Spring is in the Air...

...as well as birthday and Easter celebrations. Here are some pictures from our recent festivities:

My baby turned 4. FOUR! I can't believe it...

Party at preschool and at home. He was so happy.

Lee enjoying cake at his cousin, Ren's (on right) 2nd birthday.

My first baby turned 8. EIGHT!!!!! I am in shock.

Jessalyn's crafty birthday party (we painted frames, made headbands and bracelets)

Cake #2

The week after her birthday Jessalyn got braces...she is so excited!

Lee's preschool Easter Egg Hunt

Lee and Me (a rare occasion to get a pic of us together!)

Snack time after the egg hunt at church

Easter Day

We dyed and created "Monster Eggs!"

These chick cupcakes are my favorite. My sister-in-law, Christy, is so talented.

Egg Hunt at MawMaw & Brick's. Lee found one of his own eggs!

Pony tail monster egg was my favorite.

Lee counting his eggs.

Russ and Jess count their eggs.

Samantha and Jessalyn

Kaitlyn and Lee played a lot of basketball.

It was his favorite part of the day.

Kaitlyn and Lee

Happy Springtime, everyone! :)

She's Baaaaaaack!

Hello my poor, neglected little blog. Life has gotten in the way of updates and posting pictures the last few months, but I will try to make it up to you. Maybe I'll get around to posting "Halloween Part 2," "Thanksgiving," and "Christmas." But that'll have to wait for another day. Today I'm posting about today!

It's Reading Fair time again. My avid little reader has been working very hard on her project and has been rewarded handsomely, in the form of first place at the local level and first place again at the district level! She moves on to the regional competition in March! So here's a look at this year's project, along with projects from years past...

Jessalyn discovering the first place trophy in front of her project today.

She and her BFF Alexis were soooo excited!

Can you tell?

Some cute details from her project that are hard to see in the big pictures. Click to see larger.

Last year's project earned her second place!

Doesn't she look cute!?

Two years ago in kindergarten she won first place twice, both at the local and district levels!

Her individual project didn't win at regionals, but the group project she participated in did! She and her classmates presented it at state and even won first place!

We are so proud of you, Jessalyn!

Racing

Lee races EVERYWHERE.

I often hear, "Mama, count to 31!" and then I have to start counting to see if he can get to his destination (or finish a task) before I get to 31 (31 is his favorite number request).

He has picked up on Jessalyn's declaration of not being the "rotten egg." Somehow, though, a bit has been lost in translation.

Lee's version: "Last one there is a rockin' egg! I'm it! I'm a rockin' egg!"

Halloween Part 1

Halloween has officially begun! Here's the rundown of our day:

Lee's school held a mini fall festival for them. He was so excited to see me there to help. Everyone had a great time playing games and collecting prizes.

This afternoon was our town's "Merchant Trick-or-Treating," so we got all dressed up and went from store to store collecting goodies.

Lee as a giraffe. This was my first year making costumes from scratch, and I was pleased with how they turned out (and so were the kids!). :)

Jess as Princess Leia

Batman and Leia duking it out while the giraffe stands quietly by...

The high school held a mini carnival this afternoon, so that was our next stop.

Banana Toss

Peanut Toss

Football toss

And a fun time was had by all. This was a great warm up for the weekend!

When I Grow Up…(part 2)

Today's statement is a follow up to a previous comment on aspirations to be a circle:

Lee: "After I'm done being a blue circle, I'm going to be a purple triangle."

Fair Day: A Photo Essay

It's county fair time again and the children had the day off from school,

so we got together with some friends and headed out to have a lot of fun.

Lee and the Llamas

Jessalyn, Lauren and Lee

It didn't take Jess long to find the pony!

Of all the things we did today, I'm

pretty sure climbing was Lee's favorite.

Brand new baby lamb!

Lauren, Jess, Jack and Lee in front of the fall display.

It sure doesn't feel like fall here. It was a bazillion degrees outside!

Cows and more climbing.

Even more climbing.

The rest of the pictures can speak for themselves:

Lee wasn't interested in any of the kiddie rides...he

wanted to do the big kid stuff that I wouldn't let him do.

So he played a game instead. Lee hit the balloon on his second try!

Proud of his $2 plastic slinky...

and the last climb before we got into the car!

It was fun, but I sure am glad Fair Day only comes once a year!

Here's a look back at fairs past, 2008 and 2009.