March Happenings

Before all the fun Easter festivities this weekend, I need to post about the rest of the month of March.  

We've been working on painting both of the kids' bedrooms so they are currently sharing a bedroom in the basement.  They will continue to share a room upstairs once the new baby arrives so this is great practice for them.  (Aaaand, we've been trying to potty train McKenna to stay dry at night... more on that later.)  Dan's done a LOT of the work mostly since I'm a scaredy cat about the paint fumes and pregnancy.  I'll post pictures (soon) when the rooms are complete.  

McKenna took her second round of swimming lessons.  (The first round was a year ago.)  I wasn't so sure she was going to advance to the next level, but somehow she passed off all the skills.  She still seems pretty timid with her movements and therefore doesn't usually move enough to keep her head above water. Guess that's why she's in lessons. :)  Overall though, she had fun and loved being in a class with cousin Kate.  

With the temperatures finally warming up a bit, we had a lot of "firsts" for the year.  

We took our first trip to the Zoo.  The weather was great that day and we always love the cousin time!  

 First trip to the park with a picnic lunch.  No, Ben is not asleep, but I guess the warm sun felt relaxing to him.  On this particular occasion, the kids spent most of their time being scared of all the dogs that were there.  Lovely memories...

Cute sibling togetherness

First walk around the neighborhood in about 4 months.  Not an easy task to pull these two on the hills, especially since all three of us have put on some weight. ;)  Notice all the snow still on the ground (as of March 5th).  

 Diggin' the shades.  

Chillin' with Dad.  

 First time I ever let the kids paint with water colors.  They loved it!

 I may have helped Ben a little. ;) 

 First time buying a Mini Van!!  That's right folks!  With a growing family comes the need for a larger vehicle.  2012 Toyota Sienna, 24,000 miles.  I'm pretty much in love with the automatic doors and back-up camera and everything else about it!    

Cute Ben story.  I was getting ready to go to a Stake RS meeting and sing in a choir during the program.  Deciding on something cute and comfortable to wear is getting more and more difficult these days.  I had already changed my outfit two or three times and finally decided on this red dress. As I'm finally heading out the door, cute Ben points at me and says, "Ho! Ho!" meaning Santa!  Thanks kid for making an already self-conscious pregnant lady feel even better about herself. :)     

Ballet Recital

"Mom, take a picture of me in first position."

McKenna has been in ballet since mid October and has LOVED it!  She had her recital on March 9th and just looked like she was having so much fun up there!

All dolled up and ready to go! 

She pretty much anticipates what comes next and has a hard time waiting for the other girls to catch on.  :)  

I love how happy and bouncy she was at the end!  

Picture of her class on display in the lobby (top right).  

Coming out to take a bow.

So proud!

Flowers from her daddy!

Cute brother Ben was always SO happy to see her after her class and the recital was no different!  

Her adoring audience!  Uncle Sam, Adam, and Jonathan, aunt Mickelle and Lara, and Grandma Webster!  Thank you so much to everyone who came!!   

We went out for frozen yogurt after and then finally got our kids into bed by 10pm.  And that happened to be Daylight Savings weekend so it was really 11pm.  Parents of the year award right here!  :)  But hey, you gotta celebrate, right?!?

We're so proud of her hard work and have loved seeing her confidence blossom!  

Preschool

It's been so fun this year taking a turn every three weeks to teach preschool to McKenna, two of her cousins, and a friend from the neighborhood.  Here are some pics from when I taught the letter "Tt."  

(Lucky me gets to teach the letter "Xx" this coming week. :)) 

Playing with trains while everyone arrived.

Turtle snacks made from an apple slice and grape halves.  

Posted on Instagram. :)

McKenna wearing a tie the second day of "Tt."  

We made a capital T into a telephone (most of the girls had never seen what an "old" phone looked like)  and a lower case t out of train tracks.  We also decorated a tree and had cheese snacks they made into Ts.  

I also wanted to document how good McKenna's handwriting is getting. I know this is tracing, but she's staying on the lines pretty well.  

It's been awesome to see her learn and grow so much this year! 

Valentine's Day and Little Mermaid

I made heart grilled cheese sandwiches for my two little Valentines!

Dan and I had a lovely date out to dinner at The Garden then walked around City Creek and got some Gelato.  :) 

My handsome husband also sent me this lovely bouquet! 

A few days later, I took McKenna on a fun mommy-daughter date to see Wood Cross High's Little Mermaid Jr.  

This was during the curtain call and you can see how awesome the scenery and costumes were!  Very well done! 

We even stuck around after and got a couple pictures with Ariel and Flounder! 

And because Ben has an older sister, he can totally sing the Ariel song.  Such a cute little princess-loving boy.  :)

Bowling

A couple weeks back we took the kids bowling for the first time.  

My little cheesey family!

I got a strike my first frame!  And maybe one more later on.  But Dan still beat me. :)

Ben had a really hard time taking turns.  And thankfully Dan and I were smart enough to only pay for one game.  McKenna ran out of steam after the 6th frame or so. Pretty sure Benny could have been there all night (Editor's note: Clearly, he gets that from me).

Eventually, this is all Ben wanted to do.  :) 

Now every time we drive past the bowling alley, Ben excitedly points and yells, "BAW!!" 

(His word for ball.)