W00-HOO

IT'S HOT!

And we are taking full advantage of it!

It will be back into the 60's tomorrow, but it has been wonderful for the past few days to feel 90 degree weather. I think we may have been the only ones in NJ that were not disappointed by the high temps. It was a little too hot for the folks around here, but I have been loving it!

SEVEN!

My big girl just keeps getting bigger- and is now seven years old!

We celebrated Alli's birthday this year with a bowling party. It was a lot of fun. And I was so glad that my mom was here to help Pete and I out with all the kids.

On her birthday, Pete took her to pick out her new fish. She cried and cried because all she wanted for her birthday was a gerbil. Pete and I are not ready to add any more animals to our family. So when she decided she wanted her own Beta fish, I was thrilled and glad to get her one. We waited for our good friends from DC to drive up and then went to see the new Hannah Montana movie. She thought she was so lucky that the movie came out on her birthday.

The girls put on a fashion show for us later that evening.

Happy Seventh Birthday to my Sweet Girl!

 

Yesterday morning we headed into the city for some more fun.

Their first NYC subway train ride.

Sweet sisters in Times Square.

Easter Egg Hunting-

New Jersey Style- all decked out in our winter gear!

Our church has an annual Easter Egg Hunt. Before hunting for eggs, we saw this great juggler who shared God's word through his juggling. Then we went out into the cold to hunt for eggs. We have had a few days of nice weather, but this was not one of those nice days. We were all freezing!

Alli is being blown away by the crazy winds.

My mom has been such a trooper! She really DOES NOT like cold weather!

The Dogs

I love my dogs!

Dixie has brought out the mother in Maddie. And Maddie's affection towards her has made me love her even more. I think having two dogs is definitely better than one. I still can't believe how active Maddie has become since Dixie was brought home. She loves her little sister.

Just look how cute they are!

My Baby Girl

Last night was a big night for my Katie. It was her first night to sleep without a pacifier! This is HUGE!! She loved her paci's. And when I say love, I mean L-O-V-E!! Katie's paci's gave her the desire to go to bed. And this was the main reason that I had not taken them away. She would say,"Mommy, I need my paci's." I would tell her she can only have her paci's when she goes to sleep. To which she would reply, "Okay Mommy, I am ready for bed." And off to bed she went- it was that easy because paci's made it that easy! But her first night without them was great! I was so proud of her! Of course, I asked Pete to put her to bed. I did not know how it was going to go. But, much to my surprise, she did wonderful- better than I could have ever imagined! Pete told her she did not need a paci because she was a big girl. And then said he would get her a prize for being such a big girl. She said ok and that she wanted a lolly pop for her prize. And that was that! He walked out of her room and shut the door. And we did not see her until she woke up the next morning. Isn't it so funny how we put things off because we dread them and think up these horrible scenarios? I am still in awe at how smoothly it went!

My big girl with her prize!

NYC

We decided to drive into the city this weekend because, well, just because we can! After a year and a half up here, I still can't believe that I am only an hour away from NYC! It is such a neat place- so different! It just amazes me every time we go. The girls were great and had a lot of fun. It was so helpful that my mom was with us. One-on-one with the kids is ideal when walking the streets of NYC.

Our first stop was to Toys R Us. Before we even go to the store, both Alli and Tori were telling us that they did not want to go see the big dinosaur.

But Katie is not scared! She actually asked Pete to take her to see the huge roaring T-Rex!

The girls did not get to ride the big ferris wheel last time we were in the city so we made sure to do it this time around. Pete and I rode with Alli and Tori on the Scooby Doo cart.

MoMo and Katie got on the Tonka truck. I was really hoping she would get on E.T. She still loves E.T. so much!

  We headed to the Stage Deli for dinner. The food was not that great and very over-priced, but that is probably the case with most restaurants in Times Square. I got a turkey reuben - it was $20 and it did not even come with anything else! Over-priced or not, it is always so fun to take advantage of driving to the city for a few hours just because!

Isn't it March?

This is not exactly what you want to wake up to on March 2nd!

Notice how high the snow is on the girls' picnic table. And it is still coming down.

Pete doing is favorite thing- shoveling snow!

Can you imagine how ready I am for some warm weather? It has been cold here since October!

At least it warmed up enough last week for the girls and I to drive down to Philly to go the zoo.  I met my friend Becky who moved to Philadelphia from San Antonio. Becky and I met at our church in SA. It is so great to hang out with someone from home!

The Philly zoo was great. I can't wait to go back in the Spring when all the rides are open.

 

The polar bear is on top of the rock.

This turtle was being a little friendly....

and this peacock was looking for someone to be friendly with.

But none of the girl peacocks seemed to be as impressed as we were by his beautiful feathers.

My poor Alli was not too happy that we were going to the zoo without her. She says she doesn't remember all the fun things she got to do before she started going to school five days a week. I am certain that I did more with her!

Here she is working on her piano lesson.