Let Freedom Ring

A few weeks ago as I was getting ready for church I glanced out the window and noticed the sprinklers were going off for the first time this year. Oh good, I thought. The sprinklers are actually working so far. (We have chronic problems with our sprinklers. Usually they spaz out in the middle of July while we are on vacation so we can come home to crispy weeds.) Two seconds after this thought crossed my mind, a second thought emerged. Followed by a third and fourth. Kyson loves water. And Kyson was dressed in his Sunday best. And Kyson can open the sliding glass door. Even when it's locked.

I wasted no time "sprinting" down the stairs. Sure enough, I saw him outside standing by the edge of the lawn. Phew. I made it just in the nick of time. Or so I thought.

He was already soaked.

Grumbling, I stripped him of everything but his diaper and threw the clothes in the dryer. Luckily, we had enough time to dry them. I went back upstairs to finish getting ready. Five minutes later, Lexi burst into the bathroom.

"Kyson is outside getting wet again!"

I followed her down the stairs and out the door. And yes, there he was. Stark neked. Huddled in the corner whispering gleefully, "Cooooold."

I was just glad he was thrifty enough to take his clean diaper off before running free! My good little wild man :).

Week 30

I am now officially over 30 weeks pregnant. Which means on Saturday I will be in the single digit count-down (9 weeks to be exact). It is at this point that I allow myself to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I start to feel like I am nearly there! Granted the last month is the longest. And seeing how it will be July, I am expecting an especially uncomfortable summer :( Here is a picture to commerate week 30. Kendri took it. Actually she took about 10 and this was the best we could do. I finally relented to the fact that I was probably the problem and not the photographer.

Here is a quick run-down of the pregnancy so far.

1. I passed my glucose-tolerance test with flying colors.

2. I have gained 18 pounds thus far.

3. I have been iron and vitamin D deficient for the last few months.

4. I have not been taking my iron and vitamin D supplements regularly, so I cannot act surprised by that.

5. I have to go to the the doctor every 2 weeks now. I think it's a waste of my time, so I've been trying to devise a plan to skip my next appointment and save me a week. Unfortunately, due to scheduling difficulties my devious plan has not yet become possible.

6. I wake up every night 2 or 3 times to have a party with my kleenex box. My allergies have kicked in and are in full gear.

7. Other than that (and the nasal congestion), I am still sleeping pretty good. I totally believe my "new" mattress is to thank.

8. My newest love is Greek yogurt with frozen blueberries. Ahhhhh.

9. My patience is not up to "Saint-like".

10. My muskrat eyes are back.

So, that's week 30 in a nutshell!

Hippity-Hoppity!

We started the morning off bright and early. Well, early anyway. I'm not so sure about bright. If you look out the windows you'll notice it's still gray outside. That's because we were up at 6:00 am. These little bunnies were excited! The Easter Bunny hid the baskets and here's Kyson just discovering his basket full of goodies. A definite favorite holiday for the sweet tooth! We went to church after our morning of baskets. I was "lucky" enough to be on of the speakers. But, actually, it was nice to be able to focus so much on the resurrection while I was preparing for the talk. So I won't complain!

Our little family. The sun was rather bright so excuse the squinty, watery, eyes. In case you are wondering, there is a belly sitting behind all the Easter dresses. In fact, it is getting rather large and I am surprised Kendri could even sit on my lap!

Here is Kyson with his cousin Kaitlyn. We couldn't get them to look at the camera but they are smiling! We are in the middle of a giant Easter Egg Hunt. But I still kept making the kids stop so I could snap some shots. Mean, I know. But we did have 120 hard boiled eggs hidden plus the plastic candy filled eggs. No one was hurting for eggs!

And yes, this is the best picture of the kids I could get. And yes, Kyson has a mouthful of chocolate. But what else is new? We had a great Easter and loved spending time with family!

