Puddles and Getting Soaked in the Rain

There is nothing quite like running around in the pouring rain and jumping in gigantic puddles! As I ran with the kids and felt the rain pour down my face and drench my clothes, I was taken back to my childhood when I would run down the streets and stand in the flowing gutters with my dad. Playing in the rain reminds me that we don't have to be grown up all the time, there is a little kid in all of us just dying to get soaked in the rain!

 Our playtime ended when Taelee ran to me screaming with fire ants crawling up her legs. Kingston was very worried about his sister. After I cleaned her off Kingston said, "Don't step in the ants okay princess?!" It's all fun and games until someone steps in an ant pile.

 By the end Kingston was a bit saggy. He did his best to hold them up, but there was little he could do about his problem. All I could think about was an American Idol song a few years back, "pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground!"

 He wasn't the only one with problems! wet jeans = saggy britches

Flying Kites

Taelee's sweet friend knocked on our door and asked if we wanted to go to the field by our house and fly kites. Taelee was squealing as we went down to the field. Poor deprived child had never flown a kite! I actually couldn't remember the last time I had either. It was  the perfect day for kite flying! Taelee couldn't stop smiling and laughing as she ran with the kite up in the air! Kingston thought he was pretty cool when he got his up there too! I'm pretty sure I have to go invest in these kites from the dollar store because the kids were in childhood heaven! Thank you Lisa for the impromptu knock on our door!!

Easter Egg Hunt Reading

Yesterday we had a very fun day! Preschool has switched to only once a week and we had spring break for two weeks. Needless to say we are always looking for some extra fun learning activities. We have been doing a lot of reading lately. Taelee has started sounding out words as she goes throughout the day. She is really starting to pick it up. I don't do well being cooped up at home for long so I decided to take a walk to the park. As we were getting ready I thought it would be fun to do an Easter egg hunt while we were there. I thought it would be even better to make it a little educational fun! I wrote some words on strips of paper and put them in some eggs. I put a special treat in one of them. When we got to the park I had her sit and close her eyes while I hid the eggs. I was worried that there would be a lot of kids there  who would find the eggs, but luckily there was only one other little girl there. Taelee was so excited for her Easter egg hunt! I spread them all around the field and on the play ground so she could run around...great exercise too!

 Kingston just loved running around!

 She was so excited when she found her surprise in one of the last eggs!

 After the hunt they had a great time playing on the slides. Kingston is still pretty timid about going down them without me setting him on it to go down. Taelee was a great big sister and took him down on her lap!

 He LOVES the swings and didn't want to get out!

 As we were playing Taelee said she saw someone swimming in the pool. I looked up to see a duck taking a little dip in the pool. The kids thought it was hilarious!

 Not only did we see a duck at the pool we saw a lizard as we were walking home, and Taelee caught a lady bug! She was LOVED it, and it loved her. She let it crawl up her arm and kept it nice and safe in her hands. She named it Tinkerbell and when we got home she made a nice little home for her!

***I checked on little Tinkerbell today and sadly she has gone to a better place! I haven't told Taelee yet, I'm not sure how she'll take it!

It was such a fun day! Taelee kept saying that it was a day for "all of us". I am so grateful for days like this that help remind me how simple life can be and how blessed my life truly is!

A Princess Party

Taelee was invited to her very first princess party. Her friend Isabella and her mommy Lisa had us over for a morning of princess fun. She was so excited! She chose to dress up in her Cinderella dress and looked oh so big! What is it about little girls dressing up as princesses?! I think it is programed in every little girl to love princesses! It was so much fun watching the little girls interact with each other, and play princess.

 They had princess snacks...the cure for little royal rumbley tummies, crackers, cheese, turkey, carrots, apples, and olives...Yum!

 Then they each made there own magic wand. Taelee loved decorating hers with jewels and stickers.

 Getting a picture of her with her wand was quite difficult, she wouldn't keep it still!

 My beautiful little princess (Not so little anymore! This picture it made me cry...she looks so big!!!)

 Taelee loved playing with her friends. Poor Ella was getting the choke hold hug!

 The four pretty princesses all in a row with their wands

Princess Taelee, Princess Ella, Princess Isabella, and Princess Katie

 and Taelee's favorite part...the cupcakes! I don't know where she has got her love for sweets and food. I have tried so hard not to give her a ton of treats, but that is what she asked for the whole time we were there! mmm...she really enjoyed it, she was the only one to finish the whole thing!

Puddle Jumping

We have had sooo... much rain here! We get at least 2 days of pure rain once a week. If I didn't know any better I'd say we were living in Seattle! Taelee loves being outside, and there was a lull in the rain, so on went her rain boots, and out we went to jump in puddles. Her boots are a little small, but once she got to jumping she didn't care about her miserable toes. She didn't want to go inside!

Like Mother Like Daughter

Taelee loves to play with my jewelry, my bracelets in particular. She usually puts on one or two, but today she put on every one of my bangles. It was really funny watching her try and get them all on her wrist, she got pretty good at it!

Of course she had to sort them out and make piles throughout the house!

Soon after putting them all on her wrists she realized she could also put them on her legs. She got all of them on both legs at one point! She was grinning from ear to ear, thinking she was one smart cookie! You can see the smarty pant grin in the last picture. I was so glad that it was before bath time so she had naked legs, making it a million times cuter!

Fun at the Park

Today was a beautiful day so I decided to take Taelee to the park. She loves it there! If there are other kids there she usually looks at them and wont do much around the park, but today we were the only ones there for a little while. She was running around everywhere and loved every minute of it!

Preparing to enter the park...

Checking out the swings

This is safe right?! After awhile she lounged back and closed her eyes.

New Discoveries



She found a ball and wouldn't put it down. She would throw it then run to get it.
(Stephen loves that she loves balls!)