time. He gets to read it to his class this next week (everyone gets to read their books) and he can't wait. :)

Dr. Brett

The kids went to the dentist yesterday. Other moms have told me I'm brave/crazy for scheduling all three at the same time, but, with my kids anyway, it's easiest that way. But it helps that they all LOVE the dentist.

Video games while waiting

Kaden was a little nervous (because he gets gaggy with x-rays), but did really well.

Ari was so, so excited for every part of the visit. She was so mad that she didn't get to have her x-rays done first (because Lexi jumped up on the chair before she had the chance), but she was thrilled when she got her teeth cleaned first and that the dentist checked her teeth first. He told her she has teeth as pretty as Princess Elsa (who, by the way, is a queen, but I only silently corrected him hahaha), but that comment won her over for life.

All the kids were cavity free and Kaden currently has three wiggly teeth! He's lost two so far, but is gonna have a bare mouth soon.

Dinosaur Park

Lexi's preschool did their second field trip of the year to Dinosaur Park in Ogden. Kaden was in school, but Ari got to come with us.

What's a girl to do without her harmonica?

 There are seven boys and three girls in Lexi's class. Until that day, I never realized how tightly these girls stick together. They wasted no time in finding each other and then HAD to hold hands the entire day. Their teacher saw them and said that that is how it always is in class, too.

Avery, Lexi, and Aryah (I have no idea how to spell it)

Try going down a slide holding hands...

Ari picked out her colors and where they went, but made me color the page.

Lexi's is light pink.

The girls had a blast and they ended the trip with a little scavenger hunt, which got a lot of energy out of the kids (yay!).

Busy Saturday

I always know summer is getting closer when our weekends start to fill up fast. This past Saturday was just the start of it all.  We began the day with an egg hunt (at our house since my dad's doesn't have grass yet).

The tall one is my step-sister, Bekah. She wasn't hunting for eggs, she was helping. ;)

 After the hunt, we let the kids fill up on sugar and took them to another one of Kaden's soccer games.

Ari loves her daddy.

Kaden is still doing really well and wants to continue playing this next season.

After the game, I headed in to work for a few hours, then ran home, grabbed the kids and Shane, and went to a birthday party in Kaysville. We didn't get home until about 7:30. It was a very long (mostly fun) day!