Sooooooooo big!!

Morgan got a Clorox wipe and helped me wipe down all of their toys on Monday (Jaden helped, too)

This was lunch today- Chicken and rice. Morgan sat up there like a big girl with all of the rest of the kids, and she fed herself :0)

This just in: Money CAN buy happiness!!!!

THURSDAY, March 20 (HealthDay News) -- Money can buy happiness, at least when you spend it on others.
That's the conclusion of a study appearing in the March 21 issue of Science. It found that spending on others brings people greater satisfaction than buying things for themselves.
What's more, most people seemed unaware of this hidden key to happiness, the researchers said.
"It's tied to 'pro-social' spending," said Elizabeth Dunn, lead author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
"Most research has looked at the relationship of how much people make and how happy they are," Dunn said. "We examined what they did with it. It's an obvious question but it hasn't been tackled."
Hikes in income can help boost happiness, but the effect is weak, prior studies have found. Research have also found that as the average income rises within a society, people's reported levels of happiness remain relatively static.
So is there something people could be doing with their cash to boost their mental well-being? The authors looked at the question in three different ways.
First they asked a nationally representative sample of 632 Americans (roughly equivalent between genders) to rate their happiness, report their annual income and estimate how much they spend on a typical month on different items, including gifts to others and donations to charity.
Those who had more of this "pro-social" spending were also happier, the team found.
Then they asked 16 employees to rate their happiness both before and after receiving profit-sharing from the company they worked for.
Those who gave away more of their bonus in a pro-social manner were, again, happier and this was true no matter how little or how grand the bonus.
Finally, 46 participants were given an envelope containing either $5 or $20 and asked to spend it that day. Individuals were randomly assigned to spend the money on personal items, or on a gift for someone else, including a charitable donation.
Those who spent their money on others reported greater "post-windfall" happiness than those who were looking out for themselves.
Still, most people spend more money on themselves than others (partly understandable given the influx of bills most households experience), but the authors suggest that as little as $5 may be enough to reap a happiness dividend.
"Reaching out and doing things for other people allows you to kind of create a community," said Dr. Alan Manevitz, a clinical psychiatrist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. "Social networks, we know, make people happier. It's all about creating social networks and community ties and having a sense of self that you feel is worthwhile so money therefore can be used in service of that."
And money is just one resource that can be used to that end, Dunn said. "All kinds of resources may be beneficial for our well-being," she added.

Easter morning

We have wonderful family and friends! We are so grateful! They made sure that the Easter bunny came to our home. The girls were so excited and happy, as you can tell. Jaden even said, "Oh, chocolate! Thank you, Easter Bunny!!!" It reminded me of that old commercial, I can't remember what it was for... Was it for Cadbury? Where the child says, "thank you, Easter Bunny" Anyway, unfortunately, it was spontaneous, and I didn't get it on video, sorry. But you can see some other good footage of their Easter morning. We hope all of you are enjoying your Easter!

Coloring Easter Eggs yesterday

The girls colored Easter eggs for the first time last night. They had fun, but it was hard to get Morgan to stop banging them on the table. Hahahahaha!! She cracked a couple of them. Of course, they, also, got food coloring all over their hands.

A look back- 1978

This is me at 4 years old, and my brother Bryan is 2 years old. The picture has a strange tint to it because it's old, but at least you get the idea.

Easter Egg Hunt (Part 3 of 3 Posts)

Easter Pony Rides (Part 2 of 3 posts)

After the petting zoo, the girls went on the pony rides. Morgan wasn't so sure about the pony at first, but then, she was ok. After that, we took a break and ate crackers and drank Gatorade in the car, as we waited for the Easter egg hunt. The Easter egg hunt started at 12 noon. By that time, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Amy and baby James were there.

