Ahhh, Spring!

We do have some flowers blooming around outside, (I guess I should take pictures of those) but, I really wanted some inside. So, I bought some & my house smells so good because of them.

I don't know what it is about fresh flowers, but everything looks cleaner & brighter & smells so much sweeter. I really like spring.

Craftiness

One of Rick's co-workers is having a baby soon & they threw her a little shower. I love that he thought to make her a diaper cake. She's not saying if it's a girl or a boy, so we just went basic & gender neutral.

I think he did a great job for his first attempt.

Andrew's Field Trip

Andrew's class is studying insects right now. We got to head out to the Morrison Wildlife Center for a fun field trip. It was humorous to see how Andrew would go away from wherever the class was supposed to be. But, at least he got to do whatever he wanted without a crowd.

He really loved this long snake pillow & almost got swallowed up by it.

He also had to put on the snake tail for himself. This boy & belts...

We saw a turtle & Andrew touched the bull snake, which kind of surprised me.

He measured up pretty well to some birds.

And then we went outside to catch bugs to feed to the turtle. We caught a beetle.

Andrew was pretty bummed that we couldn't take the box with his bug home to show Daddy. Guess we'll have to go bug catching around our house instead.

Air Eliza

Back in the day, Rick really liked Michael Jordan. So, Rick's mom, got this outfit for Eliza.

She's almost got the moves down, too.

Ahh, Ahh, Kansas!!

I loved that slogan as a kid.

For Spring Break this year, we headed out to Kansas! We had such a good time playing with cousins, Grandma, & some of my siblings!

Here's Eliza with Grandma & with Uncle Nathan & then the kiddos with Grandma.

One day we took the kids bowling. They had a good time. Rick won!

I did a 5K with my sister Janae at the Kansas City Temple site. It was really fun & hopefully next year we'll be able to run the whole thing.

Here's me before the 5K & Janae after.

We came home & Eliza was still happy (after crying herself to sleep, but at least she woke up happy again).

The site & the temple are beautiful & we're excited for the dedication (sometime next year).

Lexie got to meet her pen-pal. They share the same birthday. They had a good time getting to know each other.

Eliza really got some good laughing in at her siblings. It's a video of her laughing at her goofy siblings.

I should have gotten more pictures of the kids outside playing in the backyard because that is where they were almost the whole time. But suffice it to say, they had a great time playing outside pretending & being good little kiddos.

And just before we left they had to jump off the front porch like I used to do as a kid. Ahh, memories.

Super Lexie!

Super Joseph!

We had a great time & it wasn't long after we left that the kids asked about when we could go back. Hopefully, it won't be too long before our next visit!

A Lot Can Happen In 24 Hours

Between Conference sessions yesterday, Rick took Joseph out for lunch for his birthday. Lexie, Andrew, Eliza & I went outside & played in the hose & watered the trees & flowers starting to bud. We had a record high of like 86 degrees yesterday. This is the kids around 1:35 pm.

Now see today at 1:35pm. Just a mere 24 hour difference!

I love Spring!

Joseph's Birthday

It's hard to believe Joseph is 6!

Last night we had cousins over for cake & some presents (as Conference Saturday is a little hard to work around with Priesthood Session in the evening). And my camera's battery was charging, thus no pics of presents. But I did get a few of him opening up some presents this morning.

We really enjoyed General Conference today & listening to the prophet. Between sessions Rick took Joseph out for lunch while I played with the other kids in the backyard & gorgeous weather. Our poor trees & budding flowers were really thirsty as were Lexie & Andrew!

Then we enjoyed the afternoon session & then Rick went off to Priesthood Session while I took the kids to play with some friends! It was great fun! It was a great day & Joseph said it was a great birthday, even with only a bite of leftover cake.

Happy Birthday, Joseph! We are so glad you are part of our family!

April Has Sprung

Today was gorgeous! The weather was awesome! Some friends invited us to meet them at the zoo & it was so crazy there. A Friday on Spring Break is a very popular day to go! But we really did enjoy it & we saw some fun animals. Joseph really wanted to see the komodo dragon (of all random things to ask for me to find for him) & gratefully, they had a whole exhibit about them with like 5 or so. He really liked reading all about how they grow & stuffs.

This afternoon, Andrew shocked me. On Sunday I taught Lexie & Joseph the apostles song & Andrew was around, but didn't really do much with it. I was showing Eliza, Lexie, & Joseph the video of it today while Andrew was in the bathroom. He came out of the bathroom & asked, "Mom, can I watch the 'Monson, Eyring...'" & continues to say them all in order. I was floored. I guess he really was listening! I love this kid. He never ceases to amaze me.

And this, Janae, is what he was doing when he said, "Look at me!" while talking to you on the phone.

And, I had to take one last picture of my awesome 5 year old! Oh, this kid is awesome & I'm going to miss my 5 year old boy. But, he's going to be such a fantastic 6 year old!

Getting Ready For General Conference

Thanks, Barbara, for teaching us the song!

They look cuter and goofier in this one; Joseph ran away for some reason...silly kids!

Ummm...

This is how Andrew came down this morning.

Yep, that's a jacket he's wearing as pants.

I think we're in for a long day.

LEGO Party

We had a fun birthday party for Joseph. He wanted a lego party & was really excited for his friends to come over. He made a list of things he wanted to do at his party & hung it on the fridge & kept asking what we were really going to do. I kept telling him to just wait & that it was a surprise. Although we didn't do everything on his list, he still said it was a great party! Yay!

We played a series of lego themed games (estimated how many legos in a container, put together a lego toy & then ran an obstacle course with their lego guy, had a relay race & so many more-about 10 total).

After games we opened presents & had lego cake & ice cream. And then played a few more games while we waited for parents to come get kiddos.

Today was a really busy day. After the party we hurried off to the funeral of our sweet neighbor, Jasper. The kids sang with some of their friends for it. They did such a good job. We sure love Jasper & will truly miss his awesome smile!

Spirit Day

Today is Spirit Day at the school & the kids can wear their favorite teams or dress up as a player of a sport. We decided to all sport the Jayhawks.

(Hopefully, Joseph's teacher will still love us. She is a Mizzou alumn.)

Here's hoping they have a great game tonight!

Rock Chalk Jayhawks!