A Hiking We Will Go

We took our incoming Beehives on a hike for their camp certification.  We had wanted to go to Tunica Falls - which is gorgeous, but because of time constraints we ended up hiking at Fort Desperate - an old civil war battle site.  I had been throwing up like crazy the night before, but thanks to a blessing was feeling much better and able to hike with the girls.  We brought Brielle along, and she was in heaven being part of "the young womens" for a day.

Our awesome first year campers

Brielle and the bishop found some blackberries.  Brielle LOVED them!

You Take the Cake

As our fundraiser for girls camp this year, our Young Women decided to put on a spaghetti dinner and cake auction.  I underestimated exactly how much work that was going to be.  But we pulled it off, and it was a HUGE success.  We got food donations from some of the local Italian restaurants in town and the girls each made a cake or two to auction off.  Such a fun night, and we raised more than enough to send our girls to camp this year.  Thanks to all of our generous ward members who made it possible!  Here are some pictures from our big night:

This was my first attempt with fondant.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out...

The Auction Table

The Centerpieces

Stomping Grounds

Mark had a conference in Houston for a week, so Brielle and I decided to join him at our old stomping grounds for a little vacation and to see our friends.  We have sure missed them!  While Mark was in meetings all day, Brielle and I went and played!  We hit up the children's museum and then it was play time with friends.  Brie was so happy to see all her old besties (and Mom was too!).

Testing out a car at the children's museum

The old gang together again.  Brielle loves Claire and Noah!

Unfortunately, our trip did have one casualty.  Our new car had a run-in with a post at the gas station.  :(  I was the one driving, and I just misjudged the turn.  Mark was good about it - after he got his share of digs in on the way home!  :)  My response is:  At least we're not afraid to drive it now...

Hoppy Easter!

We spent Easter weekend doing LOTS of yard work.  We pulled all the weeds in our flower beds and mulched like crazy.  It took eight hours, but the end result was worth it:



Brielle got a dress from her Grandma Herbst.  She LOVES it and thinks it looks just like the dress Belle wears in Beauty and the Beast.  She has dubbed it her "Belle" dress, and loves to dress up in it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the Easter basket.  The Easter Bunny brought lots of candy, a Nemo movie, and a Curious George Easter book.  After church, we attempted some Easter pictures in the back yard.  Not easy with our little cheeser.  She just loves pulling silly faces!



Fashionista

Brielle LOVES to dress up.  That's right.  Capital letters.  Just few of her current faves:

Rain Gear

Biking Gear

High Heels

Baseball Gear (CUBS, of course!)

All possible hair accessories

Upgrade

We upgraded from this:

to this:

The Sentra was such a good car to us.  But when it died on me in the middle of traffic in a busy intersection, I had enough.  We love our new Acadia.  It's so roomy, and that's a big plus with my YW calling and soon to be 2 kids.  Oh, and kudos to Mark for getting a major deal!

I'm a Big Girl Now

We started the Potty Training Process.  And believe me, it has been a process!  I would read all these experiences about moms who got their kids potty trained in a week, and I was so impressed.  I still am.  We've been working on the potty for 6 months!  I made Brielle a sticker chart and told her that when she filled it up (100 stickers worth), she could have a tricycle.  My reasoning was that surely, after filling up 100 stickers, she would have the hang of it.  Right?  No.  She filled up 100 stickers, but still will not go by herself.  While there has been definite progress, I'm still waiting for that magical switch in her head to flip so we can be completely potty trained.  Anyway, a promise is a promise, and Brielle got her tricycle.  She was so happy!  We ride it almost every day.  Here are a couple of shots:

The day we got her tricycle.  She couldn't wait to sit on it!

Rockin her bike.  The sunglasses kill me.

We're one step closer to being a big girl!