Eater Weekend Extravaganza

Well we had a fun filled weekend getting ready for Easter. I was so tired on Saturday after the events of the day. We went to Ann Morrison Park for the annual Easter Egg Hunt where we met Papa, Grandma Deb, and the Givens....such a treat. Allie at first didn't quite know what she was doing or what was actually on the ground, but once she caught on....she didn't want to walk off the grass until every last piece of candy was in her basket.

Following naps in the afternoon, we had the Givens over for some sugar cookie decorating and egg dying....it was a lot of fun, as you can see from our fun pics...

Allie had a great Easter morning....I found her a baby stroller at a kid's consignment shop for $3, and she is in heaven....she loves it!

Allie hard at work-collecting that candy for mom

Allie would not let anyone carry her basket for her after the race, she saw too many of us sneaking candy out.

Frosting cookies, which quickly made their ways to our mouths

Dying eggs with Dad

Ruminants of bunny cake that mom made

I can't believe how much of "Hanseness" I see in Allie in this picture...Jenny Hansen might agree because to me this picture reminds me of her little girl Jane

First Day of SPRING!

Check out our fun day! In the morning I got Allie prepped for the

big Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. I got out her basket and scattered eggs around
the floor. I taught Allie how to run around, pick up the eggs, and put them into her
basket...I hope she's ready for the Easter Egg Hunt.

In the late morning we got to go check out the baby chicks and bunnies with some of our friends. Then, ironically enough for the first day of Spring, we don't have rain. We went and had lunch at the park and got to play on the toys.
It's a nice sunny 49 degrees...Happy First Day Of Spring

It's purely selfish reasons I want Allie to know what she's doing on Saturday at the big Egg Hunt....more candy for mom

Hopefully I didn't wear her out for the big day

Can you say "Chubby Bunny"

In the "unnel" per Allie's language

I can't get over the steepness of this slide....if you can't tell from the picture, just take my word

YEE HAWING in Dallas, Texas

We have finally landed back in Boise and oh how I am so glad. We had a fabulous time in Dallas visiting one of my best friends from high school and her cute family, but only she understands how we were glad to make it back to Boise. Allie spent over half the days of our trip puking.

The beginning days of our trip we got in some good time around the town. We went to a fun "tubes" place where Allie, Cole, and Carter were the only kids for a good chunk of our time. We went shopping at some good outlet malls, where we entertained the kids with a merry-go-round ride and suckers so they could endure the shopping. We made it to IKEA where I think I broke the bank shopping. We definitely need IKEA to make its way to Boise.

It worked out good that Allie was sick (minus all the puking) because Karee and I had a lot of good time to hang out, talk about life, and just relax. Thanks for all the fun times, the yummy food, and yummy desserts that we got to enjoy. We are glad that Karee and her family are making their way to Boise this week so we can hang out some more without sick kids :)

Allie making her way through the "tubes" and down the slide

We got in some good shopping at some awesome outlet malls, oh how I long for some good shopping in Boise

Allie found herself a great place to hang out while I shopped

Cute Cole giving Allie some help on swing

My child sleeping on the couch....speaks volumes

One of our last days in Dallas, we ventured out to yet another fun mall. The kids area was so cute! There were spoons, forks, cups, and large pieces of food to climb all over.

Cole balancing on top the cherry on the grapefruit

A spoon full of sugar and everything nice

Checkin' out the hottie in the car

Yurt Trip

We had such a great weekend! I am definitely going on this trip again. Blake's sibling's families and ours went cross country skiing up outside of Idaho City. We skied in 2 miles to reach our home, The Skyline Yurt. It was a little bit rocky in the beginning because another group arrived at the yurt about 1 hour after we had gotten settled in (For any one who doesn't know, these yurts are out in the middle of no where-and take quite the time to get to on skis). After quite the mess of trying to determine who had the yurt for the weekend and who had documentation, the group of older adults caved in and let us keep the yurt because they didn't know how we would turn around and hike back out with 5 little kids. Frankly, I didn't know how we were going to manage that either if that was going to be the solution.

