Exciting Easter Egg Hunting

Saturday morning we bundled up for our church egg hunt.  It has snowed that morning and was freezing.  I am so hopeful that someday we will have a sunny day egg hunt.  

The kids didn't exactly enjoy the chilly temps but they did enjoy looking for eggs. 

This was McKenna's very last egg hunt.  She will be over the age limit next year. She is so sad.  I'm not really doing jumping jacks about it either.  She can't possible have grown up that quickly.  While I love every stage in her life, I really do vividly remember holding her chubby little hand at her first fire company egg hunt.  She was dressed in pink with little matchy curly hairbows.   Then poof, she's done.   I guess lots of things will occur that way.  She enjoyed herself and savored every minute, also using it as an excuse to not share her candy with me! 

Our Light Bulb Moment

A light bulb moment.  That instant when you realize just the right way to do something; perhaps an answer to a question that has been nagging you.  It suddenly just pops in your head and you think, "why didn't I think of that before?"

We had a light bulb moment in our house this week.   Literally having to do with light bulbs.  After struggling with getting Kinley to go to sleep in her bed, by herself, without crying or fussing, the light came on.  Literally.  

We suddenly discovered that if we keep

her bedroom light on she will go to sleep.   All this time I've been offering to turn on the hall light or the bathroom light or any host of night lights.  But it's the bedroom light that she wants on.  So far we are 7/7 in the going to bed without incident department.   Quite honestly, if this is how she desires to drift off to dreamland then great!   Time for lights out.  Sweet dreams. 

This Is My Life

Sometimes it doesn't seem possible that this is my life.  Sometimes because it's hard and weary.   But most of the time because it's such a huge blessing. 

These pictures are from Wednesday.  An ordinary Wednesday where McKenna looked adorable, as usual.  

Kinley, brought the laughter with the glasses.  She wore them all day, even while we baked a couple of cakes for the Fire company.

We had lunch at school with Cooper.  He thanked me profusely when he came home from scho and finally admitted to being just a tad embarrassed.  Such a bummer.   Just last year he cried when I left lunch.  

Kinley and I babysat for Blake....

and Bandit for a couple of hours in the afternoon.   When pappy came home he paid Kinley a dollar for helping to babysit.  She took it willingly and then asked for another dollar "for baking them cakes". We had a good laugh over that one. 

Yes, this is my life.  

Mama's Boy

I don't often get to spend one on one time with Cooper.  So this weekend, since basketball is over, I decided to make it a priority.   How did we spend our Saturday morning together?  We watched a basketball tournament.  

The two of us spent the morning cheering on the older boys at the UpWard tournament.  It was a blast. 

I wanted to take Coop out to breakfast. He wanted a donut at the game.  I suggested that we leave early and go anywhere he wanted for lunch.  He said, "I'd rather have a hotdog here with you."   And since I rarely turn down a hotdog, I obliged and settled in for the third game. 

Cooper ended up assisting Ms. Ann with the half time devotional a couple of times.  It made my heart smile.  Oh, how I love this boy.   

3+1

I have had a very interesting spring "break" this year.   A funeral for my friend, back to back elementary concerts, shopping for a new microwave, and today babysitting and throwing a basketball party.   I am beat.  This guy is pretty adorable though, so that helps.

When Cady asked me to watch him Thursday,  I jumped at the chance.  It's not often that my schedule lines up with theirs that I can help them out.  We did have to go to dance and run some errands, but I figured no big deal.  Except I figured wrong.  I apparently forgot how much work a three year old and a baby are.   It took sweet forever to get anywhere or anything done.  

We did manage a successful hour at dance and a trip each to weis and Wal-Mart.  Luckily the kids cooperated fully.  Good thing, because one of them having a fit might have put me over the edge.  I was sure I was home free after feeding them both a good lunch and getting Blake to sleep.  I had a million things to do for Cooper's end of season basketball party.  Wrong.   No one told me Blake likes to be held - a lot.   In his defense, it's a lot to go from only child to 4th in line in the span of a few hours.  And so we pressed on.  

We managed to make it to the gym on time and the scrimmage and party were lots of fun.  It's hard to believe the season ends tomorrow.  We are a little sad.  

After the party I dashed back to town to fulfill my carpool duties after dance.   We got home just in time for baths and bed.  However, bed only lasted about 2 hours before Cooper got up complaining of stomach pain.  It wasn't long before we realized the bug had finally caught us.  It kept us up for most of the night but by morning he seemed to be on the upswing.    He wasn't quite ready to tackle school, which meant he missed his class picture.   However, he rallied and by 4pm was okay enough to sit for our easter pictures.  Really, I know he still felt yucky but he knew how much it means to me.   I love his heart for others.  

So, we made it through the craazy week and are ready to have a relaxing weekend!   Insert Hugh sigh.  

