Happy Easter

This has been one of the best days!  The kids woke up early (what's new) and once we told them that the Easter bunny may have made a visit, they rushed out to find their baskets.  We didn't do anything wild, but they loved what they got.  They each got a chocolate bunny, chocolate eggs (which they were unwrapping and eating immediately) and a stuffed bunny.  Ben got a tractor and Emma got a pencil case and crayons.  They were overjoyed!

Lennard made us omelets for breakfast while I attempted to finish up labeling and stuffing candy into easter eggs for an Easter egg hunt with my nieces and nephews!  Emma happened to open the bedroom door and see all the eggs sitting on my bed and came running into the kitchen screaming, "Mommy!  Daddy!  The Easter bunny left us Easter eggs!!!"  She was vibrating she was so excited.  It was cute.

The 'gang' showed up around 11:00 and by about 11:30 we let the kids out into the backyard to hunt for the eggs with their names on them.  We were missing 5 of the 20 grandkids (M&M are in Texas and R&C had a family thing with his family).  I was so impressed with how well the kids played together.  It was such a beautiful day that no one really needed jackets and the kids were able to eat outside for lunch.

We barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone else brought salads, a veggie tray and dessert.  It was such a nice and easy way to have lunch with that many people.  A few families had to leave after lunch was over, but a few stayed until the early afternoon.  We let the kids go down to the park and they had a blast playing.  I seriously just loved how nice it was to be able to be outside without a coat and have a nice relaxed visit with most of my siblings!

After everyone left, we let the kids skip their naps and just keep playing.  They played hard!  We got a few more things done on the trailer... well, Lennard did, while I read a book!  Then, since it was getting close to dinner time I started looked on Pinterest for some ideas of what to make.  Lennard came into the kitchen and said, "Let's do something totally crazy."  So we did... we loaded the kids up, picked up my parents on the way and headed to Twin Butte for dinner!  It was delicious and I totally over-ate, but it was the perfect way to end the perfect day.  To top it off - the kids went to bed without too much of a fight!  (Only 10 minutes of back and forth instead of an hour!).

 

Tired Boy

You know Ben’s tired when you try to get him to eat lunch and then find him like this…

Keeping Busy

I have a confession to make… I find it way too easy to let my kids watch TV instead of trying to come up with a different activity to do with them every 10-15 minutes.  I know that it’s not the best thing for them to be doing and I have somewhat justified it by putting on ‘educational’ shows, though lately that only lasts for one show before they are asking for Caillou or some other mindless cartoon.  When the first thing they ask for when they wake up is a ‘show’, I know that we’ve been watching way too much.  So, with that in mind, I decided that today would be a NO TV/show day. 

Initially with was pretty easy to re-direct them and get them to eat breakfast instead.  Then we got dressed and I pulled out the nail polish.  Emma was thrilled!  She requested sparkles, so we got out the purple nail polish and went to town.  She was so proud of herself (and it looked really cute too!).  We then painted her toenails, which just added to the excitement.  As soon as she was done, then Ben proclaimed that it was his turn!  I didn’t think that Lennard would be too excited to see purple nail polish on his little boy, so we compromised and he got clear nail polish.  Thankfully he wasn’t too disappointed that it wasn’t purple.  If you ask him what color his nails are he says, “Green!”.  

 

Then I had to come up with something else… playdough!  I whipped up a batch of playdough and they each got to pick their own colors for their playdough.  Emma picked pink (big surprise) and Ben got green (are you sensing a theme?).  I pulled out all the playdough toys and they went to town for at least a half hour!  It was great! 

After playdough we had a rousing game of Candyland (Dora version).  Emma did really well and caught on to what she was supposed to do.  Ben was just concerned about his ‘cards’.  We then put on music and Emma and I danced around the family room while Ben rocked out on his Elmo guitar (It was quite the sight).  I set up the train table and they played with that while I worked on finishing a scrapbook page and sewed a bit on my sampler quilt.  Emma made me a pretend lunch and Ben went shopping with the shopping cart.  They then played with puzzles while I got lunch ready. 

Just hanging out having a pre-lunch snack of bread & butter

It was such a good day for not having screaming/temper tantrums/etc.  I was tired by the end of lunch and could have easily crashed when they finally went down for naps, but I managed to get some laundry through and read a bit of “Les Miserables” by Victor Hugo.