Easter Birthday Party

Here we are at Party #2........this is the cousin party. The kids played "Pin the Easter Bunny" on Kendri. (I think. There were a few different shapes.) Anyway, here everyone is coloring a giant tracing of Kendri. In anticipation of sticking her with Easter shapes! Cousins.....Carson, Rachel, Lexi, Kendri, Anna.

The party wouldn't be complete without dying eggs........120 eggs. That's right, people. Go big or go home. Kyson probably dyed half of them. He wasn't picky about the color or the decorations. He could dip an egg in under 2 seconds and toss it into the egg crate without even looking. Natural calling? Perhaps. We'll see how it develops......;)

And one more sing-a-long with left over brownies. Whooo hoooo for parties!

Kendri Turns 5!

Kendri had a birthday this past week! And if you think 4 days of partying isn't enough then I don't know what is! We kicked off the celebration on Thursday (her actual birthday) by inviting her Joyschool class over for lunch. We had grilled cheese sandwiches, apples, and brownies that were cut out like Easter eggs and decorated. Most of the kids were not interested in lunch. Make that none of them were interested except Kendri. Everyone else just wanted to play.....but that's part of partying! Here is the birthday cake. Easter was so close, how could we not incorporate it into our theme? Peep, peep!

Later that night (after Lexi's softball game) we came home to open presents and have our own little family party. Get ready to blow!

A little blurry due to the huge inhalation that was required for 5, mark them - 5, candles. Which, by the way, took two breaths anyway ;) I guess candle blowing takes practice.

We decided to take a break on Friday and resume the party on Saturday. It was a combination of birthday and Easter festivities. We took the kids and some of their cousins to see "Hop". They all loved it........the favorite part for everyone was the bunny pooping jelly beans. Of course. I'll put some pictures in the next post from the Saturday party........

Kendri is growing, growing, growing. She is constantly saying her legs and arms ache so I am assuming they are growing pains. She is almost ready for size 6 and her little feet have nearly caught up to Lexi's in size! She loves her brother and sister. She entertains Kyson during the day and is Lexi's little playmate in the afternoon. She is always running errands for Lexi (just like a little sister usually ends up doing!) and likes to be my "secret little elf". She loves to surprise me by doing some sort of household chore. She likes to run and loves to play games. She has a very good memory and a very big appetite! She is still the big jokester in the family and says the funniest things. We love having her in our family! Happy Birthday!

Little Climber

Most parents would have a heart attack...........


but we're just used to it at this point.

Ad I am happy to report that we have had no broken bones at our house. As of yet.

Easter Sorrows

I have just witnessed one of the worst crimes committed in the history of Easter. It happened in the first grade classroom. I call it the "Massacre of Peeps." Here is the picture.

Massacre? you say. Yes. Notice how they are starting to dry up and wrinkle which in turn will render them completely inedible? I believe "massacre" is only fitting.

When Lexi was describing the project to me I had to stop her and clarify exactly what was going on.

"Wait. When you say "peeps" are you talking about the Marshmallow-Bite-From-Heaven that we enjoy every holiday season?"


Okay, maybe I didn't say that exactly. But that's what I was thinking.

She assured me that's what she was talking about. So then I had to clarify again.


"Ummm. Did you say you "glued" them on? With actual glue........as in not edible glue?"


(The answer was Yes. As in there is no way to enjoy this little treat while my children are busy sleeping. Gasp! I nearly had a heart attack.)


I'm still recuperating. This post is part of my recovery process.

Okay, now confession time. I have totally cut back on my Peeps intake this year. Not because I am pregnant and that would be the healthy thing to do. But because I am on a Peep strike. That's right people. S-t-r-i-k-e. They have raised their prices and downsized their product. I know. How could they? So I have only had a few (boxes ;) this year. But it seems to be backfiring. Unfortunately, my lack of business has not yet motivated anyone to add more peeps to the box. I'm not sure they've even noticed that they've lost my business. I mean, how could you not notice when your #1 consumer goes on strike? Irresponsible. And here we are with Easter in sight. Sigh.

They probably don't need me because they have first grade classrooms keeping them in business. Arrrrrg.