Catching Up...Zach

Zach has been a lot of help in the kitchen lately. Zach and I decided to try our hand at doughnuts...! We had a lot of fun. We didn't have a donut cutter, so we used two different size heart cutters instead. He was a great doughnut cutter!

We fried them up, frosted and sprinkled them, and then took them to the Bailey's house where we had Family Home Evening. The donut treats were a hit! We forgot to take a finished product picture...but they turned out well!

He is a lot of fun to play with during the days...but I think he can't wait until his sisters are off of school for the summer!!

Catching Up...Nathan

Nathan is working hard at catching up on all the things he hasn't been doing but should be!!
Look who's sitting up! Way to go Nate!!

Nathan has turned into quite the escape artist. He has gotten quite wiggly and mobile. This is Nathan trying to escape from his swing. Notice the SUPER LONG hair...keep reading!

This is Nate's first experience with a cracker! Glasses tend to get in the way in ways you often don't think about! For Nate...they kept catching his cracker and he couldn't get it to his mouth!! He got very upset!

This is Nate in his new highchair! We've never bought a new high chair for our kids but the old one that we had was totally trashed! So, we got the cutest high chair! He loves it and so do we! We never knew that high chairs could have so many "bells and whistles"! His reclines and raises higher and lower! It is fabulous! This is also the first time we've had a high chair with a pad on it! Nathan really likes it!

Nathan's first food! Yummy! He's getting soo grown up!

We decided that it was time for Nathan to get his first hair cut! His hair was so long it covered his eyes, plus it was curly and nappy all the time! We took him to the Little Dudes n Divas Salon...they did a fabulous job! They were quick and efficient! Nate was really good! He didn't even cry! He just looked around and sucked his binky! He also tried to eat the cape...!

We tried to distract him by letting him chew on his glasses (because he is always trying to do that...but then he started choking himself!)

The finished product! (He was tired of looking at us...so this is the best we could get!) It turned out really well though! Very cute and he looks all grown up now! Just a note...he also has a new tooth...and a second one on the way! What a big boy!

Just because....

Just because I find myself with so much extra time on my hands these days...and I don't know what to do with it all...I decided we should FINALLY have Jessi's birthday party.
Just because Jessi loves dinosaurs soooo much...we had to paint wooden dinos at the party!

Just because she liked the first dino cake on her actual birthday (yes that would be in JANUARY!!) so much, we decided to do a repeat...though I really did like Natalie's dinosaur creation!!

Just because you have to play "Pin the something on the something" at every party, my talented husband drew this FABULOUS stegosaurus and they pinned the spike on. Don't you think it should be "Tape the something on the something"? (Don't think he was too thrilled about the coloring job...but that part was Jessi's idea!)

Just because Nathan is sooo cute we had to add this picture.

Just because I have a day off...I wanted to blog!

And...just because I miss you all...I want you to know I am thinking about you!

Nathan is a Super Hero!!

Yep, here he is...the newest Super Hero of the Olsen clan! Everyone was so excited about his new glasses they ALL wanted their picture taken with him!

The two red heads both have glasses now...isn't that ironic. It's also funny that I never could get a picture where they were BOTH looking at the camera (and in Jessi's case also acting normal!!)

Nathan to the rescue...!

Nan and Nate...he looks a bit dazed and amazed...maybe he can see better!

Baby Parker has arrived!!!!

The last thing I said to Brantly before I left was..."Don't have your baby until we get back!" That was early on Thursday Feb. 5th. It was a reasonable request...she wasn't even due until Feb. 12! So, about 8 hours into our trip guess who calls..."Torrey, I'm going in to be induced right now!". Stinker! Anyways, many long hours later...baby Parker was born by C-section, weighing 8 lbs. 12 oz. 20 inches long! Congrats Brantly and Jabbar! We've forgiven Brantly and we got to see Parker the day we got home...we couldn't stay mad because he is sooo cute! Nate and Parker...even though they are only 3 months apart...Nate looks like a giant!! (He is really only in the 50th percentile...not a big baby...just average!!)

Zach and Parker! Oh so cute!

Jessi kissing Parker! Isn't he cute??

Nan and Parker! (Nan is wearing her brand new Minnie Mouse pants!)

Nate and Parker. Aren't they cute?? I bet they will be best buds, just like their mommies!!

Grandad Mackey and Aunt Sue

On our way down to Orlando, we stopped and stayed a day in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We were so lucky because not only did we get to see my Grandad....

....but we also got to see my Aunt Sue and my Uncle Bob. I hadn't seen either of them in years, so it was really fun! Aunt Sue was a great sport putting up with all of us and a super tour guide. And she didn't even mind when Brennon almost killed us on the bridge over the dam!

Disney World

We had a great time at Disney World! We were lucky enough to be able to visit all 4 parks, Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Disney Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom, multiple times actually! The park hopper option on the tickets was put to great use! This is Nan, Jess, and Lex (cousin) looking across the Magic Lagoon at Cinderella's castle! We were waiting to take the ferry boat across the lagoon to get to Magic Kingdom.

We waited in line for 30 minutes to visit with the characters! We got to see a bunch of different ones in the same place! Definitely worth the wait! At the beginning of the week Zach was scared of the characters, but by the end of the week he was begging to go see them! I think visiting Donald, Mickey etc. was the highlight of his trip! Donald REALLY wanted to hold Nate...so he sat down and had us put Nate on his lap! Nate slept right through it!

Here are the kiddos with Mickey! Notice all their own Mickey ears! It was fun to have them pick out their ears...I think each set of ears represents their personalities perfectly! You may not be able to tell, but Jessi's ears are "cheetah" aka leopard print, Nan's are black sequins with a sparkly red bow, and Zach's are Mickey with his tail sticking straight out of the top...very appropriate for each child!

We never actually had a chance to visit with the princesses in person, but we did get to see them in a show in front of the castle. We had the opportunity to see LOTS of different shows! They were all fabulous! I think my favorite was The Lion King Extravaganza! It was amazing! We also saw Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, a bird show, 2 stunt shows, and more! Brennon's favorite was the Indiana Jones Stunt show!

Here's the required family photo in front of the Cinderella castle! We took about 500 of these, and could never get everyone looking at the camera smiling...someone always had a tongue out or was looking away...we won't mention any names but the initials of the person who was being soooo difficult are Z.A.C.H.!!!!

This is our first day, riding our first tram from the parking lot to Epcot Center! Note the well rested and excited look on everyone's face. While the excited look remained through out the whole week, the well-rested look became extinct by Tuesday!

The kids in front of the Epcot ball. I thought it looked like a giant golf ball! It had a pretty cool ride on the inside about the history of communication around the world! At the end it took your picture and invented "your future". The kids thought that was pretty fun!

Here is a picture of Jess and Zach in Bruce's mouth (Finding Nemo...fish are friends not food...apparently he doesn't feel the same way about kids!).

This is how each day ended! Thoroughly worn out and exhausted, but I'm sure they were having fabulous dreams, about the next day which was sure to be as fun filled as the previous!! We had a great time!