When Lennard got home, we headed out to Lethbridge and got a bunch of odds and ends done.  We stopped at El Dorado and got stuff for the trailer and then popped in to visit Dave & Nysha and cuddle baby Will for the first time (he was born on Monday, the 18th)!  What a little chubster!  He’s adorable!  We had an interesting dinner at the Regent.  The food was delicious, but Emma thought it was a good idea to provide entertainment for the rest of the patrons.  At random points in the dinner she would start singing (rather loudly) “We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet” or “I am a Child of God”.  (At least we know she is learning something from Primary).  Once she put on a few encores, we managed leave and make stops at Canadian Tire (more trailer stuff) and Costco (spent way too much).  We didn’t get home until about 9:00 and while Ben fell asleep, Emma sang, cried, screamed, cried, etc. all the way home.  We were very glad to pull into the garage!  We can definitely say life is anything but dull! 

Crazy Kids

There are not too many days that I can say that my couch cushions have actually stayed ON the couches!  Emma and Ben love to pull them off, jump on the couches, build towers, etc.  If Ben is pulling them off they are inevitably lined up to make a bridge or a stage.  Sometimes I get frustrated with it, but I’m starting to chill out (sometimes) and clue in that it’s really not hurting anything.

This evening we went to the library to their Easter Bedtime Stories program.  I thought it would be a lot of fun for the kids.  It was fun for them… they just wouldn’t sit still for anything!  It seemed like every other kid was sitting nice and quiet and our two kids were the only ones that were up and down and all over the place!  Oh well… I’m sure they’ll figure it out eventually.  (I hope!). 

Horrible iPhone photo, but the only one where both of them were somewhat still!  Ben is in yellow behind the little girl in green with white polka dots and Emma is sitting on my friend Shannon’s lap!

Sticky Situation

I was trying to hurry and make French Toast for breakfast when I heard Emma say, “Look, mom!  I got lots of syrup!”  She definitely did!  Not only was it filling her plate, it was dripping off the table onto her leg, ankle and chair!  It ended up with her in a bath, as she had managed to get it into her hair as well!  So, if a bath is called for… why not a bubble bath! 

  

It filled up a good 45 minutes of the day!  They had great fun!

Potty Training…

To start off with… I’m okay with changing diapers.  I know some people aren’t, but I am!  It’s easy!  I don’t have to search for washrooms or stop on the side of the road with little ones!  I can drive for hours and not worry about how many sets of clothes have been peed through!  Having said that, I am going to attempt to potty train Ben.  I know, my enthusiasm is just overwhelming!  Sunday night we ran out of diapers… I think that is the only reason I’m even attempting this.  I have been completely spoiled by Emma basically potty training herself overnight and I KNOW that Ben is not going to be that easy.  Why do I know that?  Trust me… Ben has a stubborn streak in him!  Anyways, the morning actually went surprisingly well!  I made him a sticker chart and every time he went on the potty he would get a sticker.  Of course, that didn’t go over so well with Emma and so I had to quickly make up a sticker chart for her as well!  He went about 4 times and only had 2 accidents.  I can only hope it continues to go well!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It’s been a bit of a crazy week and I haven’t stopped to take any pictures… I know… Gasp!  Here’s a quick overview of what the week has looked like:

-  Emma has had swimming lessons every afternoon.

- Lennard is busy coaching rugby from 4:00 to 6:00 every night.

-  I went crafting with some friends on Tuesday night.  (Such a fun evening!)

- We had our annual Relief Society party on Wednesday night.  We also got our income tax stuff submitted and signed on Wednesday. (Yeah, for rebates!!)

- We went to Stay and Play on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.

- Lennard had a Flying Club meeting on Thursday.

- We went to the Home & Garden Show in Lethbridge on Friday.  Thank you, Mindy for watching the kids!!! 

