Princess Festival with Waverly

 I took Waverly to a Princess Festival put on by a local high school last month.  Being a twin, she doesn't get a lot of alone time with Mom or Dad, so this was the perfect opportunity to do a Waverly-Mommy date.  She was very excited, as she is at the age where it's all about princesses, princes, kings and queens.  This was our "before" picture.

 But every princess needs to look the part with some fairy wings painted on...  She sat very still for the artist, which is so unlike her.

 Then we had to go meet all the princesses in attendance.  Belle is her favorite.  But Waverly was being shy, as are we all when face-to-face with our idol, right?

 Sleeping Beauty.  Getting a little more bold.

 Rapunzel, another favorite, and she is loosened up!

 After all the meet and greets, she was in need of some nourishment.  Pink princess punch and a pink cookie--perfect!

 I didn't really want her face painted; I'm not a huge fan of icky paint covering my children's sweet faces, but she looked so cute with these sparkly pink accents to her face.

 It took some convincing, but I finally got her to go out onto the dance floor with the other princesses.  Once there, she was one of the last to leave.  This girl could dance til dawn!

 She hardly cracked a smile the whole time; she looked so serious, but she loved the time spent with them.  And I enjoyed watching my little girl do something on her own, without the comfort of having a twin beside her.  She is so girly!  And I'm loving it!

Cousin Day

 In May, we had some cousins come visit for a few hours while my Sister-in-law attended a graduation.  We did art projects to pass the time.  We painted with pine cones...

 Wrigley's eyes are like plump little blueberries in her face!  Love them!!

 We did thumb-print hyacinths...

and the Very hungry caterpillars with the bottom of balloons.

We {heart} the sun

 We took advantage of a really warm day in April and took the kids to the reservoir.  The sun felt SO GOOD after the winter weather!  I realized I took way more photos of the twins than the older kids; they are just so cute I can't help myself!  And Brighton never sat still for long enough, unlike Keaton who was very methodical about his sand castle-making.

 The moment right before Brighton's splash hits Savannah.  She knows it's going to be cold, but she isn't moving.  She's going to take it like a woman!

 The little ones like the sand more than the cold water.  Maybe that's why picture taking is more fun.

Snake Catchers

 One warm day Brighton came running into the kitchen to tell us that he just saw a garden snake outside.  The kids all rushed out to verify his findings, and a plan was born to catch it as a pet (our poor children would do anything for a pet!)  First item of business was a box to put it in.

 Second was food.  After consulting the resident expert (AKA Dad), it was determined that snakes eat flies.  Savannah was appointed the fly killer.

Irelynd got them ready to go into the box for the expected snake.  Unfortunately, the excitement of catching the snake died off rather quickly when the snake failed to cooperate in its capture by going into hiding, and Dad informed the crew that snakes won't eat dead flies.  But while it lasted, the cooperation, peace, and excitement between all 5 kids was a huge Mommy paycheck for me, and I wanted to capture it.  Moments like this between my children make it all worth it:) I hope they remember these rare moments and one day, as adults, sit around the dinner table reminiscing about them.

Quotes

While holding up a toy cow, I asked Keaton if he knew what it was.  His reply:  "uh huh.  It's a moo-er.  A moo-er that pees milk."  (Parental Score: FAIL!)

During dinner one night, talking about girls vs boys, Waverly says, "if I cry, Keaton and Brighton will play Barbies with me!"  (Female manipulation is learned early by some...)

Brighton, randomly one day tells his Dad, "I wish there was no water on the earth!  Because if there wasn't, it could all be covered in Kool Aid!  That'd be so cool!"