Spring is Here

We are so happy that Spring seems to be here to stay now. Of course, this is Kansas so we could still have a snow storm! I sure hope not.

 Sometimes Aaron has to take the "big van" to Wichita to pick up handwriting. He always goes after he gets off work, so he tries to rotate taking one of the kids with him each time he goes. This last time was Isaac's turn. He was one cool dude! :)

 Baby Grace with Big Dave :) Sadly, we only got to see him (he lives in China right now) because Uncle Windell suddenly passed away. All the guys were in Texas for his funeral. 

 Aaron has been trying so hard to spend extra time with the kids every evening, now that the weather is nicer. Anna loves playing catch with her Daddy!

 Grandpa & Grandma W came to visit over Easter weekend. Which was also the NCAA Championship weekend. We don't have cable, but had been watching the games online on the computer, hooked up to the TV. 3/4 of the way through the championship game, a message pops up and says we've used all our time online. ?? So, I pulled up the March Madness app on my phone and we watched the last 5 min of the game on a tiny little screen!!! Haha!

 The boys got into the dress up bin in Grace's closet the other day. Isaac decided to be Captain America. If the mask was pulled down, we had to call him Captain America. If it was pulled up onto his forehead, we could call him Isaac. Life is never, ever dull with this kid around!

 We were in Iowa at the beginning of March to celebrate Papa's birthday. Isaac finally gave up the training wheels for good!

 Aaron took a day off a couple weeks ago and we took the kids to the zoo. It was a bit chilly yet, so not many animals were out and about, but the kids still had a lot of fun. Any time Daddy unexpectedly gets to spend a day with us is a great day!!

 Always with the crooked hat, just like Grandpa Elmer! :)

 Just a day or two before we went to the zoo, Anna really hurt her big toe. She was trying to open the back door, which was a little stuck, and it came open and went right over her toe. Ripped some skin off and got her toenail good. Let's just say she doesn't have the highest pain tolerance. Her toe was still too tender to walk around the zoo, but I came up with a solution. She could ride in the stroller and I could wear Grace in the Boba. Grace usually loves to be carried, but for whatever reason, she was not having it that day! Luckily Daddy can carry her around all day. :)

 Family Easter pictures! I have yet to figure out when the best time to take a family picture is for Easter Sunday?! We don't have time before church, and by the time we get home the kids are all "starving". I've just accepted the fact that we won't ever have the "perfect" family picture on Easter! :) We bribed Isaac with a tortilla chip for this one! Haha

 Anna was "so cold" in this one. It was a pretty windy day, but it wasn't that cold!

 Hunting eggs in the front yard, using the Easter baskets Grandma W made for the kids. Jacob's used to be Aaron's and she made new ones for Anna and Isaac.

 Instead of putting candy in their eggs (trust me, they get enough of that every Wednesday night!), I saw an idea online to put certificates-10 min extra before bed, trip to the library, ice cream with Dad/Mom, movie night, go to the park, etc-in them instead! They all loved it! 

 I am loving the thunderstorms we've been getting! Not so much the damaging hail, but they make for some good photo ops!

 He waited ALL DAY LONG for it to rain (it never did). He got so mad at me because it wasn't raining. Exasperated, I finally said, "Take it up with God!" He promptly went outside, but was back in a few minutes. "Mom! I prayed and asked God to make it rain, but it's still not raining!!!!!" He might have a lack of patience.........

I love seeing the beauty and power of God through His creation!

Pictures...and that's about it.

People ask how I feel and the best answer is "It's still the first trimester!" Three weeks (or so) and hopefully things will start getting better.

Saturday...pathetic, right? Although I can't blame Jacob for not wanting to watch "Angelina the Ballerina" and I can't blame Anna for not wanting to watch "Thomas the Train" again. They're getting to the ages that there really aren't a whole lot of shows they both like. Dora is about the only one!

I have no idea what kind of tree this is, but I love it.

My lilac bush is blooming! It smells so good out back. It's almost as tall as the house (the flat roof part, anyway)!

Got the garden in!!! Trying lettuce and spinach this year. Aaron was a HUGE help--he pretty much did all the weeding to get it ready for the tilling. It was so COLD Saturday morning!!!

Miss Blue Eyes...with Mrs. Blue Eyes behind her :) Anna's eye color is very much like Gma Betty's.

Poor boy was ready to go to Aunt Cara's house for 2 days!! Both mornings he woke up and thought it was time. This was the day, but he had to wait until afternoon! He put the boots on all by himself and was ready to go with his Easter basket and Anna's backpack!

Spring That Feels Like Summer

Kim emailed this morning and asked if we wanted to meet them at the lake to play. Of course it was a beautiful day, so after preschool we headed to the lake! It was downright hot in the sun!! By the time we left, we had accumulated 8 kids! Kim had a couple extras she was babysitting, I had an extra and another friend came with her little boy! It was fun.

The kids all played on the playground for quite a while. Jacob had been trying to sneak over to the water all morning, so while Kim went to pick up one of the extras from school, we headed over to the water. The ducks came right away, but as soon as they figured out we didn't have any food, they left!

I was a split second late--Jacob had his hand on Anna Mae's back! It was so sweet!!

The Jakes :)

The poor, cantankerous, old swan. His legs are so crippled he can hardly walk. Maybe that's why he's so grumpy and mean to the ducks and geese? He can still swim fast, though!

5 of the 8 we ended up with :) It was a fun morning, even if I did sit on a juice box!! Thanks for inviting us Kim!!

Busy Day...Good Results, I Hope!

We spent all day yesterday working in the yard. We had a lot of work to do!! Aaron cleaned up the leaves (yes, we still had leaves to clean up!) and I cleaned up my front flower beds. I planted phlox in there years ago and only the purple ones took. Except they were just a mess. So I cleaned them out and planted tulips! I found pots of tulips at Walmart for $8! I got yellow and red/white ones. It took a lot of hours and only $24! :) (plus I have some left over for planting elsewhere...where I don't know, though!)

I really hope they live!! The yellow ones are already blooming. I can't wait to see the red/white ones bloom!

Still got some cleaning up to do (and too bad our front lawn isn't grass anymore! Next up...sometime, anyway).

Catching Up

Well, I'm not feeling any better but I figured I better get caught up a little bit anyway! A couple weeks ago I made a Boston Cream Pie for dessert for family night. I like to use frosting instead of melted chocolate chips for the topping. The kids are glad I did...

I melted the frosting a bit and poured it over the cake. It was a bit too melted and kept running, running, running! The kids had a grand time licking up the extra!!

Jacob really got into it! (I don't know why his ear is so red...he has sensitive skin that gets red very easily. I promise I wasn't boxing his ears! ;))

While Grandpa & Grandma were visiting, Anna and Grandma emptied out the toy box. Anna wanted to set up "shop" with all her stuffed animals. SHE HAS OVER 50 STUFFED ANIMALS!!! That's just crazy! The bad part? We can tell you who gave her pretty much every, single one! How are you supposed to pare down that?! We can't give away the teddy bear Binga gave her for Valentine's Day, or the dog Grandpa gave her for Christmas, or the clown bear she picked from Great Grandma W's house....*sigh*

Spring is finally here!!!! The weather has been super nice. Anna & Jacob have loved playing outside as much as they can.

Jacob was allowed to hold Anna's precious "kitty"...until he got too rough with her. Then Mama Anna had to take it away!

See...you have to hold her like THIS!

So proud of herself. This girl lived in her swimming suit for 2 days (and her boots--love it!). She is SO ready for summer and the pool!!