March Fun!

      As crazy as it is to have so many of our birthdays close together, it's a lot of fun for the kids. Shortcake kept building cakes around the house with cups and dolls and whatever she could find!

 These two have so much fun together! Little divas!
One of Shortcake's teachers sent home a volcano science experiment. She LOVED it!

 We had to celebrate Pi Day (3.14) with some cheese pie (quiche) for dinner.

 Our little girl and her baby playing Quirkle with us one Sunday evening.

 Rosie is just adored by her siblings and they always want to take pictures with her. Goofy and Rosie playing in Nana's backyard.

 Preschool fun!

 Tink and Bucko went to the temple the same day I took Minnie to get her ears pierced. Such a great group of youth!

Minnie had a field trip in March as well. They went to a museum in Denver. One of my friend's chaperoned and sent me this picture.

 Tink received her academic letter! We didn't go to the ceremony so I had her smile for me when she brought it home from school.

Minnie turns 11!

How is this possible? I think I've come to grips with the older two being teenagers, but having Minnie turn 11 just seems crazy! She wanted to have the same brownies that she had last year, so that was easy. She had her school play the night of her birthday too, so we were running around with that and celebrated afterward. Minnie was part of the crew who took care of the set, so she wasn't on stage much but I did catch a couple pictures of her.

 She sang the final song out on the stage with everyone else.

 Shortcake wrapped up Minnie's pillow pet and gave it to her. So thoughtful. ;)

What she really wanted for her birthday was to re-pierce her ears, so we did that the Saturday before her birthday.

 She also really wanted to have a party with friends, so we did crafts and a made a movie with her friends the next Saturday. 

Missing

I got my blog book for 2016 a couple months ago, and Minnie went straight to March to see her birthday. Well, I apparently forgot to blog about her birthday last year! I also didn't put up any pictures of our Easter egg hunt either. I think I forgot because it was right before I got my new camera and forgot to put up the last pictures from my old camera. Anyway, to rectify this wrong, I am posting pictures from last year so we have them recorded.
Minnie wanted brownies for her birthday with Andes mints on top.

The kids' hole in the backyard got significantly bigger last year. I love this picture of them playing in it.

And here's the egg hunt from last year:

Wolf

Goofy had his Blue and Gold banquet for Cub Scouts this week as well. I didn't have my camera on the right settings before handing it off, so the pictures are really blurry but at least you can still see his excitement. He asked to "wolf down" Redi-whip in a pie plate. He loved it.

Pikes Peak

PC has been trying to get up Pikes Peak for a few weeks with his buddies. They had a date all set and then PC's work schedule changed, so they had to switch days. Well, this past Monday was the day it all worked out. Of course it snowed the night before so they had some fresh snow. However, that wasn't even the worst part. The trail above the treeline was completely covered, so they had to hike straight up the mountain through the gully. It was extremely hard, but they made it. Unfortunately, when I got to the tollbooth to go up to pick them up, they told me that the road was closed 3 miles from the top. She said they could hike down the road to me, though, so I called and texted and prayed they would get the message. It was a gorgeous drive up there! But oh man! At some points, the cliff is just a few feet away with no guard rail and my heart rate was steadily increasing. I had the two little girls with me, so that always makes heights scarier for me. I just focused on the road and drove on, but the winds were extreme. I made it and the boys made it down to me. The ranger actually picked them up about halfway down the road and told them they couldn't hike on the road. It was definitely an experience to remember.

If you look at the mountain right behind the flag and a little to the left, you can see the line that goes straight up the mountain. That is the gully they had to climb up. I took this picture from my bedroom window the morning they went up.

 

 These are all pictures I took up Pikes Peak Highway. I kept stopping to get pictures, but should have stopped even more. There were some amazing spots. And I wish I had stopped to get the Big Foot Crossing sign. Next time, I guess!

The winds were brutal, but they still stopped for a selfie at the summit. They ended up waiting for another guy who they knew was coming along behind them. He was lucky they did. He was having a really rough time and had even run out of water. We ended up driving him down the mountain and into Manitou Springs to get his car. We were glad we could help.

February Birthdays

 My birthday always kicks off the birthdays for February in our family. A friend posted this yummy recipe for a Boston Creme poke cake a few days before my birthday, so we decided to make that. It was so good! And super easy. PC asked what I wanted for my birthday and after having Lasik the month before, I really felt like that was present enough. But I didn't want to make dinner, so he took us all out to eat at Red Robin. They even sang to me and gave me a sundae. PC didn't listen about the no present thing though and bought me a really nice duffel bag that will be great for camps and trips. He bought the navy and gold one and told me he picked those colors to remind me of where I came from. (Those are West Virginia colors.) It was so sweet. I sure love that guy. 
Shortcake had preschool on her birthday. I love how my friends take such great care of my kids. She had so much fun at school that day. (Of course it helped that they were doing their Valentine's Day party as well, but still.)

 This little girl didn't know what she wanted for her birthday. She kept changing her mind for what kind of cake she wanted. She finally just kept saying she wanted a pink pony on top, so luckily I was able to find one at the dollar store while I picked up her 4 balloons. She loved it all!

 I found her present soon after Christmas when there were tons of sales. It's a wooden doll house and it's almost as tall as I am. She loves it and plays with it every day. She used her money from grandparents to buy some more dolls for it. She bought Barbie's younger sisters this time. 

 Bucko wanted to have some friends over, so he invited a few over for pizza and a movie. They watched Middle School: The Worst Years of my Life. He asked for a Reese's cake. I found a recipe on Pinterest and it turned out sooo yummy too.

 He grew out of his bike a while ago and has been asking for one for a long time. He was so excited to get one!

 Goofy's birthday fell on a Sunday, so we invited the Colemans that live close by to come. We also invited Goofy's best friend and his family to join us. We always have to have striped delight for one birthday in February, and Goofy chose it for his.

 He got some Legos and a watch from his friends and we gave him a building set and a Weird but True book. (He loves those crazy facts.)

January Randomness

 We found some puzzle sets at Wal-Mart on clearance and had a lot of fun putting them together.

Just a Sunday evening watching home videos and eating popcorn. My cute girls.

 This little girl decided she's a big girl and has been using her little potty pretty regularly. So exciting!

Tink went outside to relax one nice afternoon before doing homework, and this is what she did.

Shortcake and I had our teeth cleaned in January as well. She loves the dentist.