Claire is Five

I gave Claire several location choices for parties this year, and she chose Little Gym. I was glad - I knew from other parties that they would do a great job and it wouldn't require a ton of effort on my part for everyone to have fun.  :)  We had a good mix of family, old friends, church friends, and school friends, and Claire had the best time celebrating her birthday with everyone.

Landon, Claire & Evan


Parachute time


Thrilled to literally be the center of attention!


"Smash the cheese"






Free play with brother


Silly faces


The air track - always a favorite.  Elliot's, too, once he realized that the noise it made was normal.  :)




Sweet birthday girl (As we were leaving the house, she asked about a birthday hat for her party.  We decided a plastic tiara would suffice.)


Claire & Kate - love those frosting faces!


Enjoying pizza & cupcakes


We love our Claire!

Easter 2013: Part 3

Easter Sunday - I was determined to get a photo of the kids before we left for church.  My silly goofies were not interested in posing for me, but I was happy with what I got.





Our church had an outdoor service, and it was a really special time of worship and testimony.

And for comparison - Easter 2012

Easter 2013: Part 2

On Saturday of Easter weekend, we hosted an Easter egg hunt for several of our friends and neighbors with small children.  Besides being a good motivator for spring cleaning our backyard, it was So. Much. Fun.

Each child brought a dozen filled eggs, and while Robert and some of the other daddies hid the eggs, we had a simple little craft for the kids - decorating a foam egg with stickers.


We managed to get a shot of most of the kids together...


...and then the hunt began!








Enjoying the spoils


Love this shot of Kate & Claire!


And with Elliot


Everything went so smoothly, and we had a blast.  This may have been the first annual egg hunt at our home. :)

Easter 2013: Part 1

We had a wonderful, packed Easter this year!

To lead up to the actual day, my MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) hosted a craft night to make "Resurrection Eggs" - basically like an Advent calendar, but for Easter.  We each brought a dozen plastic eggs, and they provided scriptures and items to put in each egg to teach children the Easter story - Jesus' sacrifice to free us from our sins.  The ones we made were pretty similar to this post.  The kids were excited to open an egg each day, and it helped us make sure that the focus was not just on candy and egg hunts.  :)

Our completed resurrection egg tree


On Friday, we attended an egg hunt at the kids' school.  Although they don't go on Fridays, they were welcome to come.  The weather was beautiful, so we loaded the kids, baskets, eggs, & backpack in the wagon and walked the 1 1/4 miles (up a BIG hill!) to their school.  Will got to hunt with Claire's class - he was excited to play with "the big kids".







We stopped for lunch on our way home and all enjoyed naps that afternoon.

Soccer fun

The kids have both enjoyed taking Soccer Shots (beginning soccer class) at their school.  Last month we got them a net and a couple of balls so they could practice/burn off some of that preschooler energy.  We had so much fun watching them show off what they've learned!

Spring Break at the Gardens

The Botanical Gardens hosted some special kid-focused activities during Spring Break - it was the perfect opportunity to organize a play date.  We made paper leis, dug in a sandbox for shells, saw an amazing sand artist at work, created our own sand art, and did some exploring.

Claire and her two favorite boys - Will and Elliot.  Elliot is a couple of months older than Will.  He and his family are good friends from church, and we see them often.  Every time she sees him, Claire screams "ELLIOT!!!", runs over, and grabs him in a big hug.  He is getting slightly less overwhelmed each time.


Will and his cousin Grace safely contained in their strollers


Playing in the sandbox


Sweet friends (minus baby Jack & Will who was tired just wanted to be carried at this point) - Paige & Kate from Team McCormick, Grace, Claire, and Elliot

Break out the swimsuits!

March 4th - the first day in 2013 the kids put on their swimsuits.  It was a really warm day.  Claire had been asking to play with the hose, so we broke out the new swimsuits!  They had so much fun watering the grass and each other.  We stayed outside until their lips started turning blue.