May the Fourth Be With You

 On May 4th a local airplane museum, Wings Over the Rockies, was hosting a Star Wars event.  Pretty cheesy, but with Haden's fascination of all things Star Wars, we weren't going to pass it up.  Anyone who has any interaction with Haden at all knows that he LOVES Star Wars.  His Primary teacher has told me that he can come up with a Star Wars analogy for every subject they have covered in her class.  His preschool teacher calls him a Jedi Master. And with Haden's outrageous imagination, he really thinks that he is a Jedi Master. He claims that his stuffed Yoda has taught him everything.  Several weeks ago, Haden found a scrap piece of 1 by 4 left over from one of my projects.  He lays it on his dresser and sets his light saber on top of it so it can "charge" overnight!

 

I have never seen so many Star Wars fanatics.  I thought it would be mostly kids.  Nope, there were more adults than kids and lots of them were dressed up just for fun!  There was a wookie in line behind us that I didn't get a picture of.

 Lila loved Queen Amidala.  I'm not sure why she wasn't in the picture.  She kept running after her yelling, "Belle!".  Queen Amidala was a little confused, but I explained Lila must have thought she looked like Belle (the princess).  She laughed and said that was her other job! 

 Haden made sure we got a picture of him with every character.

 Haden was so nervous to stand this close to Darth Maul, but insisted on getting a picture of him.

 Can you see R2D2 in the X wing fighter?  Apparently it was autographed by Harrison Ford, but I didn't care enough to wait in the outrageously long line to see it.

 My own little Storm Trooper.

 I know Princess Leia because of the hair do, but have no idea who the other three are.

 

Lila just ran around.  She refused to wear shoes so she looked like an orphan, but she was happy.  She wasn't phased by the characters.  She didn't even run from Darth Maul.  Fearless, little stinker!

Haden absolutely loved it!  He told all his friends and anyone else that would listen that he got to meet everyone from Star Wars, even Darth Maul!  I'm glad that we got to take him!   I love my little boy and his crazy imagination!

Families are Forever

I don't know of any more beautiful and peaceful place than when the spring flowers are in full bloom at the temple.  So, we dressed the kids up and took them for a photo shoot.

 Getting all three of my kids to look in the same direction and smile is pretty near impossible.

 I love this picture!  It totally describes her personality!

 I hope these two girls will be best friends!

I am so grateful that my family can be together forever.  There is no one else I would rather spend eternity with!

Little Rascal

When I put Lila to bed the night before, these were footed pajamas.  Apparently, she didn't like them that way!

Soccer

Also back in March, Haden started soccer.  I signed him up to be on the same team as his buddy, Corbin.  Corbin loved soccer and was really excited to go.  Haden, not so much.  The first week he was recovering from the flu.  I thought some fresh air might be good for him, so we went anyway.  He lasted about 30 minutes before he lost it.  He was sobbing in the middle of the field.  So, we went home early.  By the next week he had fully recovered and was bribed with ice cream if he played the entire time.  He did pretty well through the warm ups and skill building activities.  Then it was time to play a game.  The coach divided up the team so it was 4 on 4.  Haden had the ball, and then, according to a very indignant Haden, "That boy stole the ball and then kicked me!"  Clearly we had not watched enough soccer games with him.  At least he identified that kicking and stealing balls from others was not nice.  That was the last practice we went to.  My poor little guy is just not aggressive.  Maybe an individual sport like karate is more up his alley? 

High Flyer

 So way back at the end of March, Regan was awarded the High Flyer award for her awesome behavior at school.  They had a special assembly that Clint got off work to come to.  Her teacher called me the week before to let me know, but asked that I not tell Regan. She wanted to tell her the following week.  The day before the assembly Regan still hadn't mentioned it, so I started prodding.  Nonchalantly, she said that she had been selected for this award and it was really no big deal.  She didn't really become excited about it until I told her that she could dress up. She will take any excuse to wear heels and a fancy dress to school!  I was very proud of her, not because she was definitely the most grown up looking first grader, but because she is such a well-behaved young lady!  I love my beautiful not-so-little girl!

