Brook's "Bling"

So I finally caught Brook with her "bling" on. She does this almost everyday, I just don't always have my camera ready. She loves to get the cookie cutters out of the drawer in the kitchen and wear them as bracelets. She just toddles around with her arm out, loaded down with bracelets. Lately she also likes to wear her hat and her shoes. Some mornings she brings her shoes to us as soon as she wakes up and wants us to put them on. When she hears us say "outside," she runs for her shoes.
Brook also reminds us of her cousin, Rachel. The two look alike and are almost the same size. Last night we had chicken alfredo for dinner. She inhaled it and then put the sauce in her hair. We knew it had to go on the blog to match a very similar post on Marc and Liz's blog. What cute girls!

Brook n' Ally: Partners in Crime

Brook is growing up way too fast! She is walking all over the place now. She loves to be with the big kids. When they all start laughing, she does too. She even had her first hairdo this week. I'm glad I took a picture because we will not be trying it again anytime soon. She screamed the whole time. After she got over the trauma, she looked very cute. And it is a good thing I have pictures to remind me how cute Brook is when she does something like this:
This is the price I paid for bathtime one night when Joseph was not around. Brook emptied the drawers and then moved onto the bookshelf. In the realm of messes, this is a pretty easy one to take care of as it does not require any wiping up or use of the vacuum. Ally was supposed to help put the clothes back in the drawer, but I think she enjoyed helping Brook empty it instead. I think I may be in trouble when the two of them are old enough to gang up on me and cause serious trouble.

Even in her sleep, Ally is up to something. We found her asleep with a stuffed animal up her shirt. Exactly what game she was playing as she fell asleep will remain a mystery. She has such an imagination. Most days I can't keep up with the games she recruits me to play with her. Lately I get to be Alicia and she is Diego. We rescue animals all over the house. Sometimes I am Wonder Woman and she is Flash. And occasionally I am Elastagirl and she is Dash. The game is subject to change at any moment and Ally will not respond if I do not call her the right name. She is too much fun.

Treehouse Museum

This weekend we went to Ogden to visit Marc, Liz, and Rachel. The kids had a great time. Zac kept telling me, "This is a fun house!" They loved spending the night and playing with Rachel. Liz fed us very well and made us all very comfortable. Joseph and Marc worked hard on their fence in the backyard. For first time fencers, I think they did amazingly well. On Saturday morning while the boys worked, Liz and Rachel took us to one of their favorite places, the Treehouse Museum. It is one of our new favorite places, too.

Sariah and Zac had fun dressing up like doctors. In this part of the museum they also had a microscope that fascinated Zac. Sariah had fun playing school in the schoolhouse.

Ally loved the play kitchen and this little mouse puppet. Thanks, Marc, Liz and Rachel for the great weekend. (And thanks, Liz for the blog tutorial. Now I can put captions under my pictures. Who knows what I'll do next?)

Sariah, the Graduate

On Thursday, May 22nd our girl graduated from Kindergarten. The program was very cute. Sariah was SOOOO excited. She reported each day on how the practice had gone. One day she told us (through her giggles) that they practiced standing up together and the teacher said, "Oh that was terrible," and had them do it again. She was singing the songs all around the house. She actually sang in the program, too. It was fun to watch her feel proud of herself.
They sang several songs about the alphabet and the rules of the classroom and ended with You're a Grand Old Flag. Sariah told me that they were going to wave flags. I think she was especially excited about that part.

At the end of the program they read each child's name and presented them with a diploma. By this time, Sariah had lost her "cap." After they got their diploma, they were supposed to walk down the center aisle. Sariah instead went right to Zac and Ally who were sitting on the floor in the front. It took me, the principal, and her teacher to get her pointed in the right direction. That's Sariah for you:)

We are all so proud of Sariah and had a great time celebrating her special night. Zac soaked it all in, knowing it is his turn next. Ally really wanted to go up on the stage, too. Brook recognized Sariah during the program and waved at her. Mom got a little choked up, but managed not to cry. And Dad topped off the night by taking us out for a treat at "Old McDonald's" (a new favorite activity since the kids discovered the Play Place). We love you, Sariah!

Zac, the Brave

The first week in May Joseph went to a conference in Atlanta. We teased him that he really went to see the Braves play and that there just happened to also be a conference. He stayed with Kevin and Toni and they made sure that he got to a game, or two. Kevin and Joseph went to a game together and sat in the "all you can eat seats." You don't even want to know how much they ate. They also stayed after until the players left and Joseph got a ball signed by his hero, John Smoltz. It was a great day. He brought us all back souvenirs, too. Zac REALLY wanted a Chipper Jones shirt. Dad delivered.


Joseph brought shirts for the girls, too, and a visor for me. I forgot to wear my visor for the picture, much to Zac's dismay. He could hardly wait to get a picture of all of us in our Braves stuff and for me to put it on the blog. He wants to wear his shirt everyday as long as he can wear his baseball pants with it. If I have the shirt clean and in his drawer, he sings my praises and tells me I am the best mom. We truly have a fan on our hands. Today he told Joseph, "I'm glad your're my dad because I wouldn't like a Dad who was a Yankees fan."

Birthday Girl!

Yesterday, our Brook turned 1! It has been an amazing year and I can't believe how quickly it has passed. Sariah, Zac and Ally were very excited to help Brook celebrate. They each wrapped their own present for her and then unwrapped it for her, too. Brook was not really into the present thing. She had to be coaxed into it a little bit. Grandma and Grandpa Anson and Marc, Liz and Rachel all came for a birthday lunch. Then we opened presents. I think her favorite present of the day was a little dolly from Ally. Ally had a hard time remembering that the presents were Brook's. She pretty much took over the talking purse, which is OK for now because Brook was oblivious. We had cupcakes and ice cream to end the party. Brook liked her cupcake but she didn't attack it like the other kids have done. She was actually a little more interested in all the people pointing cameras at her. She was happy and cooperative all day long. We love her very much and couldn't imagine our family without her. (Thanks to Aunt Liz for taking the great pictures.)

Life at the Ansons

Life at our house has been pretty much the same. The kids entertain us everyday with their imaginary adventures. Joseph is almost done with another semester and thinks he can graduate in August. The weather is getting warmer. We can taste the freedom of summer. This week is Spring Break and we hope to get in some good family time. We asked the kids to each pick a family activity to do over the break. Sariah wants to do a Wiggle show; Zac wants to play baseball and Ally wants to play Simon Says. Boy, did we get of easy or what? How sweet and innocent childhood is.

I still have not figured out how to put captions under each picture, so I'll do it here. 1. Zac and Ally playing superheroes with an attitude 2. Brook playing superhero with the help of Zac who put the cape on her 3. Brook playing what she really wanted to play ie. getting into anything she can 4. Sariah playing the nurse that calls people out of the waiting room and marks important information in their charts 5. Sariah demonstrating how the fireman who came to school showed them his firefighting gear. In case you could not tell, she is dressed in her firefighting coat and has her mask (backpack) on her head.