Not really a baby anymore...

She is growing so very fast.  

Sleep...

I always worry when she falls asleep during the middle of the day. It normally means she is getting sick. Not this time though, she was just tired. She really fights sleep. Gets up at least 9 times before she finally conks out. The other night Jer and I were down stairs. At 10 o'clock she comes down and tells us she's ready to go to sleep so come tuck her in. What? We thought she had gone to sleep hours ago! Nope. She had snuck the ipad into her room and was watching shows. I said "Laine, where you watching shows?" She replied, "no mom, I didn't watch a single show. Just a movie." Too bad naps and early bedtimes don't roll over into our later years. I sure wish they did.

7 years old...

Can that be? Do we really have a 7 year old child? Bode turned 7 on the 14th of March. He asked for Pokemon cards and a guitar. Too funny, He loves the guitar. He makes up funny little songs all the time. We only do friend parties every other year. It has never really mattered in the past but this year he really wanted a party. He kept on trying to figure out how to make that happen. We stuck to our rule and had a fun family day. 

His cake was a no bake cookie shaped into the number 7. He thought it was pretty cool. 

Bode is growing up so fast, He can read just about everything. He loves to draw, cut things out and make things. Lego and kinects are his favorite toys. He is a great big brother and lets his sisters follow him all over. He is getting really good at listening and doing chores. He hates beef stroganoff and can out eat us all when it comes to pizza. We love this growing boy!

Spring Break...

We stuck close to home for spring break this year. The highlight of the week for the kids was a trip to Lake Pleasant. We loaded up the jeep with dinner, fishing supplies and some chairs. We found a good spot and off they went.

They fished a little, threw rocks, fed ducks and climbed rocks.

It was really a memorable afternoon. They are begging to go back.

Shoe loving girls...

Piper loves shoes. She learned that from her big sister, who learned to love shoes from her mother. They both love the shoe aisles at stores.

Piper will bring you a pair of shoes and scream at you until you put them on her. She will give them to you then plop down on her bottom then point her toes up in the air until you put on the shoe. Also, she is so very chubby. We love her.

Today Laine and I went out shopping to get new Sunday shoes for their new Easter clothes. We just went to Payless. We may have gone to Disneyland by the way she was acting. She goes, "Oooooo, mom. Please can I try them all on?". We had time so I let her try as many as she wanted on. She absolutely fell in love with these little heals. Why the heck does a 4 year old need heals!?! She begged for them, I nearly caved. But again, she is only 4 and does not need heals. She tried on about 10 pair of sandals and settled on a pair of silver ones. We kept running our errands and she was super chatty. Walking into Home Depot she was just sure everyone would notice her shoes. She told me that people would say 

-wow, what nice shoes. You must have got them from your home.

She would reply

-No, not from my home. They are new shoes. I got them today at the store.

She is growing so much and has so much personalty. We love her.

The squeamish should look away...

Spring break was a few weeks ago. We started it off with stitches. The kids were busily playing together. They had been running through the house and yard all day. I was in the kitchen when I hear Bode crying. It wasn't a "my sister is annoying me" cry. It was a panicked "I'm hurt" kind of cry. He come in bleeding, holding his right arm. He kept saying things like, "a knife came from nowhere. It fell from somewhere. Laine did it". One look at it and I knew it needed stitches. I wrapped it up. Piled the kids in the car and drove to Thyra's so she could watch the girls.

Getting the actual stitches was a bit traumatic. He was very scared it would hurt. They numbed it up but he was still not wanting the doctor to touch him. The second the doctor started to get the needle out Bode started crying about needing to go pee. So, I took him to the bathroom and convinced him that no matter what he said he was still getting stitches. We came back to the room. I had to hold him down. Not fun holding down a big 7 year old. So sad. He then realized that it wasn't hurting and they finished him up really quick. He got 4 stitches.

They were in for a week and he thought it was pretty cool. I swear, Bode really uses our health insurance. So far no broken bones (knock on wood).  

The zoo...

Every year I take my preschool class to zoo. This year I let Bode play hooky and tag along. The kids ran along peering in at the animals, while I walked and chatted with friends. The weather was great and it was a wonderful day! 

Lucky...

I am a lucky lady. 

I don't always appreciate how lucky I am but right here in this little picture sums up all my luck.

I love them!

Basketball kid...

This was Bode's second year of basketball. He did much better this year. He caught on to the game and did much more that pick his nose running down the court. He even made a basket!

He was lucky enough to have many family members come and watch him play this season. On his last game Grandpa Dave and Grandpa Alex came. Bode was really trying to show off for them. 

I hope that I see many more games from this boy!

The third child...

When I first started having kids I thought,"my kids' boogers will be wiped off of their faces immediately, hair will always be done and they will be dressed so cute". Three kids snap you into reality. Here she is. Lunch in her hair, booger on her nose and nutter butters caked to her cheeks. But she is happy! 

Food...

This child loves food. She has the rolls to prove it.

I bought popcorn at target to keep these two happy one day. Piper pretty much figured it was her popcorn. She wasn't mean about this but she wasn't too subtle either. She kept her hand in the bag at all times. Except when it came to getting the popcorn in her mouth, She would then shove it in as fast as possible and then get her hand back in the bag.

These people...

are my favorite.

I, like every other mother in the world, get so frustrated with the everyday tasks of motherhood. Its a hard job. There is the saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. I am not saying I'm going insane ;) but there are so many days of doing the same thing over and over that this job becomes repetitive and overwhelming. Every day its make your bed, put your dirty clothes away, stop fighting, sit at the table, brush your teeth... It is easy to throw myself a pity party and feel very under appreciated.  Trust me. I can throw a killer pity party.

No matter what I do believe that what I am doing it the most important thing in the world and there is nothing else I would rather be doing with my life right now. I do not want to miss a minute of the time I have while my children are little. The days are long but the years are going by too fast. 

Valentines day...

Jer and I aren't too big on Valentines day. Sounds cheesy but we don't need a designated day to tell each other we love each other. We don't even do gifts. We do however do a little something for the kids. They got a box of chocolate, a small toy and I gave them a box of doughnut holes that said, "Doughnut you know we love you a whole bunch". Bode saw all of this first and he gave us this note. So sweet that boy is.

The kids got tons of valentine treats. This is what happens when someone doesn't know what fun dip is.

That evening we loaded up everyone, brought a picnic dinner, and drove out to the festival park. It is a fun one. The kids just played and played. It was the perfect way to spend out valentines.