Napping

After thinking that Etta was done napping before she turned three,

I have discovered that she is now old enough to put herself down for naps when she needs them.

Sometimes.

Etta Turns 6!

One (yes, I seriously typed that first...) Six years ago we were doing this. 

And she has been growing ever since. Thank goodness!

For the past few months Mae, (yes, Mae) has been begging for a skate board. For her birthday. For...whatever. Saturday morning Grandma Cynthia and Etta Grace went to one garage sale. 

And found a skate board.

For a quarter.

To Etta it is a dream come true.

Not so much for Mae.

She could NOT wait to try it out.

Birthday party presents. Opening elbow and knee pads from The Girls mom.

She opened and (mostly...kind of) read her cards herself. 

Her very own MSU sweat shirt like Bob's.

All geared up and ready to try it out officially.

She has been pretty cautious so far. Thankfully.

The shark helmet is thanks to Jackie!

My attempt at a Lego cake. Every cake I try to make turns out like a cake wreck. Maybe that will be my "cool mom" thing.

A 2 by 3 - 6 candles for a girl turning 6!

Happy Easter!

Bob got a good shot of the kids after church. Two services actually! And they're all still grinning.

They went up to Grandma Cathy's to dye eggs. I stayed home with a napping Russell.

Lots of colors! And both girls ate one of their hard boiled eggs after they ate dinner.

Since Russell doesn't walk yet I just plopped him down next to an egg. He was happy with one. But he got six total. I think Bob ate most of his candy. He likes the grass way more than Etta did when she was (almost) one.

Mae paused for a photo shoot. Unlike last year when she hardly paused at all.

Some indoor play. Russell LOVES playing cars and making car noises. I think he gets that from Bob.

What?! I like cars!

Birthday Party

Yesterday we went to a family birthday party. Russell Wicks met Russell Rudolph. Russell Rudolph is two. They only interacted for this photo shoot.

Eggs!

My egg!

I feel that this picture could be on the outside of a greeting card.

The girls got to drive this sweet ride.

Mae wasn't even going to wait for Etta to get in!

I love how it looks like they are going so fast (with their hair blowing back). But it was actual wind causing that.

Hang on!

And there were scooters! And a pool!! Neither of them wanted to leave. 

Mae OWNED the scooter. She says she wants a skate board for her birthday, but I think I would prefer she got a scooter!

Etta was smokin' too.

Thanks Dan and Rusanne for a great time! We'll be back when it warms up a bit more!!

Waiting ...

... to walk.

... for summer.

... to meet the big, wide world.

... for time when he is big enough to play with his sisters outside.

Helper(s)

Mae is my go-to silverware putter-awayer these days. And Russell is the resident climber. They make quite a combo.

Mae didn't mind at first. And of course Russell knew I was taking pictures.

Hmm, have we reached an impasse?

Russell was still hung ho. Mae ... not so much.

A Day in the Life...Wednesday

To and from school we get to monitor the construction of the new Winco going in at the mall. We all love to watch the big machinery! (The kids also note when construction workers go into the porta-potties. Lucky me.)

Over view.

Close up of big machines on a huge pile of dirt.

On Tuesday night our neighborhood was hit by a vandal (lower case "v") who decided to slash tires for fun. Thankfully our car is off the street in our driveway, but our neighbors across the way were not so lucky. So after watching the construction at the mall for awhile we got to watch a tow truck in action right in front of our house.

Trit trot to Boston to buy a loaf of bread,

trit trot home again,

the old mare iiiiiiis DEAD!

This is the way the ladies ride,

Bippity, bibbity, boo,

This is the way the cowgirls ride... Aaaaaaaaaaaa!

And a close up of the little face in the background.

All of the previous pics are a little example of "Where's Russell?"

Tuesday

On Tuesdays the kids and I walk to Community Group. There is one yard along the way that has birds on their fence. Big hit with the kids.

Take my picture with this one mommy!

Lunch Alfresco

It was too nice to eat lunch inside yesterday.

Timber!

Yesterday Bob, Etta & Mae headed to Deary with Grandma and Grandpa to help clear some trees and enjoy the beautiful weather.

They hauled bricks.

I guess it was a little brisk.

Bob stayed a safe distance away to get these pics.

He wanted to get a face closeup of Steve for his sisters.

They also got to just play in the dirt a bit.

Peep

One of the girls' favorite shows is Peep and the Big, Wide World. Mae is Peep, Etta is Chirp, Russell is Beaver Boy, I'm Plurp and Bob is Quack. (As assigned by Etta & Mae.) As I have mentioned before, Grandpa Steve has new chickens. We dropped Etta off at drama practice on Friday night and went over to see how they are growing. I then made the reference that they are just like Peep and the Big, Wide World. (Doesn't take much to entertain people with small children.)

Russell rocking his new ride in the car.

Bob always has to catch a chicken and harass give it love. Russell thought it was pretty funny.

He even decided he could pet it.

Mae loves the chickens.