Yesterday was another packed day of spring break! The kids played and played on their bikes and scooters as I continued to go through boxes in the garage. Nik was again my muscles moving and taking boxes here and there to help!

We did take a play doh break though. I made the kids homemade play doh that they like so much better than the store bought stuff. Plus they get to pick what color they want and help make it!

Tori and Ari played ballerina ALL day long! They couldn’t take off their cute outfits even for play doh!

I discovered that Tori’s shoes were too small so while I was in the garage I found my box of girl clothes in the next size for her. I found three “new” pairs of shoes for her! She. of course, put them on and didn’t want to take them off!!!

She went to bed last night cuddling the shoes! She woke too early this morning crying “Where are my shoes? Where are my shoes?” I found her shoes which she hugged while she went back to sleep in bed with me. Yes, her shoes are on the wrong feet, but what can I say she “did it my self!”

When she woke up again the first thing on her mind was her shoes! She promptly put them on and then walked downstairs! She usually wants me to carry her but with her new shoes she wanted to walk! The shoes have yet to come off her feet! Crazy girl!!!

Today we spent the day cleaning and organizing the garage! It really took us all day and Nik did a HUGE portion of it! He most of the boxes! He was great! But sadly no photo of that! To much info!!!

Today as we were cleaning there were times I didn’t need everyone so they disappeared into the back yard until I called them. When I checked on them I just had to laugh. They had set up their very own volley ball court!

Can you tell they are using an extension cord as a net?!?! Creative kids! In the back ground you can see the spectators!!

Aren’t they cute in their little set up! Later Tori got tired and Kalixta got her all ready for a nap!

Today starts the kids’ spring break! They are so excited to not have school. I am so excited to sleep in! Today our fun project was puffy painting. Zoe and her friend mixed up a special paint mixture, 1 TBS salt, 1 TBS flour, enough water to make it paint and food coloring. The colors look so pretty together!

My girls love painting anything!! The boys played outside all day in the gorgeous weather!!

Britain painted her favorite name. “Joe?” I asked her. “Yes, that is what I want to name the baby!!”

Once they finished a picture. I stuck it in the microwave for 30 seconds and the paint puffed up!

They LOVED it! You had to put on a thick line of paint to get the best results!

Fridays right now are our library day! With early out and no good weather it works perfectly! The kids love going to the library and picking out their own books. They each do it so differently!!

Ammon plops on the Graphic Novel beanbag and doesn’t move until I tell him to go find a reading book!!

Britain takes the longest. She likes to look at every page to make sure she is going to like the book!

Zoe rarely checks out a book because she is already reading one for a book report at school! She always looks though and is great at helping me with Tori! The latest book she read for fun is Flipped. A cute book that Nik and I liked too!

Ariana just looks for pictures! She likes covers with animals or characters she knows.

Kalixta likes to pick books according to the cover too! Her reading has improved so so so much that it is fun for her to find books on the shelf she can read!!

Tori is the funniest! She LOVES the library and books! She sits at the table and looks at every board book that is stacked there! She loves to point out things to me! “Look at him!” is her favorite squeal!

Poor Nik Nik is still in school so he has to just go with whatever I bring home for him! He likes the author Jerry Spinelli.

Zoe painted this cute piggy bank during an activity this last week. It is to hold her tithing so it is little! I love how it looks. So cute!!

And one Arianaism to make you laugh!! Tonight for dinner we had tacos from left overs. It was a crazy night so I just heated up the tortillas instead of frying them. Ammon made himself a taco and didn’t heat up the torilla so that when he folded it in half it broke. He got mad and was pouting so Ariana says with lots of attitude, “Step it up Ammon! My taco broke and you don’t see me pouting!” Laughing I asked her to say it again and she repeated, “Step it up Ammon!” I think she meant suck it up?! I just love that girl!! She keeps me entertained all day long!

You never know what you are going to find or not find in my fridge! The kids clean up after dinner and I am not good at checking to make sure they do everything right! One morning I opened the fridge and found half a stick of butter sitting on the shelf. As I looked closer there was little teeth marks on it!
Some one had a bednight snack, as Ariana calls it!

We had such a great weekend being together as a family and watching General Conference! Conference weekend always evolves great food. On Saturday we watched conference then ate, watched conference and then ate again then had dessert! Then woke up Sunday and did the same thing all over again!! Sunday did hold a little surprise. Ariana was up before me and came in to tell me it had snowed! In April, I know! I was NOT prepared for the amount of snow we got! There was about 6 inches of the wettest, heaviest snow I have seen! It looked beautiful covering everything!

During conference the kids each get a bingo card with key words on it they have to listen for. Candy is the reward so it works well!

Nik takes notes since he is a little older! But still enjoys the candy!

Between sessions on Saturday Kalixta wanted to read her scriptures. She brings them to me and says she wants to read me something! She reads, “Wherefore it came to pass that my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.” When she finished I asked why she read me that verse. She exclaimed, “He is a prophet and he only prayed for half his people!!” I just started chuckling and we had a good discussion about what behalf means! Sweet moment!

One of the great things about living in Utah is that people come here to visit family or like this weekend to go to Conference!! Adam’s friend from his mission, from Ecuador, came with his daughter. They came to visit us! It was so fun to meet someone from Adam’s mission. He was super sweet and wonderful. Both him and his 11 year daughter spoke English well!!! But that didn’t stop them from going on and on in  Spanish! It was fun for me to listen to Adam speak, he sounds so native!! The guy standing next to me is one of Adam’s companions that lives here in Spanish Fork! Ariana and Tori got to stay up and spend time with their new friends!! They were in heaven! Tori cried when they left because she wanted to go with them!

They brought us candy straight from Ecuador! The kids loved it!!

Today the kids spent a little while playing in the snow and of course made a snowman!

It was a wonderful weekend!!

The other night all the kids except Tori were in bed and I was on the computer. She wanted to play the ABC’s so I got her all set up. She was playing and laughing and having a fun time. She completed a game and the reward was two kangaroos singing the ABC’s she played it over and over and over. She sang along to it every time. By the fourth time I decided to record it! It is a little dark but I didn’t want to turn on the light and mess her up! I love her little voice!

It snowed yesterday. Big huge snowflakes! It made me feel like we were in December not March. Ariana walked into the kitchen and saw the snow. She got so excited and exclaimed, “That is the most beautiful snow EVER!!” It is hard to not like the snow with that much enthusiasm around!!

She had to get dressed and go play in it!

I love the wandering footprints all over the yard!

She made this “very special” snowball and had to knock on the door to show me and have me take a picture!!

You just gotta love this girl and the beautiful snow when she is around!!

The computer is a hot commodity in our house. Everyone wants to play on it. Even the little girls. My mother in law sent me this fun website that teaches the ABC’s. It is called starfall.com. Tori loves it!! It is so fun sitting next to her and listening to her talk back to the computer. Sometimes she copies what is said. She loves to repeat the letter names and sounds. She often screams with excitement when she really likes the one that comes on. She gets excited when she finishes a game! And she is getting so good at using the mouse.

Ariana really liked playing on it too. Last week I got an email from the school she is going to go to kindergarten to. She was thrilled!!! She got access to a website that she loves playing on! It is teaching her letter names and sounds and sight words! Today, she emptied the dishwasher, then rinsed the breakfast dishes and put them in the dishwasher. She then cleaned her room so she could “do her homework”!! I love it!!

They often play at the same time so one of them will borrow Nik’s headphones so they can both hear what they are doing!