Happy Birthday Taylor!!

What a happy little birthday girl!    

A tea set from Grandpa and Grandma.  Its so funny how all the kids cram in so close during present time! :)  She is young enough that the kids got chances to "help" her open some of them. :)

Decorating a "cupcake" from Papa and Gogo.

Taylor's cousins came over to help celebrate!

First Fish

Eric took Madison fishing today and she caught her first fish (a blue gill)!  Eric said she was so excited and she was so proud to show it me.  Except that she kept telling me it was a little fish, so Eric quickly explained to her that you always tell people you caught a big fish even if you didnt!!  Ha Ha, way to teach her to lie- turning her into a true fisherman!

What a trooper, she even helped clean her fish.  She wasnt crazy about touching the blood, apparently touching the eye and making it wiggle was so much more acceptable!  And surprisingly, even Taylor liked wiggling the eye!

And, yep, we ate the little guy for dinner tonight (along with the 3 bass Eric caught).  He was yummy!! :)

Kittens!!!

We finally got the girls some kittens!  You gotta have a cat when you live on a farm, right?  Aren't they cuties?  Madi says they are twins, I think she must be right.  The only way I can tell them apart is by a small piece of matted fur on one of them or by picking them up, Madi's is bigger.  Although their personalities are coming through already.  Madi's is calm and playful.  Taylor's is fiesty and curious.  I think we are going to have to get them different colored collars just so Madison can tell which one is hers!

Madison named hers Rainbow.

And Taylor's kitten is named Sunshine.  (Taylor wasnt offering any suggestions! :)  So we let Madison name hers as well)

Im so glad Eric is a softy and let us take two home, now they aren't lonely when we leave them outside!

Taylor's Owie

We made our first trip to the ER on Sunday.  We were at a family get together and the kids were playing at a park.  We're really not sure what happened to Taylor.   She was playing in a little wooden playhouse and came out crying with a gash above her eye.  She got 5 stitches.  She has done fabulously with them though, she hasnt tried to touch them at all!  And she gets them out today already.  I was thankful that Dee and Aunt Mary were there to help clean her up and make the decision to bring her in.

Easter

The girls got little chicks in their baskets that chirp when they sit in their hands.  Madi calls it her pet- guess its going to have to do until she gets that kitty she keeps hoping for!

All dressed up.  And look, they are both smiling at the same time!

Egg hunt!  We went to Eric's Uncle Wavern and Aunt Bev's for Easter lunch.  Grandma and Aunt Bev had a great egg hunt planned for the kids.  They LOVED it!

Look at those model poses! :)  Too cute!

A spring walk

Tea Time

It's cold over here in Iowa! Yesterday was 10 degrees- 30 degrees below what we should be at!! I had planned on going to town and getting groceries but when I woke up and saw -8 (yes that is a negative!!) on our thermometer I decided it was going to be a "stay at home day" (as Madi calls it). So we did crafts instead. This is what we made- pretty fans. I thought they would end up more colorful and full of decorations, but the girls were way more into smearing glue around rather than affixing anything to it! Oh well, they had fun!
Of course, you can't make tea fans without having a tea party! And you can't have a tea party without dressing up a bit! And pulling out the fake food along with some real goodies. I thought the perfect "accessory" to the tea party was my very realistic English accent. :) Madi thought it was the funniest thing ever! And Taylor even tried giggling behind her fan like I did. A tea party was the perfect way to beat the winter blues and make snack time a little more fun!