Playing Dress Up

My kids just really love getting dressed up. I just think it's so adorable! :) Brighton especially likes to put on Lila's clothes. It's way easier for him to fit on big clothes rather than his own. 

Tulip Festival

Yesterday my kiddos and I got to go to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival. I was gifted a family membership there from the daughter of a really good friend of mine (Thanks Trudy and Madi! You're the best!) It was a very sweet and thoughtful surprise. We're looking forward to spending a lot of time there over the next year. :) 

Anyway, the weather was a little iffy yesterday afternoon so we almost didn't go, but I'm so glad we did. We went with Trudy and her sister and her sister's kids. It was so beautiful and not crazy busy because of the weather so it was just perfect. The kids LOVED it and Lila had the best time with some new little friends that she made (Trudy's sister brought her sons).  

I've never been to the festival before, but it really is amazing how many different types of flowers/tulips that they have. I loved the variety. 

They loved throwing coins into the wishing well/fountain in the "secret garden". 

Brighton LOVES water and got very wet. :) I actually took his shirt off and just had him wear his coat the rest of the time. 

They also really loved feeding the fish. 

Lila especially loved the statues of Christ. She and one of the little boys had the cutest little conversation after we were done looking at the sculptures. They found a tulip where the bulb had fallen off and Lila said, "Maybe Christ could fix it" to which the little boy replied, "I'm not sure that He has the tools." It was really cute to watch them hold hands and listen to their conversations. :)

We had a great time and I really think that we'll return to the gardens before the festival is over with Micah. 

I'm so grateful we have a place so close by that we can go and have fun experiences together as a family. Don't be surprised if you see a lot of posts about us spending time at Thanksgiving Point. 

Container Gardening

Lately I've really been looking into container gardening. Now, I've done regular gardening before and had success, but I've never done container gardening on a third floor so needless to say, I was nervous. After reading a ton of information over many weeks and asking people including those in garden centers I decided to just go for it during my spring break. 

I have no idea if it's going to be successful, but I'm really excited to do this with the kids. Lila and Brighton were so excited to help with the planting and, even though it got pretty messy, we had a great time doing it. Micah was very helpful and I don't know that I could've involved the kids without him. Thanks honey!

I'm happy with how it looks for now. We're doing tomatoes, green bell peppers, carrots, and butter crunch lettuce. We're also doing herbs, but those are inside by the kitchen window. 

Now some of you may be reading this thinking that I did it wrong, but I did the best I could with the information I had. Here's to trying something new and either failing or succeeding. Either way it will be a fun project to work on. 

Thanksgiving in April

Micah has been really wanting to try a turkey recipe by Gordon Ramsey for awhile now. My mum had given us a turkey and so we were just looking for a good time to make one. So we figured spring break would be perfect for that. (The Thursday of spring break no less.)

The turkey was seriously so good! We've already decided that Micah will be in charge of all of our turkeys for future holidays. :)

I'd like to point out that I took this picture after Micah had already taken off the bacon and the wings for the gravy so it's not as pretty as it had been and that's why part of it isn't as browned.

The gravy that Micah made to go along with it was really good also. I don't normally like gravy, but this was delicious!

Micah also made rosemary-butter potatoes and broccoli. Later in the day we even had apple pie. :)

Thanks mum for the turkey and thanks Micah for making such a great meal!

The Museum of Natural Curiosity

This spring break has been a lot of fun. We've gotten a lot of cleaning and organizing done, but we've also had a great time together as a family.

Yesterday we spent our morning at The Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. It was so much fun! We hadn't been before so we thought we'd get there right at the beginning to try and get in quickly. Well that plan didn't entirely work out since we get there at 10:00 and there was a huge line of people already ahead of us waiting to get in.  I was a little concerned, but it ended up being just fine.

The kids really loved it. There were a couple of melt downs. I think there was just a lot of excitement and people around that they struggled a couple of times, but overall I'm very happy with how the kids were and we were able to stay for over an hour. To be fair to the kids, 10:00 is normally Brighton's morning nap time and so he was definitely tired near the end, and sometimes when he cries Lila cries too. 

The different areas were really cool and I felt like it's a place that caters really well to young kids as well as older kids. 

It was really nice having Micah there with me because then we could each take care of one child. 

Brighton especially loved the water room. That kid just loves water!

Lila liked the vet's office in Kidopolis.

We'll have to return again soon.

April Conference and Easter 2015

I love, love, LOVE this time of year. I really look forward to general conference coming up. I never disliked conference, but it wasn't until I became an adult that I truly appreciated the messages shared and really felt like I needed them to help me replenish and continue forward in this life. 

This time around was very inspiring and encouraging. I especially enjoyed the messages on temple covenants and the purpose and importance of the family. Since becoming a mother the strength of a family has become so important to me and I worry about how Micah and I will raise our children in the world we live in today. I worry about how to teach our children to be loving and kind, but to absolutely stand up for what they believe to be true. I worry about the influence people that surround our children will have on them. I worry about how they will feel about the importance of family and of the true gospel. Conference always calms these fears and teaches me more about how to manage these situations. There will always be things that we cannot control (as much as I hate to think about that), but Micah and I have the temple covenants and ordinances to strengthen us, we have the tools from the church to use, and most importantly we have a loving Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ to turn to and depend upon. 

I especially love when Easter falls on conference Sunday. I don't even have a specific reason as to why. I just love it! It just makes it that much more special and spiritual and helps keep things in perspective.

It was fun to talk about Easter with Lila this year because she comprehends much more than she ever has before (obviously). She loves to talk about how Jesus is in her heart and so she connected Him dying but rising again to why He can be in her heart at all times. It's really very sweet. I hope she always has a love for her Savior. 

We also did the fun activities for Easter. We went to Grandma McSweeney's house and had a great time as a family (although we missed not having Eliza's family, Rebecca's family, and of course Grandpa there with us). 

We ate delicious food that included conference potatoes (best things ever!), easter deviled eggs, and a cute bunny cake that Emma made.

Side note: We were pulling into our parking lot when Brighton once again got car sick. :( Oh well, at was still an incredibly fun day. I just feel bad for the little guy. 

We did an Easter egg hunt where the kids found their specific colors. Brighton got tired of finding them after about a dozen eggs, and really just wanted to play in the dirt like he had been doing before. :) They also got prize eggs… Brighton got a water gun and Lila got sidewalk chalk. They were very cute about it. They got bubbles and candy and just had a great time with their cousins. This was the only egg hunt we did this year and I'm glad. It just made it that much more exciting.

Mum then had an adult egg hunt (that none of us knew about). The sisters went crazy for it and we were probably more enthusiastic than even the kids. :) I love spending time with my family. 

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and had the opportunity to remember our Savior and His example and sacrifice. I hope we remember what a gift His life was and continues to be for us. How grateful I am to have a personal relationship with my Savior.