Preschool Concert

Tonight we went to watch Grace sing at her Preschool Spring Concert. This was so much fun to see all the kids and listen to all the songs they know. Grace had a large group of admirers, she is so lucky to have so many people who care about her! Grandma Martha came and Grace saw her and yelled out "Hi Grandma Martha!" as Grandma was walking in to take her seat. Grace also yelled hello to everyone in our row that she knew. Grandpa Jack, Grandma Linda, Derek, Haley, Grandma Diana, Grandpa Wade, Grandma Martha, Raina, Uncle Dylan, Daddy and Mommy, were all there to watch her and her friends sing. It was great hearing all the songs and they even did an ABC Rock song that had sign language to go along with it. All the kids did very well, and we are so very proud of you Grace Marie!!!

FR:Owen & Jasmine

SR:Kasyn & Grace

BR:Sawyer, Aleea & Emma

Owen(cousin) he is not happy to be here and Grace

I like this one because Kasyn and Owen look so sad and Grace looks so happy?!?

Lexi, Grace and Jasmine...these three are going to be T.R.O.U.B.L.E

And last but not least this is the infamous "boyfriend" Jeremiah. They are good buddies and sadly Grace is not happy about school next year already because Jeremiah is one year older and will be attending Kindergarten :(

Friday Madness!!!

It started out as a lazy easy going day. Brooks and I were cleaning house and Grace was messing it back up. Then I got one call that asked "can you pick up my son from school and take him home for me?" Sure why not. I took him home and picked his sister up, Tori, who goes to school with Grace. She came over and they had a great time doing the usual dress up stuff. We took her back to her house and arrived back to our house to MAYHEM!!!

Haley had arrived with her boyfriend's twin daughters. Patience is the one who has a Drama Queen attitude, she also gets very mad very easily that it is almost funny. Raina is a little but not mush more calm. Raina and I bonded some what more than Patience. She loved on me all night! Grace was a little jealous of the two calling Haley "Mommy" and kept correcting them that her name was Haley. She was also very very lovey with Haley all weekend. We had a total mess in about ten minutes, toys toys everywhere. They sang, danced, dressed up, played dollhouse and partied like it was 1999. They took a bath together which the twins did not like at all and then got popcorn and a movie. The girls did not go to bed until 11:30 or later so it was a long night for everyone! The next morning the girls were treated to Uncle Brooks' famous biscuits and gravy which we all gobbled up!

We love the girls and can not wait for them to come back!

Grace decided at some point to be Spider Man!!! She looks very tough!

Lexie dropped by and joined in the fun of dressing up! She is so beautiful!

Grace, and the twins Patience and Raina

Raina, Grace and Patience enjoying their evening snack

And one more makes three...

Introducing....Wade

So Robert needed a new home. We went and bought a new aquarium and a new FISH!!! Grace has named this one Wade, after her Grandpa and because you wade in a lake. Don't ask us. Wade is called a Calico Fantail. Right now I have three containers on the entertainment center holding three different fish. Tomorrow we will put them all in together and hope that they don't pick on Lake the little fish and that they can all live together happily!

Our New Family Member

Introducing....Robert, named after Roberts Creek. This is where my dad goes fishing a lot and we camp there sometimes. He/she does not get along with Lake our first fish you can see him/her in the background. So I have moved Robert to a glass water pitcher for now until tomorrow when we can get a bigger tank for him/her. Brooks and I have discussed getting a bigger aquarium with more fish and I guess my mom pushed us to do this sooner than later. Grace is excited that Lake has a friend. She made the comment tonight "I think Robert really likes his new home." So there you have it. Thank you Grandma Linda for getting us a new fish, we love him already (as much as you can love a fish!?!?)

Tyler's Birthday

Well if any of you have talked with Grace in the last month you would know that this weekend we went down to Kansas City area for Tyler's birthday! He turned two on the 18th and his party was Sunday. The theme was "Thomas the Train". Brooks, Grace and I headed down on Saturday, stayed the night with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Tony. Tony's mom Linda, Step-dad Jim, Nancy's son Dusty, his girlfriend Bizzy and their daughter Lilly all stayed too. We had a lot of fun playing bags and Trivial Pursuit. My team lost both games :( Sunday at the party we were joined by tons of my cousin Kati's in-laws to celebrate Tyler's special day. The kids all had a lot of fun playing and it was good to see everyone again. One of the biggest highlights of the day was when Grandpa/Uncle Tony brought his semi truck and took all the kids for a ride around the block. Way to go Tony!!! Tyler received lots of nice things with the Jeep PowerWheels being one of the favorites of all the kids.
What you don't see in this picture is the only guy who is working and that would be Dusty!
Grace and Lilly, loving up each other
Pretty Lilly

Ok we have a One Year Old, a Two Year Old and a Three Year Old...this is about as good as it gets!!!

