Spring Break with not so Spring weather . . .

We just finished a fabulous spring break with Cole home to play. Although "Spring" break was filled with INSANE wintery weather (rain, hail, sun, snow all week) we managed to fill it with fun.


We started the week off with a trip to the Children's Museum which is always fun.


Then my mom took the older kids for a night and we enjoyed our time together, JUST the TWO of US (well, Tessa too, but she's so well behaved it worked out great).



We enjoyed some much needed peace and quiet from the kids (and our neighbors did too). We spent our time eating at The Old Spaghetti Factory (thanks to Kate for the gift card), went to a movie (Vantage Point), watched almost the whole 1st Season of '30 Rock' (so so funny), relaxed in the hot tub at the Community Center, ate taco Bell, watched American Idol and enjoyed sleeping in! We topped it off the next morning walking a few blocks to the 'Fat City Cafe' for a wonderful breakfast and browsing a local bookstore. There's nothing better than good food, good flicks, lots of laughs, and spending time away from the kids.


The week ended with a quick trip to Salem to visit the cousins and grandparents down there.

FIVE MONTHS

. . . where has the time gone? I'm kinda sad that Tessa is already 5 months old, it's gone by too fast. She's getting to be at a fun and more interactive stage so we'll just enjoy every minute.

Candy, Eggs, and Fun

Our BuSy, FaBUloUs, and FuN weekend consisted of a breakfast and egg hunt at the church, painting eggs, the Easter Bunny coming, me (Daisha) speaking in church, going to the Johnson's for dinner, an egg hunt with the cousins and then dessert at my parents. It all flew by so fast and we had fun doing it all.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Leprechauns made a visit to our house during the night. They left foot prints to a pile of gold and made the house a mess by turning furniture upside down and putting things in strange places.


The morning wasn't complete until the kids had Lucky Charms with green milk!


This was the first time the leprechauns had made a visit to our house so it was exciting! Macie talked about it for an hour straight going throughout the house finding things that she thought the Leprechauns had moved.

Macie . . .

1. She's "4 and a half" (not 4)! Everyday day she asks how many days it is until her birthday (less than 3 months away now).
2. Completely understands Spanish and speaks it quite well. . . Thanks to Cole speaking it to her since she was born.
3. Attends 'El Pilar' Spanish immersion Preschool 3 mornings a week, she complains on the way, but LOVES it once she's there.
4.She's not a morning person at all, probably due to the fact that her bed time is 9pm (so she can see Cole) and that the younger kids wake her up before she is ready to be up. (trying to get to Kindergarten by 8am next year will probably be a nightmare . . not to mention that if she takes the bus it comes at 7:20AM!!)
5. She LOVES to write words and learn how to spell things. She's getting good at reading too, but is really interested in math and numbers right now.
6. She has an amazing memory whether it is directions when in the car, songs, books, or things we've said. There is no going back on my word with this girl!
7. She is typically a helpful little girl, especially with Dominic and Tessa. She also like to help fold laundry.
8. Macie is a very good artist. She loves to color, draw and do crafts and is very creative with it all. (and "stays in the lines too mom"- Macie)
9. She really likes her baby doll Emma and to go outside and play with her friends (this was by Macie's request).
10. She is a girly little thing . . . lots of lipgloss & nail polish for her.
I can't believe my baby is going to be 5 this summer! We love her to death!

The Funny Things She Says . . .
This morning Macie and Dominic were "cooking" (putting water in pans and stiring) She wanted more water so she said to Dominic in a sweet voice "Patch me a pill of water Doms." We were reading nursery rhymes yesturday which included Jack & Jill . . ."to fetch a pail of water". Too cute!

Just a few minutes ago Dominic and Macie were fighting so I walked them over to the couch to have them sit down and told them that we needed to have a conference. The response I got from Macie was "Will there be cinnamon rolls?" This is so funny to me because one of our General Conference tradtions is to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast. She was disappointed that I meant we needed to have a talk about being nice and that no cinnamon rolls would be served :)

"Little Doms"

1. He loves to cuddle, especially with his 2 blue fleece blankets.
2. He loves to build with blocks and work with tools.
3. He gets so excited about seeing trucks. A highlight of his week is when the "trash truck" comes twice a week. He runs to the window as soon as he hears it or any other truck.
4. Poor Dominic suffered from cronic ear infections (5 in 4 months) when he was 1. It was so sad . . . he'd get a high fever have no engery and just whine and want to be held. Luckily he got tubes in his ears when he was 16 months (June 2007) and only had one minor infection since.
5. Just in the last month Dominic speech has taken off . . . he talks all the time and speaks in little sentences now, it's so fun!
6. He's developing some of the typical boy traits . . . spitting at Macie when he's mad, Hitting Macie when he's mad, and Biting Macie when he's mad. (sigh . . . they actually play together pretty well)
7. He loves to sing songs. His favorites are 'Pop Corn Popping', 'Little House in the Middle of the Woods', 'Turtle' and 'Slippery Fish'. He even tries to sing the hymns in church, singing lots of "la, la, ma, ma" to follow along.
8. He's a mama's boy and I love it!
9. He's a skinny minny . . . Probably due to the fact that he's tall for his age.
10. He's a funnny little guy and likes to make us laugh by dancing around and making funny faces.

