Snowy day fun

Taking a pre-bath zebra ride

Crazy faces!
Clara is into the layering look these days. In her defense, it really was snowing today, so the snow boots were actually appropriate!! The shorts, on the other hand.....
Hannah will sit for quite a while putting the straw in and out of her milk box. It makes a mess to clean up, but she is busy and happily occupied!
Sharing the "beaters" after making cookies together on the countertop. I have many fond memories of arguing with my siblings over who gets to lick the cookie dough off the beaters. Luckily for now, we only have two kiddos for two beaters!
Clara is growing up so fast, and actually added all the ingredients herself (after the measurements were done, of course) and did the mixing with the hand mixer for the first time. Maybe soon she'll be whipping up dinner for us!

Busy Girls, Busy Day

The girls had a few minutes alone this morning while I helped Julie get ready for the day, and we walked out to find this......two very happy little girls covered in brown sugar!

Uh, oh....I think I need a bath!
Later in the day, Clara found a curtain rod in the closet with some old curtains, and had fun pretending in her "wedding dress".
Same day, fourth outfit......(or lack of outfit!)

Happy Easter

My mom, dad, and sister Julie came to stay with us for Easter weekend. We get to have Aunt Julie stay with us for another week too! Julie's service dog, Teanne, is Clara and Hannah's FAVORITE!!!! Clara and Nonna dyed easter eggs (after Hannah was in bed!).

Clara carefully dipped each egg (some in several colors) and then decorated them with the Dora stickers.
Clara couldn't fall asleep until after 10pm last night, she was so excited for Easter. She told me she "had been waiting for the Easter bunny for so, so long, like for 40 minutes already!"
Hannah started right in on her chocolate bunny.....who needs breakfast???!!
Our little easter bunnies. Joe's parents also joined us for Easter brunch this morning. The girls soaked up the attention from the four grandparents!Clara helped me frost and decorate the bunny cake.....and by helping, I mean she put a little frosting on the bunny and A LOT of frosting in her mouth! I put her in charge of the jellybeans for the face, and we had to replace those jellybeans several times before they made it on the bunny's face.

This is the bunny after Hannah sat on the counter to have a taste. Thankfully, our guests had already been served! Once Hannah was done eating the cake, she proceeded to place her foot on the cake and exclaim "Brrr" from the cold frosting :)

The Wiggles

The Wiggles take the stage at the Tacoma Dome.

Clara got "dressed up" to go see the Wiggles. She asked me if I thought she would be the prettiest little girl there......If they are giving out awards for the "most creative costume", I think she might win ;) She started with the red pants, added a green/blue plaid dress over the top, decided the turquoise shirt underneath was a good idea because it's cold outside, then found her pink socks and had to wear the polka-dot hat. The sunglasses were added when she walked outside and found it too bright to make it to the car without her shades!
Clara was mesmerized for the first fifteen minutes standing on her chair, then took to the aisles and eventually right up to the stage to dance along! This is the captivated look we see when she is watching TV. We had purchased the cheap tickets up in the bleacher seats, but found some friends that were sitting in the 4th row back with a few extra seats at the end of their row, so we upgraded:)
I think this is what Clara often calls her "cute face" that she saves for the camera. Someday she will look back on these pictures and have the same thought that the rest of us already do........"what a goofball!!!!"

Oh, as far as the kitchen goes......we are on day 6 of the countertops with no end in sight......

Kitchen countertops....Day 1

Today was the day that our kitchen countertops were going to be installed by my handyman husband and a friend of ours....but, like every good Nance Home Project, the result of a hard day's work was the same plywood that I have been looking at for the past 2 months! They are hoping to install the granite tomorrow.....

We found out that 3 carseats can fit across our backseat when my friend, Val, and I got the kids out of the house (and out of the way!) and drove to the Children's Museum. Austin was quite the ladies man, holding both our daughters' hands during the drive!

Hannah went from this pose for the camera, to standing backward on the seat, barely holding on. I didn't want to risk the result of stepping back to get a picture of that! She is still our little climber :)
Clara and Austin dancing in the neon light room. They have been friends since Clara was just a few months old and Austin was 2.
Who says that the man should drive? :)
3 tired kiddos after a long day!

Fun Pictures....

Hannah's hair is starting to curl like Clara's, especially after her bath. It looks a lot lighter here, but it's just the flash. Their hair is almost the exact same color.

Hannah manages to get herself into the funniest places!
The new spring fashion of rainboots with slippers
Goofballs!!!
This is what you get if you tell Hannah to "freak out" :)

Dog Whisperer

Clara has tamed the puppies! They enjoyed some snuggling and TV watching this morning together.

Now Clara just needs to work on taming her little sister! Clara climbed into the doll bed, and Hannah followed right behind (and right on top!) She can definitely hold her own these days.

Monkey See, Monkey, Do

This one was actually Hannah's idea! She has been working so hard to climb up onto the hearth, and finally mastered it tonight. Clara thought that it looked like a fun idea, and added the element of dancing and then spinning in circles. That's when I decided we were done playing on the hearth. We are still receiving medical bills from our eventful January/February......they aren't allowed any hospital trips in March!

The Fantastic Four

We added two puppies to our household this week......we're just dog-sitting for my brother and sister-in-law, we didn't go crazy:) They have kept us busy, and kept the girls immensely entertained! Hannah can be heard yelling "Dog, Dog" throughout the day, and both girls can be heard screaming and squealing as the puppies jump all over them, licking with the occasional bite. The puppies are actually settling in quite a bit now, and we have had some calm "cuddle" moments with them. I hope we are helping prepare them for the new baby boy that will be welcomed into their home in August!

Those first two pictures are somewhat deceiving.....this is more commonly the picture of the puppy/child interaction!
Hannah must have heard the phrase "Never bite the hand that feeds you" :) She loves to hand feed them each bite of dog food, and the dogs are amazingly cooperative with this slow method of eating!
I couldn't find Hannah today, and then I heard her yell from in here.....