The Ducote Family: March!

March has come and gone already, which is crazy to believe, and as I look through these pictures the ones from the beginning of the month just seem like forever ago.

We began the month with Claire's 4th birthday party at ASI gymnastics on March 1st. Joseph and Ella had such a great time here and I am thinking about signing them both up for classes here this summer.

All of the "big" kids were in line for the rope swing and Ella was hanging around there and then she started acting as if she wanted to go on and sure enough she did! She jumped up there like she had done it a hundred times before and loved it!

At the park on March 4th

Joseph with one of his building masterpieces on March 8th

It seems as if Joseph has grown a half a foot since his birthday and is just acting so grown up these days. We are always laughing at the things he is saying, but at the same time are so impressed at how much he is learning. He has such a great memory and enjoys reading books with me now since he has so many of them memorized. A few nights ago we were talking about playing a game and he says, "I won fair and square!" It made Rich and I laugh! He likes playing 20 questions in the car and still is always requesting stories to be told to him while driving.

Ella has been wanting to pull Julia in the wagon to and from the park. Yes, that's right, Julia is now big enough to ride in the wagon!!! How did that happen?!?

Check out Ella's outfit! Two skirts (one is always with tulle) and the boots! And, she still barely ever tolerates her hair in pigtails or in a ponytail...this girl!! She is so proud to pull Julia though!

Going for a ride together on March 16th.

Joseph loving the Razor scooter that Nonna and Pop Pop gave to him for Christmas.

On March 17th we played at Teddy Bear Park for a few hours in the morning in between doctor appointments which was a nice change of scenery since we hadn't been to this park since probably last year.

What a belly!! And, unfortunately, this is the best (and only) picture that I have of Julia in her first St. Patrick's Day outfit. I had shirts for all three of them but Ella wanted to wear hers the day before and it got filthy at the park that evening and didn't wash it that night so hers was dirty, Joseph insisted on wearing just a green shirt that he wanted to pick out and Julia ended up having a HUGE blowout at the doctor's office (envision all over clothes, carseat, blanket, paci, etc) so she was wearing a different outfit by noon. Oh well...next year!

On March 19th we had a special visit from the MacDonald family who we hadn't seen for 5 years!! We lived in Hawaii together but they moved to Germany in 2010 when I was pregnant with Joseph. They now live in Missouri and were spending their spring break traveling through the great state of Texas and we were fortunate enough to have them spend the night with us. We had such a great visit with their family. Their children (Hailey, Kailee and Luke) are so well mannered, fun, and friendly kids and Joseph, Ella and Julia loved having them here. Rich and I both had a really nice visit with Claudia and Leevi and we hope to see their family again before another 5 years go by!

On Friday morning, Hailey and Kailee were up early and immediately started playing with Joseph and taking care of Julia-Rich and I were tempted to go back to bed :)

Pretty awesome picture of all 6 of them!

On Friday we headed to Pump it Up, an indoor inflatable place, so the MacDonald kids could get some energy out before their car ride to Dallas and so my kids could just get some energy out.

At Pump it Up, Hailey used her money for a turn in the Wind Tunnel so all of the kids joined her and loved it. It's pretty cute seeing the different expressions on their faces as the "wind" picked up!

Love how Joseph's arm is around Ella in this one!

After bath pictures on March 21st

Just a typical day with Ella! Lots of bags/purses/backpacks and always wearing my shoes and wearing my necklaces!

Both girls had on polo dresses so attempted to get a decent picture of them together but not much luck. I guess that is what happens when I attempt pictures before naptime!

"Ummm, mom, I'm pretty sure Ella is crazy!"Definitely a good kind of crazy though!

Ella's wide mouth smiles were her trying to get Julia excited to smile and it finally worked! Ella's enthusiasm for life is definitely contagious!!

I mean, really, just look at that chub on her arms!!!

Joseph started soccer on March 25th and we requested to be on the same time with Alexandra which keeps the whole family happy! Alex and Joseph love soccer together, Victoria and Ella have fun on the sidelines, Leti and I can chat while watching the game and kids and Rich and Ricky get to catch up while helping with the coach. Their first game is April 11th so I'll have plenty of pictures from then but for now I just have this of Ella pushing Victoria around the field!

On our way to Northshore Park on March 26th I had to snap a picture of Ella's outfit-the picture doesn't do it justice but she is wearing two tulle skirts today, one is camo and the other is pink, turquoise, purple and very sparkly and to top it off her socks were red, white and blue! She is a girl with many different sides!

Victoria and Ella having fun and rolling around on March 27th at boot camp.

Julia and her buddy, Kannon, both looking so grown up at boot camp on March 30th. The past few weeks have been perfect boot camp weather!

March seemed extra busy because I was the co-chair for our church's Easter egg hunt so with the hunt on March 28th I was up to my ears in Easter eggs the weeks prior to it. It ended up being a great volunteer opportunity and I really enjoyed working with the other co-chair on the event. The egg hunt was a success and I have received a lot of positive feedback on it. It consisted of 5000 filled eggs (thankfully we worked with 5th and 6th graders from our parish to fill them so I didn't have to fill them by myself!), bounce houses, lots of games, Chick Fil A, balloon twisting, Kona Ice and lots of other Easter fun. Joseph had to try on the costume for the Easter bunny "helper" while it was at our house before the hunt.

And, finally, it was another beautiful day on Sunday, March 29th so I decided to attempt to get a nice, spring picture after church. This picture foreshadows what I actually got but I have to include them all because their facial expressions make me laugh and hopefully one day (in the not so distant future) I will succeed in getting a decent picture of all three of them!