A Day At Grandmas

Last Sunday we ventured down to Castle Rock to visit David's parents, especially Grandma Karen who had back surgery 10 days prior.  She is doing really well, and we all enjoyed our visit.  The kids had a blast roaming the yard in between rain showers, and helping Grandma water her plants.  Ryan and Kendall couldn't wait to feed the donkeys while Natalie wasn't so sure about them.  

The First Game

Ryan had his first baseball game on Saturday.  The boys did great - an 18-6 victory!  It was so much fun to watch the improvement from last year - awesome fielding, hitting and sportsmanship!

Go Nationals!

The Next Picasso

Natalie has REALLY been into coloring lately.  This is how she killed time at Ryan's baseball game on Saturday.

Later in the weekend she knocked our socks off by producing these two works of art:

These are bunnies.

We even asked Kendall and Ryan to make sure they didn't help her.  So impressed!

Listening In

Anytime we queue up music on the iPad Natalie sets up shop right in front of the screen, even though you can't see anything but a picture of an album cover. It makes David and I crazy, because normal people listen with their ears not their eyes, right? She eventually gets bored staring at the screen and starts dancing.

The Last Remnants

It almost made me cry when I came across this nuk in the toy bin.  It's hard to believe the baby days are over.  It's true what they all say.  It really does go by so fast. 

Hopefully I find a few more reminders to bring back some memories of those crazy, sleepless times.  It all seems like such a blur right now.

The Big Cheese

I love this little guy!

Easter With Friends

We were invited to some new friend's house for Easter brunch and an egg hunt on Easter Sunday.  So after church we ventured over to eat, drink and be merry.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate a wonderful day.  We are blessed!

They even had a bunny pinata!  So fun!!

Love Thy Neighbor

We love our new neighbors.

As we were getting ready for church our neighbor Kelly ran through the yard hiding eggs for the kids.  How sweet!  Our three and our neighbors - Ava and Ellie - had so much fun hunting for the eggs together.  Just like they have so much fun almost every day playing outside together.  We feel really blessed to have such wonderful neighbors.

The girlies.  So sweet.

Easter Morning

The Easter Bunny came and everyone was happy.

We had bunny pancakes and everyone was even happier.

Then it was time to go to church and everyone was not so happy. Ha. 

Ryan was just not thrilled to wear nice pants. We gave him the option: nice pants and tennis shoes or nice shoes and jeans. He chose nice pants. Oh, this boy! 

Natalie's stance is so hysterical to me.

They were all looking spiffy in their Easter best to go to church.  We even got Kendall out of her beloved sparkly boots and into nicer dress shoes, after the picture.

It was a wonderful morning, and we all loved going to church.

Kendall at 4 and a Half

Kendall's 1/2 birthday was/is March 20th. We had a little celebration that day.  It's a simple celebration, more of an acknowledgement really.  The 1/2 birthday celebrant gets to pick dinner and dessert and we sing "Happy 1/2 Birthday To You".  It was Kendall's choice to have "Daddy's" chicken, noodles, and carrots for dinner with Oreo cookies for dessert.

I love acknowledging this milestone with the kids.  It usually is such a turning point in their behavior - for good or bad - and I think it's something worth celebrating.  It also helps me remember that changes are a coming.  I've noticed around Ryan's 1/2 birthday over the years his behavior is pretty darn good, but right around his real birthday I need to take cover.  He turns into an animal, basically.  I find it all so fascinating.  We had this parenting class once about Equilibrium and Disequilibrium happening in kids every six months or so.  Some people don't believe in it, but I'm a firm believer.  There are definitely a changes that happen around here. 

Anyway, back to the birthday girl.  Kendall is proving to be the opposite of her brother.  Around her actual birthday she is just a joy to be around, but takes a turn for the worse around her 1/2 birthday. She is a sensitive kid in general, but it's like she has exposed nerve endings these days.  Every little thing is SUPER MAJOR and the tears flow like waterfalls about the tiniest things.  To say she is testing our patience is an understatement.  It's new territory for us, too.  She has been so easy going up until this point.  We realize she's just trying to express herself, but trying to help her navigate through this stage is frustrating.  It will be interesting to see where we'll be when we come out of this.  I feel four is such a huge year for kids.  I'm hoping we are giving her the tools to express herself with confidence.

Killing Time

This is how Kendall loves to kill time during Ryan's baseball practices.

Sibling Love

I turned around in the car to find this the other day: 

OMG.  Melt my heart.

Natalie didn't hold her grip too long, but Ryan and Kendall continued holding hands until we got home. 

I know these guys love each other, but it is the most amazing pitter patter moment when they actually show it.

Pajama Fashionista

The other night we asked Natalie to go up and get her pajamas on.  It's usually a crap shoot if she will actually do it.  She can easily be diverted by the toothpaste in the bathroom (even if it's completely out of reach she still manages it to get it) among other things.  Anyway, when we heard the tap, tap, tap tapping coming around the corner we shared a smile.  The tapping of tap shoes is such a fun sound to hear in your house.  Plus, we were both so happy we didn't have to go upstairs to check on the little bugger.  When we looked up to see her in this get up we almost died laughing. She indeed got her pj's on and made a huge fashion statement in the process.

Hunting with Hanni

We headed into Seattle on Saturday to do some work on the old house. While David an I worked, Miss Hanni took the kids to an egg hunt at her church. They came back with full baskets and awesome face paintings. I think it was a first for all three. They had a blast!

Thirty Seven

I rang in thirty seven with a day off from work and free to do whatever I wanted, a big ol' cake and lots of hugs and kisses from the kids. It was a great day!

Easter Eggs

We didn't get around to dyeing Easter eggs last year, so Ryan was extra persistent we do it this year. It is one of our favorite things, after all. We gathered up the dye and 5 dozen eggs and went to town. What fun! We couldn't believe how fast we blew through all those eggs. 

Time With Aubrey

We had the honor of hosting our niece Aubrey about a month ago.  It was actually the weekend the flu bug hit our house so the pictures (not that there are many) got lost in the back log of catch-up that's been going on since that awful week.  Thank goodness Aubrey escaped unscathed.  Whew.  I was so worried she was going to get the flu!

We had the most amazing time with her.  We just loved playing with her, and getting to know her personality and schedule better.  She's such a little sweetie, AND super easy to take care of.  Holy smokes!  David and I were like, huh?  Toddlers can really be this easy?  We don't have the best memories in town, but we are quite certain none of our children were as easy going as Miss Aubrey.  It really was so much fun to have her, and the kids were completely over the moon to have their cousin spend the weekend with us. 

Kite Dancing

David took Kendall to the beach last weekend for some quality one on one time.  We are working hard at carving out time for this!  While Natalie, Ryan and I stayed back and enjoyed a quieter routine at home, the two of them lived it up at the beach.  They visited the Kite Museum, made kites, flew kites and colored a lot.  They had a great time!  Kendall loved running the show, and not having anyone else around to mess up her things was an extra treat.

This is one of my all-time favorite shots of Kendall: