ladies weekend

while the "big girls" were away with their dad, mom had a little adventure of her own. my dearest friend Alison came to town and we did it all, saw a movie and went to dinner with Renee, stayed up 'til 3 and 1 in the morning, got pedicures, went shopping, talked and talked.....it was a much needed break from the norm and time with my pal. i mentioned the pedicures, and this is funny, i always see these cute little designs on peoples' toes and that's totally out of my comfort zone, so i really wanted to try it out. this seemed like the perfect time. when i got to the salon, i grabbed a red polish and chickened out on the design because "red is different from pink." but Ali pushed me and i ended up with these:incidentally, she tried to chicken out of her choice: purple instead of red (out of her comfort zone) and i made her stick to her guns. i find this hilarious, such drama over toenails. fun times.

the great outdoors!

so, Jason took the two "big" girls camping. they had so much fun with the Earl side of the family, rides in the Jeep, s'mores, sleeping in a tent, getting really dirty, playing with cousins, all in all the weekend was a blast. an extra benefit, Madeline, a dyed in the wool mama's-girl, has developed a deeper bond with dear old dad. she didn't miss me at all, and now joins her sister in request for 5 hugs and kisses, when daddy leaves for work. that is one successful camping trip!

best buds

i love the fact that my girls are best friends. i was worried that 3 would create an odd man out, or standard first-middle-baby syndrome, but so far everyone seems to love each other equally. even Madeline, who is by far the biggest "momma's girl" is totally enamoured with her baby sister. this is the way she likes to take her meals:never without her best friend!

Easter morn

since the Easter bunny uses all plastic eggs for our hunt on Saturday, we decided to do some egg dying on Sunday before church. the girls and i put on our aprons and went to work. it's so fun to see the girls evolve every year. this year Anna was really into it, and able to do most the work herself. Madeline was really into it, but needed lots of help, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Anna, liked to play "design consultant" on all the eggs, suggesting colors, etc. i didn't boil a lot of eggs this year because last year Jason and i ended up doing the bulk of them. next year i can see that these girls will be all over the job so i'll plan accordingly. a Beardsley family tradition is to decorate an egg professing your love for each member of the family, so i'll need more eggs just to get that job done! once the eggs were done, i headed over to choir practice and miraculously made it to Sacrament in time to sing prelude music. i relish my time in choir to be a part of that beautiful tribute to the Savior. after church we had a beautiful and delicious dinner at the Earls with family and friends, what a perfect Easter.

singin' in the rain....on Easter

this year's big neighborhood Easter egg hunt/breakfast was almost rained out. first, we called off the hunt and prepared the Thompson's garage for just breakfast. then there was a break in the sprinkling, so we closed the garage while the bunny did his work. look how patiently these kids waited. once we opened the garage and set the kids free on the hunt, the rain started up again, this time going from a light misting spray, to a full fledged drizzle. everyone got pretty soaked, but found their fair share of eggs. oh, and did i mention that the girls wore these sweat suits, rather than the adorable matching sundresses i picked out for them. oh well! after the fun, and yummy breakfast, we splashed around in the rain! when will we get to do that again?

i like this pic because you can see the rain soaked my shoulders and hair. what a fun & funny Easter!

p.s.: Avery slept through nearly the entire morning! Happy 1st Easter!

home again

after a long weekend in California, it was nice to come home, relax and play!

the beach

we were lucky enough that California's cold front ceased long enough for us to spend a day at the beach. i've really been craving the sun and sand lately, so this was just what the doctor ordered. the kids were loving it, especially because the tide had come up and left a little "front beach" for them to play in. sure, the water's a little dirty, but safe. Anna pretty much planted herself in the sand and built castles, while Henry basically planted himself in the water and built cities. Madeline and Laine ran around splashing and swimming until we dragged their shivering bodies to the car. then, they all pretty much all crashed - big time. Avery spent some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa...and discovered her feet!

i love when babies find their feet!!!!!!!!

cousins

we got our pictures taken while in California. it's not as easy as it may seem to take 5 kids, 4 and under to the portrait studio. but this gang is pretty mellow as kids go. the group shots weren't perfect (everyone's best expression, etc.) but they capture the moment/personalities perfectly! (Madeline would not keep her tongue in her mouth. she was thrilled when it was her solo turn, but a little camera shy, the tongue was her defense mechanism. these non-tongue shots were a miracle.)

what a bunch a cute kids!