And – to top the week off – we went to Airdrie today to pick up our trailer!  My mom watched the kids for us (THANK YOU!) and it was a good thing too.  The weather was bitterly cold in Airdrie and we ended up having a few ‘bumps’ in the walk-through.  The first indication that things wouldn’t go nice and smoothly was when they couldn’t get the main door to even open.  We think the lock was probably just frozen shut, but they ended up replacing the entire lock mechanism!  Then the outside door to access all the parts for the hitch was frozen shut… literally!  We ended up getting the other door that goes into the master bedroom opened and Lennard crawled under the bed and handed out all the stuff for the hitch!  It was quite the sight to see him under the bed and me holding the entire thing up as one of the clips came off the gas spring(?) and wouldn’t hold the bed up!  Finally, we got the doors opened and we started to go through things.  Then we discovered that we couldn’t open the slide because it was frozen shut too!  (Are you sensing a theme here?!… It was SO cold!)  As they worked on getting the monster hitch installed, I finally gave up and sat in the truck with the heat blowing full blast trying to get some feeling back in to my hands and feet!  Brrr!  What a day to pick up a trailer!  Finally, we managed to get back on the road.  It’s a bit heavier than the 5th wheel to pull, but it wasn’t too bad.  Thankfully, the weather improved the farther south we went.  We unloaded the trailer at home and then headed out to mom & dad’s to get the kids and have some supper.  What a long day… but definitely memorable!

Good Neighbors

We are very blessed to have a neighbor with a quad that comes and plows us out after almost every snowfall.  We have never asked him to do this, but unfailingly, he is there every time the snow falls.  The kids love watching him!

Here is Brother McGill plowing out our next door neighbor’s drive way before he comes to do ours!  What a wonderful man!

Like Father, Like Son

I think Ben has seen his dad reading the paper a few times… this is what I saw when I turned around from getting lunch made today.  It looks like he’s scanning the classified ads… job hunting already?!

New-to-us Trailer

For a number of reasons (which we won’t list), we sold our 5th wheel trailer.  We’ve been searching for something else that would work for us – i.e. bunk beds, slide, larger kitchen, etc. and after a bit we found a trailer in Airdrie that we thought would work for us.  Lennard took the day off work and we headed up to look at it.  We had a bit of fun with all the fog on the way up, but we found the dealership without a problem.  The kids thought it was great as they remember us going to the RV show in Lethbridge and getting to climb into all the different trailers.  There had been a huge blizzard on the weekend, so the aisles in the yard were still snow-packed.  We trudged through the snow drifts and made our way to the trailer we were interested in seeing.  From the pictures we knew that it was the layout we wanted, but seeing it in person just made it even better.  The kids loved running around and checking everything out.  It’s definitely not a brand new trailer and has a few things that will need to be fixed, but we couldn’t pass up the combination of layout, price and weight… all which were within our parameters.  We went back inside and signed a tentative agreement and put a down payment on it.  We just wanted to give ourselves a day to make sure we both felt good about it.  Here are a few pictures of the trailer that were sent to us (I didn’t bring my camera with me).

   

The decals are peeling and we will probably just take them right off.  The door next to the slide is into the master bedroom.  The other side of the trailer is the main entrance with a big awning.

     

The kitchen has LOTS of storage!  The fridge is probably double the size of the one in the 5th wheel.  I love the huge pantry/wardrobe!

  

This is a funny picture of the bunks as the mattress for the top bunk is on the bottom one, but it gives you an idea of where the kids will sleep.  Emma loves the idea of getting to sleep on the top bunk!  The other picture is a general view of where the dinette/couch slide is and master bedroom.  We are excited to get it home and get some better weather to head out and use it!

Rugby Season

Well… for the next few months I will consider myself a ‘rugby widow’.  Lennard is the head coach of the Cardston Girl’s Rugby Team this year and practices start today.  Having said that, I know it is something that he loves to do and I fully support him in sharing his knowledge of the sport with others.  I did have to laugh when I looked outside this morning though… this is what I saw…

Yup… lots of lovely, freshly fallen snow!  Good luck staying warm!  (Good thing they have the gym to practice in a couple times a week!)

Big Helper

I spent a part of the morning making bread.  I had them sitting out to cool down and decided to go get dressed (finally).  Emma came racing in to my room yelling that Benny was playing with a knife, so I booted it out to the kitchen to see what was going on.  Sure enough, Ben had decided that he wanted a slice of bread and took it upon himself to get one… this was the result!

Every single loaf had holes in it… though the one on the end got the most ‘love’ of all.  The entire center was hollow by the time he’d got through with it!

Don’t let the innocent look fool you!  What a little imp!

Another view of the mutilation… at least it was just the bread and not a body part!