Easter Celebrations

Time just seems to be flying by these days...I have many pics to post in order to get caught up...so I'll do my best to give at least a snapshot of all we've had going on lately.

Of couse, no Easter Celebration is complete without coloring some Easter Eggs. 

Each year, the ECC also does a great job providing different activities to help the kids celebrate Easter.  Alexia was off of school the Thursday before Easter, so she was able to go into Megan's class with me and help with the Easter party.  The party kicked off with an Easter Egg Hunt...and then we all went inside for some games and snacks.  Here are a few pics of the Easter Egg Hunt.  Alexia filled her egg carton in about 10 seconds, but then was great about helping some of the younger kiddos find all the eggs needed to fill their cartons, too.



I still love seeing the girls in these colorful matching sweaters :)



Megan has made some great friends this year at preschool.  Here she is with Bekka, who is such a little cutie.  And below, she is posing with Cameron and Evan...these two boys absolutely ADORE Megan and greet her every morning with hugs as they chant, "Megan is here, Megan is here." 

The final traditional celebration of Easter for us involved Easter Baskets.  This year, we decided to hide the girls baskets and sent them on the hunt for them.  Scott came up with the hiding place and figured the girls would look for over an hour before they found them.  Well,  that hour turned into about a 4-minute hunt.

After quickly (& secretly) coming up with their gameplan on where they were going to look first, they headed to the laundry room...

Random Everyday Moments

So, life has been pretty crazy for us in the Kaplin household the past couple of months...but I wanted to post a few pics of some of the things we've been up to lately!  Most of these pics reflect our random everyday kind of moments, which make life fun and enjoyable :)

Of course, some of our most favorite everyday moments involve spending time with friends!

The girls have really enjoyed painting lately, especially when I give them the go-ahead to paint each other!!
Now, most of the time...their painting of each other involves painting faces and hands...

However, on one particular day...they decided to be extra creative and, after creating splatter paint art...they expanded their "canvas" to include their legs and feet!!

Megan enjoys any chance to hang out with Daddy...here she is helping Daddy make some eggs before church!

And, of course...an afternoon at the park in the Spring is always a huge hit...we've been there a lot lately and have been loving every minute of it!!

We also enjoyed an evening while Grandma & Papa were in town visiting going to the ECC's Annual Family Fun Night.  The girls always having a great time doing some of their favorite activities, games, face painting, crafts, etc.

Megan was also THRILLED to run into a girl she lovingly refers to as "Brookie", who is the older sister of one of her preschool friends, Vanessa.  She bonded with Brooke a few weeks ago at Vanessa's birthday party and she would not leave Brooke's side the whole night.  Alexia also enjoyed hanging out with Vanessa's older brother.

The funniest, most eye-opening moment, in the evening happened while we were looking at all of Megan's artwork and projects that were hung on the wall in the fellowship hall.  Each preschooler picked 3 or 4 pieces to have displayed...below is the one that will definitely be added to Megan's preschool scrapbook!

Well...at least she is clear about her top priorities...lol.


Every once in a while, it strikes me just how fast the girls are growing up...here are a few recent snapshots of them that have really shown this reality!  I am truly treasuring these years even though they are flying by!



January Happenings

SO...another month has gone by without any blogging, so here is what we've been up to this month! 

Here are the girls kicking off New Years Day, 2012...we did go to church that day, so they were excited to get dressed up for church a little more than normal.  These girls are getting so big...it is just crazy to me how fast time is flying by!

January has brought us 30 degree temps and most recently 60 degree temps...and our activities have definitely reflected that.  The girls have spent a lot of time with indoor play dates and have had a few days of going to the playground and riding bikes.  Although like all siblings, they do have their moments, these two really have become such good friends.  More and more, Megan is entering that stage of wanting to be just like her Big Sister. 

Last month, Alexia began taking a Hip Hop Jr. Class at a local Christian Dance School.  She really enjoys it :)  A few weeks ago, they had Parent Observation Day, where we could sit in and watch them practice.  Of course, I had to snatch a few pics...

This next picture turned out blurry, but her smile when she caught me taking pics of her was priceless.  She just finished her 2nd month of classes and I'm really proud of her for sticking with it.  She started this class 4 months after everyone else in the class and she has done a great job of catching up.  She's still trying to figure out where she fits in socially since many of the girls had already developed friendships, but she refuses to give up.  She is kind, friendly and outgoing towards all of the girls and I'm confident she'll have a new BFF in the class before too long.

