A Day at Frederik Meijer Gardens

So, the butterflies are blooming. Being the cultured family that we are, we decided we had better get out to see them. Here is our little Brianna Caterpillar. And now Brianna has bloomed into a butterfly and we have a Nathan caterpillar!

Brianna's favorite part of the day was using her camera to capture pictures of all of the butterflies. We now have a VERY FULL little kitty camera.

Bri thought that if she held out her finger the butterflies would land on it. {I think this is because that's what the budgies do at John Ball Zoo}

When you need a little better look at the butterflies, just ask daddy for a lift!

Brianna being adorable

Nathan being adorable

"Hello Nafan! Can you hear me?!?"

"Ya"

Two kids on a dino... too bad I have no photos with both of them looking at the same time *sigh*

Yup, even mommy got up into the tree house

The little tiki hut

Brianna the monarch!

An afternoon at the park

Last weekend we went to Calvin Crest park with Annelise and her mommy Alisha. The girls had a great time, but it was tough getting them to hold still for even a second, so here are the two photos that aren't blurry... hmmm maybe it's time for a camera upgrade.

Oh No!

Nate got out of his crib tonight...not once...not twice....but more times than I could count. He is officially not contained at night. Crap!

What I found tonight

So, while I was busy blogging away and getting my pictures uploaded, my kids were busy not going to sleep. Here's what I found when I went in to check on them:

Kindergarten Assessment

Last week Friday Brianna had Kindergarten assessment. This fall she will attend Pre-K at Grandville Christian.
Brianna did AMAZING! She passed with flying colors. After the assessment she and I took a little tour of the pre-k classroom since it was empty. We found all of the exciting things like a puppet theater, blocks, books, mailboxes, hooks and pegs, etc. She was very sad to have to leave, she was ready to start kindergarten that day!

Giving Daddy a Haircut

Jeff was getting a haircut by my mom and Bri decided that it was time she gave daddy a haircut:

It wasn't too long before Nate decided that he was going to have to help as well.

Ted

What was I thinking?! I have not yet posted about Ted! Ted is a little Teddy bear that Nate has had since infancy. He needs to sleep with it every night and even calls him by name. Here's a great photo of Nate and ted, all ready for bed:

Remember that big snowstorm?

You know, the one on December 19th ----- well, I'm just uploading the photos. So here are some cute pics of the kids playing in way too much snow!

Nate raking the snow. Too bad Bri wouldn't let him have a shovel.

Bri digging a fort {She's wearing the same scarf that I wore as a little girl}

Look at those adoreable rosy cheeks. Don't you just want to squeeze them?

Both of them dutifully helping mommy clear the driveway

Knock - Knock

Nate has learned to say "Knock -Knock". When you ask "who's there" he laughs hysterically at himself. He can be such a ham! I love watching his sense of humor develop!

I was reminded that it has been a while since I have uploaded any photos. I have so many pictures to upload, I just need to actually get to them. I promise, someday soon... Bear with the crazy tax lady.

Good Morning Cookies

I pushed the snooze alarm to the max. The kids were up and watching the Disney channel and I was laying in bed calculating just how much longer I could sleep before I would actually be unable to get ready and off to work.

The kids were popping in and out of the bedroom. "Morning Mommy, the sun came back out!" (Bri) "ma-MA!" (Nate)

After a while Nate came in: "Moh?"

"More what, Buddy?"

"Dis!" he exclaims as he holds out two oatmeal cookies for my inspection.

"Where did you get those?" Off he trots in his footy PJ's to show me his accomplishment. I follow dutifully behind to see for myself.

He has successfully moved the bathroom step-stool out next to the kitchen counter and maneuvered the top off of the rubbermaid container that the cookies are in.

He beams up as he shows me what he did.

Now how do you say no to that? It was cookies for breakfast. (Just don't tell Jeff)

Taxes

I did it. I filed our taxes. Which, might not seem like such a big deal to many of you, since this is the world that I live in; but it's sort of a "the cobbler's children have no shoes" sort of thing.

I also want to offer a PSA to any of you who are reading this with preschoolers - remember that you can take your preschool fees as child care expense for the credit!

Happy filing!