Company, Love, Water and Sun

Yes, that's what Ainsley says her plants need to grow. . "Company, Love, Water and Sun." Friday was so beautiful we took the kids to the park and watched as Trey got to experience grass for the 1st time. . he'd pull it and look at it (luckily not eat it). . .how fun to watch my child exlpore God's creation. All three kids were GIGGLING as they interacted on the swings, and seeing Porter's barefeet pitter patter through the sand topped off the evening. Saturday morning we went to Home Depot and the kids got to pound together wooden flower boxes and test drive a lawn tractor with daddy. We spent the rest of the morning hanging up our birdhouse and birdfeeder and today after church we made brunch and then planted some seeds in the rain. I have lots of favorite parts about being a mommy, and some not so favorite parts, but one thing I love is seeing things through the eyes of a child. A rainy day is a perfect day to plant seeds and play in the rain(instead of take a nap like I'd typically do)! Ahh, and the things that come out of their mouths. . .this weekend Ainsley wanted to send Great Grandma Fern and Great Grandpa Morris a note quickly to tell them Trey is crawling, and she said, "Quick, have they left for heaven yet?" "When will they leave?" "I need to send them a note before they leave for heaven." And then she said, "Have Frank and Milly (other great-grandparents) left yet?" I told my grandma Fern this tonight and she responded, "Tell her we're taking the next train:)" And then there's Porter. First he wanted a Monster Truck birthday party, but tonight at dinner at my parents he informed us that he wants a Strawberry Shortcake birthday. Can you tell he has an older sister?

May your week be filled with company, love, water and sun!!! Oh, and smiles from Trey at 8 months!!!!

In like a lamb, out like a lion

Isn't march supposed to come in like a lion and out like a lamb?! We'll, we're having a lion of a day according to the weather. But it hasn't been all lionish. . .GooF got a snow day, and the kids all went down for nap at the same time, so we got a little nap, which is hard to come by with 3 little ones! I also had time to bake Gramma's Butterscotch Cookies while watching Rachael Ray. And the kids were still eager to play in the snow. . even if it is March 31! Off to go play Old Maid (Ainsley's way. . where she never gets the old maid, but it's REALLY FUNNY when mommy and daddy do:) ) Here's some pics of SNOW MUCH FUN. . .making mud pies for mama. . .

Trey's giggles. . .or not

I sat down to post a video of Trey's giggles bc they're adorable, but it didn't work, so I'll just write about the other two instead. . .today when we read the Bible Story of Jesus and his disciples, I pointed to Thomas, and Porter said, "That's not Thomas!" The only Thomas he knows is the train :) Porter, you make us laugh!!! And Miss Ainsley, I captured these snapshots today while I was playing My Little Ponies with you, and someday when you read this I just want you to know what a beautiful little lady you are! Not just on the outside, but you have such a genuine, giving, caring heart. . .so giving that when you found Easter Eggs this year, you gave them to the other kids. I am so proud of you!

Weekend Wrap-up

It's been a typical loud, crazy, but ton of fun weekend at our house. We spent lots of time just playing, or I should say I was watching dad play. . .as you can see from the pics, they adore him, climbing on him, jumping into his arms off the couch, and even Trey's taking after his daddy and liking computer time :) We did get to go on a date with some college friends and truly enjoyed the adult conversation and good food, although it always turns to stories of the kids, but lots of laughs! GooF spilled his water at the restaurant, so the waiter brought him more in a sippy cup :) Here's Ainsley's pic of us before our date. . .Ainsley and I got to hold a little baby girl only 4 hours old this weekend. . .at "the baby hospital" as Ainsley calls it. She was so precious!
Oh, and this is Trey. . .after his brother threw a scoop of snow on him. I had my camera handy, so snapped a pic before I picked him up :)

Crazy Baby Days

I have been neglecting my blog, because I've been trying to figure out facebook. . think I've got it down :) And also neglecting my cleaning etc, so I'll (maybe) keep this short. I tried out the Beauty School in town last night and got my hair highlighted, eyebrows waxed, etc, and it was cheap and turned out good, but it took a LOOOOOONNNNG time. This morning I had MOPS and it was an Adoption Panel and so good. The honesty, sincerity and love for God and their children in those moms was so evident. OK, now I'll begin my real post.

