"March Madness!"

This post is not about Basketball. No, "March Madness" at our house this month was just that, Madness! It felt like everyday this month we had something going on. Whether is was a doctor's appointment, dental appointment, celebration, service project, young women and young men activities, meetings, church lessons, dance lessons, singing lessons, family outings, date nights, house projects, and school. The list is endless. Here are pictures from our "March Madness"...

Poor Madisen had to get two teeth pulled. She did great though!

Helping out at the temple grounds and stake center. We had to remove all the covers off the flowers and pull out all the staples out of the ground.

Our ward volunteers

Madisen and Avery started music/singing lessons beginning of February and they love it so far. It's every Tuesday for 45 minutes. They are in different classes and are learning how to sing all kinds of songs. And they are being taught notes and cords too. They perform twice a year. So in May they will have their first recital! We are really excited for them and their love for music. 

They have also been taking dance lessons again. We tried dance in Texas and it didn't go so well, but here, they are liking it much more. Dance started back in October and Madisen and Avery switch every other week for an hour and learn different dance techniques that are taught by 2 friends of mine, for free! So grateful to these friends for giving freely of their time and talent to help teach my girls and many other young girls how to dance.

Hugs and snacks after class.

Melanie, their music teacher.

 The girls both have snacks in their mouths!

My parents came over from Pocatello and my dad put his invention, "Monkey Bars" in our garage. It looks so good and we have everything up and off the floor! It's clean and organized! Thanks so much Dad for all your work! We love it!

Ryan showing off his mad skills with the drill

Before

Crazy, dirty, unorganized

After!

Looks awesome!

 I love the food storage shelves on the back wall and also the bench by the back door to be able to sit down and put on shoes. 

Ryan's work space

Everything stored in it's proper place. Thanks again Dad! And my honey did a great job too!

I have also been working on a project this month, and hope to finish it soon. My best friend, Kimberly took apart her wedding dress and turned it into a baptism dress for her little girl, and I got this brilliant idea to do the same thing this year. However, my friend Kimberly is a great sewer and has made many wonderful things with a sewing machine. I, on the other hand, can count on one hand how many times I have used a sewing machine. So I was in for a rude awakening!  But I really wanted to do it. And even though I got a few doubts from some, I have managed to do just that. I took apart my wedding dress and made it into a dress for my girls to wear when they get baptized. It's not quite done yet, but I will show what I have got done so far.

It still needs to be hemmed at the bottom and the netting -is that what it's called? -needs to be cut down a lot. 

I cut down each piece and then sewed them back together. I didn't use a pattern-which I probably should have as one side is just slightly bigger then the other. The sleeves were a nightmare, but they came together ok and almost match on both sides. Just don't look too closely. :)

This is the back. I still need to sew the zipper to the other side. And I need to "gather" it more on the one side.

I have a month till Madisen gets baptized so that should give me a little bit of time to finish it.

Since Madisen is turning 8 soon she wanted to get her ears pierced. 

All smiles before getting them pierced...

And all smiles after getting them pierced! She was really brave!

Showing off her earrings she picked out.

We let her pick out more earrings after.

Madisen learned how to ride a bike last summer, but wasn't comfortable riding her bike very much.  We decided to give it another try after getting her ears pierced and she took off on her first try. I guess growing almost 3 inches this year has helped her feel more comfortable on it. Now she has been riding her bike non-stop up and down our street everyday since!

Good job Madisen! Way to keep trying and not give up! She has been growing leaps and bounds lately!

We are very proud of Emily and Avery too. Emily is really trying to learn how to write her name. And Avery's reading is really coming along. 

THAT was a very busy month!

 I hope the month of April is a little less Maddening! 

How was everyone else's, "March Madness"?