Easter 2011

As I was looking back over the blog I realized I never posted anything about Easter! We had a great Easter Katie and Annie were both adorable. Annie started walking right around Easter and so she was quite good at finding the Easter eggs too. We started the Easter weekend off by going to Katie's preschool party on Friday. Then we decorated our eggs on Friday night. Then on Saturday we went to the ward Easter egg hunt and there wasn't a great turn out which meant that the kids got to find a lot of eggs! On Sunday morning the girls first found their Easter baskets and then they found their Easter eggs. I don't quite know why but for some reason I never took a picture of the two of them in their beautiful Easter dresses their dresses were coordinating colors and very girly! I sure loved the holiday and I sure love my girls!

Kids say the cutest things!

I just had to post this before I forgot about the adorable things my Katie bug says now a days! Stephen and I took the girls to the local pet store just to let them pet the kittens and puppies (not our brightest idea).  We made it clear to Katie that we were not going to buy any pets that day because we do not live in a house and we are going to be moving in the near future.  We just wanted to look and pet the kittens for a little bit.  Katie said she was fine with that and she was excited just to see them.  Well once we got there it was obvious that this was not our best idea! She instantly fell in love with one of the kittens and she REALLY wanted to take it home.   After explaining again that we couldn't take the kitten home she started to cry and when I reminded her of our earlier conversation she said to me, "But Mommy (sniffle)  that was before I realized how cute and soft they were!" Stephen and I laughed and laughed we thought that was pretty good reasoning for a four year old but alas we still only own fish!  One day I will have a house and we will get a puppy or kitten too.  

So tonight I was reading Katie a Bearnstein Bears Book about Telling the Truth.  In the book the mom tells her cubs that trust is fragile and it isn't something you can just put back together again.  After we finished reading the story Katie said, "Mom my piggy bank is made out of trust because it is fragile and you always tell me that if it breaks we can't put it back together again."  Oh how I laughed! I can't believe she is four! With every birthday I feel joy and sadness. I am so happy to see her grow and learn for another year but I am always sad to see the previous year go.  I am going to miss my three year old but four is turning out to be pretty good too!

My girls both had birthdays! Katie is four Annie is one!

Katie's slideshow!

Picture slideshow generated with Smilebox

 Annie's Slideshow!

A digital slideshow by Smilebox

Here are the girls birthday slideshows! I have been the worst at blogging this year and when I think about blogging I just think of how much I have to do and then I get to overwhelmed and so I don't do anything.  SO I am just going to start blogging the new stuff that we are currently doing and maybe one day I will be able to go back and do some catch up blogs. After watching those slideshows I really think my girls look so much alike...do you?

Annie Updates:
Annie is one! I can't believe it! It is so true what they say about time going by so quickly.  My girls are so big now! Annie is so darn cute (if I do say so myself)! She has a very fiesty personality she is a very determined little girl.  She is very smart and she warms our hearts everyday.  She likes to bring us books and then she slowly walks backwards to sit on our laps so we can read to her.  She can tell you what the cow, dog, and elephant say.  She says mama, dada, bye-bye, ball, and ba-ba for milk or bottle or bath or sippy cup (depending on the situation)!  She blows kisses and waves bye-bye and she will give hugs and kisses too.  She also folds her arms and mumbles when we say it is time for prayer which is honestly the sweetest thing! Annie is a very independent little girl she is able to entertain herself and have fun all day long. We just love out little Annie!


Katie Updates:
Katie is doing great.  She is such a sweet little girl and she tries so hard to be a good big sister.  Katie is so bright and I find myself trying to find ways to keep her busy these days.  She is learning to read and can already read about 45 different words!  Katie is going through a bit of a sneaky stage right now.  She is having a difficult time always telling the truth (something we are really working on) and she likes to hide things and try to get away with things that she knows she shouldn't get away with.  I think she is just testing us out to see what her boundaries are as she gets older.  She is a very good little girl overall though.  She loves church and she makes sure that we read her scriptures every night before bed.  She often reminds me of the correct things we should be doing and will amaze me with her tender and sincere prayers.  She is always looking forward to getting older and I keep telling her to enjoy being four because it won't last long enough!  She cares a lot about her little sister and is usually willing to share her toys and help Annie whenever possible. We sure are thankful for and love our Katie bug! 

My girls in February and March

 My best buddy Kristen came to visit us and we had a blast!

 Beautiful Florida Sunset!

 Katie made a playground if you look close you can see slides and everything.  I love that she is actually starting to entertain herself and really using her imagination.

Bowman Live!

Katie's preschool program was back in March.  My parents were here in Tampa visiting during this time which was great but we were off from our normal schedule.  Katie had not gotten a good nights sleep the night before so her performance was not quite what I thought it would be! Then again maybe I just had too high of standards for three year olds! We saw everything from picking noses to lifting up shirts to sitting down during the songs but all together it was adorable to watch all of the kids sing their 7 songs.  They also recited the Pledge of Allegiance which was wonderful to see.  I tried to post a video so you all could enjoy Katie yawning and not paying attention and singing part of the time but it wouldn't let me load it!  I will try again later.  Katie was adorable even if there was some public nose picking! Poor kid! We had quite the chat about that when we got home! I sure love her and she later (after a nap) was able to sing all the songs for us at home.  What a joy it is to have a three year old who is so smart and fun!!

 Pointing to her star

 Katie with her best bud at preschool

 Katie just found us in the crowd

 Katie giving this little boy a mean look...I don't know why!? Geez look what I have to look forward to in her teenage years!

Our first trip to Disney World - The Magic Kingdom!

Well I honestly can't even quite remember now when it was that we went to Disney for the first time.  I believe it was towards the end of February or the start of March.  We had a friend in our ward watch Annie for us for the day so Stephen and I could spoil Katie completely.  We tried to explain to Katie what Disney World would be like but she truly didn't quite know what to expect.  I think it is safe to say that her expectations were exceeded!

Katie looking out the window at the Mickey Mouse ears right at the freeway exit to Disney!

Katie getting excited as she sees the Magic Kingdom sign

A picture of the Happiest Place on Earth from the boat

Katie's first ride "Snow Whites Scary Adventure"

She was scared during the ride but at the end she loved it so much that she begged us to go on again and so we did!

Probably the most favorite event was "Philharmagic Mickey" the 3-D show takes you through some of the best parts of many Disney movies with music.  Katie LOVED it I think we saw it four times! She kept trying to touch the objects that appeared to be right in front of us it was so much fun to watch her during the show.

Katie's favorite movie at the time was Toy Story 2 so she was very excited to see Jessie

Katie was quite shy around the characters which is surprising because Katie is NEVER shy as anyone who has ever met my sweet girl knows!

Mary Poppins came out and Katie and a few other little girls got to dance with her while the  band played.  It was really cute and Mary Poppins was so good with Katie and took so much time talking to her and making her feel very special!

Stephen and Katie on "It's a Small World" Another favorite of Katie's.  She loved dancing along with the music

The parade!

This is from the "Dreams Come True" play

This is Katie chanting, "Dreams come true!"

On the walk out of the park Katie was snuggled up holding her souvenir and one second later she was sound asleep before we even left the park gates.  She definitely enjoyed her special day.  I know that Stephen and I had a wonderful time watching her believe in the magic.  A three year old almost four year old at Disney world was so much fun to see.  She believed in the magic of it and the joy on her face was priceless! We are so lucky that Stephen got into school here! So much to see and do!