The Un-blogged

Things have been so crazy for us lately, and there are so many things that have gone un-blogged, unfortunately. Here are some highlights of the last few weeks:

Disney on Ice:

We got to take a field trip to Disney on Ice (i.e. really cheap tickets and great seats) and it was awesome! Then, afterwards, had lunch with friends and took a ride on the free trolley downtown. It is an old trolley that when you get to the end, you have to turn your seat around for it to go the other way. So fun!

Easter:

We spent Easter in Tulsa at my dad's. The kids hunted Easter eggs, and we got to see my aunt and uncle at Incredible Pizza. The "Easter Bunny" talked Ben into asking for a new Ice Cream maker, which the Easter Bunny was happy to deliver! ;) The Easter Bunny also left resurrection eggs, which was neat for Ben to open and talk about why we celebrate Easter. Although, we had already been talking about it so much. The night before Easter morning, Ben wanted a story before bedtime, so I told him the story of Jesus on the cross and rising on Easter morning. When I left to walk out of the room, he said, "Mom, you forgot some parts of the story. First of all, after the tomb was opened, the women ran back to tell some of the disciples. Then, the disciples raced back to the tomb to see." :)

(note to self: do not take picture of cute kid in front of a reflective surface)

St. Patty's Day at the Park

I would say that this was a day in the life, but today was not really a normal Wednesday! Ben is on spring break from Pre-K, and the other plans we had didn't end up working out. We had fun at the park, McDonald's, playing St. Patrick's Day Bingo, and the kids even took a green bath! Ben was very "into" St. Patrick's day this year and insisted that we all wear green. You can tell from the pictures that he dressed himself today :)

The Hawk

Well, it's official...I am no longer "cool." And, I have to say that I no longer care!! Now that we have three children, I care much more about what is EASY!

Ladies and Gentleman.....drumroll please....introducing the Hawk:

I had told Lanny and Ben that I DO NOT want to call it the "van." We can't call it the Honda because we already have another Honda. Ben and Lanny vetoed my other names, which were the Party Wagon or Hoopti. So, we all agreed on the Hawk.

Snow Fun

The kids had a great snow day last week! I can't believe how much snow we got. We had fun with snow ball fights, sledding, snow men, etc!

What was NOT fun was losing power at midnight the night it snowed so much. It was out for a while, and we had made plans to stay at our cousins' house that night, who so generously offered their home to us while they were out of town. We spent the morning at a friend's house who did have power. I went home to pack up our stuff and as I packed the last bag, the power kicked back on. It was nice to get to stay in our own house, though!!

And, then, we got to have a slumber party (complete with brownies and ice cream) with our friends who didn't get their power back until the next day.

6 Months

Brandt turned 6 months old this week! He had his check up and is doing great! He weighed 18 lbs 1 oz (70th%) and was a little over 27 inches (75th%); he still has a peanut head in the 20th percentile.




















For his 6 month birthday, he got to try some cereal; as you can see, he loved it ;)

More Snow!

It has snowed all day! It has been so fun!!!

Here is our snowman; he was standing at one point :)

No News

Just some random pictures from my phone:

Saturday Night Entertainment

A city boy's version of smores roasting...

Track the progression of the roast on Ben's face...

Christmas Video

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Paybacks

A wise Christian woman once taught me that a person will be "paid back" for judging others. And, this was a biblical lesson based on the verse Matthew 7:2 "For in the same way that you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Some may interpret that verse differently, but her take on it was that if I judge someone else, I will reap that judgment.

This has proven to be true at times in my life, and none more apparent than in parenting.  See, my aunt had her babies when I was in high school, so I was old enough to be observant. And, in my 17 years of life at the time, I thought I knew better than she did about how to take care of kids (except when I accidentally put my cousin's head in the moving fan). 

For example, I remember thinking when I got in her car that I would NEVER let my car be as messy as hers. Fast forward to my three kids later, and someone recently told me they were afraid to ride in my car for fear that they would stick to the seat....payback #1.

Another example, I used to give her a very hard time for buying her kids Gymboree clothes that were all matchy-matchy. If you know me at all now, you will know that is payback #2.

Another thing I remember is thinking, "how can she let her kids watch Barney? Not that he is "bad," but he is just so annoying...my kids will NOT watch Barney."  And now?

We went to Chuck E Cheese earlier this week. Lindley ran up to this ride, threw herself on Barney, and said, "Barney, I LOVE YOU!"

You Know You're a Good Mother When...

- Your oldest son is better at taking care of the younger ones and better understands what the 2 year old is saying

- Your daughter thinks Cheetos are carrots

- Your baby still doesn't recognize his bathtub

- You mistake a bloody gash on the side of your daughter's head for pizza sauce

Well, at least they are cute :)

If All the Snowflakes...

...were candy bars and milkshakes, oh what a snow that would be! Here is Ben standing outside with his mouth open wide during our first SNOW this year!!

It was quite exciting around our house this morning with the snow coming down. And, Ben got to be late to school so we could play in it for a few minutes...I knew it would be gone by the time he got home!  He made a quick snow angel and we each threw one very small snowball at each other.

Giving Thanks

We had a great Thanksgiving! It was very low-key and stress free, and of course full of early morning shopping.