never a dull moment

Andy is officially done with nights (yeah!) so we have had some more family time the past few days. Here is what we have been up to!

We were the lucky recipients of May Day Baskets from our neighbor girl, Sydney.

The kids were so excited and wanting to eat the candy all at once. 

Someone figured out how to sneak his basket and hide behind the chair so he could eat a few more pieces...stinker.

We enjoyed a few days at the park between the cold and rainy weather we had last week.

The kids love the park and it is hard to drag them away every time...especially Bennett. It's not the best part of my day or his when I say it's time to go home.

Bennett has also been mowing our yard a lot...over and over and over. 

Too bad he isn't cutting the grass!  He is just yelling 'bubbles' over and over and over thanks to Aunt Liz and Uncle Andrew's early birthday gift for him.

Sunday was a full day for us!  We visited Sheldon and then Van Beek family to celebrate Mother's Day and Abby's birthday.  The kids played with their cousins and had a blast with a game called "Head Bands."

On the way out of town we got a call about visiting some 3 week old puppies...of course we said yes!

The kids jumped out of the car, sprinted to the puppy barn, and cuddled all the little cuties!

It was hard to walk away without one...

While at the acreage we also got to pet, feed, and even ride a few horses!

This has been Marie's dream for soooooo long.  She has been asking about riding a horse for months! 

This girl definitely has a love affair with them and it's pretty neat to think that maybe she gets this from her Grandpa Rick.

After this busy busy day we made our way back to Sioux City but not until we stopped for delicious strawberry shakes and dinner at Bob's Drive Inn in LeMars...one of my favorite stops.

 And then there's Gus...he's been along with us for all of our adventures but he still gets worried he is going to be left behind.  Every week after I get groceries he jumps up and sneaks into his kennel while the groceries are still inside just in case we are heading out.

Life has been busy and it's not slowing down anytime soon! 

"Just one thing and then I'll go back to bed..."

At about 8:45 every night, Marie tip toes out of her room to share some sort of random information with this that can't POSSIBLY wait until morning.  She prefaces the statement by saying " I just NEED to tell you one thing and then I'll go back to bed."

sporting her "Merida" wig from the movie "Brave" along with her bow & arrow

I started keeping track...they were just too good to not share.

"Do you know what my favorite colors are?  They're pink and purple."

"Don't have a nightmare tonight, ok Mom?"

New Easter Dress

"My legs don't have enough milk so they are hurting. So we need to drink more milk tomorrow, ok mom?  More milk!"

"Mom, tomorrow I want a pop tart for breakfast. But remember, I will take the crust off first."

"When it's winter again next year and the snow is sticky I am going to build snowman. Is that ok with you mom?"

"Mom!  I can't speak bear!" ---for the record, we are pretty sure she was sleep walking during this statement.

"Mom, I really love being a big sister. And I'm so good at it!"

 ***

It's never a dull moment with this little girl in our house!  

 

 

Play time!

Late on Friday night we welcomed Aunt Liz, Uncle Andrew, and Cali for a little visit.

The kids woke up on Saturday morning and ran to Aunt Liz ready to play.  Andrew was busy all day with a softball tournament so the kids and Aunt Liz played all day long. 

They even got to open up early birthday presents!

Grammy & Papa also visited on Saturday for a little play time. 

While we were out to lunch, Aunt Keri and Uncle Paul stopped at the restaurant to eat with us, too!

It was such a fun weekend full of many people we love. 

Gus and Cali had plenty of play time in the back yard too....we have to giant hole from their digging to prove it.

When Liz & Andrew left on Sunday, the kids were pretty sad to see them go.

They love all their aunts and uncles so much and really treasure all the time they get with them.

Each one has a different connection or bond and we are so blessed to have such a great family who loves them so much.

A Beautiful Easter

 

Our Easter weekend started off with coloring eggs. We may be one of the only families who can't even let the dye dry before cracking into the eggs.

Bennett got pretty into it this year and enjoyed "carefully" throwing the eggs into the cup of dye followed by giggles from the splashing.

 

 

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a carnival and egg hunt at church. Marie enjoyed the arm/face paint and games while Bennett enjoyed the cookie decorating.  

Both liked the egg hunt but Bennett was getting pretty tired. He loves wearing his hat and as soon as he's tired he pulls the bill down over his eyes. Here he is giving up after 1 egg...getting way too tired to hunt for 1 silly chocolate egg.