After that rocky start, we settled in and enjoyed our cozy bungalow. Who can't say they don't love a lot of hanging out, card playing time, and good old time out doors in the middle of no where.

Cam and Allie ready for the ride

Jane and Warren. I do have to give it up for my sweet little niece who is only 5 and skied both in and out on her own and a majority of the time she was skiing faster than me.

What a life!

Enjoying the view from the yurt

The Hansen cousins with Warren on the run

Hanging out with Uncle Rod on the top bunk

It's amazing what can entertain your kids for hours

Hansen cousins with Miss Baby Lucy M.I.A.

Entertaining the kids with art

Look Mom, No Hands

The Hansen Fam

...Riddn' On A Pony....

Well we headed off to the Kids Fair with the Givens Family on Saturday. It was pretty fun. Allie got to ride a pony and do a couple other fun things...although I think she would have enjoyed it more if she was a little older. There were rock climbing walls, astro jumps, a reptile guy, face painting, pony rides, and a whole bunch of kid friendly companies from the community promoting their names.

Allie and Cam playing in some dirt

Allie inside the Astro Jump. She has experienced one of these before at my work party and loved it. This time there were lots of older kids and she was a little unsure.

My type of girl...no fear. Allie climbed up this big inflatable slide and came on down and of course wanted "more"

Allie and her accompaniment "mom." I knew if I had tried to put Allie on the horse solo she would have freaked out, so I just rode with her. Yee-Haw!

The goats were the most exciting thing at the "petting zoo." The petting zoo consisted of the exotic dog, cat, and rabbit . Not the most exciting petting zoo we have ever visited.

First Day to Nursery

Well I can't believe it! Allie is oh so short of being 18 months but we brought her to nursery anyways. Last week we went in with her and stayed the whole time; just to get her used to going. Today I went in for about 5 minutes, we found some babies and a vacuum and Allie was set. I snuck right out and she did great for the 2 hours.

I on the other hand just couldn't believe my little girl was in nursery and was wondering how she was doing the whole time. It was bitter sweet for me- 18 months had really gone by so quickly. I think I went and peaked in the window about 3 times because I was just so curious to see if she was o.k. without me. I don't really get myself because Allie goes to the YMCA drop off daycare and I do just fine there. I couldn't really pay attention in Sunday School but I must have gotten over my issues pretty quick because we had a great Relief Society lesson. I can't even imagine how the first day of kindergarten is going to be; I am really pathetic.

Allie saying "cheese" oh so nicely

Allie with the giggles

Potty Pig!

Well, Allie was hanging out with Blake while I was cleaning up breakfast before church. I could hear her keep saying "daddy," but Blake was a little preoccupied on the piano. Once I got the kitchen cleaned up I walked over to Allie, and she preceded to say "pee pee." I was shocked. We hadn't worked on sitting on the potty for quite some time, so I am not quite sure where that came from. About 2 weeks ago she started telling me she had gone poop, after the fact that she did it. The "pee pee" talk was quite out of the blue, so we marched upstairs, stripped off her pants and diaper and she didn't quite make it onto the potty, but she went. We still made a big stink about it only because she told us she needed to go and she did.

I saw this cute idea which I really liked on someone's blog. Every time the child goes on the potty, you get to put money in the pig. Eventually you take the money to go get a prize. This was a hit with Allie. She loved putting "money" in the pig.

Today I have tried to be diligent about putting Allie on the toilet. When she woke up we tried this morning, but no results. Then I put her on before nap time and we had success; she went again! I am very excited about this and hope things continue to progress forward since Allie is showing some interest. I need help and ideas for any other mom's out there who have done the whole potty training thing. I don't know if I am being to over the top by setting her on the pot a couple time a day. Let me hear what worked for you all.