Easter egg dying, and yes, Penelope tasted the liquid...

 Spring is finally here and we can eat on the deck! Yeah!

 Not the most successful "before Easter Sunday church picture" we have ever taken...

 OH! The Excitement!!! I don't even think that the van was even in park before Beck jumped out. Luckily Uncle Kalan was there ready with the camera!

 Beck didn't even stop to grab his bucket or see the "start" line.

 Penny actually did pick up a few eggs and put in her bucket.

 M&M picture bribery evidence on Penelope's mouth.

 After Easter dinner we celebrated Paisley's 5th birthday (April 3rd) and Hanna's 12th birthday (April 2nd) I can't believe Hanna will be 12 and my baby Paisley will be 5!!

 Goodbye Uncle Bubba! We always miss you! (He won't touch my stomach) Come visit again SOON!

 Paisley almost 5 years old (in 6 days) Beck age 7 yrs and Penelope 15 months.

Penelope has not been the easiest to take pictures of in the last few months, but hey, it's real. Haha.

Beck ran the most laps at AIM School's Jog-a-Thon a little bit ago. He got to go pick out a new pair of shoes at Famous Footwear and picked Camo Converse. He is soooo excited to wear his new shoes!

Penelope Skye Ashton
15 month check up
Height 30.5"
Weight 22.5lbs

Says "mama, mum, dad, and b for "beck"
Loves to color and scribble and pull cups out of the cup cupboard. Still loves her pink bunny and sleeps with it and carries it, sometimes up to 3 of them most places we go.

I got this super cute pattern book from my sister, Jakobi, for Christmas and ever since my first day of sewing until now I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO READ/FOLLOW A PATTERN. Until NOW!!! I was so excited about this book and was actually just thinking of taking ideas and "winging it" like a usually do, but with the help of a good friend I sat down, cut out the pattern and made these two shirts for the girls. SOOOOOO flipping excited you have no idea. I actually FOLLOWED a pattern AND used my serger I bought a year ago for the first time! Whooo hooo!!!!! Love these shirts and LOVE my cute kids. Happy St Patty's Day!

 This last week was Spirit Week at AIM leading up to the big jog a thon fundraiser on Friday.

 First up was "favorite color day" and Beck chosse Red and Paisley's favorite color has been "rainbow for some time now.

 Super Hero Day and Tie Day day was another favorite.

 

We ended with Green Day on Friday, but we played hooky for most of the day and after the Jog a Thon went home and rode bikes and had a picnic on the porch. I was so proud of Beck, he ran the most laps in the school (145 around the gym floor) and earned the prize of a new pair of tennis shoes! (A gift card to Big 5) He was so proud and man, that kid was driven! He knew he had to beat 133 laps, and he just kept running! I love having my kids home with me and wouldn't mind playing hooky every day....

 Beck started wrestling about 3 weeks ago. It's been a rough go with his first day of practice LOVING it and like most things he starts it wears off fast. But I think that wrestling will be good for him???? We took him to a "Little Guys" tournament in Ephrata today. We learned a lot that's for sure. There was a little boy a few matched before Beck that wrestled that was blind and I was discreet, but I emotionally lost it. It was so sweet watching his family cheer and him working so hard. It was such a tender moment. So I was already a hot mess before Beck even started.

 And although he was definitely not smiling by the end of his 2 matches (Lost both) I did catch the photo of a smile! He cried at the very end of the first one because his arm was all twisted and it hurt and I learned my first lesson, DO NOT go out and hug him im front of everyone and try and make him shake hands to finish off with a good attitude, it only makes it worse! DO let the coach take care of that! Good news is that he wrestled a long time and only lost by 2 points. He cried at the end of the 2nd one because it got pinned pretty quickly and he knew that he had lost.

Supportive sisters of their big brother that waited a very long day to only watch him for a few minutes...
When he was done and we were leaving he asked, "When do we get our medals?" and after informing him that he doesn't get one because he lost both times, he was upset, but didn't cry. Just had a defeated look on his face. I was sad for him and my heart hurt, but I guess that he has to learn this hard lesson some time, right???

Dr Seuss Day was March 1st for Beck's 1st grade class at AIM. He made. Dr Seuss city complete with Walmart and of course a Costco among other places of business. He was so excited to dress up as Cat in the Hat!

Today while driving thru town I slowed at a yellow light and then had to speed up because I wasn't going to be able to stop in time. At certain lights in Moses Lake they have traffic cams that take your picture if you go thru a red lift and then they send you a ticket in the mail. Well, anyways, I made it thru the yellow light no problems. Coming upon the next light which was very green Beck throws his hands up and yells, "smile! Hands up! Here comes the picture!"
I almost wet my pants laughing so hard...

For the Ashton Family birthdays we celebrate once a month at Ann's house in Othello. Today we did the February and March birthdays. The kids love the scavenger hunts I have been doing since I entered the Ashton family back in 2003. Beck is no exception and was really excited this year and asked for 2 hours since we arrived in Othello when it was time for his hunt. Now that he can read its fun to watch him read the clues and try and figure them out to lead him to his candy prize!