Finishing up Gma and Gpa's Visit

For the last day of their visit, Grandma and Grandpa did not disappoint! Since it was the kids' first day back from Spring Break, Christian went to preschool (it was swimming day!) and Emily did a half-day. Grandpa and Daddy went to visit Christian at school and Grandma went up and had fun with Emily in her class. (I stayed home while Kari took a nap.)

After some lunch, we all piled into our van and went to (where else?) the zoo! It was a bit overcast, but really, not too bad! We all had fun and got some great close ups of one of the gorillas. (They really are just the most amazing animals--the intelligence behind their eyes is just incredible.)

In this shot, the gorilla kept glancing out of the corners of his eyes to check out Kari (who's waving) and Christian. He had been looking at Emily until she ran around to get another view.

Grandma and Grandpa had to get back home Wednesday morning--a tearful good-bye was had by all, but we're all looking forward to this summer when everyone will be together again at our family reunion!

Thank you for visiting and for all of the wonderful times, treats, and love that you bring each time you come! We love you, Grandma and Grandpa!

Lincoln Children's Museum

Last week was Spring Break. As I have mentioned previously, the weather was pretty sub-par. However, it did give us a great excuse to head down to Lincoln for a visit to the Children's Museum down there. My mom came over and watched Kari and we went with our good friends, the Calhouns. (And, in case you're wondering, they're moving this fall. Yup, the military strikes again!) However, we're still making sure we have some fun together!

For anyone who has yet to make the trip down to Lincoln for a visit, I STRONGLY recommend it!! It is great. (Not at all the teeth-pulling experience that Omaha's museum can be!) The kids went from one thing to the next--we could've stayed all day! We'll definitely go back. Here are just a couple of the fun things that await us when we do return! Big Red Husker Zone (we're in Lincoln, after all!)
"Gopher" holes/tunnels--so cool!

A handsome knight! Emily and Molly--kickin' it!

Two astronauts--ready for take off, Houston!

These are just a few of the pictures I took. Like I said, there was just so much and I couldn't post it all. Go check it out for yourself!

Birthday Par-tae!

Happy Birthday, Cubby!

We got to celebrate Cubby's birthday with his parents, my family, and some good friends. We had originally planned to do a family carnival, but, it rained...as it had for the past week (Spring Break week, no less!). But, we made lemonade out of lemons and moved the party indoors. It was so much fun! The kids all got to play and go crazy (much needed energy release w/all of the rain!) and we had a great time celebrating Cubby's big day.

I put together a little photo display of Cubby "through the years" and put out photo albums of him as well (childhood, mission, wedding, family shots, etc..).

Crazy times!

Party time, kids!

Make a wish! (Possibly that those candles read 23 rather than 32???)

Happy Birthday, Honey! I love you!

Easter 2011

Happy Easter!

Cubby's parents came in for the weekend and we have loved having Grandma and Grandpa here!

We had a wonderful day--the Easter Bunny came and we had a fun time watching the children find all of the eggs that he'd "hidden." The kids cleaned up (especially Christian--check out his full basket!)

Kari wasn't really into the whole finding the egg thing, but she did enjoy opening the eggs up and seeing the fun surprises inside! (We did get her dark chocolate that she could eat...although she hasn't wanted to try anything yet!) We also let her try a jellybean, and, just as we thought, she didn't like them. Oh well, better for her food allergies anyway.

After the egg triumph, we got all fancied up for church. Emily let me put hot rollers in her hair and she and Kari were both so tickled that they got to dress up in coordinating "princess" gowns. They looked just sooo beautiful! (And Christian was looking quite dapper as well!)


Here is out attempt at a family photo. Typical. Even on Easter.
Here are Grandma and Grandpa with the kiddos. Christian still insisted on making faces, Kari was tired (before church--poor girl!), Emily was lovely :-).

After naps, we headed over to my mom's for dinner. The sun actually came out for a bit (gasp!) and Auntie Erin had "hidden" a fun treat for the kiddos outside.

We hope everyone had a very "Hoppy" Easter! (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

It Happened Again!

Going...
Going...

GONE.

Rule of Three

My brother's birthday was this past Monday. Here's a funny story:

Every year, Kyle gets "fart" cards. From everyone. So, this year, I thought, "Kyle gets fart cards every year. I think I'll look for something different." I brought the kiddos to Target and we all got a giggle out of two wiener dogs, playing the Wii. (The captions: Wii-ener dogs; and, I hope your birthday is a Wii-nner!) Emily and Christian both completely got the joke.

