Messy taco baby!

Around here we try to have a Taco Tuesday just about every week. Garrett LOVES tacos and looks forward to this dinner all week. Last week, instead of tacos, we had Tostada Tuesday. I thought I'd change things up a bit but I kept the alliteration for the sake of keeping it fun for the kids. Anyways, the girls love Mexican food. It seems to be the only type of food that they inhale.

Therefore, I decided to let Brooke eat her food on her own this week instead of being fed by mommy or daddy. Well, she finished every last bite but along the way she had a good time getting messing. I can't complain because at least she cleaned her plate and enjoyed what she was eating.

Here she is with food all over her face.


Laughing and enjoying making a mess!

Easter!

This year we decided that we would have Easter at our house. Each year we go to my parents house and last year we went to Aaron's parents house. I thought that maybe we should do a Easter hunt in our nice big backyard.

Our day began with the kids eagerly coming down the stairs to see what was in their Easter baskets. I'm not sure that Brooke was quite sure of what to do with her basket except pull out all the grass. She did enjoy eating the little marshmallow peep.


As usual, each of the kids got a book, chocolate bunny and this year a movie!


Brooke received the book called "Butterfly kisses", another Beauty and the Beast movie, hair bows, and an new dinner plate.


Reese received hair bows, a Tinker Bell painting book, lip gloss, and the movie "Pocahontas".


Garrett received a note pad, spider-man word search book, "Dolphins at daybreak" from the magic tree house series, and the movie "Wall-E".



Then we headed off to church. After church, we had lunch, and did our Easter egg hunt. We told the other two to let Brooke get a head start so she could get some eggs. She found a few on the patio and mommy helped her with the ones on the grass. At first, she didn't like picking them up off the grass and stood there waiting for me to do it. She is so the baby of the family. The other two, of course, were competing to see who could get the most eggs.

She's not sure if she wants to pick this up!


Reese finding another egg.


Garrett jumped up on the retaining wall to retrieve this egg.


Garrett yelling at Reese for getting the egg on the dog-run fence.


Then the girls had naps and my parents and brothers came over for Easter dinner. The kids had a great time and it was very low-key...just the way Aaron likes it!

Irvine Park

Back on the sixth of April, we went to Irvine Regional Park. We took a picnic lunch, saw the Easter Bunny, had an Easter Egg hunt, rode the train and the hay. The kids an I have never been there and our neighbor suggested we go with her. So, we all piled into my mini-van and headed out. Luckily, I had some free passes to use towards the egg hunt and train ride. It saved us tons of money. We decided to do the Easter picture first before the picnic lunch. Well, after a quick run to the bathroom with Reese it was our turn for the picture and you can just guess how Brooke reacted! Yep, she screamed and cried...typical.





Then we had a little picnic lunch that we brought, did the egg hunt, went on a train ride, and hay ride.

Brooke collecting her first Easter egg.


Reese looking for candy!


Garrett grabbing for an Easter egg.


Brooke stealing candy from Justin's basket.


All of us posing for a family picture.



Brooke waiting for the hay ride.


All of the kids getting ready for the train ride.


Reese and Jordyn posing for the hay ride.


Garrett and Justin on the hay ride.


Garrett and Reese as bunnies.



The kids had a great time and didn't want to leave but our neighbors had to get back for a their t-ball game and Garrett had practice.

Mother/Son laser tag

Friday night, at Garrett's school, there was a mother/son laser tag event. It was an outdoor event so it was much different than the indoor type. I had no idea how the event was going to be conducted but once I got there I found out that our bracelets had numbers and that was the group that we were in. We were in group 3 so we had to wait for groups 1 and 2 to go before us.

To pass the time, Carl's J.R. was there grilling hamburgers for the hungry moms and sons. Oh, and did I mention that it was pretty windy and cooold. Of course, I forgot my jacket and I didn't feel like driving the whole two minutes home to get one. So, I just stood there talking and freezing my you know what off.

