The March wrap up

I could sum up the last couple weeks with this picture...

sleeping sick Alex.

 But there was plenty of good things that happened, besides all 4 of us getting sick, and 3 of us spending days throwing up into bowls and toilets.

We enjoyed a wonderful picnic at the park!

 Annie was disappointed that Heidi wouldn't share her chicken and juice.

 This girl is a dipping Queen.  She is the complete opposite of her mother - in that she LOVES sauces!  Each chicken nugget gets dipped 10 times so she can lick off the sauce and dip it again.  She eats ranch with a spoon.  It's disgusting.

 Having a 4 year old is a wonderful thing.  The sadness at her growing up so fast is being replaced by the JOY of having a child willing and able to listen, help and entertain herself for a bit.

 But then I see this one again and almost get baby hungry.

 Heidi is still the Master of goofy faces.

 We've visited the ducks a few times and taken plenty of walks.  Alex can get her Dad to carry her anywhere, and Heidi NEVER wants to be held.  Of course with Tyler carrying the larger child, and Heidi refusing to let me even look at her, we often fall behind.  I've implemented a NO CARRYING RULE.  I figure she needs to learn to walk now, because there is no way I'm carrying her all the way to Missouri.

  Heidi at the duck pond is a fun thing.  She stands WAY too close to the edge though, and nearly falls in the water each time she throws the bread.

 Alex is learning patience with Heidi, and Heidi is getting better at playing along with Alex.  I was thrilled to walk in on them having a tea party in the living room one day.

 I spent a day trying to potty train Heidi.  I think she is ready, I just picked the wrong day.  Once again, Alex is a great helper.

 We got to spend a day with Alex's favorite thing.  I may not be quite ready for another baby, but the girls have proven that they are ready for one.

 I couldn't help snapping a picture before we had a short lesson on "sometimes less is more."

 Alex wanted to spend every second by cousin Bridger's side, and when he was napping she would run in to check on him about every 10 minutes.  It was precious.

 Heidi really doesn't like birthday hats.

 Tyler was a great sport on his birthday.  He put up with all my birthday traditions, and Alex's insistences to do things just so.  He even tilled the big garden out at Grandma Jakes house for me!

 That evening we got babysitters and went "camping".

 Fancy tin foil dinners, 3 different campfire deserts, and plenty of wood to burn.  It was so much fun being able to relax and enjoy a campfire without worrying about kids.  The best part was that Tyler started the fire with our new flint.

My favorite part was finishing the night off with some flashlight photography tricks.

Conference weekend was WONDERFUL!  We got to listen to a living Prophet and all the Apostles speak.  There were so many messages I felt were just for me, and I got to enjoy some of them while laying in the tent outside with Alex by my side.  She got a jelly bean for each time she picked out a special word from a talk (prophet, Jesus, etc.), I was impressed how many she caught! I'm already looking forward to the next LDS General Conference in 6 months, it was great.