Afterwards the kids played outside while Andy started a new project in the backyard along our retaining wall.  Marie loves to help him with projects and her job was to take all the worms they found to our garden. She took it seriously and came in exhausted and needing a juice box. 

 

On Easter morning the kids woke up to find their basket of goodies overflowing on the table. 

They were probably the most excited for the set of outdoor tools - rake, shovel, and hoe.  I know, crazy right? These kids LOVE to help with chores and jobs outside.  They always fight over the broom and one small shovel we have so we knew these were a must for the Easter basket this year.

Marie was also in love with her new shoes while Benny was pretty excited over the bubbles...although it's hard to tell when you see his picture above...some "bunny" thinks it's way too early to be excited about bubbles I guess.

Gus received a basket as well which was full of bones and brand new tennis balls which are now covered in slobber and mud after a long day of fetch.

 

We were excited to have Grammy and Papa joined us for Easter Sunday.  

Here we are all dressed up for church!

 The weather report mentioned it was going to be a warm but rainy day - thankfully we enjoyed a beautiful warm and sunny day for our Easter activities!

 The kids enjoyed chalk, bikes, bubbles, and swinging outside all day with Grammy & Papa.

 

 

 

 Our backyard was the perfect place for one last egg hunt.

Bennett and Marie found those eggs pretty quickly even though some were quite tricky.

 The kids ate way too much candy and enjoyed every minute of it.

 

 After Dad went to work the kids decided they needed to dig and do "work" with the rakes, shovels, and hoes in the back yard. They truly enjoyed just chatting away and digging in the dirt.  I was told to "just play with Gus" because they had so much work to do.  They were busy for over 30 minutes!  

By the time they had finished they were a sweaty mess full of dirt. 

It was a simply wonderful way to end our Easter holiday weekend!

the count down begins

So life once again has thrown a little curve ball at us but this time we are ready for it.  Andy has started his night float rotation and we are on that brutal day 1 where it seems like it's going to last and last and last. However, it does give us a chance to enjoy a few moments in life that are usually missed.  

Andy is home by about 6 a.m. every day so he gets to make his famous oatmeal for the kids which they love way more than my oatmeal. Sitting around the table is one of my favorite things to do as a family so being able to do it 2 times in one day is like hitting the jackpot.  I love the silly things that come out of Marie's mouth and I'm always amused by Bennett's imitation of whatever his big sister just said. After we eat breakfast, the rush is on to get dressed and out the door on time. As Andy is nearly falling asleep while cleaning up the dishes he helps me get the kids ready-one of my favorite things about this crazy rotation. 

As soon as the car clears the driveway, Andy crawls into bed and falls fast asleep.

This is definitely an odd concept for Marie to understand. The first night float rotation he ever did was last fall.  Marie actually tried to act sick one day because she wanted to stay home with Dad. 

At the end of the day, Gus gets to run and play fetch until Andy

picks the kids up from school. It's always exciting for the kids to have Dad pick them up instead of the usual boring Mom.

They rush home and get as much play time in as possible while getting supper on the table. 

As soon as I walk in the door from work once again we sit down together at the table.

We talk about our day, say silly things, and soak up every last minute until 6:00.

Then Daddy's off once again.

This night float thing isn't our favorite, but it does give us an opportunity to remember how much we like to spend time together at home as a family.

And we only have 14 days left to go.

another weekend of many seasons

Once again we had some gorgeous 70-80 degree weather followed by a snowstorm...this is not a cycle we want to continue!

However, we did REALLY enjoy the warm part of the weekend.

Marie was dealing with a fever the entire week along with strep throat, ear infections, and a virus that just wouldn't leave. Poor girl was exhausted but she was well enough to go to the circus at the end of the week with her class. I was able to go along with her so we secretly bought some cotton candy on the way out.

 Saturday morning after Andy got home from work, we got busy working on our t-ball skills.  These kids took this very seriously and enjoyed every minute of it!

 For some reason our kids are both more comfortable batting left handed - in fact they are quite good at it! Marie is interested in taking t-ball lessons this summer, too.

 We also spent time working on the yard, cleaning out the cars, and playing in the sand box.

 With the snowstorm today came a lot of movies, laundry, naps, & hide and seek. 

It was a great way to end a not so great week - hoping and praying for healthy kids this week!