Finally, after about 45 minutes we are called to the white tent to watch a video and have a demonstration of what to do with our guns. The whole time I'm listening I just keep thinking that there is now way Garrett is going to remember what the gun sounds like when it's all out of ammunition, in fact, I don't even know if he knows what that means.

Then it is our turn and we have to make two teams. We decided to do kids against moms. So, we grabbed our headbands, yes, I said headbands! Picked out our guns and attached the little knob-like sensors to each side of our headband. Seriously, the only thing that was missing was the leg warmers and Olivia Newton-John singing "Let's get physical".

In our fight gear!


All in all, we had a great time. I did notice that Garrett kept running to the guys in charge to help him with his gun. Poor little thing, we only got nine lives on our gun and he probably ran out pretty quickly. Oh and did I mention that the Moms won!

Our candy excursion

Last Thursday, we headed out to downtown Whittier with some friends. We thought we were going out there to visit a candy factory. Sadly, it turned out to be just a regular old candy shop. However, once the kids saw all the candy, I don't think they were too disappointed. The kids got to pick out fudge, salt water taffy and make their own tubes of colored sugar.

Picking out her candy!


Just playing around!


Someone is very happy to be surrounded by all this candy!





Group Pictures are always hard!


Before we indulged in all the wonderful sweets, we ate at a cute little cafe called "The rocky cola cafe". The prices were reasonable and actually very good. If you ever head that way, I highly recommend the BLTA with onion rings.

The girls


Someone is hungry.


The boys being silly!

All about Brooke!

As I'm slowly working my way back through the last couple of months, I thought I'd share when Brooke got her first haircut.

We went over to my friend Karina's house for a tamale making party (this was back in January). Her cousin-in-law, who cuts hair, was there. We all rounded up the kids and took turns getting their hair cut. I had to hold Brooke because she wouldn't sit still and kept taking off.

Getting some little bangs.


Trimming the ends off!


Courtney, Brooke and mommy smiling for Brooke's first haircut.




And now...The "DANCING QUEEN"

This was taken back in December to her favorite Christmas song.

The Little Mermaid ballet

Reese has been into the Little Mermaid since Christmas. She got the new Little Mermaid: Ariel's beginning for Christmas and for Valentine's Day I got her the one about Ariel's daughter Melody. Now, all of her dolls names are Melody. I catch her singing along to the movie and in her room on any given day or time, and yes, that includes late at night!

So, when I saw that the Bridges Auditorium was putting on the ballet of the "Little Mermaid" I thought what a great way to bring the two loves in her life together. I bought tickets for us and our neighbors who happen to be our best friends.

We began the day with taking the girls to downtown Claremont. We ate at a cute little restaurant called Harvard Square located in the Village. It was the perfect place to eat before the ballet, since most of the restaurant was filled with excited little girls and mothers filling their tummies for an unforgettable mother-daughter afternoon.

Reese and Jordyn posing!


As we arrived, we took pictures outside and inside the Auditorium and the girls got a mermaid doll as a souvenir. Then we went to look for our seats. We ended up in the middle section about 11 rows back from the stage and it turned out that the two rows in front of us ended up being empty. I was so glad that I didn't splurge and by premier seats (having taken my kindergartners there for field trips, I knew every seat was just about a good one).






I bought a program that told of their version of the "Little Mermaid". I read that to Reese so she would understand the ballet otherwise I knew that she would ask questions as they danced. I loved that the artistic director came out with some of the cast and explained to the kids what certain hand motions and movements meant. I think that also helped the parents explain to their kids what was happening.

At intermission, we went out for some water and snacks and that's when my sweet little girl turned into a devil. She wanted a certain kind of candy and I told her that we were getting a different type. She wanted the other kind because her friend was getting it. I told her we are getting this kind instead. Well, she didn't like that and threw herself on the ground and began screaming. I picked her up to take her to the car and she began yelling, screaming and hitting me. We sat in the car until she calmed down. Eventually, when she understood why she was taken the car, calmed down and apologized, we returned to the play.

I have to say that despite the melt-down, I had a great time and loved the scenery and how they brought the movie to life through ballet. If any of you love the ballet, the Inland Pacific Ballet is a great place and price to check out.