Art Gallery

Here's a sampling of some recent "Art by Jillian". She really likes to paint whenever she visits Grannie and Papa's house, and she takes it pretty seriously. These are all pictures of people, though if you ask Jillian who they are, you'll get a different answer each time.

Easter Playtime

Both Jillian and Bridget received some very cool gifts in their Easter baskets. Jillian couldn't wait to get them out and play with them. The first thing she wanted to do when we got home was to put on her new Dora ballerina outfit, complete with tutu and shoes. She couldn't stop smiling while she was wearing them. Then, she wanted Bridget to get dressed in her new "ballerina" outfit, too. So, Mommy got her dressed up, as well.

The other gift Jillian wanted to play with was her new Princess sleeping bag. She has been pretending to sleep in a sleeping bag for a while now (in the little pocket in a blanket that Cindy made for her). She was very excited to finally have a real one, and said that Bridget could sleep in the little blanket pocket now. Both of them did a little sleepover on the family room floor in their respective sleeping bags.

Easter Sunday

It was Jillian's 3rd Easter, and Bridget's first Easter this past Sunday. We woke Jillian up early at 7:00 am, and we she got to the family room, she saw that Easter eggs were hidden all over. She immediately started looking around, and found them all pretty quickly (since she had gotten lots of practice at Grannie and Papa's house).

Once we Bridget woke up, both of them got dressed up in their pretty dresses. Jillian chose her colorful "Dora" dress this time around. Then we went to church for the Easter service. Jillian did pretty good, making it about half-way before going to the nursery to play; Bridget was also good, watching everything going on. As soon as we got home, we put the girls to bed for naps so they'd be in a good mood in the afternoon. When they woke up, we took off for Castle Rock.

At Castle Rock, Jillian found Cousin Rielee right away, and they played together the whole time. When the rain stopped, all the kids went outside for the egg hunt. Cousin Emmy held Bridget, while Jillian and Rielee got to look for eggs in the small garden area behind the house. Jillian was very determined, and even when all the eggs were found in the garden, she still wasn't done ... so she ran up to the big kids' hunting spot to look for more eggs. She managed to find some coins and candy laying around to pick up. When she was all done, she took her Easter baskets inside the house and opened them up (see the next post).

Later, we went back outside for the raw egg toss. Jillian partnered up with Daddy, and got to make the first toss. She wound up and tossed the egg over-hand as far as she could, but it didn't quite make it and splattered on the driveway. While everyone else kept going, Jillian and Rielee practiced some more on the grass. The final event was the egg roll. Jillian chucked the hard-boiled egg on the lawn pretty far, close to Rielee's egg. They both got some prizes for their efforts. Back in the house, they kept playing, and after Rielee left, Jillian started getting tired and crabby. Bridget had enough naps, though, that she was in good humor.

We packed up the girls and headed for Papa Ken's house. Jillian and Bridget got to see Papa, Bev, Cousins Meagan and Adam, and Zach. They even got to see and pet Zach's bunny, who had hidden some eggs in the backyard. Jillian and Adam went hunting for eggs, and found them all in short order. Then, they went back inside and played until crabbiness set in again. By the time we all got home, the girls were ready for an early bed time.

Eggs-ellent Coloring

Last night, Mommy got out the Pez egg coloring kit and got the dyes ready, along with hard-boiling the eggs. Then, she called Jillian in for the egg coloring. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but once she saw the pretty colors, she was all over it. She liked pink and green the best, and did a pretty good job of coloring them all over. There were just a couple incidents, like some spilled dye and a cracked egg. But, Jillian kept going until all the eggs were pretty.

Bridget was watching the whole time, but it was way past her bedtime, so she was a tired girl. Both of the girls went to sleep quickly.

Party Dress

Bridget got all dressed up for Cindy's birthday party in Woodland. It was a dress that Jillian has been wanting Bridget to wear for a long time now. It's not easy getting any photos of Bridget any more, because she refuses to just sit in one place ... as soon as she's on the floor, she immediately tries to crawl (though she hasn't quite figured it out, yet).

Busy Day Outside

Bridget had so much fun outside today in her walker. She could watch the cat or Tucker and Mocha play fighting. Then she would take off moving fast to where Jillian or I were doing something. She was almost running at times her legs were going so fast. She needed a hat since it was sunny but I could only find one of Jillian's, so many times it ended up over her eyes. Jillian was Papa's little "helper" as he was cleaning out the fountain. I'm sure he appreciate all her help.

Next came the scary part where Jillian gave Bridget a ride in her jeep which really thrilled them both. Of course, they were wearing their seat belts which is just a Velcro strap so I held Bridget's hand the whole time which gave me some great exercise running in circles. I made Jillian keep it in low speed but sometimes her starts were a little jerky. Bridget never did let up in holding my hand in a tight grip but she was mostly laughing all the time. Every once in awhile Jillian would stop and say she needed gas or to turn a knob on the radio. Quite an exciting ride since Jillian doesn't always pay attention to where she is going.

So Cute!

Jillian can be very helpful with Bridget. Today it was so cute as Jillian sat down beside Bridget and her toys. There is the toy dinosaur that will move and play tunes if you press its' stomach. Bridget couldn't do that so Jillian sat down with her and pressed the dinosaurs stomach for a long time. Bridget was so thrilled to have Jillian do that as she would set the dinosaur on the floor and it would move around. Bridget of course would try to get it on all fours which is still fruitless for her.