Easter Ready

Poor Leah thought yesterday was the Easter Egg hunt. Oh wait, she's just practicing! I remember Lexi at this age, she was so much fun at Easter time. Leah will be too. At least we know she's capable of carrying her own bucket around!

Another One Bites the Dust

I can't believe it's empty already. It seems like just yesterday I put a full one out. Maybe it was yesterday. I will be really happy when this cold and flu season is over. Until then, time to go shopping.

Apple of my Eye

Trey loves apples. Any kind. He asks every day, sometimes more than once, if he can have an apple. He usually finishes them. He even puts the cores in the garbage...now.

A mother's ramblings

Nostalgic moments don't hit me very often, but when they do, watch out. Something as simple as watching Lexi practice spelling words with Dave brought back all kinds of memories. I can't believe it's been 5+ years since I sat watching Zach in that very same spot going over words with Dave the night before a spelling test. There's no way time could have passed so quickly. I look at my son, almost grown, and think "Where is that little boy who could study a word list one night and ace the test the next day?" I know where he is. He is now taking ITBS tests and discussing algebra questions with Dave the next day. He, just last night, talked me into DQ because he stuck out a season of wrestling after we gave him the option of quitting. He wears a size ten shoe. Just yesterday, I said "When did you get taller than me?" and he said with a shy little smile, "I don't know".

And don't get me started on Lexi. I recently dreamed she was 1 year old like Leah is now. Man, I miss playing with her and and I miss her chubby little cheeks. All the animal sounds we taught her and what a deer says (grunt). And look at her now, she's still cute and fun to play with although her cheeks are thinner :) She's as sharp as a tack when it comes to school.

Trey will soon be in Kindergarten and practices reading words whenever he can. He tells the funniest stories and entertains his preschool teachers constantly. He gets bored at home with me but I think we will both miss our time together next year.

It seems like just yesterday that I was constantly feeding and holding and cuddling Leah. Right now, she is trying to cut her 13th tooth, eats food only if she has a fork to use by herself, and has no time to cuddle because she walks (and runs) everywhere.

That's a little more Christmas letterish than I meant to get today. Since I didn't send one out this year, maybe that's a good thing!

Handstand

Stretch!

Tumbler Girl

Lexi's tumbling class had parent visitation last night. Lexi and her cousin Shelby are in the same class so that's fun.

Valentine Girls

A work day

On Saturday we all went to the Hewlett's to work on their basement. They are doing a complete remodel and Dave and Zach have been helping to hang sheetrock. Our kids love going there because they get to do stuff they don't normally get to do. Trey loves to play Caleb's video games. Zach, Lexi and Trey all got to walk to the dollar store with Bethany.

Mark and Tracy seemed pleased with the work they were able to accomplish. We had fun day.

A Valentine's Sleepover

Shelby came to spend the night on friday. We were excited to have her.

She gets a bit overwhelmed with the noise level in our house but the girls had fun together, of course.

Dentist

So this morning by 7:30 we were on our way to the dentist! Our kids all did great (although Alexis is the only one who actually asks to go to the dentist, she loves to go!) We didn't have any cavities this time. Dr. Doyle went on and on about how well they are all doing. Trey has two loose teeth and Lexi needs an orthodontist consult. She doesn't have enough space for her adult teeth to come in. Not that we'll start braces right now, just see what they say. The kids were back to school only ten minutes late. Pretty good, I say!

Sunny!

It was a beautiful day here. Only 47 but it felt like summer after what we've had. We just had to take a walk!

Very muddy- I was glad I had told Trey to wear his mud boots. At one point I actually told him to walk through the puddles to clear off Garrett's muddy wheels.

My Scrappy Weekend

I had a blast last weekend! I've been a scrapbooker for a long time, but I've never been to a crop before. I've scrapped with my friends lots of times but never with an organized group. My sister-in-law, Valerie, invited me to Des Moines to scrap with her from 12 to 12 on Friday and 9 to 9 on Saturday. Talk about a long weekend. But I had a wonderful time. A store put it on so if we got tired of sitting or needed a break, we went to the shop. I had a really good time with Val. We hadn't spent a whole lot of time together lately, so it was nice to catch up. We made some new friends too! I'm looking forward to doing that again with my sisters-in-law or sisters! Have supplies, will travel!

My Buddy Zach

Hey, Leah here. This is my big brother Zach. I love him a lot and he loves me a lot too. He carries me around. He doesn't smother me. He's just the greatest. When I was sick for my birthday, he held me the whole time. I didn't even want my mom or dad. Only Zach. Because I love him. He's my buddy.

The girls!

Janie, Lexi and Leah

Trey and his friend Mr. Tim

Tim, Teri and the boys

Super Bowl

We had a Super Bowl party last night with our friends the Adams and our new friend Tim the drummer from our church. We made some awesome sub sandwiches from a recipe Dave found in the paper. (We have a joke about him reading things in the paper because he's never read the paper regularly and now he does every day at school :)) If anyone wants a yummy, healthy sub recipe I've got just the one for you. Zach got to go to the church for their annual Jr. and Sr. High Super Bowl Party. He loved it and was so pumped when he came home. The youth pastor had asked him to share his testimony during the half-time show and he did really well with that too. I'm so proud of him.