Baby Mel

Many of you know our friends Shawn and Amy. Shawn and Rob were in the same fraternity at KSU, same major, both moved to Phx, same employers ever since. Needless to say, they are great friends of ours. We spent a bit of time with them over the past week, so I thought I'd post a picture of Lilly and Claire with little Mariah- we call her Mel. In this photo Lilly was reading a book to Mel and Claire.  So cute!

 

Happy Birthday Claire

Little Claire turned two! Can you believe it? 

She was all smiles on her birthday, soaking up all of the attention, presents, sugar and more!

Nana visited for the weekend which made the event even more fun! We celebrated with a small gathering of friends in our backward. The beautiful sunshine and 80 degree day made it just perfect. Claire looked like a little doll in her birthday dress- simply adorable.

Hannah cheered for Claire as she blew out her birthday candle. 

Make a wish!

 Claire is a fan of the simple carbohydrate otherwise known as sugar.

She didn't hesitate when it comes to her birthday cupcakes. Yes, she asked for seconds.

 The cupcake pinata was a big hit, as were all of the lollipops inside. Claire was overwhelmed but still managed to gather her share of goodies.

 

Belle collapsed from exhaustion  from all of the mayhem. She collapsed on the wrapping paper under the table. Maybe she was looking for food amidst all the wrapping.

Thank you for all of the birthday cards, gifts, happy wishes and warm thoughts that came our way.

Here's to many more happy birthdays, Claire!!

Morning funny

This morning we were in a rush to get out of the house. In an attempt to speed up the morning routine, I asked Lilly to pick her clothes and get dressed for preschool... and get dressed she did!

She was very proud of her Fancy Nancy dress, Easter shoes, multiple barrettes and Princess sunglasses. She wore this entire get-up to school. Her teacher told me she received multiple complements. That's our Lilly!

Earthquake in Arizona?

As I was writing the last post, I had the sensation that I was moving. Claire was sitting on my lap, and the thought crossed my mind that I was dizzy or something. I looked up and noticed the chandelier above me swaying back and forth. I looked into the kitchen and noticed the light fixture above the kitchen table swinging back and forth. I knew it wasn't me that was dizzy... it was an earthquake. I ran to the stairs and yelled to Rob in the basement. He felt it too. We called the neighbors- they felt it too and even noticed the water sloshing out of their pool. So what was it? Arizona isn't immune to seismic activity, but we've never felt it at our home. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Baja California, Mexico experienced a 7.2 magnitude quake at approximately 3:40pm and then a 4.5 magnitude 20 minutes later. Southern California felt it and we did too. Wild!

Happy Easter!!

Ah- Easter. We love the warm weather Easter brings, the Easter bunny, egg hunting, beautiful dresses and trips to "urgent care." That's right, while Claire and Rob went to church this morning, Lilly and I went to the pediatric urgent care. It was inevitable that Lilly would get sick- she finally came down with the same crud Claire had last week, and we knew it would require antibiotics. Now she's medicated and on the mend! But, before our trip to the doctor, both girls showed off their beautiful dresses (Thanks, Nana) in the backyard.

Yes, Lilly wore her dress to urgent care and delighted in telling everyone, "This is my Easter dress." Have a great holiday, everyone!

Backyard beauties

Just about everything is blooming in our yard this time of year. I snapped a few photos of some of my favorites...

Who doesn't love a hibiscus to remind them of Hawaii? Aloha!

Rob gave me pink tulips for Easter and Lilly put them in the backyard to be planted in the garden. Here's the tulips and Sue- Sue hasn't graced the blog in awhile. She needs a serious haircut and was rather embarrassed to have her photo taken. 

I'm not sure what these beautiful flowers are, but they bloom forever, take abuse from the kiddos and love the Arizona sun...

 

Easter Par-tay

Today in preschool was the big Easter party... one of the beautiful things about going to a Christian preschool is the ability to celebrate Easter for what it really is! Lilly has learned lots this week and asked many questions about the cross, the stone in front of the tomb, etc. Here are a few photos from today...

Lilly and her buddy Grace

Lilly was super excited to find candy inside the eggs.

Happy Easter preparation everyone!