Our little Cinderella

We try to start the kids working on chores as early as possible. Anna has watched the older girls do things and although she doesn't really want to do chores we found one beyond wiping walls that she doesn't whine too much about:

 I could watch her do this all day, it's very entertaining

Then she takes off her rags, puts on her Cinderella dress and promptly falls asleep

Natalie's Ballet Demonstrations

We just love our little ballerina girl.  She has done so well and it was wonderful to see all her hard work in action at her recital.  We just got a new camera so I was excited to try it out!

Love that she has a mole on both hands above her index finger--it's her signature mark.  She tries so hard to be perfect and do just what her teacher tells her to do.  

 

So graceful

 

 This is how Natalie smiles when she is being shy. Grandpa Taylor calls it her suppressed smile--so cute!!

 Natalie with her wonderful teacher Miss Sarah

 This is Natalie and Kandice's 2nd year in ballet together.  They will be starting their third soon.

Right before the performance the tiptop of her tiara broke off in my hands--ahh!  But she still looked absolutely beautiful. 

End of School Celebrations!

Another school year concluded and it was time for SUMMER!  I was so excited to get Cyrena all to myself and have all the kids together. 

 I love this picture--not sure what she's doing (just hopped off the step?) but it makes me laugh!

 

 She quickly changed into proper summer attire....

 And she was OFF on some swimming adventures!

 SO happy to be together again!!

 Natalie 'graduated' from preschool.  We had a little program and a reception afterward.  I had all the kids write their names on the chalkboard for decoration.  She is now officially out of my hands as a student. :(

Grandma and Grandpa Taylor were in town for the festivities and we had to fit some Chik-fil-a in!!

April Concluded

The rest of April was busy as usual.

 We celebrated Easter (somehow this is the only picture I got??)  We have a tradition that we ask the Easter Bunny to fill our baskets Saturday morning so we can focus on the Savior Easter morning.

 Cyrena and I had a mommy & me activity at the church. It was about "WHOOO I am" and it was adorable!

 We celebrated Natalie's half birthday by going to lunch and taking her friend Gracie

 Here are Evan and I at lunch. He still has his snaggle tooth in this picture!

Anna had her very first dental check up and she did fabulously!

Awards and a birdy

Before big kid school was officially out we had some fun with friends.  One day Cooper and Natalie found this fledgling bird in our yard. It couldn't quite fly yet so they took care of it for hours.  To the point where I was worried it's mama was going to be mad at them.  I could see the mama bird flying in circles around our yard.  I finally had them put the bird in a cardboard area and then eventually it flew away to join it's mother.  Wow, these kids had some major mothering instincts-it was quite funny!

 Cyrena had an awards ceremony at school  She has loved second grade!

 Her teacher, the awesome Mrs. Opdahl

April Visitors

We are so lucky that people like to visit us in Arizona during our winter weather.  At the beginning of April more cousins came to town.  My brother Chad and his family stayed with us.  We watched conference, played games, went to the train park, washed cars, ate yummy food, laughed and played!

 our conference set up

 Cyrena and Ty's (and Chad's apparently) first time playing CLUE--so much fun!  Of course Chad won; beginner's luck

These kids have a blast together, they are all matches made in heaven!  I told Ty that I wish he and Cyrena weren't cousins so they could get married.  They would be such a power couple!

(this was taken at Joe's Farm Grill)

A couple of weeks later my sister Debbie and niece Elise came to visit.  The kids always look forward to them visiting.

 We went to the Arizona Science Center.  Our favorite part was the photo warping station (see below for our favorite pics).  

 Elise

 Jenna

 Evan loves Debbie, especially all her fun necklaces!

We also had an awesome shopping day thanks to David staying home with the kids!

Our March

March was like any other month-busy and productive.  Instead of going anywhere during spring break we stayed home and completed a list of house projects.  This included shelving in 2 closets (starting from scratch) and installing built in bookcases.  David took a couple days off and worked like a madman impressing me with his skills.  I have to say I did my fair share of painting as well.  We also invited the missionaries over to caulk the new shelves--thanks elders! 

 I took these pictures of them then texted their moms!

 In March we had a neighborhood party complete with snow cones and a petting zoo.  Natalie and Anna spent all their time in the petting zoo then we all got to witness a goat being born--unplanned and quite the educational experience!

 It was 'dress up like a Disney character' day at school.  Cyrena chose Robin Hood--love that girl!

 We crashed a nearby neighborhood's outdoor movie night. It was our first time to see Frozen.  And that was the beginning of the end; they haven't stopped singing since.

 Sevy cousins came to town from Colorado Springs!  They slept over a night and we got to play games and go to church together.

 We had time to play, laugh, craft and swim.  So fun!

 In preschool we had some caterpillars that transformed into butterflies. We had fun watching them, feeding them, then letting them go. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the year so far.  Evan loves his crocheted blankets at home. I went down the yarn aisle for a project and I picked up a few skeins,  He latched RIGHT ON.  This boy loves him some yarn!