Happy Birthday Andy!

Happy Birthday to the best father, husband and friend a girl could ask for.

This year, Andy got to celebrate with Papa Clark too. Unfortunately, by the time we got this picture, some of our children were only interested in getting home to have birthday cake.

Happy Easter!

Zoe was the first to find her Easter basket this year.

Sophie was happy with her loot.

And during Easter dinner, Chloe (and we) discovered she likes corn on the cob!

Let's Paint!

I recently went through the boxes of stuff from my classroom and found bottles and bottles of paint. The big girls have been enjoying it so much that we're running out of places to hang their masterpieces! And with the girls so busy with the paint, Chloe doesn't have to share the crayons and markers:)

Sprinkler Fun!

Road Trip New Jersey

Chloe and I got to make a special trip to New Jersey to meet baby Quinn and visit with the rest of the Gilligans. Sophie and Zoe were a little disappointed that they didn't get to go, but I wanted to be able to help with the baby and didn't think bringing 3 children with me would work! Chloe was very excited about the trip.

She was a great traveler on the airplane, but had a rough first day adjusting to the 3 hour time difference. After some untimely naps (napping in the grocery cart was a first for her) and a little fussing, by day 2 she was back on schedule.
The Gilligans have a busy household: 3 kids, 2 big dogs and 2 cats. Chloe was in heaven. She spent much of the visit looking for the kitties, petting the dogs, kissing the dogs, getting into the dog food and water...I'm still so amazed at her fearlessness. Cooper and Otis are good dogs, but they are big, and Chloe didn't mind one bit!
Chloe also enjoyed spending time in the dog cage. I found her in there many times during our visit. Sometimes she would crawl in and crawl right back out, and other times she would lie down and just enjoy the space.
Here's Chloe enjoying some quality time with Uncle Brian.

Play Ball!

T-ball that is! Chloe and I got to go to Tanner's T-ball game. It was so cute watching all the kids, and Tanner of course was the best player!Chloe looks good in winter clothes! She had fun at the game too, but mostly she just wanted to run onto the field or play football with the players' siblings that were on the sidelines.
Fortunately the game was at a park that had a great little playground. Chloe loves to go high on the swings now, so we spent a lot of time doing that.
Here's the biggest brother Chase living up to his nickname as an infant (Monkey)!

Family

Chloe and I had such a good time visiting our East Coast family. We spent most of our time with Michelle and Quinn, since Chase and Tanner go to school and Uncle Brian had to work. Here's the little angel we couldn't wait to meet - she is sweet and petite and a total mini version of her mom!Chase and Tanner are great big brothers. They let me help out while I was there so their tired parents could get a few extra minutes of sleep. It was fun for me to spend time with the boys and experience activities that the girls aren't into: T-ball, flag football, legos, kickball...
Aunt Charna and Cassie stopped by for a visit too!

Visit at Grammy's

On our way up to Grammy's house today, we got to see a fleet of Army vehicles being transported by train. There had to have been over a hundred of them!

In Grammy's new neighborhood, the mode of transportation is not Army tank, it's golf cart!
Here's the front of the new Smith residence!

Welcome to Arizona!

We are so blessed to have more family living in Arizona! At the end of March, Grammy and Gump moved into their new home in Eloy, just 45 minutes north of us. We went up there to bring them dinner and give them a distraction (3 little girls) from all of the unpacking.

Chloe had fun roaming around amongst all the boxes

And she especially loved following around the kitties and trying to catch Stella

Day at the Park

With summer temps already here (it was 96 yesterday) we've been hitting our favorite outdoor spots as much as possible. The other day we spent several hours at the Continental Ranch Park and playground. We packed a picnic lunch, and the girls ran, climbed, slid and generally wore themselves out. Now that Chloe can walk, climb, run and slide by herself, she likes the playground a lot more! This first picture is of her ready to catch her sisters at the bottom of the rolling slide.

Sometimes she likes to go down with her big sisters. Sophie especially likes to put Chloe on her lap and take her down the big slides.
Sophie is also fond of "posing" like a model as she goes down the slide. She actually like posing and acting like a model in general. With those long legs, she just might have a chance!
Zoe likes to climb and swing at the playground. I love that the girls can swing by themselves, because with Chloe on the run, I can't be stuck pushing children on the swings!