These are the Crazy Baby Days, and sometimes I'm in a Crazy Baby Daze, but here's just a few of my favorite things Trey's doing right now and a few updated kid pics

• Whenever he sees mommy round the corner, he army crawls as fast as he can to me and tries to crawl up me. If he's in his bouncer he smiles and jumps and reaches for me til I have to pick him up!


• When his sister is in tears, his smile and hugs turn her tears into giggles.


• He went on a date with mommy to the grocery store and helped pick out his first sippy cup.


• I love the way he snuggles in on my shoulder or anyone's shoulder!


• His excitement over the tubby is hilarious. . .as soon as I start running the water, he starts kicking and when I put him in he just splashes and splashes! Last night he learned to SQUEAL and everytime he squealed he giggled at himself. Trey and Porter splashed water , squealed, and laughed together in the tubby :)
  
• How he lights up when I sing Jesus Loves Me!
• When daddy gets home from work and he joins in the excitement, by kicking his legs, and reaching out to him! He definitely knows daddy is FUN!
• How he's sitting on the floor right now and saw a toy puppy dog, got scared and started crying :) Better go.

NESTS

Ok, so when I was driving my husbands car home from the hotel, I noticed his service engine soon light was on. When he went to start the car for work today, the light came on again, his car sounded funny, and he saw a mouse run across our garage. I do not like mice. . .they ate through one of my strollers in the garage of our last home. Disgusting!!! Anyway, GooF just looked at his engine and there was a little MOUSE NEST and he could see what wire it chewed!!! Apparently the mouse stayed in the car while we stayed in the hotel and I drove it home?! This reminded me of when we lived in an apt and we saw twigs sticking out of our grill, opened the cover and there was a HUGE birds nest covering the grill. I made him get rid of the grill! I know God made the little creatures to make nests, and we as moms can all relate with "nesting," but YUCK!

Happy Christmas. . . .or Easter

Yes, we woke up to a "white" Easter weekend. Saturday we had an Easter brunch (my mom is a great hostess and knows my husband loves biscuits and gravy) at Grammy and Grampa's house and hunted for our baskets and eggs. I always remember getting a new spring outfit in my basket as a little girl, so I've started doing that for Ainsley and got some adorable pink and green dresses/shorts/tank tops at old navy, and my mom still gets new spring clothes for us and the kids in our baskets :) Thanks to both grammy's for the baskets! One of my other favorite Easter time memories is acting out the song "Watch the Lamb" by Ray Boltz at church. As the pastor's kid, I got to carry a real lamb down the aisle. . that song still brings tears to my eyes. I loved Ainsley's Easter hat this year!Then Sat night, we had a birthday party for Madison, and Porter proudly mastered the climbing wall at it. I don't know why these pics are crooked again. . .
After that, the kids made resurrection eggs. . .you put 12 plastic eggs in an egg carton and fill them with things that tell the Easter story. . .a cross, nail, etc, and the last egg is empty because Jesus has risen! Ainsley wanted to do it over and over and over. Porter's favorite egg to open was the one representing the last supper, because it had bread to eat in it :)

This morning we wanted to make it to the 8 o clock service, so needless to say, we were rushing around. Every time I put Porter's tie on, he'd pull it off. Ryan had the giggles, bc he remembered hating ties, but Porter and I were pretty frustrated with each other. By the time we got to church (late), his tie was all crooked, his shirt was untucked, and of course the only spot left in the sanctuary was the front row :) GooF thought he looked like an action hero from a movie, with his dress clothes all messed up.

After church the Easter bunny had left baskets at our house. . .Trey's first Easter and he got diapers and baby food. This boy. . the minute I start getting baby food ready, he smacks his lips. .. apparently he likes diapers too!

And then we went out to "the farm." Every year as a little girl, my family would go to our friends farm and eat and have a HUGE Easter Egg hunt (1200 Easter Egg), plus candy hidden everywhere. Some of the eggs have points in them that you can redeem for prizes. It's a fun tradition! Porter was pretty serious. . crawling through trees on the muddy ground to get an egg with a dime in it :)And some other random wknd fun. . .we had a family puzzle night, and

looking out my window to see father and son playing baseball :)

Better go, the boys just got home from a date to Menards to get white doors for our playroom, bathroom. . .am going to paint the trim/doors in the basement white. . thanks Kristi for the idea!!

PS I think we started another new Easter tradition. . .the Nelsons called us over tonight after tubbies for a Barbie Princess movie. . .GooF acted like he didn't like it, but he was pretty into it :)