Sleepy Baby

Leah has been really sick this past week. Runny nose, sneezing, coughing and a slight, low grade, off and on temp. That's why when I saw her asleep outside on the porch, I was surprised, but not too surprised.

Lighter than...air? Again?

Conversation we had this morning.

Me: Trey, you need to take your lunch in a paper sack today since you are going on your field trip to Vanderveer.
Trey: Yes! Then I'll be able to run really, really fast.
Me: What does that have to do with your lunch?
Trey: I won't have to carry my big lunch box and I can run faster!

Do you see a theme developing here?

Is it because he's a boy?

cousins

My kids have great relationships with all of their cousins. I'm so thankful that they enjoy being together. They constantly ask about cousins near and far. Growing up, I was close with some of my cousins but certaintly not all. One of my favorite things to do when we are with cousins on either side of the family, is to watch the interaction of the different ages. I want my kids to be close to and be able to interact with lots of different cousins when they get older. Not just the ones closest to them in age. They have a great start!

These pictures are from Easter this year.

This is my side of the family and there are 13 more who don't live close enough to be home for Easter.

These are Dave's parents with all the grandkids. And one more will be added this summer!

This is the time of year when we start looking forward to the summer and trips we will be taking to see cousins. Our kids get so excited they can hardly stand themselves!

Pet or Pest?

I found Leah up in Lexi's bed today. Knowing there are a million girl things in that bed that she shouldn't have, I was relieved to find she had the one toy that's ok.

Me: Leah, you need to come down. Do you want to bring the little pet thing down with you to play with?

Leah: Yes! Zhu zhu!

The thing gives me the creeps.

Mommy's Little Helper

This is really cute and all until you realize what the job was. I was sweeping the sidewalks off so I could powerwash all the dirt off.

She was coming along behind me and dumping shovels full of dirt back on the sidewalk.

Whoa, nice trench!

Name that movie.

We've had quite the project going on over here. Over spring break, we hired Dale Ellsworth (didn't he go to school with my sisters?) to come with his backhoe and dig a trench around our house. 7 foot deep and 3 foot wide.

We've always had water issues in our basement. Like, I mean, water that runs through like a river almost year round. It has progressively gotten worse over the years. We have a floor drain so at least it didn't accumulate but it was tiring to always deal with a wet basement.

Have you ever seen piles of dirt like this? There were at least 6 piles this size around the house.

Dave did a waterproofing coat on the outside of the basement walls and we now have an outdoor sump pump to help get the water away from the house.
We had Dale come back with his backhoe and back fill the dirt into the holes. It would have taken us years to do it with shovels. Money well spent.

We are pretty much back to normal now. Dave went last weekend and bought sod to place between our house and our cars in the well traveled areas that always become muddy in the spring. It will be nice to have that done as well. Takes lots of watering but it will be worth the trouble.

Our garden holds the extra dirt. There is less now than there was. Not sure we'll have a garden this year...

And for the best news. No water in our basement! So far. And it rained for about a week right during and after all the digging. I'm not naive enough to think we won't ever get water down there, but for now, dry as a bone!

Trey: Me and Lexi are going to play William and Juliet. It's romantic or something.
Me: Do you mean Romeo and Juliet?
Trey: Yes, that's the one!

Easter Egg Hunt #1

We went to an Easter Egg Hunt here in Walcott on the sat. before Palm Sunday. The Walcott Women of Today joined with Calvary Preschool to put on a really fun hunt. They laid out all the eggs for the different age groups and then did one group at a time so parents could see all their kids hunt. It worked out well. Shelby joined Leah, Trey and Lexi in the hunt.

The lootLeah asks Zach to open her meme (candy).

A fun time was had by all!

April Fools

Okay so this is late. On April 1st, Trey had the best April Fool's joke ever. We went to the dentist because he had a cavity to have fixed and was to get sealants put on two of his teeth. The dentist checked for his cavity and it wasn't there after all! So we just got the sealants. Good going Trey!