Another wild week

Well it has been another wild week around here. I have done my best to keep things organized. There are 50+ pictures in the post today. Make sure you click on older post at the bottom to see all of them. The last one is titled 'Cowboys & Cowgirls'. The kids are doing great and had a nice holiday. They are having lots of success with potty training. They are also very good helpers with EVERYTHING. We are looking forward to later this week as the weather is suppose to be very nice...finally! Here is our family picture from Easter. Hope you enjoy the post and pictures.
Love, Jen

A walk, a meeting and toybox mayhem

Monday madness...with the weather being not so great, mornings outside are not the best idea, so that means we have to find enough entertainment inside to tire the kids out. That is really what most days consist of...me wearing myself out to tire three (most days four) kids out...I am always on the losing end of this. Anyways, today the kids found things in the house to occupy their time like daddy's motorcycle gloves...Doesn't Alex look tough in them...

or Liz getting good use out of all the sunglasses...I must say the best $1 I have spent. They have a blast with them.

Not only did Zach get use of the sunglasses, but he was making a meal for all of us too. I love that he picked the glasses that matched his outfit...lol.

When the little things start to fail we move onto bigger and better (aka messier) things like the toybox. Not only did it have to come out of its place but it had to be put in the middle of the room and completely emptied. Now the fun does not stop there, oh no...then we climb in and on it. It makes for a great toy...forget about all the toys in it...

They are thinking...'this is a nice hang out'...

After this picture was one of Zach with the cover back on the toybox and him standing on it...I know, I know...shocking, right?!?! LOL

I did come up with a great idea minutes before lunch and insisted it be done...taking the kids for a walk around the yard. Originally I was going to give them buckets to collect things but changed my mind when we became short on time. The key to keeping them all in line and listening while walking is giving them a job. It was their job to hold onto their handle on a piece of yarn. I took a piece of yard and about every 5 feet made a handle. Worked like a charm! This of course will only work until they figure out that holding onto the handle is not as much fun as running the yard in three different directions...

Daddy's dirty laundry

Tuesday night I got out for a dinner with my friend, Carrie. That leaves daddy in charge. Carrie and I try to get out monthly. She is a first time mom too. Her son Luke is 9 months old. So it is nice to share ideas and such with each other. I always make sure that dinner is made so Jeremy does not have to worry about it. Tonight after dinner Jeremy washed the kids up and stripped them down. Apparenty they started playing with one of the laundry baskets and all ended up in it...it is amazing that they all still can fit in there...
He then had them wave to mommy...

I did get home in time tonight before they went to bed. Zach decided to show that he can wear more than one pair of glasses too.

Basketball Hoop

We finally got some better weather and headed outside for the afternoon. As you may notice day to day outerwear can be quite different. One day we need hats, mittens and winter coats, then the next day we are in light jackets and hats...if we are lucky we get a day of just light jackets. Even though it was a tad windy I decided to introduce the kids to their new outdoor toy. Another resale bargain...an adjustable basketball hoop! With the kids growing out of the small toys I am on the search for "big kid" toys...this fits perfectly. I tried to teach the kids to throw the ball up but they wanted to put it in, which they are just not tall enough to do. All in all they did have fun with it. Here is Zach going for a dunk...
Alex attempting a 3 pointer...

and Liz on a lay-up.

As Liz was swinging the boys were doing what boys do best...getting dirty. They are very fond of the dirt around the only tree in the playarea. Here they are collecting little finger-fulls of dirt and putting it in their buckets. When they feel they have enough they dump the buckets...on themselves...lol.

I was taking a break and sitting on the slide landing...Roxie wanted up...I am pretty sure if she could have figured out how to climb the ladder she would have...she likes when I sit down (does not happen often).

