How We Spent Our Rainy Wednesday

Today was a dreary, cold day for the last day of April.   It worked out okay though for a "relaxing" day at home.  Cooper was still feeling a bit under the weather so our neighbor offered to take McKenna to school.  That meant those of us who were staying home could stay in our pajamas/workout clothes well past lunch.  It was wonderful!    I was able to get a few things done around the house while Kinley and Cooper played together.   

Late in the morning I offered a craft and they both picked painting.  

Cooper made a bumble bee and I made a Pinterest inspired canvas I had seen. 

I love this verse.  It's the verse I prayed during my fertility struggles with Kinley.  

Speaking of Kinley...I gave her a bath this afternoon and wrapped her in a towel but she was sleepy as it was almost nap time.  We spent some time cuddling and warming up before getting her dressed.  This picture reminds me of the first one I have of the two of us in the hospital.  Except, wow, has she grown.  

I had a lot planned for the past two days, none of which included two solid days at home and two trips to the doctor.  But, while I sat and painted with Cooper and later rocked Kinley I decided maybe this was just what I needed.  A couple of days to slow down, enjoy my kids and breathe.  Tomorrow is a new day - my list can wait until then.  

Missing Documentation

A few weeks ago I moved some photo albums around.  It was quite obvious that McKenna had way more photos in books than the other kids.  I felt bad, but I reminded myself that Cooper and Kinley's lives are almost exclusively documented here on the blog.  Still, I know someday I will have to answer the age old question of why there aren't more pictures of the younger kids.

But for Cooper there might be another reason why some photos of important events may be missing from his kindergarten year.   He's constantly been sick.   He can't just plan his illness on a regular day but always seems to time it so that he misses out on a fun event at school.  This year, those days include but are not limited to : the class Christmas party, pajama day and now his first music concert.  Yes, here we sit, yet again, plagued by a sore throat and fever.    Cooper is watching a movie while I get caught up on work and blogging.  It's a relaxing afternoon but not the one we had in mind.   He's sad to miss his concert but ultimately didn't feel like he was able to make it over to school to sing.  He has managed to serenade me at least fifty times with a rendition of "Little Red Wagon" so my hope is that he's on the mend.

So, Cooper, please do not be mad at me for not properly documenting these fun times during kindergarten.    There is no documentation except for the strep tests and doctors notes in your medical record.   I hope and pray that first grade brings some relief for your tonsils though I personally don't think you'll still lay claim to them by then.   Whatever the case may be I hope that you won't miss anymore fun events.  I love you little Buddy!

GOAL!

 It was a beautiful Saturday morning for a soccer game!   Cooper and Earl arrived to the field early and warmed up, taking some practice shots before the rest of the team arrived.   The rain over the past few weeks has always seemed to come on a Tuesday and soccer practice was been cancelled.  That has had Cooper a little concerned so he's been putting in a lot of time on his own.  Today his hard work paid off and he scored his first goal.  He seemed pretty stunned when the ball rolled in the net.  He looked over to the sidelines with one of those "did that really happen looks?" faces.   

Good job, buddy!  We are so proud of you and the hard work you've been putting into soccer!  

Easter Eggtravaganza

It's taken me this long to recover from our Easter weekend.  We were BUSY! 

 

The day before Easter we enjoyed the annual fire company egg hunt.  It was a bit breezy but at least there was no snow on the ground like in years past.

Sadly, this was McKenna's last UTFC egg hunt.  She will be too old next year.  How in the world did that happen already?

Kinley only picked up a few eggs.  She didn't like the crowd of kids and all the running for eggs.  She did manage to win this big bunny though, which is better than candy!

Saturday afternoon we finally colored our eggs.  I think I went a little overboard, letting the kids each color 18 eggs!  No one can possibly consume that many hard boiled eggs in the days following.  But they had fun. 

The kids were up bright and early Easter morning.  They thankfully found all the eggs hidden by the Easter Bunny.  Kinley was quite annoyed that they were of the hard boiled variety and did not contain candy!

After church we headed straight to Mom and Dad's for a delicious Easter dinner.  There were more eggs to find and more baskets to search out.

It was wonderful spending the afternoon with family.

 

Of course, between the secular traditions of Easter we spent a lot of time remembering the real reason for the Easter season.   The kids learned so much at church and continued to speak of the resurrection long after the last of the candy was consumed.

 

Freaky Friday

Today started out a little differently than most Friday mornings.   The kids had off school for Good Friday so the plan was for all of us to sleep in!   However, these

two girls have no concept of sleeping in.  

They were up bright and early but were kind enough to allow me to sleep a few extra minutes and work out in peace.  

We watched a couple of shows and then got to work on our creeps.  More on that later.

While we were waiting for our treat to cool,  we sat down to watch a cartoon version of the crucifiction.   Part way through Kinley began to complain about her nose.   I remember hearing the words "nose" and "popcorn".   To be honest, I didn't think much of it at first.   She persisted though and I finally looked in her nose.  Sure enough there was a piece of popcorn up her nose.  

