This Boy Just Realized....

He can successfully climb the tree outside. It's his new addiction. He asked if he could go out and climb it this morning before school at 7 am in the freezing semi dark. Okay little monkey!

This Kid Cracks Me Up

Let me introduce you to my four year old whom most of you know. He can having me laughing and crying all in the same minute. Yesterday I took an intro SLR photo class at the local camera store. I won't be posting any fabulous photos any time soon, but I do know more about the settings on my camera and learned enough to practice with white balance, shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. I had fun being out and with my friend who gave me this class as a gift for my birthday. Now, we both want to take the next class that goes beyond. She is ready for it, but I still need mucho practice. I took these photos yesterday in the evening when I came home from the class. I was going through all the photos last night (many of them blurry after changing the shutter speed) and had to show my husband these ones of Gage. He is badly in need of a haircut (it grows like a wild man as soon as I cut it) and I don't know why his shirt is missing, but that's just how he rolls!

Searching For Baskets

Trevor - the last to find his. It was hidden under a table in the dining room. He got books, a DVD, a Pac Man t-shirt, a German Shepherd Webkinz, and some sweets.

Boston - found his in the dryer. The bunny gave him 2 puzzle books with mazes, word searches, etc., more perler beads, pez dispensers with candy, and a black stallion Webkinz.

Gage - was the most exited about finding his. It was in the dirty clothes basket in his bathroom closet (hopefully the goods weren't tainted by the dirty clothes). His was filled with a chicken Webkinz, a Pokemon puzzle, 2 sticker books, Silly Putty, a baseball bat, and chocolates.

Mallory - didn't quite understand, but was happy when her basket was handed to her by Trevor who found it near her toy bucket. The bunny thought she needed a Dora hat, a wooden bear "fashion plates" type puzzle, and a purple Care Bear. She stole the boys chocolates out of their baskets when they weren't looking.

Egg Dying Time

We really had to quickly squeeze this in to a busy Saturday schedule. The boys came home from helping grandma get her house ready for a showing and were taking off a half hour later to a Louisville Bats baseball game. So, we quickly dyed the eggs. This year I hard boiled three dozen because they usually fight about how many they get to color and I wanted there to be plenty. It was another moment when I realized that Trevor was getting older and didn't really want to do it (as much as he used to) and that Boston hurried through. The upcoming game may have been the reason, but as quickly as they finished the ones they wanted to dye, they were gone in a flash. I was left with my two trusty helpers Gage and Mallory. I finished up a few more with the youngens and then they took off. So, I sat at the table decorating the rest by myself. I will admit that I was patient and let those babies get nice and bright in the dyes. They were beautiful, in my opinion. But, I wish the older boys would have been there to help. At least we now have a few dozen eggs to make plenty of egg salad sandwiches this week!

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

The Thiesses hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for the neighborhood. We all just brought filled eggs to share and they hid them throughout their backyard. Each child had a limit of 12 and went crazy trying to collect them. Gage was working hard at finding places that others did not to think to check - the gutter for example (where he found two stuffed inside the down spout). Mallory took her own sweet time and just got a few. Trevor felt a bit old, I think, and just got 4 and then said he was done. Boston went searching in a voracious manner trying to reach maximum amount of eggs in the shortest amount of time possible. It was nice to meet some of the neighbors that Zane and I had never met and the kids loved it too.

Acupuncture for Trevor

Here's Trevor's first go at acupuncture. He did it with my pincushion and I am thinking it wasn't successful. It really just hurt. I left my pincushion downstairs with a few pieces of fabric I wanted to cut out during Conference on Saturday. While I ran up for something else, Mallory pulled it off of the counter and left it on the carpet upside down. That's when Trevor accidentally stepped on it. It looked pretty bad. I didn't realize that he got that many holes in his foot. We iced it and it took awhile for it to stop throbbing, but he could walk on it by that night. Poor guy!

Still Here ...Recovering from Spring Break

I really am recovering from spring break. We didn't do anything that would really wear anyone out, but it was the lack of schedule that we are recovering from. I didn't cook at all this week and the house was in disarray. So, after a beautiful weekend of listening to General Conference, we are all ready to regroup and straighten out (in the best way of course). The boys managed to get together with some friends this week, plan a sleep over, and go bowling with their dad. I managed to serve Bagel Bites for dinner one night and plan on how I was going to start a new exercise program plus, get back on a schedule. I do have some photos that I will share soon because we did run around in our yard even though it rained every other day. Boston made three perler bead animals and I helped him iron and he painted some wood with me. I made a few dresses for Mallory and a shirt. Gage ran around the neighborhood with anyone that would take him in. And, poor Trevor had a great time at a sleep over, but then gave himself an acupuncture treatment by stepping on the back side of my pincushion. He has about 10 holes in the bottom of his foot and I don't think it healed his body like acupuncture would. So, I thought a new header would be a great fresh start to spring and I hope you enjoy the new look.