Fast forward to Kyle opening his cards and gifts. First card he opens is the Wii-ener card. I figured he had opened ours first. Nope. From my mom. Second card, also the Wii-ener card. From us? Nope. From Harvey. Finally, the third Wii-ener card--from us.

Apparently, I was not the only one trying not to do the "fart" card this year.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Love, Wii-ener.

The Silver Lining

Moving. It's a part of life. Especially if you are, or live close to, a military base like we do. Sometimes, even our friends who aren't military move away. But, as hard as it is to say good-bye, there are times when you get to see the old friends again! And, for us, that's what we got to do this weekend. Emily's life-long (all 6 yrs!) friend, Logan, and his family, came into town for the evening on Saturday. We had so much fun!!! The kids all played and completely wore each other out. We were grateful that they were able to come into town---even if it was only for an evening.

Then, on Monday, we starting taking part in some "last hurrah's" for our good friends, the DeYoungs. Emily met Nicholas during their first year of preschool and we've been friends with their family ever since. (It's especially funny when we're all out together b/c there are 8 little blonde kiddos and it's hard to tell who belongs to whom!)

Being military, they are moving away next month and so we all met up at the zoo to get some quality playtime in before we have to say good-bye (sniff, sniff!) (This week is Spring Break for our school district so all of the "big kids" are out.) The weather was chilly, but that just meant it wasn't crowded and we were able to let the kids run a bit more. We will miss them terribly, (Julie has been such a fabulous friend to me...my heart is breaking!) but, we hope that, like little Logan and his clan, we'll be able to see them again soon...even if it means we'll "have" to take a vacation to go visit!

Eggs

This weekend was full of eggs! (All good eggs, thank goodness!) On Saturday afternoon, Cubby and Harvey took Emily and Christian to the city's Easter Egg Hunt. There were 15,000 eggs and the kids came home with basket fulls of plastic fun (mostly tootsie rolls and junk toys :-) .)

Sunday after dinner brought us over to Grandma Karen's house where we, of course, dyed some eggs.

Aren't they lovely??

{Another} Beautiful Day!

Have I mentioned how much I love Spring?? It was GORGEOUS today--a top ten day for sure. And, true to form, we spent it outside!! We ate lunch out on our porch and then I got out some fun "new" water toys (not really new, but new in the sense that this was the first time we've gotten the water out this year!). We were seriously out there until it was time for naps! Fab.u.lous.

Christian loved playing with his sharks, lizards, and other animals that all enjoyed going for a swim.

Kari had fun giving her baby doll a bath--the little changing table opens up to a sink/bath for the dollies. Soooo cute!

Backyard Adventures

We've had some fabulously warm weather as of late (as in, we had to turn the air on...in April). This makes for some great times, though, in our own backyard! I busted out our camera (along with the sunscreen!) Saturday morning and caught some of our fun little moments. (Not the most "meaty" post, I realize, but the pictures turned out cute and I wanted to include them in a future blog book!) Emily told me,"Mommy, I smell summer!" (She definitely knows the smell of sunscreen!) Christian was so excited to wear his "short pants" as he likes to call them.

Cubby was mowing the lawn and Kari wanted to help.

Grassy, green feet! Ah, Spring! "Look at my muscles!!!" Fun Timers!

Homemade Playdoh

Today, it rained. Welcome Spring! Actually, it was great. Not only because everything is getting green, or that the air smells wonderful. But, it gave us a good chance to just take it easy! When the weather is beautiful (as it has been all week...and the weekend before that!), I can't stand to be inside. So, naturally we're all totally exhausted and needed a "day off" from nature!

I decided to make some homemade playdoh. It was a great success! The kids loved how soft it was (and how good it smelled--Kool-aid!). They also liked how much there was--a lot more to play with than what you get in the store-bought kind. Plus, it was super easy and fast to make.

Here you go:

1 c. flour

1/2 c. salt

3 T. vegetable oil

1 pkg Kool-aid

1 c. boiling water

Mix first four ingredients. Add water and knead (with a wooden spoon b/c it will be warm) into a soft dough. It takes about 2 mins to cool before the kids can play with it.

Kari also got in on some of the fun. She loved playing with all of the regular play-doh and cookie cutters.