We love having this little man in the house to make us crazy and make us laugh!

Tessa . . . All about her

1. Almost 5 months old . . . 24 inches (25%) and 12lb 13oz (25%), so those were her 4 month measurements. It looks like she's going to take after the Johnson family for height.
2. She's got a cute small birth mark on the small of her back.
3. She's a sleeping genious . . . slept through the night at 2 months and still going strong. Couldn't ask for anything better!
4. Loves all the attention she gets from her brother and sister . . . even the heavy doses of kisses as they fight over her, seems weird but thats what they fight over her about.
5. Isn't the most social of my children at first, but if you stick with it she'll give you some killer smiles!
6. Has an absolutly adorable laugh . . . and Macie and Dominic are the best at getting her to do so by playing with her legs, tickling her and making chit chat.
7. She enjoys her steady diet of breastmilk . . . pretty obvious by looking at her chubby cheeks.
8. Has a perfect amount of hair . . . just enough for a darling clip. Sadly she seems to be losing some of it :(
9. Chubby thighs! They kill me they are so cute and perfect!
10. Has rolled over a few times, but it was probably on accident! She's holding onto toys now.

She's a blessing and a such a joy to have around!

P.S. As you notice in the picture she loves to suck in her bottom lip which makes her end up a drooly mess . . . maybe teeth are on the way!

Save Some $$$$$$

I've been learning the fine art of coupons, rebates, and bargain shopping. I've always been a big fan of getting a good deal - who isn't? But as I've been learning the past few months it does take practice and time to truly succeed! Now my friends you might be surprised to know that I purchased all the above products for $4.00!! Amazing huh?! I shopped the ads, looked at my favorite frugal blogs (links are on the right), combined manufactures coupons with store coupons and added them to sales and did a few mail-in-rebates (and I did get my money back!)Couponing takes planning, but it's such a thrill to walk out the store knowing you got all those NAME BRAND products for just $4.00! I'm happy to say that I'm addicted to couponing and if you read and follow the suggestions the ladies give in their blogs you will too! You will want to get a newspaper subscription for at the least the Sunday paper so you can get the coupon ads or pick it up late Sat. afternoon or evening at the grocery store . . . you might want to pick up 2 or 3 or even 5! My best advice on how to get started is click on the blogs on the right and read away- they tell you exactly what coupons to use and combine and what stores to use them at! You won't be sorry you did!Have fun.

Brian Regan . . .

If you haven't heard of him 'Google' him or look on 'YouTube' . . . he's HILARIOUS!! For Cole's Birthday I got him tickets to the Brian Regan Show in Salem last night at the Elsinore Theater. He's an aweome comedian and his show didn't disappoint! My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. His expressions and movements are hard to beat! We've seen 2 of his DVD's and loved them. About 80% of the material last night was stuff we hadn't heard before. His opening act was a guy named Kermit and he was very good also. We had such a great time and it's hard to find a clean talking comedian. He's on tour so if he comes your way we highly recommend you see him!

High School Reunion . . .

Keri, Jenn, Amanda & I all got together again at Keri's house in Salem recently. It was so fun to talk with them and have all our kids play together. I haven't seen Amanda since gradutation almost 7 yeras ago, Jenn I've only seen a few times and a Keri a handful more (we're 2nd cousins ya know). Such a fun afternoon and I look forward to doing it again.

Sweet, Cute, and Smart

Sleepy Grandma

The kids and I went to Salem during the day recently and thought it would be the perfect time to visit my Grandma Sellers in her nursing home. It was late afternoon and we got there to find her sound asleep . . . we tried waking her up, but we didn't have any luck so we took a few pictures, kissed her goodbye, and left her in her sweet slumber! We love you grandma!

Birthday Boy . . .

We had a QuICk birthday celebration for Dominic . . . Nani & Papa brought him a tool set during the day (which he absolutly LOVES) and then after Cole got home and the missionaries left we sang a quick Happy Birthday to him and gave him his gift - a fabulous hand-me-down gift - a Power Wheels bike!! Can't believe he's already 2. Macie complained that he didn't get enough presents, but 2 is perfect . . . less to clean up! Cole hates clutter and throws away toys anyway ;)






Blowing out the candles again - he loves this!




After the cake the kids got to watch a movie in their bedroom on Cole's laptop - they were very excited.