Easter Petting Zoo (Part 1 of 3 posts)

We had fun today!! I am making this into 3 posts because we did so much. We went to an Easter festival. We got there at 10:30 AM, even though it wasn't supposed to start until 11AM. It's a good thing that we got there early because they let everyone in anyway, and there were no lines!! At 11AM, it was packed! We went to the police station area first. They gave out police stuff (badge stickers, water bottles, bags, etc). Then, we went to another part where they gave the girls some bunny ears. After that, Jaden went into a bouce house, while I took Morgan to the petting zoo. When Jaden was done at the bounce house, she came into the petting zoo with us. Morgan wasn't even afraid of the animals. It was great! We stayed in with the animals for about 20 minutes or so.

I am so proud!!

Wow! Jaden has been doing so many things by leaps and bounds lately. Just a few minutes ago, I was unloading the dishwasher. She saw me and said, "Mommy, can I do that?" I almost said, "Huh?", but I didn't want her to think it was something I wasn't enjoying myself. Hahahahaha!! So, I said, "Sure you can!" She helped me unload everything, and then, I asked her if she would like to help me load it. She loaded the plates, cups, and silverware!! (I just had to make some minor adjustments to her work) Then, she put in the dish washing liquid, and started up the machine! Wow!!

Sugar cookies for Easter

They sell food coloring markers now, so it seemed like a good idea to make some sugar cookies and color them with the markers. However, we found out 3 things that we did thing of (I am speaking of Grandma Leslie and myself). First, these markers do not write well on sugar cookies, unless you put the what sugary coating on them first (which I did not have). Second, they marker gets on your skin, and it doesn't come off like washable markers do (so now everyone has colored fingers). Third, some of the kids didn't want to eat the cookies because they had marker on them. Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Survey sites

Here are two of my favorite survey sites. There are other good ones, but these are my favorites. I will post more sites at a later date.
*This site is called Survey Spot. You can take several surveys a day. Some of them pay a few dollars, and some are just entries into the drawing. However, if you do these surveys regularly, you will see the money build up. After about a month or so, you can go to your account and see what money you can withdraw. You have to have at least $5 to get a payment, but you can let it build as much as you want. You have to request the payment, and you can choose a check or to give it to charity. Here is an example of earnings. On 2/15, I requested payment of $15, but by 3/4, I already had a nice balance. So, I requested a payment again on 3/4 for $26. Today, I noticed that I have another $25, so I requested a payment again. It's not grand theft money, but it is nice pocket change (and you only have to put it on your taxes if you exceed $599 for the year with one company).
https://www.surveyspot.com/join/Join.faces?VendorID=33&OptInSource=usgen&locale=en_US
*This site is called Zoom Panel. You earn points for the surveys that you take, and you redeem them for prizes. To give you an idea of what you can earn, I have earned 28,000 points (I have been doing it for awhile now, though). I usually choose my prizes around the point when I get to 2,000 points. However, if I were to wait until I had 10,000 points racked up, I could get a 5 mega pixel digital camera. For 2,500 points, I get a 1 GB SD card to go in my camera, so I haven't had to buy an SD card in a long time (even with all of the pictures I take). I have sent a referral to most of you. If I missed sending it to you, send me and e-mail, and I will send you the link. The referral gives me more chances to get points, too.

Wiggling the sillies out

Do you know the Wiggles? We went to the Wiggly Play Center today. The kids all had fun, as you can see!! A lot of my pictures did not turn out because I didn't put it on "action", so they came out blurry- They were just moving so fast!! Thank goodness Grandma Leslie came with me because there is no way that I could have kept up without here. There were so many different areas for them to play and so much to do. Morgan is the only one of them that likes the Wiggles, but the play area was fun for everyone. They even have a toddler area, and the big kids were not allowed, so it was a rare moment that Morgan was able to play without being plowed over. I brought their lunch with us, and actually, their breakfast, too. I gave them each a little baggie of cinnamon rolls (the bite size squares) and sippy cups of orange juice as soon as we got in the car. They ate their breakfast and watch the Bee Movie on our 30 mile car trip. When we got there, they played for almost 2 hours. Then, after we got them all back into their car seats, I handed them their lunches (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and veggie chips). We got home just in time for a nap. Whew!