March-April

 We've been trying to finish a few house projects this spring as well as spring cleaning... I sometimes think that "Spring Cleaning" happens all year long for me because it takes so long to get from one project to the next, haha.

Playing with friends outside...

 ...leads to much needed bathtimes!

St. Patricks Day

We decorated, had a green-themed dinner, and a hunt for pots of gold after dinner.  

The greatest treasure found under the rainbow?  Our family :)

 St. Louis

 All the above pictures were at the Magic House, a children's museum.  The kids had a lot of fun there.

 City Museum:

The entire warehouse looked this incredible.  Detail and tunnels and imagination everywhere!  Definitely worth a visit!  It was probably better for kids 5+

David and Mason also visited the arch while the girls found an ice cream store (that doubled as a wax museum....) and we of course enjoyed the hotel swimming pool (that actually happened to be really busy because a lot of people were visiting for Spring Break--we were all thinking the same thing!).

My "helper-day" for Mason's preschool happened to be for their Easter party.  They played some games and had an egg hunt.  I love watching Mason at school and how he interacts with the other students and his teacher.

 Easter

 Breakfast=pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles in lieu of sugar cookies/frosting.  I thought it was brilliant but Kate has been requesting sprinkles on her pancakes ever since.
After breakfast, the kids did an Easter egg hunt and found eggs and baskets.  We later dyed Easter-eggs (we dyed 18 eggs and ate them within 36 hours!) and had a nice Easter dinner.  We also watched some Easter videos and played a Peter Cottontail game.

  

Visit from Grandma, Opa, and Uncle Garrett!

 You do not understand how lucky I was to get this shot of Annie glancing up from Grandma's phone!

 Garrett and Dad had just come back from South Africa bearing gifts from afar.  We didn't do a whole lot of sight-seeing while they were here, but we did try some new places to eat.  We watched AFV, went on walks through the neighborhood, and they met Mrs. Bratcher and Coach Ray.  The kids just enjoyed playing with grandparents :)

 I love this guy!!!

January, February

In the beginning of January, I went to ID/UT with the kids to go to my Grandma Vonda Harper's birthday party with my extended Harper family.  It was SO great to see so many cousins and aunts/uncles, I haven't seen for years, and meet in-laws and babies for the first time.  I wasn't expecting it to be very cold (what was I thinking??) so I didn't pack winter clothes for the kids, but that didn't stop them from playing outside in the snow.

Swimming at the Little America before Grandma Vonda's party.

Kate especially was really excited to help Dad do some pink speckling.  

 One afternoon, Kate fell asleep on the couch, and Annie brought random paper to lay on top of her.  So considerate!

Enjoying snow, and Annie and Mason had a great system going of helping me do laundry.

Valentine's Day

 The kids and I decorated the kitchen (they were REALLY excited about the balloons and crepe-paper ball decorations) and we had a red-themed dinner.  We opened presents from each other and grandparents.  David gave me tulips and chocolate, and I gave him a CD of music from our favorite movies.

The Great Wolf Lodge

This is a place we have been meaning to go for around 5 years--ever since we lived in Omaha.  It is a hotel with an indoor water park, arcade, restaurant, and an assortment of activities and games for kids.  The water was a little cold at the water park, but the kids loved it.  It completely wore them out and they didn't wake up once that night (and they NEVER sleep well in hotels).

Mason's Birthday

Four has been a lovely year for Mason.  He is a great older brother to his sisters, and he enjoys playing with cars, trains, and riding his bike (and SCOOTER!) outside.  Even in the middle of winter.  He likes to read books (or pretend to), is a somewhat-picky eater, and is really into racing.  He thinks it's funny to surprise everyone in the family with scary faces or tickling.  He enjoys his preschool and loves watching AFV with the family.  It was really fun to do this "Incredibles"-themed birthday party for Mason and his many friends.  We ate pizza, cupcakes, and red punch (Mason's favorite color), had a pinata that looked like the black robot from "The Incredibles," opened presents, and watched the movie.

Other things we've been up to:

Kate insists on wearing her swimsuit as much as possible.  I suspect it's because she would rather do without clothes altogether.  I was accompanying a musical number on Sunday and David was handling fussy Annie and he looked over to see her stripped waist-up.  On Monday, I caught her stripped waist-down in the middle of the aquarium.

Kate got potty trained!

Aquarium and Lego Land.  Fun places to go during the winter time!