bike ride

We live on a long street so I am pretty leery of letting the kids ride bikes out front. So they haven't been on a big kids' bike very much. But the other day Steph and I took the kids on a little ride to the park by their house. Bayleigh has a big bike and looks so cute on it. She let Kate ride hers on the way back and she did great! It's amazing how much older your baby seems when they are in control of a bike and can actually go kinda fast! James and Steph now live only about 5 min away from us, so we are excited to get the kids together often... 

Johnny in time out lol.

Playing with bubbles after we got back from the park.

Darren was my hot date to a wedding of one of my clients last weekend. It was really nice and we had fun together although we didn't really know anybody there. We have been married over two months now, and going to another wedding made me really miss our special day. Seeing them say "I do" made me fall in love with Darren even more. It's kind of like a renewal of your vows to love your spouse forever, vicariously through another couple.  they had a photo booth there for their guest book. I love that idea!

ladybugs

At preschool last week, the teachers gave the kids ladybugs to release into our flowers at home. We had to wait for the sun to go down to let them go. The kids were so excited to watch them find their way into our front yard and live there...... .... until one of them landed on Kate and she had a meltdown. haha. But she soon got over it and we welcomed the rest of them home. 

-Easter-

Happy Easter! I love this time of year. The trees and flowers are in bloom, the weather is beautiful, and there is yummy food and lots of candy to be eaten. My dad made these gorgeous sugar cookies (which tasted as good as they look) for dessert. They had us over for dinner and had an egg hunt for the kids, complete with "surprise eggs". Their surprises were awesome. Giant bubbles, giant coloring books, candy, bubble-gum machines, crayons, pez, and toys.

The kids and I colored eggs the day before. They loved every minute. 

The whole family.
the kids' table

Our happy family :)

hike

It was spring break last week so we decided to take Jules up to red rock canyon for a little hike. Now, just to make it clear, we are sooo not outdoorsy people. One of the things I liked about Darren when we first started dating, was the fact that we both prefer indoor activities (movies, dinner, being at home), to outdoor activities. I just don't like getting dirty, so this was definitely not something we ever do. But we actually had a really good time. The hike was easy (more like a walk through rocks) and there was a waterfall at the end. I think we will go back again... On our way back to the car we actually ran into Johnny and Kate. We had no idea their dad was taking them there also. It was really fun to see them. It is a little strange when you run into your children somewhere and you go your separate ways, but that comes with the territory of being divorced. I know that their dad loves them so much and they have a great time with him, so it makes me happy to know that they are with somebody who loves them and takes care of them as much as I do. 

A few weeks ago the kids got invited to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. They had a fun time playing with friends. Johnny is slowly starting to get over his fear of the giant Chucky that walks around. But he made it very clear that he was NOT going to give him a high five :)

I also took the kids to see Alice in Wonderland. They liked it, but the movie was a little slow for their age. They were definitely ready to leave when it was over. I told them we could paint our faces like the characters when we got home....

here is kate as the queen of hearts

touch a truck

we try every saturday to have "family fun day". because i work during the week, we rarely do activities so i try to make saturdays all about the kids. today we went to the annual "touch a truck" at the orleans. the kids get to sit inside different vehicles and honk their horns. there are so many different things to see, that we couldn't even do them all. they got to go in a race car, police car, fire truck, a humvee, bomb squad response vehicle, a city bus, a hot air balloon, and a few others. Christine (our nanny for 2 years and i call her my wife) came with us. we had a lot of fun there and then we took the kids to chili's for lunch. 

johnny was in heaven with all the big trucks. he told us on the way there that he was "so excited that he felt like he could cry". how cute!!

we got to go inside of a hot-air balloon, but kate

 was scared that fire was going to get us so we left quickinside the SWAT truck

the firetruck was so fun. the firemen were really nice and let me put a hat on. it was very heavy!

johnny looks like he really knows what he's doing lol

saint patrick's day

we made green cookies and frosted them the night before. they didn't have any four leaf clover cookie cutters at the store, so we had to settle for green flowers. the kids had fun making their own cookies.

 on saint patrick's day i got up and made the kids green pancakes and green milk. kate was so impressed. "mom how did you DO that?" jules had to go to school, and the kids stayed home with darren and i went to work. i made my first corned beef roast in the crock pot. it turned out great! It was a good day....