By the time we left for the doctor the popcorn was waaay up there.  But by the time we saw the doctor it was no where to be found.   Good news we hope!

Once Kinley and I returned from our doctor visit it was back to work on the creeps.  My kitchen was covered in a fine layer of green sugar but it was worth or to see the smiles on these faces.  As soon as the creeps were ready they delivered them to their Minecraft loving friends in the neighborhood.  

And so, that was our freaky, creepy, Friday morning.  Here's hoping for a more subdued Saturday!

Monday, Monday

Today wasn't quite as bad as I thought it would be.  Aside from the fact that I was about two steps behind the entire day,  it was a pretty good Monday.  

I scurried around all morning and proclaimed  at least 55 times that we were going to be late!  BUT, in the end I managed to capture a quick picture of three smiling kids.  I call that success.  

A Few of My Favorites

It's good to be home... Mostly!  We had a very long, very kid intense weekend after being away for a few days.  

The kids played harder than they have in months, I swear.  But the only ones who seem to be worn out are Earl and I. 

Saturday night after baths we spent some time taking selfies with Tucker!  

I love this one. 

Kinley and Cooper cuddled up for a movie this morning before the big kids left for a pancake breakfast with the neighborhood gang.  

After a big breakfast they wasted no time getting a game of baseball going.  Notice the fans in the bottom left of the picture. I can only imagine that this is what the yards looked like on Edgewood place back in the day, though our sport of choice was kickball.  

We had a cookout/eat-in tonight with Mimi, Pappy and Tighe.   There's just something about warm weather that makes me want to grill!  It was a bit of a different menu to try and accommodate the healthier foods mom and I are trying to stick with but it was still yummy.  

Tomorrow it's back to work and school.  It was nice having Earl home last week to take care of some of the things that would normally fall on me.   It will be good to be back to our normal routine but I think it's going to be a challenging morning for all of us!   Thank goodness it's a short school week.  We can use a day off! 

Mid Week Get Away

This week Earl and I were fortunate enough to get a couple of days away together.  It wasn't the best time to be leaving, sandwiched right in the middle of too many things to list.   But, we weren't going to miss time together.  

We left Wednesday morning after getting the kids off to school and Kinley settled with Mimi and Pappy.   The first stop on our list was the Hershey Spa.  It was our first time there and we loved it!  The above picture is us after our 80 minute massage and lunch!  

Late in the afternoon we headed to the Cork Factory Hotel in Lancaster.   It's a great place if you're headed to Lancaster and are in need of a place to stay.  

Dinner was on our short list and so after much discussion we headed to The Iron Hill Brewery.  

Earl said the beer was good....

Speaking of drinks...I had my first soda in over 2 months .  Really, who can pass up cherry limeade from Sonic. 

We shopped til we dropped all day Thursday.  The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed being outside and taking advantage of some great deals. 

And...we're back to food.  

We had dinner at the hotel Thursday night.  Drinks, Prime rib, cheddar mashed potatoes and the most delicious chocolate peanut butter dessert.   Suffice to say we ate way too much and we may or may not be regretting it now.

This morning we went to check out The Central Market.  It's the oldest continuously operating market. It was very cool and made me a bit jealous that we are limited to Wednesday farmers market back home. 

We stopped in a cute children's boutique where Earl was quick to ask the shop owner where the best place for breakfast was.  She recommended Cafe One Eight.   It turned out to be a quaint little place that was big on food and Jesus.  The food was some of the best we had this week and the Christian music they had playing was awesome.  A very cool place where I would surely hang out with my friends if it were closer. 

We are currently on our way home.  It's only been fifty odd hours since we left but I think we are both ready to get back.  

We've come to enjoy these days away because they leave us refreshed and reconnected.  They are few and farther between than we would sometimes like but after only a few days we are both always ready to get back to our kiddos!

Good Eats

We finally had the opportunity to visit Texas Roadhouse last evening and as an added bonus had THIS fun guy as our server!

The kids were excited to have Uncle Shane taking our orders and bringing some extra yummy treats.  

Kinley and Cooper mostly loved the peanuts and were stuffed full by the time their dinner came.   They did successfully save room for dessert though - another treat from their uncle!

Today it's back to work and school and I'm honestly not feeling too happy about it.  The kids and I are just getting over colds and we could have used one more day of resting before jumping back into the rat race.   The silver lining is that Earl and I have some fun things planned later this week and so we are trudging through!

Happy Birthday to Our Best Buddy

Today is a big day!  Our very first "baby" turns 13 years old!

He continues to be an amazingly loyal member of our family.  

Friday Night Date Night

Last Friday night McKenna and Earl went for a night out together.   They saw a movie and went to dinner.  This Friday night it was my turn to hang out with her.  

We went for one of our favorite treats - mani/pedi's.  And boy , were our feet ever in need of some attention!

We were lucky in that we had the salon all to ourselves.   We felt like we were getting the royal treatment.  Plus, we got to sit for an extra long time in the massage chairs!

The staff at the Salon just kept commenting on how grown up McKenna has become.  That both breaks my heart and makes it swell all at the same time.  I love that we can do things like this together.