Easter Fun

This year our Easter Celebrations had a new addition. Adult Easter Egg Hunts. Who knew they were a thing?

The Sunday before Easter my girls wore their Easter Dresses to church, they've been dying to wear them for weeks! 

They were so excited!!

About half way through the week before Easter a friend in another state posted a photo of she and her husband at an adult Easter egg hunt. My mind was blown!! I immediately started googling to see if there were any in my area. Happily, I found one. 

Sorry for the dark selfie, but we were super excited and antsy to start our Easter Egg hunt!! 

We had to pay a small fee to get in and each person could only grab one Easter Egg (there was a lot of candy loose on the ground), but if you were lucky enough to get one of the eggs, the rewards were good.  

Scott had egg number 2 and redeemed it for the cooler which had the corresponding number and I was egg 19 and got the air mattress. (The cute photo bombers did not come with the prizes)

Scott's sister was gracious enough to watch our girls so we could have a fun night out. We ended up taking the, uuhhh... scenic route to our destination, since I was the one driving, which made us a bit behind schedule.  Don't say anything, I am not always the best navigator... Our date night still went incredibly well and was a nice chance for us to talk and just be together. And the Easter Egg Hunt was pretty exhilarating on it's own!

Easter Sunday my parents and two of my clan of brothers and their families came over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt (the hunt was for the kids, not adults!! I ate enough candy while filling the eggs to make our whole block sick of chocolate.) My brother Andy brought a bubble machine, which really intrigued Lilly. She was more excited about that than the Easter egg hunt!

Being able to spend time with my family on Easter Sunday was the perfect ending to Easter week. 

Fairy Tea Party

The most beautiful fairy at the Fairy Tea Party

Every Spring our local library has a Fairy Tea Party. We decided to take Abby this year, as she is old enough, and we thought she would enjoy it. Scott waited in line for a couple hours early on a Saturday morning to get the tickets and we are so grateful!

The library transforms a ballroom into a little girls fairy dream. 

The library director played the part of the Fairy King with a court of fairies. Ballerinas performed excerpts from Sleeping Beauty and everything was magical. (It kind of made me wish I was a little girl again) Abby loved watching the ballerinas dance right in front of her! (Scott picked a great table!)  All the little fairies in attendance promenade and get to meet the Fairy King. 

 Abby got a purple wand at her place setting and really loves it. Lilly inherited my blue wand when we got home and she has developed similar adoration of her wand. 

After the tea party the fairies could walk through a room filled with the cutest, tiny fairy houses and at the end, trade in their magic coin for a book. The library director says the purpose of this fairy tea is to help little ones develop their imagination and be able to envision the things they read in books, which I think is pretty awesome. This was Abby's favorite part, as you can see from her face....

This girl is a wonderful addition to our lives. She has the best giggles, smiles and hugs. She is so caring, she looks out for others all the time, and wants everyone to be happy. I love this girl so much!

Weekend Update

Forgive me for giving you a weekend update on Tuesday, but I've been a little under the weather.

We'll start the weekend on Friday for this posts sake so you can see the awesome lengths I will put my family through for good, free food. Thanks Chick-Fil-A for dinner!

I decided we needed to get out of the house and so I cut out lots of black cow spots, rounded up the safety pins and attached "ears" to tiaras and fox ears (from Halloween last year). Scott was quite surprised when he walked in to find his family had turned into cow costumes.  The wait wasn't too terrible and we ended up with awesome free Chick-Fil-A dinner that we took to the park for a picnic (is it a picnic when the food isn't made by you?). The sweltering desert heat (don't let the mountains in the background convince you it it isn't hot here) and the semi long line were the only drawbacks to our first Chick-fil-A free food experience and I think we'd do it again!

This weekend I also checked something off my bucket list! It may sound silly but I've always wanted to go to an estate sale. While out running errands I happened to pass a sign for an estate sale in my neighborhood. I flipped the van around so fast I'm sure the girls heads were spinning and off we went. This particular estate sale wasn't the things dreams are made of, but I have a feeling most estate sales are a little more professional and I have high hopes for the next one I get to go to (hopefully without the little one in the stroller and the toddler wanting to run from room to room trying on all the clothes and asking me to buy everything. 

