Eggcellent Eggs

 We had a busy weekend with Hudson and Jess at our place while Jess was on call.  Unfortunately this lingering winter is making it difficult for these kids - they are tired of being cooped up in the house and so am I!  So we decided to dye Easter Eggs and have an impromptu egg hunt through the house.

 

 

Everyone had fun being creative and thinking of different ways to add their personal touch.

 

Surprisingly everyone enjoyed eating the eggs too - even Benny! 

 

We are looking forward to warmer spring-like weather this weekend for the egg hunt at our church and Easter get-together in Sheldon with the Van Beek Family!

Our Big Adventure

 

Our vacation time has come and gone and we enjoyed it to the last drop. As I mentioned our vacation to the kids on Wednesday, Marie says, "Let's not call it a vacation, let's call it an adventure!" 

 So here is our adventure: We left Thursday night for Omaha and got back on Saturday night.  Today was playing catch up on laundry, sleep (ha, yeah right) and to-do lists.  But Thursday - Saturday were full of fun, swimming, laughing, eating, and big adventures.

Thursday night we got to the hotel just in time to do some quick swimming. Bennett & Mommy hung out in the room and got ready for bed while Marie and Daddy went swimming. We finished our first night with snacks on the bed.

Friday was a beautiful day so we headed to the zoo after breakfast and swimming.  Bennett wasn't so sure about the pool and all the noises.  Marie on the other hand couldn't get enough. She loved it all - the pool, the slides, the hot tub, even the big buckets of water dumping on her head. 

 

The zoo was very busy but we had a great time. Marie's favorite part was the "jungle" or rainforest.  She asked so many questions about the animals and birds she was seeing. That's one of her greatest qualities - she asks, asks, and asks until she get the answer she understands.

 

 

 

Benny slept for part of the zoo but did wake up for a lot of it.  He was really taking it all in too and loving all the animals. His favorite was the aquarium watching all the fish and sharks.

After the zoo, we were all exhausted so we headed back to the hotel for naps.

 

Friday night we enjoyed pizza, more swimming, and basketball games.

 

 

Saturday morning we woke up for one last trip to the pool. Bennett enjoyed it much more this time.  We showered up, checked out of the hotel, and headed to lunch with some med school friends of ours who live in Omaha now. We haven't seen the Kearns family since graduation in May so it was great to be able to spend time with them. Here is Marie with their daughter Brooklyn.  We are hoping to see them again soon!

 

After lunch we headed to our final stop. The kids were so exhausted we almost skipped it but we were determined to make it through the Children's Museum because we had heard such great things about it.  I am glad we did it but the kids were so tired we didn't get to stay too long  We will have to go back again when we can spend more time there.

 

After the museum we headed home. Charlie boy was waiting for us and we were ready to sleep in our own beds. This was such a great trip and I loved being there with our little family. I look forward to more adventures like this in the future.

A Case of the Sickies

This has been a week full of sickness for the Mueting family. It started with Bennett on Sunday.  He had a fever, vomiting, ear infection, the works.  It lasted through Wednesday evening with little sleep for mom, dad, or Benny.  Poor buddy didn't eat much and had a hard time getting over it. Thankfully Papa came to the rescue to help us out on Thursday so Mommy could go to at least 1 day of work for the week. Marie decided Papa would need some help from her so she got to stay home with the boys on Thursday too.

On Saturday, I started to feel a bit nauseated. I rested a bit and woke up feeling even worse. So Bennett and I stayed back while Marie and Daddy headed to the womens NAIA Basketball games. I asked them to send me pictures of the fun they were having and this is what I got: Marie eating cotton candy with a spoon. Andy said she enjoyed the game but probably liked the food even more. She was full from pizza, cotton candy, and other types of candy.  She had a great time and always likes to have her alone time with Daddy.

 

See that nice shiner on her face?  She was playing with instruments at school and hit herself with one. Then, she was playing at home on a ball and ran into her dresser on the same spot!  Poor girlie.

 

 

Bennett was such a good boy for me back at home. He took his bath - one of his favorite things to do. He splashes like crazy and kicks his legs. He continues to be resistant to moving...he is starting to scoot backwards a bit so hopefully that gets him more excited about moving.

 

 

In the middle of the night, Andy got hit with it all and we have spent our Sunday being sick while the children took over the house. Thankfully Marie & Bennett love to play together and entertain one another. Andy & I took turns taking naps and watching the kids while trying to get rested. We have a busy week so hopefully we get all this sickness out of here soon!

Getting it all done

 Just like every family, our weeks are busy.  They are full of school, work, play, groceries, cleaning, laundry, bills, appointments, baths, and more.  Our kids aren't even involved in activities yet so I can't even imagine what our days will look like when that happens. 

 

 

 I am always searching for the best way to fit it all in and not let something fall to the wayside. I try to schedule all our responsibilities into the most efficient time frames. I make my lists and check them millions of times making sure I don't miss a thing. Unfortunately I tend to be Type A. I sit down to nurse Bennett, see a cheese-it cracker under the couch and can barely sit long enought to finish feeding him before getting up to clean up that one silly cracker.

My house never seems clean enough, my laundry hamper never empty, and there is always an item on my grocery list. However, my kids are happy, my husband makes me schedule time for fun, and we have the pictures to prove it.  That is one of the main reasons I continue to blog.  Not only does writing give me an outlet, something I have always enjoyed, but it also gives our family a way to look back on the fun things we have done together. Marie loves to look back at the past blogs and watch videos, listen to herself talk, see her old house, and see how big she has gotten.

 Does it take time?  Yes.  Do I always feel like going through the uploading and editing of photos? No. But the end product is worth it. So, "Blog Post" is always on my weekly to-do list.  Not every day is blog-worthy, believe me.

We have days where it all comes together and we sit down at night with the kids tucked in bed, look at eachother and think, "Yep, we have it all figured it out. We are getting the hang of this!"  Then we have times were it is 9:30 at night, our daughter is still up asking for one more drink while Bennett is getting changed for the 30th time because he pooped again, I am scrubbing the carpet from Charlie throw-up and Andy is struggling to get any sort of studying done while everything else is going on. We look at each other and think, "What are we doing wrong?"

 

 

On this particular day, the to-do list seemed never ending. But Andy spotted perfect packing snow and out we went - it was time to build a snowman.  Marie and Daddy did the work while Bennett and Mommy were on the swing taking pictures and Charlie was begging to go inside.  Is my laundry done?  No.  But I did get to cross "family time" off my list.