Grace trying to love up Tyler

The Jeep from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Tony

Thomas the Train cake (notice the little Tyler print at the bottom)

Grace driving the Semi Truck

Tyler driving the Semi Truck

New Shoes

We all went shopping on Monday to get new shoes. Well Brooks and I didn't like any we saw so we ended up not getting any but we made up for it by purchasing Grace three pairs! She also got her new Easter dress, an outfit to wear to her cousins birthday party and a couple Veggie Tales videos.

It was sooo nice out Monday, Grace noticed it on the way up to Des Moines and said to me

"Its a little bit summer today!"

How cute!!! I love her soooo much!!!

Saturday

These are all the cookies that the Youth Group IMPACT and others made. We are raising money to buy t-shirts for the kids, tickets to Christian concerts, sporting events, and of course to go to Adventureland. We made over $500.00 between this and some pop cans we turned in. It was a really great success! Thank you to all who made stuff, came and bought and to the people who just donated money!!!

Saturday night we headed out to my Mom and Dad's house to have "Saturday Night Hamburgers"!!! Mom and Dad made really good hamburgers and we had a lot of fun. Steven brought his Wii out and we played this for a bit. After he left the rest of us played a dice game called "Left, Center, Right". This game cost me $3 and it is soooo fun!!!

Steven

Grandma Linda/Mom and Grace snuggling

Grandpa Jack/Dad

This is soooo funny!!! This is the Mii that Steven made for my dad!!!

Countdown to the Cubbies

Most of you know of counting down to Christmas or a birthday. At our house we are counting down to Opening Day of the Chicago Cubs baseball season. We made a paper chain to help keep track so Grace will stop asking us forty times a day when the Cubbies will be on. We have caught a few Pre-Season games but I guess it isn't the same, (whoever told her that I would like to know). Grace tried her hand at taking pictures of me, and yes, we have the same shirt on, Grace feels the need to wear the same shirts as me whenever she can.

So now this will be a lovely decoration in our living room for the next 26 days!!!

GO CUBS GO!!!

Just a Funny for today

Why, Why, Why...

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are almost dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they already know there is not enough money?

Why does someone Believe you when you say there are four billion stars; but have to check when you say the paint is still wet?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?

If people evolved from apes, Why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that mattresses Are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine it, then put it down to give the vacuum one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures?

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

And my FAVORITE....... The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends -- if they're okay, then it's you.

Toys R Us

We made our first family venture to Toys R Us. Grace thought it was the coolest! We all played with just about everything you could in the store. She also asked for everything in the store too! Dad decided to spoil her and bought her a Barbie MP3 player that she has wanted since Christmas. She doesn't like it much because she can't dance around with it because the ear buds fall out. The MP3 also came with interchangeable parts to change Barbie's hair, face, and clothes.


We also spoiled ourselves and bought a game for all of us too. We have been having lots of fun with it too. We also bought our cousin Tyler his birthday present and we are very excited about going to spend some time with them in the next couple weeks. I can't say what we got him but it sort of goes along with the theme of his birthday party which is "Thomas the Train".

Cinnamon Rolls/Knots

My friend Kellie Anderson makes these amazing cinnamon rolls/knots. I love them. She gave me the recipe a long time ago but I didn't understand the directions. So we made plans and got together on Thursday afternoon/night and made them. We had a lot of fun making them with Chef Grace's help of course and just being able to visit. Kellie also made fun of me for taking pictures too but I don't care I took them anyway!!!

Kellie and Grace

Grace and Mom "knotting" the cinnamon rolls

Grace's messy hands

The finished product (with a few missing of course)

Kellie, Grace and Jessie enjoying the rolls/knots

Squirrels, Eagles, Geese, and one Goose

A Happy Goose!!! Glad to be outside and at the Lake!

(Goose is the name that we call her)

Uncle Steve brought us over to Lake Red Rock to view the Eagles and just enjoy the nice weather! Grace informed us that "Uncle Steve was the BEST Uncle Steve in the World!"

Eagle in flight
My favorite picture of the Eagles
Eagle just landing in its nest.
The Geese
This Squirrel was very close, I could have touched him.
This dog followed Grace and I up to look at the Dam, and when Grace got too close to the edge of the path he would walk up between her and the big rocks...it was so awesome, it made me miss our old dog Teko.
Grace was getting hypnotized by the swirling waters up by the Dam.

I just like this picture...makes me think "Spring is on the way"

And this would be a Mad Goose...I had just told her it was time to leave.