We were able to help out our friend and do some dog sitting. This also helped us with our dog therapy for Julia. We watched George (black 5 lbs. poodle) and Belle (tan 10 lbs. poodle) for a week. The girls were excited, but Julia was a bit unsure when the dogs arrived. It took the dogs a couple of days to get used to us and our house, but we didn’t have any trouble with them. George is younger and more active so the girls gravitated to playing with him more. Belle preferred to lay on the couch and get love. By the end of the week Julia wanted to pick up George and carry him around the house. She also wanted to hold his leash when he went for walks. It was a great experiment for the girls.

One of Emily’s birthday gifts was ballet lessons. She had been asking to try it for quite a while and she had to wait until she passed the halfway mark of kindergarten. She patiently waited and was rewarded with lessons. She was excited to go, but found that there was a lot involved in dancing. She has continued to go and is willing to learn. She is ready for it to become for fun though. Her best skill is leaping. In just the few months she has been going her skill has improved greatly and it isn’t so new anymore.

The girls seem to enjoy "Make Your Own Pizza" night a lot. Emily spends time making sure all her desired toppings are spread out evenly. Julia either dumps her toppings all in one spot or she spends her time making them into a face design. You have to enjoy personality via food. We won’t discuss Mama’s pizza topping placement issues.

Birthdays are a great thing to celebrate! We celebrated Daddy’s birthday with morning gifts, afternoon not-so-surprise at Daddy’s work with snacks, evening Mexican food, and soapillias for dessert. There were cupcakes because Julia couldn’t handle the though of a birthday without cupcakes. Daddy enjoyed his day! We will do it again in a year.

Emily read her homework book to Julia. They started it on their own and it was quite a sweet moment. We love that Emily has this gift she can share with Julia. On a side note, see the shoe on the chair. The shoelaces were tied in that pretty bow by Emily. She had to learn to tie shoes on Mama’s shoes because she is still a size away from her first pair of shoe laced sneakers. But she did it and is quite proud of her new skill! 

We officially celebrated our own spring break this year instead of tagging along with someone else’s break. It was nice to celebrate several spring breaks with different people when we didn’t have school constraints on us, but alas those days are over. We did a local activity everyday of the break and Mama enjoyed just spending time with her girls.

Playdate with friends! – We enjoyed playing with someone else’s toys for a morning and having lunch. The kids are getting old enough that they really play on their own. The littlest is having to learn to voice her opinion and keep up with the bigger kids. They are working it out for sure.

They have formed a band. Watch out! For a concert just contact their booking agent.

This might need to become a career option. It appears she has the personality to go with the instrument.

Swim Time – No photos from this event because Mama forgot the camera in the car. We swam in the heated indoor pool and loved it. We didn’t have to share the pool with anyone else and had a lifeguard to keep an eye on us. Emily enjoyed showing off some tricks for the lifeguard including sit diving. Emily figured out how to swim under Mama’s legs in the pool. Julia enjoyed freedom in the pool and being able to walk fairly deep into the pool. She would would play right at the point that it became too deep to keep her head above water and would bounce between the sides. It sure kept the lifeguard busy until he figured out that she was doing it on purpose and could get herself out of trouble.

Playdate at Grammy’s – Grammy watched the girls for a morning and Mama brought lunch back for everyone to enjoy. The girls were supposed to take care of Grammy while they were there, but they forgot their purpose once they got playing. They are only six and four though. We finished out the day with dress-up playtime. Always a good day when the princess dresses can come out.

Photo Day and Consignment Shopping – Emily had not gotten her six year old photo taken yet so we knocked that one off the list one morning and then hung out at a consignment sale and the mall until they were collapsing and ready for a nap.

Playdate at the Children’s Museum – We met friends at the Children’s Museum for some enjoyable playtime. The only thing that would have made the day better was if Daddy had been able to join us. The kids did all their favorite things!

A stack of good friends and giggles

Really it was a beach vacation. Getting four kids to look in one direction is still tough even though they are now older.

The puppet performance of the Ladybug and fish.

First Friend Sleepover – Our friends invited the girls over for a sleepover and then we met them at church the next morning. All four girls had a blast and they did get some sleep. They went to sleep around 10 and were up by 6 the next morning. That wake-up time might just be Julia’s fault. They just enjoyed playing with each other and toys. They are ready for the next sleepover, I guess it will be at our house.

One of the best photos ever! These are the moments that really define childhood.

Sunday Afternoon Church Picnic – This activity just happened to fall during our spring break and worked out for a fun time to spend with friends. Some out-of-town friends came in to visit and everyone converged on a park to enjoy fellowship and a little catching up. All the girls church friends were able to make it and they all enjoyed a sunny time at the park. Of course our girls were the best dressed girls at the park, but despite being told what we were doing they wanted to dress in their finest for church. It didn’t seem to slow them down.

Really not sure if they ware playing get the ball or get the Jeremy. Way to go Dads for keeping all the kids running on the field!