Easter Evening

Sunday evening we went down to Janna's house for dinner with the family.  Crazy times.  What do you expect when 6 little kids are running around after discovering that today, for some reason, Mommy and Daddy let them have LOTS of candy?!?!  We had a blast, a WONDERFUL meal, and even got to celebrate Mary's 3rd birthday and Ashley's 1st (again, although the first party in New York)!

Somehow Daddy made oranges completely FASCINATING for the girls.....

Check out Danielle's face....

And of course Ashley's being a cutie....

.....had to graduate to two oranges at this point....

....and everyone's being silly and goofy!  Love 'em!

And then we brought out the cupcakes......

So everything looks pretty tame here, right?

And this time, there was NO hesitation about diving right in....

And here she is watching Mary (sorry I missed taking pictures of Mary)....

....and someone showed her how to put her hands in her hair!

Notice how Bob's glasses had to go away?

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter!!  Here's some adorable shots of the girls on Easter morning!

What a smiler!

So pretty in her 'princess dress'! 

Our neighbor gave the girls some flowers for Easter -- they both liked them, although for different reasons entirely!

Danielle was impressed with how pretty flowers are....

And had me take about a million pictures of her and her flower....

....and Ashley was much more impressed with what you can actually DO with a flower -- namely, pull it to pieces!

Hiking with Daddy and the doggies

We finally made it to April -- I should say, I finally caught up with my blogging into April!  Last weekend Bob decided to take Danielle, Shadow, and Ginger hiking at a nearby dog park.  They had a blast -- apparently Danielle ran the whole two miles trying to keep up with Shadow.  Small wonder that she was totally wiped out when they got home.  Here's some fun shots from their time:

 

Reading time and randomness.....

We've started a new thing -- going to the library!  We try to go every Monday morning, but sometimes it gets pushed off until Tuesday (like today).  Danielle has LOTS of fun coming up with books she wants to pick out.  It usually goes something like this:  "Mommy, I have a good idea!  I want penguin stories!"  Me: "Penguins.  Okay, lets go find the librarian."  This week she wanted penguins and turtles.....thankfully they didn't have to be in the same book!

...at her favorite reading spot....

....those of you who know how much I like to read know how much I love this picture!

Ashley bringing me one of her little books!

...we're learning how to turn pages....

And if it's a chilly day, this is a pretty good bet on where to find Danielle....

Aunty Beth is SOOOOOOO creative!!!

Aunty Beth sent home some clothes that she made for the girls.  Danielle and Ashley have matching outfits, and this one is one of the favorites!

Of course, the smile always makes her pretty!

...but how often do you get to have a butterfly on your back?

And Danielle loves to show off her outfit to EVERYONE!

So what you're seeing here is a black turtleneck over black yoga pants with a skirt and yellow shirt over them -- and the shirt has a butterfly on the back of it that matches the skirt! So adorably cute!!

Dancing with Daddy

I know I'm catching up, but this little bit of fun was too cute to not share with everyone!  A few weeks back, Bob has some music turned on in the living room and Danielle wanted to dance with her Daddy....so here you go!

Bob is trying to teach her to twirl here....

 ...and jumping is always fun....

...more fun...

....obviously we were just about in stitches by this point....

...and I saved my favorite for last!  I love it!!

Birthday Party!! (#4)

Aunty Beth was kind enough to host a birthday party for Ashley -- we had LOTS of fun and got to see lots of people!!

The little girl of the hour!

She was a little unsure of the party hat....

Beginning to investigate the frosting.....

....and discovering that it tastes yummy....

....proof that indeed it does!!

Grandma Carol provided adorable cupcakes with four different colors of frosting, and Aunty Beth thought that Ashley might like a more varied color palate to work with....

...and promptly put her feet in them!

Ashely wasn't the only one to enjoy the cupcakes!!

....but she was the only one who needed a bath immediately and thus opened her presents nice and clean and in her diaper!!!  What a cutie -- I love her so much!!