 

Spring Break Week 2

Week two wasn't nearly as exciting as week one. We had plans to spend a few days in Crested Butte. Clint had a meeting down there and we were just going to tag along, but it got cancelled the day before we left. We still managed to stay entertained. We had a couple of play dates, went to the zoo, and celebrated my birthday with a surprise snowstorm. I turned 27, again, this year. Clint bought the tool that I wanted and I spent the next day neglecting both my house and my kids while I built a toy box. I justified it because Haden dissolves into tears every time he has to clean his room. This way, he can just throw all his toys in and not have to worry about balancing everything on his shelves. The toy box is built, just not painted. Haden and I can't agree on what color to paint it. I vote for white, or whatever other color he can find leftover in our garage, but he is begging for dark blue with pictures of Darth Vader, Yoda, and dogs on it. I'll have to post a picture of it when we finally decide how to finish it.

The zoo was a lot of fun. We had a membership back when Haden was a baby and used it so much that it has taken me this long to be willing to go back. The kids were a little reluctant to go, they are seriously homebodies, but they all had fun.

Haden insisted that I take his picture in front of every animal.

His favorite animal was the sea lion. They seemed to like him, too. They kept splashing him. He loved it!

Regan liked the otters. They were really cute!

This gorilla was so close! He gave a sideways glance at the kids before he relieved himself three feet in front of them. The kids thought it was hilarious. It was the first thing they told Clint about when we finally made it home.

The grizzly bear put on a show, too.

The monkeys were still in there winter habitat, so Haden and Lila did their best imitation.
Lila wasn't quite sure what to do with the cotton candy. She kept rubbing it on her face, but then scarfed it down once she realized it was actually candy. Funny girl.

It was a fun trip. We finally made it back to the car, at the very bottom of the parking garage, loaded everything back in, and the car refused to start. I didn't want to unload everyone, and retrace our steps until my phone got service. Haden offered to say a prayer. He said the most sincere prayer, asking Heavenly Father to please let our car start so we could go home. We let it sit for 5 minutes and then tried the car again. Gratefully, it started! We drove straight to the mechanic where after an hour and $100 we were back in business! I love my mechanic. I think he loves having his shop next to the library so my kids didn't terrorize his lobby.

Regan read Star Wars books to Haden. It was very sweet of her. Haden was in tears about Ford not working and the distraction was just what he needed. He is definitely my most emotional kid. Hopefully, all future trips to the zoo will not be that adventurous!

The next day we found a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. We made it there with only minutes to spare after rescuing Clint and his bike after a tire blow out some 20 mile away from our house. We really weren't having the best of luck. But, the kids got lots of eggs. Lila picked up only the pink and purple ones.

Most of the eggs were filled with bubble gum which magically disappeared soon after it was discovered. Spring Break was fun, but we were all ready for school to start again!

The Force

Star Wars has been a popular subject at our house these days. Haden has thoroughly embraced all the characters and frequently pretends to be one or another. His favorites are Darth Vader and Yoda. He likes to use "the force" to do things like clean his room, pick up his toys, etc. At church today, he was looking at a book about Jesus. There was a picture of Jesus walking across the water. He asked how Jesus could walk across the water without falling in. I briefly explained about the priesthood and faith, etc. I didn't go into much detail and was only halfway paying attention because I was wrestling Lila at the same time. Haden asked if the priesthood was kind of like the force and before I could answer him, he said in a really loud incredulous whisper, "So Jesus is a Jedi?" I guess whatever makes sense in his mind!

Spring Break Week One

We get two weeks of Spring Break this year. I had originally planned on spending it in South Texas taking pictures of my kids at the beach and running through fields of blue bonnets. Clint got swamped at work and that plan got postponed. So, we've done our best to stay entertained while staying here.

We met some friends at the Castle Rock Rec Center. They have the best indoor pool! Regan got invited to a birthday party there last month and we knew we were going to have to come back. Regan and Kate spent most of the time on the water slides. I don't know how many times they climbed the stairs all the way to the top!

Haden had fun playing on the play structure and slide in the zero entry pool.

Lila was happy just being in the water.

I know this isn't the best picture of Haden, but three kids don't sit still long enough to take multiple shots, so I take what I can get.

We can't wait until summer when we can start going to the pool on a regular basis!