Cookin' & Kissin'

So I will start this by telling a story that actually happened overnight Thursday night (actually early Friday morning). The kids have had their crib rails down for quite some time. They can climb in and out on their own. Our form of toddler beds. They are learning about independence and such. The boys don't mind climbing out and do it often...Liz is a more of wait until someone comes and gets me...go figure. So if the boys wake in the middle of the night and need something, they come to our room, my side of the bed and wake me up. Zach had come in about 1:30am and I took him back to his room got him what he needed and headed back to bed. Now let me just tell you this...Zach ALWAYS comes with is blankie (sometimes an animal too) and he normally does not say anything until he is by me. Well "Zach" came back to our room about 3am. He said mommy as he entered our room. I picked him up asked him what he needed and got no answer. Also noted that he did not have the blankie but figured he dropped it along the way. It seemed like he did not lay like he nomally does. So half awake I headed back to his room. We got in there and all of Alex's animals, blankets and pillow were on the floor and no Alex. I panicked. Now remember I totally think I got Zach. I put him down and tell him to stay...I run to our room wake Jeremy up tell him to go sit with Zach and that Alex is missing. I run downstairs...flipping lights on and off everywhere and calling his name. Jeremy finally yells down that he was upstairs. The panic feeling starts to subside. I walk into their room to have Jeremy holding "Zach" (really Alex) and tell me that Zach is in bed. And he was...sound asleep. I was so tired that I did not realize the little signs I should have like no blankie, not answering my question, how he was laying, etc. So for all those mothers that are reading this that have lost a child for a spilt second, I can relate. PURE PANIC! And he was in a locked house, I cannot imagine what it would feel like to have it happen in public. So it is a funny story, but my goodness... pretty sure I took a couple years off my life.
So onto the pictures...as I have mentioned before the kids want to help with EVERYTHING. I cannot cook dinner anymore without three chairs in the kitchen with me and 3 sets of eyes watching my every move. I have found it is easier to just let them watch as they will just climb over the gate if I don't let them out. Save me time actually. So Zach was the only one around when I start dinner tonight, so I let him assist me (try to let them help me do things that are kid appropriate). Here he is helping me...

While I was getting dinner ready, Liz and daddy were playing. When I got back into the living room Liz was saying kiss and then would hold Jeremy's face with her hands and kiss him. It was one of those moments that brings a tear to your eye. I was able to catch her doing it.

Baskets & Bubbles

Lucky for us, the Easter bunny came to our house early. I think he knew we were going out of town. Friday morning the kids came down to their Easter baskets awaiting them. Jeremy also had the day off so he was able to enjoy it with them. Although it made for a not so great breakfast, the kids had a blast. They opened each egg, inspected their new chalk and could not wait for us to open their new bath toys. We also opened their bubble wands which soon became swords or fly swatters. They all decided that they did not want the green grass in the baskets and helped daddy collect it all.

Thankfully it was a warm day so we were able to get out in the afternoon to try out those bubble wands. They caught on pretty darn quick. I am pretty sure the cars driving by were a bit confused but oh well. Here are some pictures of them making bubbles.

Future Farmers

Saturday morning started a whirlwind weekend for us. I worked Saturday morning and we planned to leave town when I got home/before the kids nap time. Most of the day Friday I spent trying to get as ready as I could to limit the amount of things needed to be done Saturday. Well ideas are great until reality hits. Jeremy was not able to get much done while watching the kids and I got home a little later than I expected. Let me just say I was running like a chicken with it's head cut off from the time I got home until I sat in the car to leave. I am normally very organized when we travel as I want everything we need and not to have to worry about things I may have missed, so chaos around leaving sucks. We pushed the kids over an hour past their nap time. The did not sleep the greatest on the ride and were getting quite anxious so we stop at a little park in a little town on the way. Although it was a battle to get them back in the car, it was worth the stop to let them stretch and walk around. When we got into Montfort we headed straight to Papa's farm. The kids got to see the kitties, the calves and the cows. Then papa let them sit on his tractor. I can see a hobby farm or two in the future (papa and grandpa would be proud). They are naturals...

Liz also spent a little moment with papa's farm dog, Shelby.

We could not leave the farm without a treasure of some sort. Alex made sure that he grab a cob of corn not only for himself but for his siblings too. You would have thought we gave them gold. It is the simple things in life! It also work as a nice little bribe to get them back in the car.