Did I buy anything you ask? Why yes I did. Of course I had to buy something at my first estate sale!! Two LARGE umbrellas and a handful of scarves for the girls dress-up box. Maybe not the biggest haul or most amazing find but I'm pretty happy about it.

The weekend was rounded off by baths on Saturday night. When Abby informed me that Lilly was going to poop in the bathtub they were sharing. I, naively, brushed off her concerns since that has never been a problem with my kids. Lets just say that next time I will listen more attentively when Abby shares her sisterly insights with me (and I will not allow myself to run out of bleach ever again)! And don't worry, there are no pictures to share and thus scar your mind!

What things made your weekend memorable?

First Haircut on Both Sides

Abby is three and a half years old and until yesterday had never had her hair cut. 

When I had my hair cut almost 2 months ago (wow, I guess I better go in and get my bangs trimmed!) Abby talked about getting her hair cut. Since she makes a fuss every time I brush her hair and try to get the tangles out, I decided it was definitely time to cut it. It took me almost 2 months to get up to courage to cut her hair. Don't judge! I cry whenever my hubby asks me to cut his hair and so he goes and gets it cut at Sport Clips. Again, don't judge! 

I went to Sally's, purchased some scissors, went home and watched a million you-tube videos on hair cutting.

I often call Abby Rapunzel because of her long hair and so I figured if we watched Tangled while cutting her hair she would take it better (since Rapunzel's hair gets cut at the end and there is a happy ending :)

Abby couldn't hold still and so it took 3 attempts to get the final finished product.

It was a scary experience for sure but I conquered my fear and cut my daughters hair for the first time and I think it turned out okay. Hopefully from here on out it will easier, right?

Do you cut your children's hair, and if so do you have tips and tricks to make it easier?

Provo Park Hop #1 Bicentennial Park

Every week this summer a group of friends and I will be visiting a new park in Provo to try it out, learn more about our town and find fun new places to play! Hopefully every Friday I will be posting an update about the park we visited the day before.

Yesterday we played at Provo Bicentennial Park. To be honest, the park was almost to Springville and didn't really feel like it was in Provo. Lots of parking spaces right next to the grass which was awesome, no walking through a crowded parking lot with kids in tow.

My friend Melissa brought a bow and arrows and helped each of the kids take a turn. Definitely the highlight of the trip!

The playground was nice and big with plenty of swings, which meant no fighting over swings which was great! Lots of big shade trees for the mammas to camp out under while our kids played.

The duck pond was kind of muddy, we only saw two ducks and they were hiding behind a big fallen tree in the water and weren't interested in the bread Abby brought and was so excited to feed them so that was a bit of a letdown for her. Lilly loves ducks, with a PASSION so I was hoping she would be able to see them but she didn't know what she was missing out on.

Lilly wore her tutu to the park and spent most of her time on the blanket eating snacks or chasing bubbles.

Overall it was a great park with tons of nice lush green grass for the kids to run and play. It was almost too big of a grassy area for little kids as we had a harder time keeping track of them. There is a HUGE hill that they can run up and then roll down.

We loved the playground, shady trees and large grassy area the most. 

What things are a priority for you when choosing which park to take your kids too?

Things we didn't do: 

Wetlands area with a boardwalk to walk on while you check it out.

Sand volleyball area

Disc golf course

DIY Kiddie Pool Cover

If you're like me, when you go through the hassle of getting your kids squirmy bodies into swimsuits, sun-screened and out into the backyard to splash in the kiddie pool, only to discover it's full of bugs, grass clippings and who knows what all it's very frustrating!

Solution: Make a kiddie pool cover to help keep out the unwanted creepy crawlies!

Supplies:

4 yards of fabric

3 yards of 3/4 inch elastic

Sewing machine!