Another day we met some different friends at the Museum of Nature and Science. We had never been there before. I just assumed it was too academic for little kids. They absolutely loved it! There was a traveling display of lizards and snakes. The older two liked looking for the camouflaged lizards in the different tanks. Lila was just grateful I let her out of her stroller. Despite the look on Regan's face in all of the pictures, she really did like the museum. She just doesn't want me to take so many pictures of her. Tough.

There was a life sized toy python for the kids to play with. Haden was too busy looking cool to help lift it and Lila just copied whatever he did.

Haden loves taking pictures. He prefers to use my nice camera. He actually does a decent job when he pays attention to what he's doing. The dinosaurs must have been interesting to him. I downloaded LOTS of pictures of dinosaur bones. Silly kid.

Strollers were not allowed in the dinosaur exhibit. There were lots of people there, and Lila loudly protested when I tried to hold her or even just her hand. She would quickly get loose and run off. She was given more than one dirty look by the employees when she ducked under a rope and into the exhibit before I could get around all the people to grab her. She was laughing. She knew and thoroughly enjoyed being naughty. Little rascal.

She's lucky that she's so darn cute.

Haden and Lila both loved playing in the fossil dig.

Regan had fun with the huge fan and scarves.

Haden was fascinated with the mummies and their sarcophagus's. With Easter coming, we've talked about how Christ was resurrected and how someday, we too, can be resurrected. All the way home, Haden kept asking about the mummies and if Jesus was going to make them come back to life, too. "But their skin looked funny, how would they look if they came back to life?" He also wanted to climb inside the sarcophagus. Thankfully, they were all enclosed.

I thought this next display was fascinating. You programmed your age and information onto a little card and then took it to each station where they calculated something about you and then printed it out. One station measured your stride, energy output, and the speed at which you ran down the runway. The information appeared on the screen. Regan is the middle one and Lila is on the far left. Lila's normal speed is 2.6 mph and her stride is only 14 inches. Her little legs are moving!

We all liked the museum and have plans to go back.

Regan also got to have her very first friend sleep over. She and Kate had the best time! They wrote and practiced singing a song with guitar and drum accompaniment. Lots of crafts were created. Their dolls changed outfits a number of times, and Regan showed off her day old ability to ride her bike without training wheels! That was a HUGE accomplishment for Regan! I am so glad it is finally done; now I can start working on Haden.

The weather was beautiful! We have done daily bike rides to the park and spent hours soaking up the sun in the back yard. Hopefully next week will be just as fun!

Backseat Driver

I have the most ridiculous backseat driver, and he's only four. "Mom, turn your arrow on, you are about to turn! Now turn your other arrow on because you are going to turn the other way. Mom, that was a yellow light! You are supposed to stop for yellow lights! Mom, Why didn't you turn your arrow on? You are supposed to turn it on! Mom, you're going kind of fast, I don't want a policeman to take you to jail. Mom, you are going the wrong way, our house is not this way!" He's a little outrageous! Life around here is not boring with that kid. I do hope this is a short lived phase, though. Oh, and I have no idea why he thinks that speeding warrants you a trip to jail. Little stinker.

The Cheesecake Factory

Regan has wanted to have an "American Girl" themed 7th birthday party ever since she got Kanani at the end of last summer. Most of her friends also have American Girl dolls. However, many of her friends have since moved away. So, before Naomi and her sisters left, Regan wanted to do a girls' lunch. We met them at The Cheesecake Factory. There were 2 moms, 5 girls, 4 dolls, and Haden with his dog, Sparky. The waiter asked if all these kids were ours! I guess grouped together it all seemed a little more overwhelming.

Lila insists on feeding herself these days. She did a very good job spooning her macaroni & cheese into her mouth.

She also prefers to clean herself up. She was so well behaved! Well, that is, until she got mad about something and sent her dish with some remaining cheesecake on it crashing into the wall and onto the floor. The waiter was wonderful, though, and insisted he had seen far worse messes. I still left a generous tip. I wonder why we don't take her to nice restaurants on a regular basis?

Haden didn't care for the bread, but licked all the butter off. Some things never change. He initially insisted that he liked my macaroni and cheese better and refused to eat his. When I explained that the sauce was only butter, cream, and cheese he started eating and asked me if I would start making this kind instead. Little stinker. I think I'll stick with Kraft!

After we said goodbye to our friends, we wandered around the mall. All three kids found things they couldn't live without. It was a fun day!