Happy Easter!

Yesterday we headed to Grandma's house for our Easter celebration. We got to spend time with lots of fun people and eat some tastey food. Grandma grew her lawn super long just special for our annual Easter egg hunt too. The kids had a blast looking for their finds. And, I am not quite sure why none of my captions will go with my pictures these days so I guess you can play a matching game to figure out what goes with what.
Jaren and Little Junie hiding in the grass.









Grandma gave all the kids new summery pajamas. Here are all the older girls in theirs. They loved them.


One of my many failed attempts at a nice picture of all the kids in their new Easter clothes.



Jaren got a soccer ball in his basket...which he was quite excited about. And here he is in his new springy shirt all ready for church.



A funny, toothy grin from Jaren.



Saturday night we colored eggs.

Claire's favorite egg she colored.


Libbie had her first soccer game this weekend. She did a great job and was quite thrilled to get a header.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home...

...Glad as I Can Be. Wrap My Legs Around His Neck and Climb Upon His Shoulders? Can you tell he's been missed a tad over the last couple months?

The girls had spring break last week so we planned out some fun stuff to keep us busy since sometimes being together every day, all day can be a challenge (that included me bribing them with a dollar a day that they were on their best behavior and didn't fight). Ha ha. My mom was thoughtful enough to come over this weekend to watch the kids while Nathan and I went out to celebrate our survival of tax season. We went to breakfast at Ruth's Diner (so tasty) and did some fun, kid-less shopping. Anyway, here are some pictures of our spring break happenings.
Libbie, Mia, and Jaren playing on the computer.

Chiquita Banana hats courtesy of a lunch at McDonald's.


Our girls have been begging, and I mean painfully BEGGING, us to get them a cat for months. When we made New Year's resolutions back in January, Mia even listed one of her goals as "to convince Mom and Dad to get a cat." So being the wonderful parent he is, Nathan came up with a plan to have the girls "earn" a cat. All of tax season, Libbie was to run a mile 5 days a week, and Mia was to run a mile 4 days a week and then we would get them a cat. And through no lack of much, much, much tears and complaining nearly every day for 6 weeks or so, the girls accomplished their goal. I really am proud of them even if it was like fighting tooth and nail each and every mile they ran. I knew they could do it. And here she is...Penni the kitten. Our fun friends that live behind us even adopted Penni's sister who they named Daisy. Here's hoping for some great vole catchers.





Marci and her boys invited us to the zoo. The weather was great and most the animals were out doing fun things we could watch. The high-light of the trip for the kids was seeing the baby armadillos that had been born the previous day...admittedly they were pretty darn cute. Gavin kept entertaining the idea that the zoo might give them away as pets...and what his mother would think of that. Cute, cute.


We got out the paints too. The girls did this for quite some time...quietly and with out even fighting. Those moments are pure bliss.

Say It Ain't So

One year ago, we brought home this tiny little boy...oh my goodness he was soooo tiny. And now, well, he is soooo big. But our love for him is soooo big too. We just adore him and are so thankful to have him as ours. We had a little party in honor of the birthday boy with Caleb, Marci, and their boys. And on a sidenote, Jaren started walking last week. Good thing too, because Nathan likes to threaten our children with banishment if they aren't walking by one. Glad he got the message.


Since he isn't quite "in to" anything yet, I went with a basketball cake (it is March Madness season and basketball is THE one sport I can really get into). Thankfully Aunt Marci was there to protect the cake from destruction before the birthday song.


He loved his cake.

All the party animals.

Fun Friends!

We were lucky enough to have Mara, Ben, and Jade come to visit last week. It was our first time meeting Jade so we were so excited to play with her. There's just nothing quite like meeting one of our cute new nieces or nephews! Jaren was especially excited to see Jade. He loved to dart across the room to attack the poor girl who is only a fraction of his size. He'd give her a few soft pets and then BAM (so sorry Mara and Jade). It was so fun to catch up with Mara and get to hold her little sweetie. Extreme chaos and winter boredom at our home is at it's max, and we are so thankful Mara and Jade were able to endure it with a smile. Thanks so much for all your help and for making the trip.
In the Cardon Clan, we had 3 babies born in 2010...two giants and a dainty little girl.


Jade is only smiling because at this exact moment Jaren wasn't trying to claw her eyes out. Or maybe it's because she is just a happy, sweet baby.

Claire and Jade.

We Love Pizza!

We had a quick/but fabulous dinner last night to celebrate Valentine's. Nathan made it home to eat with us, we only had two drink spills, and the pizza was yummy. The only big flop of the night was dessert. I watched Rachael Ray last week where she taught everyone about "brownie waffles". What could be better than plain waffles? Anywho, they looked great topped with whipped cream and strawberries so I thought that would be the perfect Valentine dessert. Well, it wasn't. They just burned and stayed mooshy in the waffle iron. So two thumbs down Racheal.

Sucker for Love Day

I really do LOVE Valentine's Day. Not because I am a hopeless romantic who loves to get flowers and chocolate but because nothing is better than a day dedicated to expressing love to those around you. It's a day of cheeriness and brightness and heart-shaped pizza for dinner. So Happy Valentine's Day to all our loved ones!
Here is Jaren enjoying his first-ever sucker...and by the way, he LOVED it.

Hibernation

When the excitement of the holidays has come and gone and tax season upon us, we tend to hibernate for the next few months. You see, winter is not my friend. I try not to leave the house unless I have to. We are still alive however, making fun memories indoors. And, here are some of the things we've been doing.
Celebrating Claire's THIRD birthday, Dora style.

Enjoying fun birthday presents.

Perfecting our cheesiest/most adorable grins.

Spending precious time together puting together a puzzle.

Becoming an expert at finding hidden treasures in the carpet...ewww.

Making fun ice cream treats Grandma Cardon sent for Christmas.


Helping Mom and Dad in the kitchen nearly every night.

Sleeping...or rather cat-napping. His naps have been really far too short.