Sharing

My boss still gives us clothes for Ethan an Sydney and we are so lucky!  We have a LOT more boy clothes than girl clothes though so Sydney is thrilled that she gets to wear Ethan's clothes lately.  She is in LOVE with these tractor ones.  They also love stickers.  I found a few Apple stickers from our iPod and they got to wear them before bed.  They loved it.  Too bad Sydney looks like she's half alive...

One day this week, Sydney was extra sleepy when Ethan woke up from his nap, so Ethan and I hung out together for a little bit.  I looked up and saw Ethan had maneuvered himself on top of the rocking horse.  He was very proud of himself (and so was I).

They love to grab blankets and 'cuddle' periodically through the day.  I have been trying to teach them to make "happy faces" and "sad faces" etc.  We practiced happy faces for this photo.

My friend recently had this sweet girl and asked me to come help.  I was so happy to do it--sporting my new haircut--love it.

City Creek water fountains

I was gone on a business trip this week and it was too long!  I arrived home Friday night and Saturday we had a family day.  It was great fun.  We called up my mission companion, Tiffany, and she met us with her husband, Blake, and their son Quentin at City Creek in Salt Lake.  It just opened a few weeks ago and we were excited to see it in person.  We parked several blocks away and took Trax (a train) to the mall.  Ethan and Sydney had their first train ride and were thrilled.  The mall was pretty amazing and there were some incredible water fountains for the kids.

Sydney was fearless when the water came shooting up suddenly out of the ground.

Ethan got his first blast of water and came crying.  He needed a good cuddle (in the background).

The boys especially had a great time playing in these fountains.  It was a chilly evening, so we were glad we brought pajamas for the ride home.

Candy-Free Easter egg hunt

I have been so excited for over one month for our candy-free Easter egg hunt.  My family has a tradition of doing this on the Saturday before Easter but it's usually just candy and the adults tend to eat a ton of the leftovers.  We decided to avoid the candy all together this year.  It turned out really fun!

We hunted:

puzzles

homemade lemon macaroons

Tiffany bought some yummy macaroons as well

Spry berry mints (xylitol mints)

bubbles

masks

chalk

all-fruit snacks

small toys that walk

Newman's fig new mans cookies

healthy chocolate squares

It was so fun and the kids enjoyed the hunting.  Here are some photos.

We went inside and enjoyed some whole wheat crapes with strawberries, blueberries, and kiwi with cashew lemon cream along with hash browns and sausage afterward for a little brunch. Delicious!  

Soaking up the sun

We have spent a bit of time with our upstairs neighbors the last few days since we've seen warmer weather.  They have this sweet wagon that Ethan and Sydney thought was pretty amazing.  

Both Ethan and Sydney have tried out their new skill of jumping down steps over...and over...and over again.

We have been playing with the Dansie cousins quite a bit as well.  They love to pile on the recliner and read a book or two.

We eat a TON of produce.  Between Bountiful Baskets and produce sales we price-match at Walmart, we end up eating some yummy healthy fruits and veggies.  We found pineapple at $.97 each and have been freezing it in chunks as well as dehydrating it in slices.  It's been yummy!

Two snuggle bunnies. I love that they don't really need personal space.  They are so used to being together.

Doug has started training again for another race--Ragnar 2012.  Ethan and Sydney are once again hitting the pavement with their dad.  Sydney LOVES wearing her dad's hat (that was originally mine).

There has been a monumental shift in our lives as parents.  We go to the park and sit no the bench and watch them play.  Yes, that's HUGE.  We are not helping them and holding their hand and catching them on the bottom of the slide.  The park used to be somewhat tiring, but now it's completely fun to watch them play and soak up some sunshine.

Hey Everybody it's Family Night!

We took the kids bowling and had a fabulous time.  We bowled 2 games and we had 2 kids that grinned ear-to-ear regardless of if they knocked down any pins.

Here is a quick video of Ethan explaining what happened and celebrating at the end.