4 Weeks Ago!?!?!?!?!

What? I haven't written a word in four weeks? That just can't be! I guess it's time to sum up what the last four weeks have consisted of and then do a separate post about why this 4 week phenomena could exist.

Also, there are 33 pictures in this post. I guess we were alive and kicking.

First, Hailey was in a photoshoot for a friend's blog and I must say that these pictures are adorable! The adorable quilt that Hailey is showcasing is also quite adorable and I think she showed it off well. :)

Second, I taught my children how to do "mommy's cool towel trick". I remember thinking this was a major work of art when I was a child and I'm glad my kids are just as thrilled when I do amazing things with their towels as well. 

Fourth, my kids love each other and they're so darn cute when they do. Hailey is becoming more and more excited to play with her siblings and it's fun to watch her chase them around. She's so much slower than they are, so she has to change rooms quite often. When she gets tired, she ends up just sitting on one of their beds until they come back into the room.

Fifth, the age of the capes has commenced. Batman and Elsa are the very best allies chasing the world's most evil villains away.  

Sixth, Texas WAS warm once upon a time. Right now we're freezing beyond freezing (well...for Texans anyway) and I'm soooooo done with it. Anyway, we spent a lot of time in the bike trailer walking to the bus stop to get Claire. This bike trailer....I can't say enough good things about it. It's kind of the best invention ever.

Seventh, Kari, one of my very best high school friends, just happened to be coming through Dallas on their way to visit the law school in Waco. WHAT?! I swear, this was the luckiest friendship reunion ever.....and I ALMOST didn't get a picture of the two of us. Almost. But I did. I guess that's what happens when you're behind the camera always. 

So Anyway, we had such a great time. We made cookies, we went to the Fort Worth Zoo, we stayed up too late talking, we talked early in the morning, I re-visited my scary driving from high school and almost merged into a car (I'm a much better driver now, I promise), we loved on her adorable and darling baby (Claire still misses her), and we even had Claire commemorate the whole event by getting a fever....with a 2 month old in the house. Of course. 

Basically I wish they were moving here, but BYU does have a stellar law program.

The only picture of the Squish and me.

COME BACK!!!!!

BFF's. I love how nothing changes between good friends. 

Claire really wanted to ride this kangaroo. She got pretty frustrated when she couldn't climb aboard. 

Eighth. Are we on eighth? Well, Hailey loves to climb....on everything. We have this horrible ledge to our fireplace that is perfect for climbing. She's up there every day and a master of getting up and down. That bin is there because she put a hole in the wall with her head and we haven't patched it yet (don't worry, she didn't even get hurt....the wall was totally squishy soft (that room floods every time it rains)). 

Nineth, we took baths. Yay for clean kids. Oh wait.....we've had two snow days now where we've done nothing? These must be old pictures because we haven't bathed since we touched dirt 10 weeks ago. Just kidding. We love bath time. I think Claire and Jared miss their showers, but since our water bill went up, it's communal baths for all!

See. Baths are more fun anyway. 

If you start to make growling sounds here, then you've gotten the perfect audio with this picture. She always has her tongue out and is always growling.

The extent of Jared's vocabulary as of late. Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.

"What color is that?"

"Bumblebee".

"Yellow. Say Yellow."

"Yellow Bumblebee."

Same story for blue, red and optimus prime. 

Our air mattress had a hole in it and apparently it was a super fun toy until it got patched. 

Here she is...waiting for friends to come back. She looks so cute on their beds. 

Ninth: We all made chicken noodle soup together. The kids love to cook and I REALLY wanted them to eat this food, so I let them help me thinking that it would be more fun to eat something that they made. Nope. Same old story. "I don't like chicken." "I don't want these noodles." "I only like big carrots." Ugh. This is when I say sorry to my mother now that I know carrots are the same big or small. 

Tenth: We took pictures of all these random moments. Here is my confession. Once you to manual, you never go back to automatic. Well, these darn yellow/brown walls are terrible! I have to have my external flash on if I want a decent picture and I just don't have time to get all my settings down by the time these moments have passed. So, cheers yellow walls, you make my photography stink.  

Eleventh: Hailey will not wean. Ugh. I'm so done with nursing. Teeth. Ugh. She will, however, be interested in any cup that is on the floor or one that is being used by someone else. If I get her one of her own, it is automatically disgusting and gets thrown across the room. Want milk? Sure, but only to dribble it down the front of her. 

Twelfth: I started teaching piano lessons again. I didn't realize how much I missed it until last Thursday. I'm talking giddy here, folks. I love teaching. Love it.  More excitingly, I also started Claire in the prep course since she's still only 4 and her fingers are so small. I don't usually start kids until they're 6 so they can get some reading skills down, but this girl is pretty good at reading and she LOVES homework. What? Not kidding. She sat down and did her theory book for 40 minutes and only stopped because I made her. She loves learning it so far and is always asking to do more. 

And, last but not least, thirteenth: We have had two snow days (hoping for a third...I like sleeping in). Haha. See that "snow"? It's actually little ice balls. I don't know, maybe Texans actually think this stuff is snow. I was super disappointed when I went out to touch it. Made me just want to stay inside in my pj's...which is exactly what I did. Claire and Jared went outside until their hands were to cold. They ventured back inside and ran straight to their beds to get warm. 

It doesn't take long to get accustomed to warm weather, does it?

And....you wouldn't think I'd need to elaborate on why I haven't blogged in 4 weeks....but I probably will anyway. :)