Beat that!

I am "the meanest, Meanest, MEANEST, MEANEST, MEEAANESST mom in the Whole WIDE WORLD!"

And I'm not even offended by it. Poor Ella...

Got Milk?

Field Trip!

Yesterday I got the privilege of chaperoning the kindergarten field trip to the Ft Worth Zoo. I was assigned 4 kids and once we got there we were free to go and do what we wanted. Luckily I didn't lose anyone (I was worried, especially because one boy in my group kept wandering off) and we had a great time. Ella was so excited to ride on a bus for the first time. But when it was over and I asked her if it was as cool as she thought it would be, she said no! I was glad; maybe now she'll stop nagging me to ride the bus to school every day! Here are some pics from our fun adventure!

Cute shirts, huh?!

These kids eat lunch at 10:30 at school so they were hungry almost immediately when we arrived at the zoo. So we had lunch first...

And then we were off to see all the animals...

According to Ella, this female lion was mad because she couldn't wake her husband up! (We didn't get a very good picture of the king of the jungle) She doesn't look very happy though, does she?!

Even though glass separated this tiger from us, it was a little too close for comfort for Ella.

Monkey Ella

My group

Is fear a factor for you?

Last night's ward activity was so fun (if I do say so myself!). We played Family Fear Factor. Since Dave and I were busy running the activity, I enlisted the help of Aunt Lisa and Uncle Richie. They were so great about taking our 3 kids and letting them be a part of their family team for the night. There were 8 challenges, each with a scriptural reference. And I'm going to share them all with you because I thoroughly enjoyed it all!

1. Pearl or Great Price - Matthew 13:45-46 - There was a mix of yummy jelly beans combined with nasty flavored ones (toothpaste, vomit, pencil shavings, baby wipes, moldy cheese, booger, ear wax, black pepper, rotten egg, skunk spray). Everyone had to guess what flavor they got!

2. Pickin' Out the Tares - Matthew 13:24-29 - Teams were blindfolded and had to feel through a bowl of uncooked rice with spiders and paper clips mixed in. Each paper clip they found was worth points. Try it; it's harder than you think!

3. Pluck Out Thine Eye! - Mark 9:47 - Using cherry filled eyeball gum (that "ooozes blood" when bitten into) teams had to chew it up. First person to blow a bubble won the points for their team.

4. Dregs of a Bitter Cup - Alma 40:26 - Mormon version of whiskey shot glasses! 1 team member had to drink 4 cups with 1 tbsp of lemon juice concentrate each as fast as they could.

5. One Heart, One Mind; Hearts Knit Together - Mosiah 18:21 - Human Knot. First team untangled wins. (I didn't get pictures of this because I was feeding Drews at the time!)

6. At Least it's Not Locusts - Mark 1:6 - One team member feeds another team member a jar of baby food. First team done wins the points for this challenge.

7. David and Goliath - Team members shoot marshmallows with slingshots through hula hoops! Each marshmallow that makes it through is worth points!

8. Fiery Darts of the Adversary - Ephesians 6:13,16 - One person holds the shield of faith, covered in shaving cream. Other team members throw cheetos one at a time and try to make them stick to the shield. Each cheeto that stuck was worth points.

Refreshments were pudding dirt cups with gummy worms and prizes were mini loaves of bread with a bookmark with a picture of Christ that said "There's no need to FEAR when you have faith in the "Bread of Life!"

It was SUCH a fun night and the best part for me was looking around and seeing everyone laughing and having fun together as a family. I think we might do this (maybe an altered version) for a family home evening one night so Dave and I can participate with the kids!

And here are a few pictures of Ava, just because! This girl marches to the beat of her own drum. She had a great time picking up and eating marshmallows and cheetos off the ground throughout the evening. So to keep her from eating off the ground I finally gave her her own bag of cheetos!

Dancing is like dreaming with your feet

"Ewwww, gross!"

Was all I could think of to say when Ella very matter of factly said this:

"The candy pooped on my teeth and that's why they are stained."

Yes, we had a very successful visit to the dentist today for regular cleanings/check ups. No cavities, everything looks great, and Ella has 4 loose teeth (which she is thrilled about!) After the cleaning the dentist showed me one spot on one of her back teeth were there was a little stain. The candy poop must be the only explanation.

Ava wasn't as happy. She screamed the whole time. Not because she was sad; there were no tears. She was just MAD! And it stopped the instant the dentist let her sit back up. I love seeing her strong will show through as she expresses just exactly what she wants. She's very good at it these days.

YEA for strong healthy teeth! (They get that from their Dad!)

Um, where do you think you're going?!

I keep pushing him back down, but I don't know how much longer it's going to work. He seems to have his own agenda and I'm not sure that I'm ready for it! I have a feeling this boy is about to rock my world. That's okay; I sure do love my brown eyed boy!

What happens when you put the bubble wand IN your mouth...

Happy Easter!

Most of my readers know how much fun I had last year buying matching Easter dresses for my girls. If only I'd known then how little that would compare to buying coordinating outfits for my 3 kids! Ella did comment "We're not your dolls!" To which I replied, "Oh yes, you are!" Easter Sunday was crazy and I didn't get the pictures I'd like of them, so I am planning an upcoming photo shoot soon. But here they are, happy as can be to participate in the Easter festivities.

Posing for mom...

(and now you see why I am contemplating investing in Photoshop!)

Ella is turning into such a beautiful young lady. I think she felt that way too as was demonstrated by her behavior in Sacrament meeting this Easter morning. Our chapel seemed extraordinarily loud to me right before church began; I was so proud of Ella to see her walk in so reverently, sit down, cross her legs and fold her arms...and stay that way! And did I mention that I didn't tell her to do that?! Aside from everything we've talked about, I know she could feel that this was a special day.

Ava, my tender hearted little one...

My handsome little devil...I just want to squeeze him to pieces!

Daddy's girls!

I love that Rees and Drews coordinated too! Aren't they cute!?


The Riska cousins...

After a hair play date with a great friend, I have learned that cute hair is more about playing with it until you like it versus specific styles. So this is what we came up with for Ella Sunday morning...


Egg hunt...

Ava was more than pleased with her 6 little eggs. And thrilled when she discovered what was inside of them!

Baskets from Grandma Bunny... (I wish I had gotten better pics of the baskets. My mom does beautiful baskets.)

I loved seeing my little man stuff his face in this soft stuffed animal over and over again. It was so sweet!

Ava gave this surprised look every time she found a piece of chocolate! That's my girl!

Saturday afternoon was our annual egg coloring with the cousins at Grandma's house. We love that Grandma does this for us every year!!

This weekend Dave said "Holy cow, we have 3 kids! We're a real family!" I know I have mentioned me saying this on the blog before. It made me laugh to hear him say it 7 months later! I think so often we are wrapped up in the day to day stuff and just doing what we've got to do and then every once in a while we get this reality check and it just hits us...we do have 3 kids, we are a family. And I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love having traditions like this and hope that as my children grow up, they will always remember Easter at Grandma's house with all their cousins. Thanks for keeping up this tradition Grandma! We love you!