House Painter

While I was putting on my make-up, this was happening in Audrey's room:

Did you see the empty white rack in the closet? That's where all the colored bins are SUPPOSED to be. Here's the story: Audrey comes into my bathroom and wants to "paint" with my make-up brushes. Not a good idea because make-up will get on the walls. So I say, "Go look in your room for something to paint with." She comes back and says she needs "paint cup." I say, "Go look in your room for something to put paint in." My clever little painter found LOTS of containers to put paint in!!! After dipping her light stick/paintbrush in a few colors, she would then "paint" her closet door. And the camo hat made a perfect painter's hat, too!! I just adore this little girl and her amazing mind. 

Easter Morning

*** This is my 5th post today, so scroll down to "Meet BearTeam" for the first of today's posts.***

Audrey woke up to find a trail of eggs leading to her basket.

Yes, you saw 2 chocolate bunnies. Actually, there's another one in the living room. Daddy for some reason thought I might not have gotten Audrey a chocolate bunny, so he bought one for her and for me. Silly man, I'm the Momma..... I won't forget to fill the basket.

We squeezed in a little more chocolate with storytime just before nap. Two books later, her hands melted a hole through the bunny.

We went out to lunch after church and tonight we're grilling hot dogs. Since we can't be with our family and the Wynnes are out of town, we decided to forgo all tradition so I wouldn't be sad. But then the preacher mentioned deviled eggs...... boo hoo. We hope you all had a wonderful Easter filled with renewed hope because the Savior is more powerful than the death our sin required.

Coloring Eggs

I told Audrey it was time to color eggs, so she got out her crayons. I giggled and said, "Baby, we're not gonna color them with crayons." And she said, "Markers?"

Pre-Easter Photo Shoot

I confess: Audrey's wearing last year's Easter dress.... for several reasons. First, I am VERY picky when it comes to Easter and Christmas dresses. Can't explain it, but most of the ones in stores just won't do. I start my search as soon as the first seasonal dresses hit the stores. This year's search was not good because nothing could top last year's dress. That got me thinking.... we were rushing to church last year and did not get any great pictures of Audrey in this fantastic dress. (By the way, Andy came home from deployment exactly a year ago today... YAY!) And she will not see anybody this year that saw her last year since we are in a new state, so why not wear it again? But this time, I want great pictures. So we did a photo shoot yesterday in our neighborhood.... and oh, we are sooooo happy. You'll see why.

Here she's calling the horses to come over. The were nowhere to be seen, but still.... "Horsey!!"

blowing kisses

Just for fun!

Kings Dominion

On Friday (April 2), Audrey and I went to Kings Dominion with the Wynnes. Daddy couldn't get off work (long story). We had an idea that Audrey liked rides because she liked the few she rode at Disney. But now we know that the girl LOVES rides. She wants to do them over and over and actually cried once when she couldn't. Again, I had to post the pix small, so click on them to see larger.

This was no sissy coaster. It had lots of dips (notice her sweet head flung back). This might have been Audrey's favorite. She's riding with Sadie, the oldest Wynne daughter.

She rode it two more times before leaving the park. The girl in the red taught her to raise her hands on the roller coaster. So cute, I cried. Audrey dropped her hands to the bar after the first dip though.

Audrey really wanted a hat, and kind of needed one, too. She was thrilled I found this "cowgirl" hat. That's "Uncle" Lee.

This is on top of the park's Eiffel Tower replica. Audrey walked straight up to the grated walls and looked down. No fear whatsoever. Meanwhile, my legs are tingling thinking that grate could give way any minute, and she could shrink inexplicably and slip through those bars.

This is KD's version of Disney's Grand Prix cars. Audrey would not stop squealing on this ride. She loves to "drive" Daddy's truck.... and this car actually moved. BONUS.

You'll see that this car is on a loose track, so you have some leeway to swerve left and right. Imagine a two-year-old behind the wheel...... lots of swerving and squealing at every bump.

My family went to Kings Dominion when I was around 10. I don't remember much about it except for two rides. I remember riding this ride with my Mom. They were brightly painted parrots back then, and I remember them soaring much much higher and farther over the "lake." The lake turned out to be a small pond with a fountain. Now I've gotta dig up that picture of me and my mom on this ride :)

I also remember this wooden roller coaster. It's still a great roller coaster with lots of dips, but I remember it being higher and the dips deeper.

Our little thrill seeker.

Fun day!! We can't wait to go back!

Meet BearTeam

For Easter, Nana and Papa wanted to treat Audrey to her very first Build-A-Bear. Andy and I took her on Thursday night (April 1) and I think we had as much fun as she did. I really wanted this to be HER bear, so I committed to not swaying her choices and to just let her create. Here's the story in pictures (click on them to see larger):

After seeing every animal they had to offer, Audrey chose the pink bear.... the very pink bear.

She was very shy standing in front of the employee while she stuffed Audrey's bear. I know Audrey was so excited inside, but she refused to show any emotion.

The pedal to blow out the stuffing was a little scary until Daddy held her hand.

She chose a gingham red heart.

She did everything the employee asked her to do: rub the heart on your nose, so your bear will always smell good; on your ear, so she'll be a good listener; on your knees so she can run really fast with you (I think... can't remember why).

And then give it a kiss.

Next, it was to to shove the heart inside her stuffed bear.

Once we walked away from the employee, Audrey perked up and started showing her excitement. She's giving her bear a bath.

Now it's time to get dressed. Audrey chose a pink shirt, pink skirt, pink bows, and shoes that were..... you guessed it. We made sure she saw the Disney princess dresses, but she was stuck on the pinkness she already chose.

We sat down to register the bear and give her a name. Audrey told me that the bear needed a family, and I said that we would be her family. When I asked her what she wanted to name the bear, she said, "BearTeam." Here's a little back story: Audrey has been learning about teams and family, and will often say, "We're a good team, Mommy" when we're picking up toys or "Come on my family, let's go outside," etc. We also have a Braxton cheer and a Braxton kiss, and whenever we do this I usually say, "Let's kiss our team captain." She knows that our family is a team, so when she wanted her bear to have a family, she was also thinking about a team. And so was created our newest family/team member: BearTeam. Cute, huh?