Decorating Easter eggs

This years egg decorating was a lot of fun. The kids pretty much did it all by themselves. They are getting so big. :) We only had one discolored hand in the bunch and a dozen colored eggs in the end.



The kids are ready for egg decorating to begin!


Blake's egg wouldn't stop rolling.


Jada's so proud.


Bella waiting for her egg to dye.


Bella picked pink.


Blake waiting for his egg.


Jada waiting for her egg.


Blake's first time peeling an egg.


Almost got it. He was too excited about eating it he had to take a bite before it was completely peeled.

Easter morning at the Bennett house...

Happy Easter!!! Easter morning was filled with giggles and goggles, candy and chaos, but most of all lots of fun memories to cherish!



Jada found her Easter basket (with a little help from big brother Blake)


Blake found his Easter basket.


Bella found her Easter basket (with a little help from big brother Blake)


All the kids checking out their stuff.


Blake's new t-shirt.


Bella's new outfit.


Jada's new swim suit.


Bella got skittles!


Jada posing in her new swim suit and goggles. She should be a model.


Bella and Blake posing in their new swim suits and goggles.

Potty training and such...

Hi folks!

I  just thought I'd take a minute to put up a post and let you all know what's been going on in our house lately.  For those that may not know, we've been potty training the girls for the past 3 weeks or so and I'm pleased to say that we're in the final stages!  They make it to the toilet for #1 a good 99% of the time, and are just figuring out that doing #2 in the toilet is a whole lot easier for all of us.  They no longer wear diapers, and only occasionally wear Pull-Ups at night.  We call them sleep-time underwear, and when they wear them they usually keep them dry.  Most nights we let them sleep in underwear.  They usually wake up in the night if they have to pee (or if they hear a funny noise, or for any other reason really).  They're pretty light sleepers. For those keeping score at home, this means that, for the first time in nearly 5 years, we're NEARLY DONE WITH DIAPERS!!!  If you'll excuse me for a second I'm going to go do a little happy dance...

Ok, I'm back.

Blake has been up to some pretty exciting stuff.  First; we've been working on learning to read.  He's been watching the Electric Company (which is a great show, by the way) and started learning how letters can make different sounds when put together, and various other rules that I now need to refresh myself on.  He started with the basic words (CAT, DOG, MOM, DAT) and is now trying his hand at reading sentences in books.  I can't tell you how amazing it is to walk into a room and see my 4 year old reading all on his own.  I always make it a point to tell him how proud of him I am, especially when he's frustrated over the seemingly ever-changing rules in this silly language we call English.

He's having a ton of fun in pre-school this year, and we're all looking forward to his first day of Kindergarten next year.  That's tough to think about.  My little man in REAL SCHOOL. 

Right now the kids are running in circles in the living room pretending to swim, so I'm going to go "swim" with them.  Have a wonderful today, and thanks for reading!

Riding bikes in the snow

We took the kids outside to play in the snow and they wanted to ride bikes. Why not right? They had a tough time getting back up the driveway, but going down was fun!


The biker gang


Bella


Blake


Jada

Balance

Dad decided it would be a good idea to balance the kids on his shoulders while they stood up. To occupy my mind with something other than freaking out because the kids were standing on his shoulders right by the fireplace, I took pictures of it. :) Such monkeys we have.


Blake climbing up.


Blake balancing. He's not a fan of heights so this was huge!


Bella climbing up.


Bella was more cautious than Jada, but she did it!


Jada getting centered.


Jada got up and is barely hanging on. What balance!


Shyla had to try too.

The kids make an obstacle course

Blake always comes up with ideas on how to use pillows and blankets to make obstacle courses. We never get involved in the building process. This is all the kids creation and every time they make one it's pretty amazing and so much fun.



The building process...


The finished product.


Bella taking a rest.


Bella's ready to play now.


Bella trying it out.


Jada wiped out!


All the kids being goofy.


Watch out Jada!


So much fun.

Santa came!!

Sorry it's been awhile since we've posted. We still need to do some Christmas posts as well as misc fun stuff we've been up to. I'll try to get a couple up today and a couple up tomorrow.

Santa comes to our house every year to pay the kids a visit. How lucky are we? Here are some photos of this year. The girls actually did really good and didn't freak out much. As soon as they saw he had presents they were all for it.


Oh my gosh!! It's Santa!


Blake was VERY curious about what was in the bag.


Jada taking her present from Santa.


Bella and Jada opening their presents from Santa.


Jada gives a thank you hug!


Bella gives a thank you hug too!


Blake getting his present from Santa.


He was pretty excited about the M&M's. Of course wanted to open them right away!


Blake gives a thank you hug!

We are so lucky to have this tradition every year the kids just love it. No standing in line for a phony Santa at the mall. We get personal attention from the man himself.