Fiesta Day!

Waiting for their turn to hit the Pinata

Anna Marie takes a turn at hitting the dinosaur.

Andrew gets in two good whacks.

Christian taking his turn.

And finally the loot spills out (with a little help from Mrs. B and some keys)

gathering up the bounty

snack time - note Andrew's excitement at the prospect of chips, salsa and guacamole.

Last Friday, I was able to help with Andrew's class party. It was Fiesta Day, complete with paper plate sombreros and a pinata! We were a little worried that the pinata would break before all 19 kids were able to take a turn at hitting it. But we worried in vain. Each kid took two good swings at the dinosaur, with no results. Finally Mrs. B. took out some aggression and it still didn't break. One of the other parents used his keys to try and cut some holes to make the candy fall out. Still nothing. In the end, we ripped off the legs and dumped out the pinata much to the kids delight! Then we went back to the classroom for snacks - chips, salsa, cheese dip, guacamole and sopapilla cheesecake. Yummy to everyone but Andrew. So glad I had the chance to help in his class!

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and the kiddos on Mother's Day

Grandma and Hannah, can you tell it was a little windy?

Helping Grandpa fill buckets to give some new trees a drink.

On Mother's Day we went to Hutchinson to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. It was very windy, but we spent a lot of time outside in the nice weather.

Andrew's preschool program

The theme was Dinosaurs!

Can you find Andrew? He's the one in the middle wearing a white shirt, looking a little uncertain about the whole situation.

Doing the motions!

And singing!

boys with the volcano

Andrew's spring program was this week and he did AWESOME! This was a big deal for all of us. After three painful programs in his preschool career, we kept our expectations low and our bribes high for this one.

He kept telling me he was scared of all the people, and I told him that they wouldn't be looking at him. They would only be watching their own kids. That seemed to help a little and then a day or two before the program he watched an episode of Olivia. Olivia's friend was scared of performing also, and Olivia told him to imagine that all the people were his stuffed animals. The night of the program, Andrew told us he was going to do the same. We also promised him we would go get some frozen yogurt after his program at Orange leaf if he tried to sing. The little stinker then asked how many songs he had to sing to get ice cream. I told him ALL of the songs.

I'm not sure what really worked, but it doesn't matter because he sang EVERY song and did all the motions. My little boy is growing up! And the bribe to get some frozen yogurt after his program may have helped a little too!

Johnny Jumper Time

We busted out the Johnny Jumper for Hannah the other night. Hannah is starting to get mobile, rolling around all over the place and it's not always safe for her on the floor. She wasn't too sure about the jumper at first, and I think her brothers were almost more excited about it than she was! But after a few minutes, she could spin around and see the action going on around her. She hasn't started bouncing super high yet, but I'm sure that will come soon enough.

Random pictures from April

April was a fun, but busy month. Here are a couple of pictures I failed to post earlier...

3 little monkeys...
(note Jonathan's little smirk)

sitting in a chair...

2 silly monkeys sitting in a chair...

April showers bring umbrella fun!

We finally got around to dyeing Easter eggs a week after Easter. The boys didn't seem to notice that we were a little late in getting this done. They just loved watching their eggs change colors. And there was minimal mess!

This picture frightens me a little. I can't remember what he was saying or doing at this moment.

Happy Easter!

Waiting for their Easter baskets...

Sorting through their loot

Hannah checking out Auntie Jill

a rare picture of us

Sydney, Hannah and Brenna in their matching Easter dresses

So sweet!

Happy Easter! Somehow we didn't manage to get a picture of our family together, but if you squint at all the pictures, you can imagine what we looked like on Easter morning. :)

Girls' Night Out

Lisa, Lora, Hannah, me, Rebecca and Jill

There's nothing like good food and good friends. It's good for the soul!

We had a great GNO with only one child, and she was very well-behaved if I do say so myself. Especially since her rotten mother kept her out until midnight. Yummy dinner at Thai Traditions. I was a little afraid that it would be too spicy, but it was delicious. Jill and Lisa, I wish you lived here so we could get together more often. Love you friends!