Scissors = The Enemy

Yesterday while I was getting ready Darcy walked in and said, "Mom, look at this side." and turned to show me her new hair cut! I was SO sad! I have lived in fear of this day! I was huffing and puffing, but amazingly I didn't freak out. I turned around and took some deep breaths and told her how sad I was and that it was not a good thing to do, etc. Then I walked out to see the hair laying on the couch. Then I looked up at her and she threw her hands over her face and started sobbing! Who knew my calmer reaction would be more devastating than me going crazy?! Her reaction broke my heart and so I had to tell her it was ok and her hair would grow back.

I think this is God's way of telling me I am far too proud of her shiny blonde locks. Booo!

Kite

 On Sunday out of the blue Darcy decided she was going to make a kite. I don't know where she came up with that idea, but I was excited to see her being creative on her own. She just folded a couple pieces of paper around and used a lot of tape to tape them together and taped a piece of yard to it. I am amazed though at how much she has really used it, and how well it has held up. She has never seen a real kite, so it doesn't make any difference to her that it doesn't fly very well. She would be happy to just drag it around on the ground. :)

Ouch!

I am sad to say Ezra seems to be pretty injury-prone. I didn't see it happen, but last week Darcy was closing the oven door and unfortunately Ezra's thumb was in the way. He came over to me crying, but it took me a minute to realize his thumb was gushing blood. I held a kleenex on it for a while, but couldn't really get the bleeding to stop enough to see exactly how bad the cut was. After calling Drew I decided to run him to urgent care. I was kind of hoping they would just tell me I was being silly and paranoid and send me home, but oh no! They decided it needed a staple. The doctor said to do stitches they would have to give him a shot above and a shot below, plus the stitching, so he just did the one staple with no anesthesia which I thought was crazy. When Darcy heard they were going to give him a staple she was devastated and started crying. I told her to look away and I had to look away too. Ezra really only cried for a minute right after and then he was fine and hasn't cared about it since. We will get the staple out in a couple days. Oh my poor baby.

Swinging

 My dad made this swing in the back yard, but I never realized how crazy it was until I have watched my little kids get pushed on it. They can really get going! Drew gets a thrill out of seeing how high he can push Ezra and Ezra gets a thrill out of being pushed as high as possible. These two make quite the dare devil pair!

The other day Brian took the little boys outside and let them try the swing together! I thought this picture of them both smiling was so cute.

Easter

Another great Easter has come and gone. It is odd how Easter used to feel like such a small holiday, but it is really becoming a favorite for me. It has definitely helped as I have worked to make the Savior's atonement and resurrection more central to this holiday. Having little kids who are excited about it all helps a lot too.

We had Easter festivities at my parents' house on Saturday and at Drew's parents' house on Sunday. My Aunt Karen, her husband Cortino, and their little guy Cruz were here this Easter, and it was fun to have the extras!

 Haley helping Matthew dye some eggs.

 He looked so cute in his apron!

 Me helping Ezra dye some eggs. Scary!

 These three little guys loved exploring my parents' property.

 Tractor man

 Ashley, Darcy, and Emily dying their eggs.

 Cute girl with an egg.

 At one point Darcy got a little crazy in the mud!! Kid Heaven!

She was amazingly brave about being washed off in the cold water outside.

 Drew, Cruz, Cortino, and Ezra taking a break from hunting eggs.

 Matty enjoyed his chocolate!

 Nick made Easter a little more exciting by putting a peg through his knee on his motorcycle and getting 25 stitches!

Finding a golden egg!!

Ezra hunting.

 Dressed up for Easter Sunday.

 Getting a picture of them together this year was pretty tricky!

We had another egg hunt at Drew's parents' house with his mom's family and his dad's parents, but somehow we didn't get pictures of that. Darcy had so much fun with her cousin Bronson (Unfortunately for him a lot of what was fun for her seemed to be telling him what to do. He was a really good sport.)