Butterflies

We had another week of new adventures :)  This past Saturday, Ezri and Alora got to have some play time with their cousins Aubrey and Wesley.  It was pretty much chaos the entire time, with toys flying left and right and screeches and squeals... no room for adult conversation... we had a great time!  Ezri enjoyed playing with Aubrey, Wesley took it all in and added his two cents from time to time and little Alora just cooed and laid quietly, trying not to get run over.

 Saturday evening we headed out for a family date to Mendards and then had dinner with Opa and Oma.  Our mission was to get a book case for the living room.  We ended up getting a weed whip for Daddy and a new vacuum for Mommy too!  Daddy and Mommy were very excited about their new toys - Mommy the most, I think... finally I can vacuum and not chase the wheels around the room at every turn! (It was seriously that bad!)  And how disgusting to see what the new vacuum picked up from the rug in the living room that I had vacuumed with the old one just that morning - eek!  Ezri got to help Daddy put the new book case together and we discovered it is time to get Ezri her own hammer :)

 Ezri insists on holding Alora often, and each time she wants her picture taken... so here's another shot of my sweet girls together :)

 Ezri has been in helper mode this week.  She likes to help in the kitchen, especially with the dishes where she can play in the bubbles.  She can spend 20 minutes or more just dipping dishes in the water and playing around!

 Wednesday morning, we had a special adventure.  We went to Meijer Gardens with Great Grandma to see the butterflies.  Great Grandma had never been there and Ezri was now old enough to understand better.  We had a great time!

 Ezri loved to watch the butterflies... but not so sure about them flying near her.

 Of course, we had to check out the big horse!  Ezri was so tiny next to that thing!!!  You can barely see her in the picture...

 There was a fun children's garden to play in, where Ezri really let loose.  She especially loved playing with the boats in the water.

 We found lots of other fun things to play on there too!

We shared lunch at Wendy's and Ezri ate 4 chicken nuggets voluntarily... we've finally gotten past her vegetarian meal choices!  We had a really great time and I am so glad we could share that time with Great Grandma!

 Back at home, Ezri was right back at helping in the kitchen again!  We dug out Mommy's old apron from when she was little and Ezri LOVED it!  Such a cutie!!!

 

Tomorrow marks 3 months for our little peanut - so hard to believe!!!  We are loving EVERY moment (truthfully - all of it!) of our lives with these little girls.  We cannot imagine life without the chaos, noise, mess, hugs, kisses and sweetness!!!

Proms and Princesses

Our Country Castle has been pretty "quiet" this past week.  We went through one more busy weekend before the calm, however. 

Last Saturday, this Mommy got to play hairstylist for my cousins Tara and Liz :)  Their prom was that night, and most times for dances and formal events, I get the chance to play with their hair.  Both girls came with really cute ideas this time and we had lots of fun.  There is not much hair in this house to play with besides my own, so I welcome the chance to hang with these girls for a while and play around.  I tried to get Ezri to let me curl her hair after she watched me do Liz's, but no such luck.

Alora became the target of my camera this week as she will still sit still while I take her picture.  Practicing with the new camera on such a cute target is such hard work!!!

 Sunday, this Mommy got to sing on the praise band again at church, so it was an early morning for the girls and a long day for us all, with two services and then a trip to Opa and Oma's for lunch.  Opa got in some time with the girls before the dresses came off and all craziness set in :)

 Sunday night we enjoyed some time at home with our friends.  It was a beautiful day outside, so we even got to open up the doors and windows and let some warmth in!  Andy was Ezri's focus, as usual, and they came up with some fun together :)

 That night, we had a visitor... a tree frog decided our back door was the place to be :)

 Our week was spent playing in the house most mornings and walking with Daddy in the evenings after supper.  Daddy had lots of meetings this week and was on the road a lot, so one morning the girls and I headed to out with the results of our basement cleaning to donate it.  It was a literal car full... trunk and front seat packed as well as any spare space in the back by the girls, but we got it all in :)  We stopped into the store to get Ezri some bigger socks and found a cute little pair of shoes for Alora too - which Ezri decided as soon as we got home she needed to wear, even though they were too big.  She set right to work putting them on Alora's feet all by herself :)

 Ezri has been extra loving on Alora this week, wanting to hold her a lot...

 And Alora took in all in stride :)

 One afternoon, Ezri got to decorate a shirt for wearing while crafting, cooking or just doing generally messy things.  She loved it!!!

 And, sweet as she is, I also found Ezri reading a book to Alora, showing her pictures and the whole bit!

With April half gone already, we've been out in the yard cleaning, mowing and trying to get things back in order for the summer as the spring weather has been kind to us.  We're loving the time outside together and Ezri is learning quickly about weeding :)  Guess I'll have a good little helper this summer!

Happy Easter!

Whew!  What a busy weekend!!!  Too much Easter fun :)

Friday morning, before we headed to Great Grandma's, I caught Ezri being so cute.  She decided her baby needed milk and sat herself down in her little chair.  Soon, baby needed juice, which apparently came from the same place?  Hmmm.. didn't know about that trick! :)  Ezri is turning into such a little mommy.



 We got to spend the morning with Great Grandma on Friday.  Since we would not be at her house for Easter, Great Grandma hid some eggs outside for Ezri to find.  We got to play with her favorite cat, Shadow, and have lunch with Great Grandma too.  It was a fun time for all of us!  Ezri loves going to the farm to see Great Grandma and Great Grandma adores little Ezri and Alora, and I get to spend time with Grandma... a win for everyone :)

 There are turkeys, chickens and "turkens" (turkey/chicken cross - yup they are weird) in a pen out back and Ezri loves to watch.

 Shadow helped Ezri hunt for eggs too!

 And, of course, we had to take a spin on the tractor!

 Saturday morning we went to Grandpa and Grandma's church for another egg hunt.  Before the hunt, the children learned about some baby animals and got to pet baby chicks.  It was absolute chaos, but Ezri had a great time!

 Then we spent some time with Grandpa and Grandma... 

 And we discovered that we have a little monkey (with Grandpa's help)...

 We also got to spend some time with Aunt Becky this weekend.  Saturday night she joined us at our house and Ezri got to share bedtime story time with her :)

 Sunday brought Easter.  This year, with two little girls, we had to take advantage of the ability to dress them alike :)  Ezri picked out their dresses and was quite proud that Alora had a dress just like hers!

 Getting them both to smile at the same time... not so easy

 While we don't really do the Easter Bunny thing, we did give Ezri a few fun things in her basket - stickers and magnets!

 Between services at church there was another egg hunt.  3 minutes of absolute chaos!

 We had Easter dinner with Grandpa, Grandma, Mike, Kerri, Aubrey and Wesley.  Getting 4 kids to look at the same camera and smile at the same time... impossible, but we got close :)

 And more egg hunting :)

 Followed by some play time with Aubrey!

 And we ended up with one crashed toddler on the ride home.

 After all that excitement, we needed a nice calm week.  Ezri and I started doing pilates together in the mornings.  She tries so hard to do the stretches, it's too cute!  She also thinks she should be involved by sitting on me as I do leg lifts, crunches, stretches, etc. which makes things that much harder for Mommy :)

 We've had more cooler weather and even saw snow again this week!  Poor tulips and other flowers and trees that think it's safe to be out...

 We got in some bath time together one evening... laziness on my part got both girls in the tub together.  Too much for Alora who already is not a fan of baths, she wanted out right now!  Ezri thought it was great, though!

 As the end of the week arrived, temps warmed a bit more and we spent time playing outside in the afternoon.  Still chilly, it was short, but felt great to get outside a bit again.

 And to smell the flowers :)