The McPherson Chronicles

Andrew desperately wants to do everything his sisters do...even cartwheels.

This happens pretty much every time we are in the car these days...

I have decided to teach the girls how to cook. They've always loved helping here and there but I thought it was time to give them more of the responsibility of the whole thing. Plus, it frees up two nights a week that I don't have to entirely plan, cook and clean-up the meal. The girls were super excited from the moment I mentioned it and told them how it would work. Tuesdays and Thursdays are the designated nights and Olivia takes Tuesdays and Lucy handles Thursdays. The rules are that they have to plan an entrée and 2 sides (one of which must be a vegetable), do or help with as much of it as possible and do the dishes afterwards. They also can't make the same thing week after week. I obviously am still very involved in this as they learn to use the oven, stove and knives but eventually I know they will be able to do it all on their own, which is very exciting for them and us! So far so good! We've had turkey tacos, spaghetti, fettucini alfredo, homemade pizza and ...

Some families from the Dual Language program organized a trip to Olvera Street in Los Angeles this past weekend. It worked out that we didn't have anything going on so we all were excited for the trip. The girls' friend Ally and her mom were the only other ones from the girls' school so it was fun to hang out with them. We all met up and took the Metrolink to Union Station and then walked across to Olvera Street. It was such a pretty day down there. It wasn't crowded when we arrived and we were guided around by a Spanish speaking tour guide who gave the whole tour in Spanish for the kids. Luckily I caught enough of it to understand what we were seeing and the kids and other parents filled in the gaps :)  After a delicious Mexican lunch with Ally and her mom, we let the kids do some shopping where they all picked out personalized guitars. I also got the girls some cute little dresses. Sweet little Lucy also surprised Olivia with a new fan, since Andrew had broken...

We took a last minute Spring Break getaway to Arizona to finish up the girls' week off school. All of our grand plans for things to do in SoCal went out the window when the entire weekend was supposed to be rainy. Wednesday night Kevin found and booked a resort in Tempe, Arizona and we got up Thursday, packed and headed out. We stayed at the Arizona Grand Resort which has a 7-acre water park on property and part of the room fees. It was the perfect trip! We spent nearly two full days at the water park where it was warm, sunny and the kids loved the lazy river, wave pool and just floating on the inner tubes. When we were done with the water park we ended up back in the hotel pools in the evening. Sarah, Tim and Zack even drove out to hang out with us and enjoy the water! The only two sad things were that the girls were too short for the water slides and on the first night the fire alarm went off at 3:30am. Luckily the hotel was very accommodating and more than compensated for the al...

Easter snuck up on us this year since it was so early and we've had a lot going on. It was a very low key Easter this year and probably just what we needed. We went to Mass in the morning and then over to Grandma & Grandpa's in the afternoon for egg hunting, hanging out and dinner. Last minute egg coloring Beautiful girls Checking out their baskets Candy for breakfast Reading clues in their Easter basket scavenger hunt Everyone found their baskets He LOVES The Little Blue Truck books Serious egg hunters I see eggie! Accidental twinsies Look, Auntie Mary! Egg hunting complete! Showing Great Grandma his eggs I can't believe it's already almost April! Kevin's on spring break this week and the girls are off next week. Not sure what we'll do with the time off yet but I'm sure we'll find something special to do at least for a few days. Pretty soon school will be over an...

The girls have been talking for at least 6 months about wanting a super hero birthday party. The girls were so anxious to wear their Bat Girl and Wonder Woman costumes for the party. They even let Lizzy borrow Super Girl :) Andrew wanted to get in on the pictures He adores Auntie Mary and followed her around for the whole party Wonder Woman is serious about cake I just love how happy they are in this picture.  Cutie Shane enjoying some cake All about the cake.  Little buddies! Cousin fun! Pie Face was a complete hit with the kids! It was a super fun party with cousins, family and friends. The girls loved all their super hero themed gifts, crafty stuff, clothes, jewely, games and water guns. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with us!