dress'n up

 The girls love to dress up and play mommy.

Rowing a boat

 My 4 very imaginative kids in their boat.

 We are so ready for the warm weather.  The kids have been playing hard outside.

 I love when the kids realize they can swing on the swings like this.  Jo loves to swing like this.

A dance party

Ben's 4th birthday

Do you think I got a picture of him on his actual birthday, NO.  Go figure. 
On Saturday, Matt and I took Ben out to dinner at Chick Fil A, played at Chuck E Cheese and then let him pick out his birthday present at Toys R Us.  He had a blast with us.  The girls got to hang out with Aunt Tiffney and had fun with her. 
Ben got to take cookies to school for his birthday and was so excited to do that. 
Ben is growing and progressing quite well.  He loves school and is so funny to listen to.  He is hilarious when he tells stories.  He has such a big heart and puts all he has into everything he does (which quite often leaves us with an emotional mound of Ben).  He is a great helper and loves when I give him little jobs to do. He loves to play with Josey and Lucy and doesn't always mind getting bossed around by Ally.  He is starting to want to use his own ideas when they play, which has started a few arguments lately.  He loves his mommy and loves to dress like daddy.  He thinks he and the neighbor boy (who is almost 11) are best friends.  I've tried explaining to him that that isn't the case, but he won't listen to me.  Luckily the neighbor boy is very nice and patient and lets Ben play every so often or at least watch, so he feels included with the big boys.  His favorite thing is when daddy is home and they get to play with a few of the neighborhood boys.  I love watching Ben try to keep up with the big boys and Matt fits right in (other than size) with them.  

Sunday funday

 These 2 pretty girls stayed home from church with daddy.

I think Ally was just wanting a day to relax and Lucy hadn't taken a nap (which means she would've been a beast at church).

 Ally and Lucy still wanted to wear their dresses even though they didn't go to church, so I was able to get a few pictures.

 We had Ben's 4th birthday.

He had a great time. And was so excited about ALL of his presents.

 He wanted a train cake again for his birthday, so he got an easier version, minus all the candy that last years had.

Boy shorts

 Ally and Lucy have recently been introduced to boys basketball shorts and boys sweatpants.  They love them.  I am stocked up on shorts for Ben for the next few sizes, which means Ally gets to wear them until Ben can wear them.  

Lucy was being silly with easter eggs she found.

 Ally was very nice and let Lucy wear her Colts shorts (pictured above) and was willing to wear the toddler shorts I had nearby.  And yes they fit her and weren't snug at all.  It pays to be skinny.

Lunchtime giggles

Lucy got this fun dress up from Grandma Angie and wore it for 2 days straight (including to bed for naps and bedtime).  I finally had to hide it so we could give it a breather.

A break in rain

 The temperature was nice, so outside the little girls went to play.

They had fun and only got a slight bit dirty compared to their normal requires a bath dirty.

Crazy rainy afternoon

 The rain started early last week and continued for a few days.

We had so much flooding that soccer was cancelled for the whole week. 

We enjoyed watching the little river form in the backyard and I was thankful for the sound of our sump pump, as it was working hard the entire time.

 Josey was attacking Lucy with kisses.

Nothing better

 A night with the family at the park is the best.  Ally had to make a kite for school, so Matt helped her make a box kite.  They had fun making it and I helped color it.  We took it out for a fly tonight, but there was like no wind.  We still had fun and the kids got to play at the playground after we attempted the kite. 

 Matt was able to get the kite up, but with no wind it didn't stay up for long.

 Just as I was taking Ben's picture, Lucy had bent over the top bar and flipped over and was kinda stuck.

 slide races

Spring has sprung...

 in our closets.  I packed away the cold and pulled out the warm/hot clothes.  

I decided to do basic cotton dresses for the girls this year for their matching spring outfit.  I think they prefer the basic dress in terms of comfort, but like the idea of the froofy princess dress.  So our pictures started out with the 2 big kids being goofy.  Then it continued and didn't stop.

 The cat walked in the room and I kinda lost Josey's attention.

 I think Ally's legs keep getting longer.

 This is how the picture taking ended.

Ben loves wrestling with the girls.

The girls are only okay with it on their terms.

 She wanted to get Holly and "love on her".