Spring 2012 stuff

My Mom with all 11 of her grandchildren after Sunday dinner.

Rivers was one intense defender this year in basketball.  That's her in the pink and her cousin Madison in the blue. 

The records say it has never snowed in the Willamette Valley in March, but we woke up to this during the last week of March, so we hurried and went sledding before it melted.  That's me with my legs in the air after trying to take all 3 of the little kids down with me....we crashed and they all ended up crying. 

Ninja master

More snow pics.  CD got the sledding thing down.

And Rivers got creative with her snowmen.  I loved the 'stache and goatee. 

For Spring break we went to Bend, OR for a few days to ski at my favorite place, Mt. Bachelor.

The first day was beautiful and I had so much fun showing Rivers all my favorite runs.  Her favorite was good 'ole Dilly Dally Alley through the trees.  She said "Mom, this is so fun that I would do ANYTHING to be able to ski through the trees for just one hour", so we skiied through the trees a lot.  She really got good on that trip.  On the third day we took CD on the lift for the first time and I thought he would be nervous about the height etc. so I was being all nice and comforting until he said while we were going up "Mom, come on, it's not even as high as an airplane."  Okay then.

It's a good thing Dreyton is so comfortable with his manhood because he has to be just one of the girls a lot.  Here Rivers dressed them all up in her dresses.

Cute cousins....held hands the whole walk and really tried to have a conversation.  I heard them talking about the trees.

Reagan is such a clothes hog.  She LOVES getting new clothes and dressing up in Rivers' dresses.

Easter family pic

The dress I made for Reagan for Easter was made from 4 of my old shirts I cut up and upcycled :) 

Here's a picture of the party in the back of the dress.  I saw the idea on pinterest and gave it a try (since I used to make dresses for Rivers out of my shirts too) and it turned out perty darn cute.  Easter evening after eating too much candy and not taking naps, the twins (especially Dreyton) were exceptionally entertaining.  Tyler and Amber show up and Dre really starts showing off, tackling Cubby (my Mom's dog) and then running down the hill yelling "I WANT CANDY!"  while at the same time Reagan runs to the trampoline, trips and her ruffles fly over her head.  I guess you had to be there, but none of us could stop laughing

One of my favorite trees. 

Lots of playing in the ditches.

At the gymnastics gym that's part of CD's preschool, they have a gigantic pit full of foam cubes that the gymnasts jump into from a long trampoline or from the bars to practice their flips and stuff.  You can pay a few dollars and let your little ones play too while preschool is in session.  I need some pictures of them flying into the pit from super high.  Cassidy and Reagan liked to just lounge on the foam.  It's funny because they have a hard time getting out of the foam once they jump in, which gives me an excuse to jump in too to "save" them. 

More gymnastics

Woo-hoo!  Potty training....check.  This is the chart I made for Reagan because it was getting too hard to train both at the same time and Reagan seemed more ready, but as soon as Dreyton saw Reagan do it and get to put stickers on the chart, he joined right in and actually did better than Reags.  They still need diapers for night time and sometimes nap time, but it sure feels good to not be filling up quite so many garbage cans with diapers.  And their bathroom talk is hilarious..."I pooped a snake!" (Dreyton). 

Jason took the Young Men from church on a night hike without flashlights and had Carlos and I wear his super-freak masks and hide out in the dense trees to scare them.  It was actually really fun and you know they're scared when they all go completely silent with terror. 

Reagan, eating her giant cookie at Panera looking like she's from the 1700's or something. 

My mom's barn cat had kittens and Dreyton is so smitten and soooooo cute and protective with them.

Rivers did the 4-H fashion review where you design and sew your own outfit, then model it for the judges and in a fashion show for the parents and public at night.  Here she is showing off her completed skirt and shirt that she made. 

May 28th, my hunk of a boy turned 5 years old!  I love this kid so much and wish we could stop time for a while and keep him 5.  I'll put pictures from his Mad Science birthday party up in the next blog, but for now, here's a few cute pics of my fella.