I just didn't have it in me to blog last week. I don't think anything spectacular happened so I didn't stress too much. Hope my adoring readership was able to get through the lapse.

This past week we had lots of company. Kathleen and her boys came up to spend Tuesday and Wednesday with us. We had a lot of fun with them, and Kathleen showed me how to make the yummiest whole wheat bread. I really want a Kitchenaid. Anyone feeling particularly generous? Anyone?

Kim and Jasmine came up Thursday afternoon to help celebrate Sydney's 5th birthday. Syd got her crown at preschool that day as well as a goodie bag from her awesome teacher. We had a cake with family that night.






On Friday, Sydney had her friend birthday party. I decided to be a bit more adventurous than usual this year and make a dinosaur cake for the party. Sydney is really into dinosaurs. When I saw this cake in the March Family Fun magazine, I knew I had to make it for her. The "dirt" on top is supposed to be made out of chocolate graham crakers, but I couldn't find any. I checked several stores with no luck. Sydney was impressed anyway and asks to see this picture. Guess I did all right.


Tansy told me she wanted to go potty yesterday. I told her that she wears a diaper. She said, "Di-pah off," and started pulling her pants down. She got the stool herself, and insisted that I put her on the potty. She is actually pretending to wipe herself here. Of course nothing happened, but she was so serious about it. Hope this girl doesn't think we are doing this any time soon. Hang in there, baby!

I've been trying to get a shot of Zack's teeth, but he isn't cooperating. I could show you some lovely shots of his tongue though.

And let's not forget the most important news of all. Ben's last day of class was Friday. He will be done with finals tomorrow! It's almost here. In six short days, he will graduate and commission with the Air Force. Oh, the places we'll go!

Happy Easter! It has been a fun day for us. The girls colored their eggs last night, then woke up this morning to find that the Easter Bunny had hidden them in the living room for a fun egg hunt. They also looked very cute in their new dresses, but I didn't get a shot of that.

Yesterday we took the girls to have their portraits taken. So glad that is over. Don't get me wrong. We actually got smiles this year. The problem was keeping the girls portrait ready. Especially Sydney. On Friday, she really wanted me to help her put on some nail polish. I agreed, but then she picked out five bright colors and wanted all five colors on each hand. I finally talked her into clear nail polish like Junie B. Jones.

Crisis averted, right? I thought so until about five minutes before we were supposed to go. That's when I noticed that she still had a large temporary tattoo on the back of her right hand. I quickly located the baby oil and took care of that.

Tansy looked way too much like a boy for me, so I had her wear a head band and repeatedly told her how pretty it looked so she would leave it in. She decided that the position needed constant adjustment and got looking pretty weird while we waited. I adjusted it right before we went back and decided to have her go first before she could mess with it again. No dice. She wouldn't let go of me. Sydney is not usually very cooperative either, but when Ben asked her to show Tansy how to do it, she went into some kind of "model mode." She was doing all of the poses the photographer asked her to. If we could get her to smile naturally, that would also help. Tansy watched and mimicked her from the side. Sydney even came up with her own pose that she wanted a picture of. So funny. Tansy was good for about three shots after that, which was good enough for us.

Last night, Sydney had a nightmare and fell out of bed. She cut herself right above her right eye, and it's a bit swollen. So glad she didn't do that before pictures!

In Zack's efforts to gain forward mobility, he has finally learned to roll over. Poor little guy. It makes him so mad because it is not even close to what is trying to do.

And I can't forget the funniest thing. We got The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything from Netflix this week. If you are not aware, this is a VeggieTales movie. Sydney has watched it a few times, and yesterday she said to me, "Mom, do you know who is my favorite in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything?"

"Who?" I asked.

"Alexander," she said with a shy smile.

"Is that because he's handsome?"

"Yeah, and I really like his hair."

What? Her first crush is on an animated vegetable. At least he's one of the good guys.

These are just random pictures I took of the kids one day. Sydney couldn't stop talking long enough to get a decent one. I wonder how she ended up like that?

No news yet on our orders. The paperwork has gone to Hill AFB, but we are still waiting for approvals, and Ben has to do at least one more interview. They are trying to push everything along as quickly as possible, and I am trying not to revert back to my awful nail-biting habit.

My birthday was last week, and I am officially 30. I got to go shopping all by myself. So quick and efficient. I got a license plate cover that says "Air Force Wife," Peter Breinholt's "All the Color Green" CD, and Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine. It was a lot of fun, and the kids were so good that day. Of course, there was a ridiculously chocolatey cake involved as well.

Zack broke his first tooth on my birthday. Very exciting! I guess Sydney really was an abnormal case. Sydney almost made it to her first birthday toothless. Tansy and Zack both came in at eight months.