Despite how fast these girls are growing up, they still always enjoy "Daddy Time."  Reading books together with Daddy has become one of Alexia's favorite parts of her day...and of course, a spontaneous silly moment and tickling attack with Daddy before bed ranks at the top of their list as well :) 

We did get some snow a couple of weeks ago, which the girls enjoyed as well.  Megan only wanted to "enjoy" the snow for a short time here at home, but Alexia went sled riding Saturday and Sunday that weekend.

I just love that little face (and the precious girl to whom it belongs) :)

On Saturday, Alexia went sled riding with Daddy at "Cemetary Hill" over at Messiah.  Then on Sunday, I took Alexia and Alayna back for some more sled riding fun.  Megan opted for a play date at Grady's house, which was probably a good decision, given the size of the hill.  The girls had a fantastic time and climbed that hill at least 10 more times than I thought they would.  They loved it :)  They did have a few crashes and flips, too (which I did manage to catch on video), but no major injuries occurred, thankfully!!

Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to have a house full of kids and company the entire day.  Alayna and Grady spent the day with us until about 7:30 pm and then Megan went to Grady's house for her first "friend sleepover" and Alayna spent the night here with Alexia.  Later that evening, Grandma and Grandmpa, Steph, Jillian, Josh, Tracy, Andrea and Chuck came for a visit.  So, we definitely had a full house and the kids all had a great time.

Here is a breakdown of their activities for the day:

It started with a tea party on the back patio (no, it was not warm enough to be having a tea party on the back patio...but they had their minds set on it...so, yes, they froze out there, yet refused to admit how cold they were...crazy kids!)  I'm sure I never did anything like that when I was a kid...

And then they came inside and warmed up with some jumping on the trampoline...

Megan and Grady warmed up by dancing and doing the motions to a worship CD together.  This is something that they always want to do when they get together at our house.  It is priceless to watch!!

Then it was time to play dress-up.  Grady wanted to put a princess dress on so badly, but the girls all talked him out of it.  I think I will have to invest in a Prince Costume to have on hand for when Grady is over to play.

After playing downstairs for awhile, the girls came upstairs to do bead necklaces and bracelets.  This seemed like a precious moment to catch on camera.

Megan and Grady wanted to paint...this is probably one of Mommy's LEAST favorite activites, but they did a great job overall, with only a small amount of paint ending up on the walls and floor. 

Then, we did a round of board games...Connect 4, Operation, Eye Spy Eagle Eye, and Megan's favorite game of all...Zingo!!

The girls got a Karaoke Machine for Christmas...Megan and Grady had fun with this as they took turns singing different parts of their favorite Dora songs.

Here Alexia and Alayna are proudly posing in front of their finger painting creations.  Alexia took her painting to church the next day and gave it to her Sunday School Teachers, Coach Mike and Coach Brandy, who were very touched.

So, if all of that wasn't enough fun for one day...we still had an evening of more fun with Grandparents, Aunts and Cousins.  Here are the kiddos bombarding Aunt Andrea with hugs when she arrived!

We made hot dogs and french fries/tater tots for the kids to eat and here is a reflection of how dinnertime went...

Finally, we wrapped up the day with some painting nails...

Some more karaoke performances with glo stick necklaces and bracelets...

Even Josh tried to join in on the fun...although I think he was starting to fade a bit by this point.

While our disco party was going on, Miss Laura came to pick up Megan and Grady...it was a strange feeling sending my little Megs off to her first friend sleepover.  Fingers crossed that she would make it through the night!!

And, after saying good bye to Megan and Grady, we ended the evening with a few rounds of Uno with all the girls and Aunt Tracy :)

Wow...just blogging about that day made me exhuasted...lol.  Ya know, sometimes when I take on this kind of a day I think I must have lost my mind, and yet...the kids played so amazingly well with each other all day and I know I am helping to create wonderful memories for them that will last a lifetime.  I feel thankful to have a home where we can enjoy the company of such great family and friends!!

So...you may be wondering how the sleepover went?  Well, it took Megan quite awhile to settle down to sleep and Alexia and Alayna must have layed in Alexia's bed chatting and giggling until almost 10 pm...but all 4 of them had a great time and have asked to do it again very soon!

Here are two sleepy girls, who decided they needed to get up at 7:02 a.m. on Sunday morning because they were starving...really??  I was hoping for at least another hour of sleep.  Oh well, such is the wonderful job of being a mom!!