March

Ashlyn's 5th Birthday!

March 7th Ashlyn turned 5!  Lucky for her, we were able to start the morning off with PRESENTS! 

For breakfast, she requested biscuits.  The kids have started a tradition where they get to light their own breakfast candle.  Not a big deal, but it sure is hard for me to turn  over that match!

 At 5, Ashlyn is already getting hard to shop for, so her main present was a Build-A-Bear and date with Mom.  We started our afternoon out with lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.  She was going for McDonald's, but I totally had the victory on this one while still letting her think it was her idea! :)  After lunch we went right to Build-A-Bear.  One of her huge wish list items was a German Shephard.  We told her "no way", but she's always very good at getting what she wants, so she found a stuffed one!

 Pretty exciting stuff!

 My blowdryer has been out frequently since this air bath.  She loves to blow and brush her stuffed animals.

 I was just happy she loved it so much.  "Polka Dot" became a very real part of our family that day.

 She insisted on carrying her merchandise through the store.  I got several comments from people about how I better watch out when she gets older.  Born shopper!

 Her other big event for the day was getting her ears pierced!

 Excited, but a little nervous and not too sure about what was about to happen.

 I could imagine all too well the scene she could make with wails reaching the far corners of the store, so I told her I would pay her a dollar for each ear if she didn't scream and cry.  She was brave!  This face is the only reaction she gave.

 Not really a smile, but no tears!  Once she recovered, she loved them!

 A birthday just isn't a birthday without a princess cake to end the day with.

 We were actually all so tired by that point that she blew out the candles and then went to bed.  Nobody even touched the cake.

 All in all, I think it was a pretty great day!

 And of course, what sister does - Ian does.

Rapping Weed

Carter's first grade production this year was a play called "How Does Your Garden Grow?"  He landed the much coveted part of a rapping weed. 

 "Yo! We're the weeds and we're taking over.
No more daisies, no more clovers.
We grow fast and everywhere.
Precious pansies...BEWARE!"

He nailed it and was pretty awesome at it, too! :)

Belt Testing

Carter also tested for his gold belt this month.  His first belt test outside of Lil' Dragons.  It had a pretty intense physical pre-test and then the actual test was a much bigger deal. 

 They combine with a few other karate schools in Tucson and there were probably about a hundred or more students belt testing.

 It was hard to get good pictures, but he did great!

 Thank goodness for technology to get everyone else through!

 Yea!  Congratulations Carter!

 So proud!

Piano Ensemble

Isaac participated in his second TMTA Piano Ensemble Recital.  This year he doubled, playing "Yankee Doodle Boy" and "Kookaburra."  He worked on his songs from November until March when he performed them.  It's a lot of hard work, but rewarding when they sit with 23 other pianists and do a fantastic job. 

 For the first song he was at the back right piano.

 He has been very fortunate to be able to take piano with good friends.  Lined up at the end is Jade Woodings (his partner on both songs) Isaac, and his close friends Caleb and Amy Jones.  I didn't think he was able to see us, but it totally made my night when I waved and got a little wave back.  Maybe a little unprofessional on my part, but it still made me smile!

 This song he is at the far right piano.

 So handsome!

 We loved sharing this special night with him.  He did such a great job!

 Afterwards we went for icecream.  Kind of goofy, but we sure do love them!

Ostrich Farm

One of our March highlights was going to the Ostrich Farm during Spring Break.  Each of us got our own bucket of food and there were donkeys, deer, goats, ostriches, ducks, and lorakeets to feed.

 The boys jumped right in.

 Even Ian loved it.

 Ashlyn was content to put her hand under Dad's ...

 ... and smile for pictures!

The deer were fun to play with.  They would follow you along the fenceline in packs.

 They were a little less intimidating than the donkeys, so Ashlyn finally got her courage up.

 You can't see very well, but there are goats at the top in the "Goat Penthouse."  A sign says that its the goats favorite place and they race in the morning to see who can be the first ones at the gate to get to go up top.

 You put the food in a little bowl and crank it up to the top where it dumps in a tray for the goats.

 Ian showing us his food.

 The goats have big lips and will wrap them right around your fingers.  Ian loved it.

 When he ran out of food, he sat on the ground and fed the goats pieces that fell.  Ashlyn, being timid, lost the rest of her cup of feed to a more hungry goat that snatched it out of her hands.

 The ostriches were actually kind of scary, so we looked at them for a minute and then decided to round again on the other animals.

 Ashlyn finally got brave enough to feed the donkeys.

 Ian was taking them two at a time!

 Who do you think one that stare down?

 The lorakeets were our favorite part.  It was really fun to have them walk all over you.

 Well, Ian didn't enjoy that part as much.  One landed on his head and he crumpled into a sobbing ball until we were able to get it off.

 The lorakeets seemed to like my head the best.  I swear I wash my hair!  I had two on my head a good portion of the time.

 The kids weren't always so sure, but pretty cute!

Sabino Canyon

Ever since living in Tucson, we've been meaning to go explore Sabino Canyon and we finally made it!  However, it was a really hot day, we got out late, and everyone was tired, so we hiked until we made it to the creek and there we stayed.  Thank goodness for a gentleman who corrected our course, or it would have taken us hours instead of minutes to reach water, which would have not been a good thing.  We also had the great pleasure of seeing a rattlesnake, but no pictures of that.  It was coiled up about a foot away from Eric when he stopped to let the rest of us catch up to him and Ashlyn.  He heard the rattle and thought it was locusts or something in the bushes, then looked down, jumped, and threw Ashlyn on the other side of the trail.  There were a lot of people and soon there was a crowd gathered around to see it as I was shooing my family as far away as possible.

Snake or not, the water was wonderful and the kids had a great time.  They could have stayed all day.

 Someone's brother may have threw him all the way in.  Shocked?  I'm not.

Randomness

At the beginning of Spring Break we went to my brother Cody's house for what we thought was a reunion planning meeting, but instead turned out to be a "meet our new nephew!" get together.  Cody and Emily were able to adopt another sweet baby, born March 16.  So excited to have Tyson Drew Mullenaux in the family!

We stayed at their house that night and before going to bed, we woke Isaac up from the couch to go to the bathroom.  After a while, we realized he never came back, but we couldn't find him anywhere.  We searched every room, closet, bathroom - everywhere we could think of.  We knew he hadn't gone outside because their doors were locked and they have an alarm system.  I was starting to get really worried and was already a lot confused when we found him in Ian's pack and play!  When he came back from using the restroom, he just climbed right in with his brother.  Pretty funny.  He is definitely the sleep walker of our family!

 We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Thatcher and Eric and I always take advantage of them for a temple and lunch date.  When we made it home, we found Ian zonked on the couch, sitting straight up.  Grandpa sure knows how to wear him out!

 Eric has been building a sail car out in our garage.  He loves sailing, and since there's nothing but land for miles around, he decided to make a sailboat with wheels.  He still needs to get the sails rigged, but once the main body was mostly finished and the steering was installed, we took it out in the cul de sac for a spin.  We used kid power instead of wind power, but it was still a good time!  Who needs water anyway?