Knots and such

Am I really going to blog about knots? I guess I am. Porter is fascinated. To say the least. Today he told me, "I like things with strings." Really? I hadn't noticed :)

Just so someday when you become a knot theorist, Porter, you will thank me for helping you untie all of your knotted trucks, for stepping over your strings, and for not minding that my ball of yarn is no longer a ball.

Knots and such. The such stands for sick. Baby number 3 had a fever. Then baby number 1. Then baby number number 2. My first baby seems to have been hit the hardest :( Every time her medicine starts to wear off her fever comes back. She wanted Grammy to come see her on Saturday, so thankfully my parents came over and Grammy played tic tac toe and the dot game with her, while Grandpa filled up the boys' love tanks. On Sunday GooF taught Sunday School (thanks babe. . .although the kids may not want me back :) ), and my parents brought over dinner and gatorade. Ainsley has spent lots of time coloring.

She drew pictures for Porter and he gave her a leaf :) Better get back to business (hopefully without tripping over knotted strings :) ), but just some cute pics of Trey playing football. . .Ainsley praying. . . And the newest addition to our family, Allison, as Ainsley named her. She was thrilled when the UPS man dropped off her newly adopted sister. .

Spring Break continued. . .

Tues morning Ainsley had the letter U show and tell at preschool. . .she brought an umbrella, unicorn, ugly fruit and ukelele (thanks to grammy).

When we picked her up, the van was all loaded and we headed on a road trip to NE. We enjoyed swimming (esp watching daddy jump in the water silly ways), touring the city and neighborhood we lived in there (Ainsley went in the pizza place and told the worker excitedly that this is where she lived when she was a baby), eating Cheesecake Factory, and exploring the hotel. We woke up Wed morning, ate breakfast in bed, and headed to the zoo. This was the view out of our hotel window during our Spring Break getaway. Missouri River/tropical waters. . what's the difference?! :) When Ainsley was little, she LOVED the sea turtles at the zoo, and we thought the aquarium would be their favorite. They did like the sharks,

but their favorite by far was the rainforest/jungle!! They crossed the rickety bridge over the waterfall as many times as we'd let them. . .can you see us?!The kids loved the rocks you could climb to get to secret hideaways. . .I think the pic of Porter in the wagon with his dirty feet sticking out is great :). . .GooF and I, on the other hand, were SWEATING in there and couldn't wait to cool off in the 50 degree weather. The dessert dome was pretty exciting because they had seen it from the road. .

The Butterfly house. . .Some gorilla fun while we had a banana break. . .

Ainsley was excited to see Bambio, who was a gorilla born about the time she was born. We used to watch him get rocked as a baby. Here's Miss Ainsley around Trey's age at the zoo. And, the ride home. . .On a side note, Ainsley has begun making friends wherever we go. On the way we stopped at a play area (you know, we don't travel over 2 hrs without stopping) and before I knew it Ainsley was playing hide and seek with a little girl. Then at the zoo she made a friend with a little girl who asked her if she was a Husker fan :) GooF's favorite part of the trip was when Porter accidentally knocked over a giant Easter egg at the mall. . am sad to say I missed that one :)

Ainsley also did swimming lessons this month at an indoor, warm facility. She learned to float on her back and then kick her legs and swim on her back! She also learned to jump in and go under without plugging her nose.

I haven't done a NOT ME for awhile, so here goes.

I DID NOT allow Porter to go into a bathroom stall on his own at church a few Wed nights ago. And even if I had, he would have properly gone potty. He DID NOT get potty all over his pants, and most definitely DID NOT wear his sisters PINK pants to his class, without underwear, bc that's all we had extra in the van.

I DID NOT ask Trey to say, "mommy will you please do it," to which he DID NOT respond, "DO IT!" Even if he had, his most favorite phrases are NOT "read it," "play it," and "do it!" 19 month olds are not demanding. . .do you think?!

Nutella turned Stellan

Have been praying for Mckmama's littlest guy Stellan. One of the many creative things she's done is having a "name gallery" for him. Thanks for introducing me to Nutella :)

Spring Break '09

Whoo Hoo!!! Spring Break is finally here! 7 years ago we were spending spring break in Coralville, IA. Sounds tropical enough :)

Saturday was beautiful, with clear blue skies. . .we spent the morning at the zoo. . .

Trey was saying, "goat" the whole way there, but when he finally saw them he wasn't so sure :)The monkeys (or as the zoo calls them, gibbons) were our favoritesWe have here the protective older sis telling/assisting :) her fearless little bro to get down from the fence, and then daddy saying it's ok. . .I just love these shots of my biggest man and my littlest man. . .I am still "the greatest fan of your life" GooF :)How he endlessly carries these two. . one in each arm. . .I don't knowAnd how he treats his girls. . .Thanks for a fun zoo day GooF! There is no one I'd rather get the giggles with when we don't feel like we can meet another "need" and the whining is too much. Looks like we're in need of some GREEN grass!Saturday evening we went to our favorite park. . .I had to run and get my camera when I saw Trey climb up here on his own and then realize he couldn't work the thing. . .Thanks to his siblings for helping him out. . .whether he wanted it or not :)We got our first B & G treat of the season. . .mmm. . .slushwhip. . .And it looks like the kids aren't the only ones that needed a bath after the park. Think I was being touched at all?! Us mothers of little ones often feel like we're being touched all day long. . .well, we are!It was even nice enough to wash daddy's car!! love the little kick A. . .I layed a blanket on the dead brown grass and watched the action. . .Ainsley got to bring the doll, "Jill" home from preschool this weekend and take her on adventures that start with the Letter U. After a few days with Jill , Ainsley decided to spend her own money adopting her first cabbage patch doll. She picked one out online and is anxiously awaiting her arrival in the mail!
Jill even came with her to her first piano lesson. Good thing Grammy has a Ukelele :)
Porter's favorite book right now is the Grinch and he has a lot of it memorized. . .so cute! And here we are slurping spaghetti too :)

Some bubble fun with the neighbor girls. . .

Gotta love Ainsley's style :)And bakin with my babes/cookin with my kidlets. . .

Trey woke up with a fever this morning, so say a prayer that he feels better and no one else gets sick! In the meantime we may have some of this. . .

And I can't well til he's well enough to do some more of this again. . .

He was just practicing his letters :) Or maybe he wanted to be Super G?!

"Happy St Patty's Day!"

Miss Ainsley was so excited for St Patty's day that she slept in green last night :) No pinching her when she woke up!! Grammy came over with Taetum and Bridger for a McDonalds lunch complete with Shamrock Shakes. Did I mention our large shamrock shake got spilled on the van floor? I did what any mother would do. . I got a cup, scooped up the shamrock shake off the van floor with the cup, and fed it to the spiller of the shamrock shake. OK, maybe not EVERY mother would do that, but this shamrock shake loving mother would, and DID!

Our littlest leprechaun was laughing at himself, trying to sit on a ball :)

Last night, after grilled hotdogs, we played outside til the kids were filthy and truly did need baths, not just for the sake of routine! Here they are building "the best nest." We love that book!"Hey Brother, you gonna eat that?!"I uploaded a video of the kids all saying happy st patty's day (no Porter, we don't pat people). I also uploaded one of Trey naming animals in a book and saying, "Jesus book," along with a few of Ainsley reading a book/reciting some of Laura Ingalls Wilder.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MOPSmomsd