Instructions:

1. Buy 4 yards of fabric

- Cut fabric in half so you have 2 pieces, 2 yards each

2. Sew the right sides of the fabric together (I didn't worry about ironing it open, it's going outside :) )

3. Lay the pool on the wrong side of the fabric and mark about 7 inches from edge of pool with a sharpie

4.Cut the circle out of your fabric

5a. Iron a 1/2 inch seam around edge

5b. Iron down a 1 inch seam around the edge

-Sew down the edge of the 1 inch seam to make a casing, leaving about 2 inches open to thread the elastic through.

-Attach a large safety pin to each end of elastic and secure one end to the opening in the fabric.

-Thread other end of elastic through casing

-Sew ends of elastic together with crisscross stitches

-Sew down 2 inch opening in casing and you're done!!

Try out your kiddie pool cover!

My girls loved that the water was nice and warm from sitting in the sun all day with the cover on without being full of bugs and junk!!

I followed this tutorial by Mama with three chicks when making my pool cover.

Fabric and Tulle Tutu's

Last week Abby was invited to a Princess Birthday Party for 3 of her friends who were born the same week. Princess attire was requested and most of her dress-ups are my old dance costumes so I decided to make her a Princess Tutu for the party. I've already had some questions from some of the moms at the birthday party about making a tutu so here it is!

I started with a selection of 8 coordinating fabrics from the Quilters Showcase Fabric Line at Joann's. I went back a day later and added 2 more fabrics from the same line. It's good quality fabric at a good price, which means I don't care too much about how fast the tutu gets destroyed. I got the fabric 60% off so I was even happier. Did I add a few extra yards to the cart for future projects? Perhaps.... 

Abby's best gal pal, Beth, was one of the birthday girls so I made her a tutu also. Abby's will be pink and blue and Beth's will be pink and orange.

I started by cutting the fabric into strips 3 inches wide, the width of the fabric. 

Cut the strips down to the length you want. I did a variety of lengths to give it more visual appeal. My shortest length was about 18 inches and the longest was about 26 inches. Most of the longer ones ended up being orange and going on Beth's tutu (she's taller than my little one). I wanted the tutu's to be a little longer than the ones you buy so that Abby wouldn't grow out of it too soon.

 I cut the tulle a little longer than the fabric to give it a fairy-like look and more movement. I didn't take pictures because it was about 2 in the morning and things were getting blurry!

I think tutu's are cuter when the ends are pointed instead of cut straight across. Use a rotary cutter and cutting mat to cut the ends into points.

I sewed a simple seam around the outside of the strips to help control the fraying and let me wash the tutu. I am hoping that on a gentle cycle with cold water the fabric and tulle will hold up. We'll see! This was the most time consuming part of the whole process.

I measured Abby's waist and cut the elastic 2 inches shorter to allow for stretch. She's three and a half and I ended up cutting the elastic just under 18 inches.  

I used 1/2 inch elastic. Overlap the two ends and sew them together using several crisscross stitches for stability.

I used the slipknot method for tying Abby's tutu and when I use the leftovers to make Lilly a tutu I will try the double knot method and let you know which I prefer. You can slip the fabric in front or behind the elastic. I found that putting the elastic around my leg helped keep it stable and the elastic from rolling.

Loop the ends through the folded edge of fabric on the top.

Pull it "tight". Not too tight or it will stretch out your elastic, you can always go back and tighten it if needed.

Orange and pink tutu for Beth. I alternated the fabric and tulle doing about 2 strips of fabric per doubled layer of tulle. Once the fabric and tulle were tied the way I wanted I cut and tied ribbons around the top. I used a variety of sparkly, and regular ribbon. I ended up using about 20 fabric strips and 15 doubled tulle strips for a three year old.

Abby getting a mermaid painted on her face at the Princess Party. 

Abby and her best bud, Beth, rocking the tutu's and princess crowns. You can see that Abby wasn't satisfied with just being a Princess, she wanted to be a Fairy Princess and wore her wings all day.

