Karate!

A few years ago Nathan and were discussing the girls and what activities we wanted to get them into once they got older. Of course, some of it would depend on their interests, but we wanted to be selective and not running in a million directions. We thought it would be a good idea to limit activities outside school during the school year - to have one church activity and then also get them into one sport. We thought karate would be a great sport for physical development (strength, flexibility) and teach sportsmanship, cooperating, respect, and discipline.

Luckily, there is a karate school almost around the corner from our house. We started Chloe in karate this Spring and she just loves it. Her first session ended this week and she earned a red stripe on her belt. She filled out a whole page of "Acts of Kindness" and received an additional chevron for her sleeve.  At the award ceremony they taught the kids to break wood with their hands. Chloe was so proud! Megan gets to start attending with Chloe for her next session so we'll have two pretty excited girls running around the house. 

Chloe after she broke the wood with her fist! She was so happy!

Who knows, maybe someday the girls won't be interested in karate anymore and they'll pick another activity, but for now this is a good fit for them. It's really developing their physical skills in addition to giving them confidence and social opportunities.

Easter

We had a fun Easter weekend! It wasn't super warm but it was mostly sunny and warm enough to get outside. On Sabbath the girls got on their new Easter dresses and we took a few photos. Then off to church! We had a special Sabbath School program in Megan's Cradle Roll class. We were supposed to bring the special snack so we made a batch of Bunny Bait to give to all the kids. (Bunny Bait = Lucky Charms, Rice Chex, pretzels and M&M's with melted white chocolate coating to hold it all together.) We found these cute little bags and boxes that were perfect! The teacher brought eggs for the kids and they made a cross mosaic craft. 

Sunday morning - girls came down and saw their Easter baskets. Then we had Nathan's family over for breakfast. We made Biscuits, gravy, eggs, hashbrown casserole, and pancakes.  (You'll have to take my word for it - forgot to get pictures!) Afterward we had an Easter egg hunt in the yard. Nathan and his brother hid the eggs and the four cousins did an excellent job of finding all the eggs.  Before they went out we had them pose and act all sad because they didn't have eggs - and then act happy at the end that their baskets were full of eggs. LOL. 

For lunch we had "Walking Tacos" and then did some crafts. One was an egg cut out of construction paper and they used streamer strips to decorate the eggs. Of course, we also had to dye eggs.  The girls also made some chocolate treats with Daddy :)

It was such a fun day! We were so tired at the end we had a quick dinner, bath, and went to bed early!

March Madness

This month has been one for the books! I am so glad to see it behind us because it was long and generally full of mischief. Chloe was out of school pretty much all month so we tried to make the best of the situation and do as much extra fun stuff as possible. 

Here are the highlights of our month!

Since both girls were at home, we got to do LOTS of errands together! We discovered that our local grocery store had mini shopping carts for kids. So...this idea of having both girls use their own shopping cart... it sounds fun but it's really a big nightmare. If they were not running with the carts they were almost hitting elderly customers who barely made it out of the way in time to avoid them. I told them I was taking a picture because NEVER. AGAIN. would they get to use these carts. 

Lunch out and about...

Extra long bath times...

Bowling!

 

 

St. Patrick's Day - First Shamrock Shakes! I forgot how yummy these are!

Lunch with cousins Delaney and Alex. Then ice cream and cookies for dessert.

 

 Chloe crafting it up at Sabbath School.

Megan's first nap in an IKEA cart. A really precious moment. 

After battling the stomach flu and a respiratory virus, we finally got around to writing out Megan's birthday thank you cards. She wrote her name for the first time! Well, she wrote "MEG" which is what we call her so I figure that counts. 

Chloe's preschool class had a get-together while the kids were out on break. The group met at a bounce house and the girls had a rockin' time. Megan is now big enough to climb up the ladders and go down the slides.  They were so happy. It's amazing how much kids love to bounce. 

My friend Civa stopped by to see us while she was on a layover. We don't get to see her enough but I'm glad made time to stop by. Chloe ran up to her and gave her a big hug when she saw her. She said "Mommy, I remember her!" ha ha 

Finally!! On Monday, March 30, Chloe went back to school. It was her first day since March 2, the day before the school fire. She kept talking about how she wanted to run around and hug everyone when she saw them. She got to go to school for three days before the school let out for spring break.  She still talks a lot about her "old red brick school" and how she's so sad it burned down. I think this will be a lingering topic over the next year as they are in the temporary location and (we hope) the school gets rebuilt at the original site. In the meantime, Chloe is back to school and getting used to her new building and classroom.

Monday was also grandpa's birthday so the girls "helped" me make a Boston Cream Pie as a gift. Now, this was truly a challenge because I'd never eaten a Boston Cream Pie, let alone made one. But, I found a good recipe for homemade sponge cake, pastry cream, and ganache and we were in business. I think it turned out pretty good and the girls were so proud to give grandpa his birthday pie.