Easter morning Greg and I woke up early so that he could hide eggs and I could start breakfast. (My boys have no patience when it comes to breakfast.) We decided to have Greg hide some plastic eggs outside and I would hide the dyed eggs inside. Well, after I got through hiding the first dozen I could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. So, I stashed the second carton of eggs behind a toy. Hailey came down and asked if she could start looking for her basket. The first place she looked... right where I had stashed the carton of dyed eggs. She just replied with "Hmm..."and a puzzled look on her face, then started looking other places for her basket. She glanced outside and saw Greg hiding eggs and asked me what he was doing. I told her that the Easter Bunny didn't know if it would rain so he filled the easter eggs and wrote Dad a note asking him to hide the eggs if the weather was good. I'm actually surprised she didn't ask to see the note. I guess next year we will only hide plastic eggs inside since we can do it the night before. (But really, how long do kids actually believe in the Easter Bunny? She will probably find out the truth by next year anyway.)

The boys liked finding eggs, but they loved opening the eggs and eating candy before Mom could take it away from them.

 Here is a little bit of what we have been up to lately.

We try to take advantage of the occasional days with nice weather.

(Wouldn't it be nice if actually felt like it was April?) 

 For some reason Easton didn't like riding in the wagon at all. But as an early birthday present Grandma & Grandpa Cole gave them a new wagon and they get to face each other which they love.

 This girl is getting so big... I can't believe she will start Kindergarten this year.

Mason enjoying his wagon ride. There's a lot more room in the wagon when your brother isn't riding along. Mason is an easy going kid... Easton on the other hand, well I had to carry him for the entire walk so that should explain his temperment. 

 My parents came over one night and were swinging the kids in blankets. (Don't try this at home unless you are prepared to do it for hours.) I think the picture resembles what it must have been like in the womb. Haha.

My birthday was on the 6th... and I celebrated by working. (That's what happens when your birthday falls in the middle of the week.) But I came home to a cake that Greg and Hailey made. (And just to clarify... I turned 28, not 11... These candles were left over from the twins birthday and they were the only ones Greg could find.)

So, usually I post about my kids because right now that is what consumes my life. However, I have started something that feels like it is consuming my mind.

A while back I was reading one of Greg's health magazines and a specific article caught my attention. One of the editors goes through a 30 day cleanse and documents it week by week. As I read it I became more and more interested... by the end of the article, I was hooked. This guy is 36 and in pretty good shape. He works out six days a week, eats moderately well, but has a stressful job and two kids which drain his energy. During the cleanse he kicks his caffeine and sugar addiction, gains more energy, start sleeping better, loses about 10 lbs., drops his percentage of body fat and lowers his metabolic age.

Wow!

I'm an easy sell anyway, but this guy had some valid arguments for actually doing this.

So, here I am... 9 left in the cleanse. The first few days were rough... I had no energy and I didn't know if I would rather sleep or down a cup of coffee. Weekends are equally as hard because that is usually when Greg and I would either go out to dinner and later watch a movie with some kind of treat. But despite the hard parts on changing my habits and normal lifestyle; I'm starting to feel so much better. I feel focused, motivated and well rested when I wake up in the morning.

So, what am I going to do after my cleanse???

I would really like to change the way my family eats. I know it isn't realistic to believe we will never eat sugar again, and I don't expect that at all... but we have so much room for improvement. I would like to start using more veggies, fruit and whole grains. I would like to cut back on sugar, refined flour and processed foods. I would like to choose organic when possible and also start cooking a few vegetarian meals. I would like to give our bodies the nutrients they need to fight back sickness and disease. Most of all I want to enjoy my health and watch my children enjoy theirs.

The reason for blogging about this??? (Because who cares, right?)

The biggest part of it is for myself. I'm not going to lie that it has been tough trying to stick with this. I try to journal about how I feel and what I love about doing this but I also have to make it through the times I hate it and want to give up. During the hard times I try to change my focus and find some inspiration. I do this by reading about other people's success with healthy eating, but many times I go back and read my own.

I'm also making a commitment to expand my knowledge of health on all levels and share anything interesting that might come up. I hope that by putting this out there it makes people start thinking and talking. Cause really... family and friends are out best support system out there and they are the reasons for being healthier and happier.

Easton and Mason have started brushing their own teeth.

Actually, it is more of just getting their hand and tooth brush wet and then sucking the water off and shaking their heads back and forth as fast as they can . And in the process getting water all over themselves, the counter, the mirror, the floor... you get the idea.

Sleeping Beauty came to host Hailey's birthday party this year.

I told Hailey she was the real Princess Aurora that lived in Disneyland. She wasn't convinced and her response was "maybe we better go there and make sure." Hmm... she is a smart girl.

Sleeping Beauty read stories, sang songs, painted faces and helped the girls make crowns.




It was such a cute party and the girls had so much fun together.

Ever since Hailey turned 5 she has been checking the sizes on all of her clothes. She is convinced that none of the size 4 clothes fit anymore. So, I might have to go in there with a permanent marker and write a 5 on all of her clothes just to make it through the season.

The only down side of turning 5... shots. The night before I told Hailey that she had a doctors appointment the next day. She asked me if she had to get shots and when I told her yes she got really quiet. I asked her what was wrong and she said "I'm just trying really hard not to cry about the shots." It was so sad. But she was so brave the next day she went in and didn't cry at all.

To say that this post is over due would be an understatement, but I had to post some of the happenings from December because it is such a fun month. I love to try and get my shopping done early so that I can try and just enjoy the holiday season. (It is always a good solid effort, but I always manage to put off that really hard person on my list and I end up having to do the last minute shopping thing.)

Kids seem to make Christmas feels so much more exciting and magical; and I want nothing more than to make them realize that this holiday season means so much more than just "what am I going to get for Christmas?" So, we tried to do something special every night. We read Christmas stories, made a countdown chain, made cookies, took presents to neighbors, listened to Christmas music daily and of course watched tons of Christmas movies. (Hailey's favorite this year was the Grinch.)

Hailey also had her preschool Christmas performance. It was so cute, and I loved hearing the songs that she had been singing around the house all month long. (They even sang a pretty sweet hanukkah song.)

And of course, you always have to make a gingerbread house. (Costco had one that the house was already assembled, which I thought was a genius idea for kids since they are really only interested in the decorating part.)

Hailey was so excited when we finally had enough snow to make a snowman.

A quick catch up of the last month.

We went to Bear Lake with all of my family at the end of September. It was beautiful weather (I acutally packed clothes that were too warm) and a lot of fun. Greg took Hailey shooting with they guys. She tried shooting a gun once, and then just ended up playing in the back of the truck with her cousins. Easton and Mason loved playing in the sand (and trying to eat it.) But most of all the kids loved riding the 4-wheelers. Of course, I forgot to take pictures except for a few family pictures that Jason took and Kortney took a lot of really good pictures of everyone shooting guns. (Thanks Kort and Jason!)

I don't plan on having a family picture with everyone looking at the camera for at least another year or so.

Greg has everything under control, I promise.