I learned SO MUCH from this process and had a great time. I will definitely be making more of these cute tutu's and look forward to different color combinations and techniques. 

What color combinations would you do?

I hope I covered everything! If you have any questions or want more specific measurements, just hit me up!!

Mamma Bear Instincts

Yes, I am THAT mom.

Yesterday we ran to the mall to run an errand and I took my kids to the mall playground to release some pent up energy once we were done. The mall has a great treehouse playground with dinosaur bones "half buried" in the ground for the kids to play on. Lilly has figured out that she loves slides and swings and Abby loves anything playground related.

The behavior of some of the kids was appalling but the most appalling thing was the indifference displayed by their parents when they even noticed their little hooligans running around wreaking havoc.

When you as a parent take your kids to the playground, then sit back and let them run rampant it drives me bonkers!! I'm okay with your kids running around crazy as long as they stay away from my kids. Once they start climbing UP the slide that my kid is waiting in line for, cutting in line, pushing or hitting my kids my mamma bear instincts kick in. Yes I will make your kids go to the back of the line, no matter how many times I have to redirect them to the back of the line in a 2 minute time period. I will keep them from going UP the slide while kids are waiting to go DOWN the slide and I won't feel a moments regret from marching your kid over to you when they push or hit my kid. If you won't do it, I will.

You may not care about teaching your kids about respect, obeying playground rules(and life rules in general) or being a decent human being but I DO care about teaching those things to my kids and I will not let your kids ruin my kids trip to the playground and give them bumps and bruises they don't deserve.

Look at these cuties! Who wouldn't unleash the mamma bear inside when necessary?

Twinners

My girls were very patient this morning when I put them in the double jogger and headed out for the first run of the season with them. They laughed and giggled with every bump and turn. It was rather short, because, lets be honest I'm out of shape, recovering from a nasty cold and those girls are heavy! But I went, and I will continue to go! After about a mile and half we arrived back home and the girls were let loose in the backyard to play.

Just ignore the jungle we call a backyard! We are supposed to hear back from Home Depot today about how long it will take to fix the lawnmower! Yay! Before you know it our backyard will be whipped into shape! And no, that's not snow, just a plethora of blossoms from our neighbor's Chinese Elm Tree.

Abby loves pulling Lilly around in the red wagon.

And Lilly loves having a ride!

Such good friends!

So excited to give me the flowers she found!

It's impossible to get both girls to look and smile at the same time!  

I love putting them in cute coordinating clothes. It's hard to tell but Lilly's shirt is also navy and white striped and it has a pink bow.

I am so blessed to have two beautiful girls who remind me to slow down and appreciate the little things in life! 

Exhaustion

This is what happens when your child trips and falls in the backyard while playing, cuts their lip in three places, bleeds all over the place and gets taken to the Dr.s office. They fall asleep in the car on the way home and don't even wake up when you carry them inside and lay them on the couch. 

If you know Abby, you know that this is highly unusual behavior as she almost NEVER falls asleep anywhere but her bed, unless it's a really long road trip, and then she wakes up as soon as the car stops moving.  I guess all that screaming and freaking out about the blood tired her out. Sleep makes for faster healing, right?

Rice Krispies

On Sunday I was making rice krispy treats and Abby wanted to help. She got my extra apron out of the drawer and tried to put it on all by herself. She needed a little help but it looks super cute on her with a few adjustments! I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

Licking the empty bowl of melted chocolate chips that we stirred into the rice krispies.

Showing off "her" apron

Helping mom stir a batch of pudding. (And yes, I am pregnant in this picture :)

Getting dressed....

Abby has been a bit of a challenge the last few days and been SUPER clingy, whiny, etc...so when she disappeared into her room and I heard her opening her drawers I let her play in peace, I was just happy to have two seconds all to myself. Who knows, I might even be able to eat something without having to share it! When I went to check on her this is what I discovered! Someone was trying to get dressed all by themselves.

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?