Gymnastics performance

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Diva

You knew it was only a matter of time.



"Yes, I will pose for one shot for the camera mom."



"Please, no more pictures."



"I said, no more!"



"Okay, one more."

The Dishwasher, My Nemisis

My dishwasher schedule is driving my crazy this week. I cannot seem to fill the dishwasher up in the evening to run at night. I've been having to run it midday. This is driving me CRAZY because that means dirty dishes pile up during the day while I'm waiting for the dishwasher to run and the dishes to dry. Even after they are ready to unload I still put it off because the unloading the dishwasher is one of my least favorite chores! That's why I like to do it first thing in the morning. Get it over with. I'm either going to have to fill up the dishwasher and then wash the dinner dishes by hand (NO!) or run a load half full (double NO!). So you can see how I am completely at the mercy of my dishwasher. Does this drive anyone else crazy or is this just my OCD kicking in? I must know if anyone else is has an abusive relationship with their dishwasher! Please tell me you are!

The Grab

You would think that after three kids I would get used to them perfecting the grab. I would be ready and learn not to wear dangle earrings or leave cords hanging down. I would be ready when they're four months old and not stop protecting the house until they are at least two. I don't learn though. I must loose my mind when I think I can put my glasses on and Maddie will let them stay on my face. I still insist the lamps sit on the end tables when I know full well Maddie will crawl to them and pull them down. Our whole family lives in constant alert. Where will she strike next? Byron's shoes? Grace's hair? Kendall's pigtail ribbons? The cat's tail? Byron says we're heading toward a wireless society. Someday they're won't be computer wires, camera wires, TV wires, etc. Everything will be wireless and gone will be the jumble of wires under the computer desk or behind the TV. This actually irritates me. Why? Well I'm sure the wireless gadgets will be here by the time Maddie has babies. Her kids won't put her through what she puts me through! I hope they all have colic and start walking at 7 months.

Look at all the pretty colors!

If you have been reading my previous post, you know that my parents took the two little girls to KY last week. This left just Kendall to take care which made me feel like I was on vacation! I didn't realize how much Kendall can do for herself. Kendall was out of school for Good Friday, so we decided the three of us would take a little trip to St. Louis for a couple of days and then meet my parents there to pick up the little ones. The weather was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop Kendall from discovering all the interesting things a big city has to offer. We went to the Science Center in the morning. We decided to ride the metro train because I knew it would be a new and fun experience for Kendall. Before you judge my 5 year old, understand her short little life. She has lived in Iowa all her life and much of it in a small rural area. AKA, whitey central. St. Louis is a LITTLE different from Winterset. While we were on the train, Kendall decided to express her interest and questions about her new surroundings. Here are some examples.

"People draw on their buildings here. It's so pretty and colorful. I think they're letters" Graffiti, and they were letters, but I don't want to put them on my blog in the order they were put on the buildings.

"Look at all the pretty colors of the people on this train." She was not talking about their clothes.

"Mom that man is so silly. I bet he makes everybody laugh" There was a man on the platform that was having a heated discussion with himself.

At the time, I gave Kendall the "we'll talk about it later" look. But it was so refreshing to see something through her eyes. When I thought about it, the graffiti did bring much needed color to the buildings. Everyone on the train certainly was pretty (and friendly too)! And there have certainly been many people in history that others thought were crazy. The Bible is full of them. As far as we know, that man could have been having a very important conversation with God himself. He certainly caught Kendall's attention, and not in a frightened way. Our trip was fun and educational. It was nice to slow down and be able to put our full attention on our oldest and each other.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and was able to celebrate our Lord with family and friends. We had a good one here. The girls got up early and we had our traditional bunny cinnamon rolls. Yum! Then it was off to church in our Easter best. It was so nice to sit together and enjoy the service. Pastor Ian chose Easter to debut the new praise band and they did an awesome job! Very inspirational! After church it was home to see what the Easter bunny might have brought. The Easter bunny sent a letter this year to the girls saying he would be stopping by while we were at church. Kendall hadn't said anything about the Easter bunny at all until she got the letter from him the day before. Then she said "Oh, I forgot about the Easter bunny!" Maddie had her first bite of chocolate from her basket. The girls hunted eggs and then lunch and then a nice long nap for the little ones. It was a great day. As I was sitting around the table with my family I was thinking about how grateful I am to have such a wonderful husband and kids. God has blessed me beyond my dreams!

Where to Begin?

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. We've had so much going on and I just haven't had the time. I am VERY backed up on blogging so hang on with me as I get through some postings over the next few days. First off, my parents paid us a visit a couple of weeks ago. They are very good about visiting and make it up here about every three or four months. My mom says they like to be able to see the babies that much because babies change so fast. Since all Byron and I have been doing the past few years is having babies; that makes their visits frequent which we love! Kendall knew they would be here when she got home from school. Grandpa and Grandma waited on the front porch for her and I think Kendall almost broke the speed barrier when she got off the bus. I saw her jump into my mom's arms and I think she almost took her down, which would have been really funny. Kendall then talked non stop for the rest of their visit. Poor Maddie and Grace couldn't get a word in edgewise. Luckily, Grace and Maddie got to go home with Grandpa and Grandma and spend the week. I know they had a good time because when we picked them up a few days later they were giggly and grinning. Scrubbed clean as whitstles with the tiniest hint of cookie crumbs around their mouths. "I have to spoil them a little!" my mom would say. I have to give it up for my mom and dad because they're great grandparents. They respect the rules Byron and I have in place, which I know from talking to other parents that this does not always happen. I'm sure there is nothing worse that picking up tired, dirty, bratty kids after spending the week at grandparents. Yuck! (Of course I had to write all this good stuff because my mom and dad are reading this. She won't even like this post because there is not a picture of the kids involved in the post. Ha!) Just kidding mom and dad!