So cute!

The kids are being little hams in a posed picture at the park. You can see that Ava is not really feeling the love from her sister!! :)
Ava falls asleep in some of the strangest spots. At nap the other day I found her sleeping in this chair, then the next morning I found her sleeping under her bed. Today I found her sleeping a tiny doll crib! LOL I don't even know how she fit into it, but she must have been comfy!

We got the old slip and slide out the other day when it was like 90 some odd degrees. Maddie and Lucy LOVE it, Ava, not so much. But that's okay... she still loves to be outside. :)

Beautiful Bailey!

At only 4 1/2 months old, Bailey is nearing 40 pounds! Wow!! I am officially a Doberman fan after getting to know the breed. Bailey's loyalty, affection, and sense of being a protector are incredible! She is so smart too. She can sit, stay, drop, shake (not always), watch, and she knows the word kennel.

Really?

I know I have said this before, but raising kids has got to be the most challenging thing I have ever done. The day to day challenges they put before me is just exhausting! I took the girls, and the three dogs, on a walk to the river today. Lucy and Ava did fine, Daisy and Bailey did fine, Piper was a pain and I have decided that from now on she will stay at home. (I had to pull her along almost the whole time). Then in the background is Madeline... whining almost every step of the way. She complains that she doesn't get to do anything "fun" with us, then we go do something that she was really excited to do and she complains!?!? I don't get it? We walked sloooowwww the whole time, yet she just wasn't happy.
Ughhh... then I made lunch for the girls. Maddie used to be a GREAT eater. Now she is one of the pickiest eaters ever! She is always complaining that she doesn't like something in her meal for one reason or another. And just today, I found out the she throws her sandwich away at school nearly every day! Why do I even go through the trouble of making her a healthy lunch? I am perplexed as to what I should do now... Do I give in and not make her a sandwich? If I gave her her choice she would have chips, chocolate, fruit snacks and nasty cafeteria school pizza. Well, I can tell you that that is not happening. I do balance her lunch out. A sandwich, fruit, chips, and a treat of some sort. I have enough on my plate every morning getting the kids out the door to worry about her throwing her lunch away! No wonder she is so hungry when she comes home from school every day. Oh the joys of figuring out what to do......

Fun at the park?

I haven't figured out why I keep coming back to these Easter egg hunts in the park every year! They are so chaotic and I am not even sure the kids have fun with all the people all around. I did get some cute pictures, so I suppose that counts for something. Later this afternoon we will be dying Easter eggs. I wish Chris could be home for all the fun activities, but unfortunately he has to work.... we miss you sweetie!!!

What a great big sister!

A few days away... with no kids!

It was great to have 2 whole days away with just Chris.... The first day we went to Bodega Bay and just lazed around. The next day we went to San Fransisco and saw the submarine near pier 39, the Japanese Tea Garden, Coit tower, and we ate delicious clam chowder. It was nice to have some time to reconnect and remember why we got married almost 8 years ago.

Maddie's art work from open house!

Open House!

It was Maddie's open house tonight at her first grade classroom. She was super excited to for us to see all her art work and projects that she has been working on all semester. She was also excited to see her teacher that went out on maternity leave. We had a great time, until the end.

I felt kind of bad for Madeline, because this night was supposed to be all about her. Chris was home today, so we made it a family evening. The girls had fun too, until Ava wanted to go outside while Chris was talking to the teacher. He held her hand and Ava pulled so hard that she ended up falling to the floor. I still don't know what she did, but she cried (well screamed actually) for like 5 minutes when we decided that we should leave. While Chris took Ava outside, I tried to stay in the classroom with Maddie. At this point I see Chris and he says, "we have to go". So I gather up Maddie, say our goodbyes and head out the door. Ava is still screaming and Lucy had a pee accident. She proceeds to take off her wet pants and underwear showing her bottom to many people...... So here we are, all 5 us, walking down the crowded hallways with 2 screaming toddlers in tow. Oh.my.gosh.... Ava continued to scream for a few hours and we were just getting ready to take her to urgent care we the more calm side of me thought to just try and giver her a bath and get her to bed. Well, it might have worked, but I don't know. She is still crying off and on guarding her wrist.

In fact, I hear her crying now...... BBL