Sing Your Heart Out

It's been a week full of singing for our family.   Monday was the "snow date" for the winter pops concert.   McKenna was somewhat disappointed that she would

not be rounding out her elementary chorus career at the Weis Center, but the middle school gym got the job done.  We had a lovely time listening to the songs the kids had prepared.  I love the music program here. 

Tuesday evening it was Cooper's turn to perform for us.  This was his first music performance at the school and he did so well.  

Mimi and Pappy were troopers and were there for each both performances.  Earl and Kinley were there too but for some reason didn't take advantage of any photo ops.  

Late last evening a friend sent me this picture of Cooper that she had snapped at the concert.  I loved it so much and had to include it here. 

Our schedules have been extra hectic and we are admittedly dragging today, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  The smiles on McKenna and Cooper's faces when they perform are worth every minute.   

Our Insanely Busy Wonderful Weekend

We packed this weekend to the max!   

Friday night Footloose at the high school was awesome.   The kids were on the edge of their seats nearly the entire time. The show didn't wrap up until 1030 but they all made it. 

Saturday we had Cooper's Upward game.  Afterward the boys went for haircuts while the girls cooked up a delicious meal.  Megan and I delivered dinner to Tab and her family and were blessed to visit with her for a short time. Saturday evening we busted out a couple of new board games that I bought.  I needed a small break from UNO and Zingo bingo.   The kids taught me to play Headbands and I taught them how to play Trouble.   I

After church this morning we were off to the Bucknell Men's basketball game.  We had awesome seats.   The Bison lost but we had a great time cheering them on. 

Perhaps Kinley and Cooper were bonding here?   I'm not sure.  Cooper looks a little bit uncomfortable about the public display of affection.  

Kinley decided late in the second half that she had seen enough.   This girl sleeps through so many sporting events!   We grabbed a quick dinner at Applebee's the. Came straight home so that the kids could play outside.  Before long our yard was filled with the usual neighborhood crew, in perhaps what may signal the  start of spring for us. 

No rest for the weary here.   We are in Concert mode with Mckenna performing tomorrow night and Cooper on Tuesday. And with that, I'm going to bed!

All In A Day's Work

I'm laughing, realizing that I ended my last post with Kinley sleeping and now I'm starting another with a picture of her sleeping.  It's only funny because the girl never sleeps anymore.  In fact, maybe that's why I find myself snapping pictures of her mid-slumber.   It's important to note that I'm writing this while sitting beside her in her bed, waiting for her to fall asleep.  That's a whole different post.

At any rate, she just looked so cute all snuggled in on  this cold morning. 

I had to wake her after my quick photo because we had a FULL day of running around to do today.   We dropped the big kids off at school and then headed to dance, only to find out that dance was canceled.  Admittedly, the roads were kind of slippery so I guess it was safer for folks to stay home.  Too bad for those of us who were already out!   So we went home for, oh, an hour, before we had to leave again to pick Cooper up for some breathing tests.

Coop had his first pulmonary function tests today.   I had high hopes that he would have outgrown his asthma but this year has proven otherwise.   He struggled quite a bit in the fall.  We finally seem to have him under control but with spring around the corner  he will likely be back on all his breathing treatments and medications.   Today's tests will give us a baseline to work off of as we treat him going forward.  

He did one round of testing,  had an albuterol treatment and then one more round of testing.

It didn't take long at all and was completely painless.

We were all starving after leaving the clinic.  I was craving Applebee's but Cooper was in a hurry to get back to school.  I guess that happens when you rarely have school because of weather issues.   We settled for Wendy's.  Always a good choice.  The breathing tests must have made Cooper hungry because he ate a 10 piece chicken nugget meal!

After we dropped Cooper back at school we headed to Mimi and Pappy's to drop some toys off for Blake.  We also had to make a quick run to the fire company to pick up our chicken corn soup.  Mmmm....it was so good.   After supper it was dance and basketball.    It's the first class of the month so Kinley and I sat in and watched.   I love to watch this girl dance. 

Toward the end of dance class Kinley and I snuck away to make an ice cream run.  Today is the first day the Freeze is open.   As per tradition, we had to go.   Can I just say that this gets a little more ridiculous with every passing year.  There was a LINE!!!   And it was 9 degrees.  The kids are happy though so I guess that's what matters. 
Well, Kinley is finally asleep and I am beat.  I hope to be home a little more tomorrow but that doesn't look promising with the weekend we have lined up.    I guess there's always next week.

Service With A Smile

I was determined that this snow day would not be spent mainly watching movies and playing video games.   I made a few suggestions to the kids, one of which included a small "service project" that could earn points at church toward their next Sunday school reward.   Cooper and I got to work making cinnamon roll bread for our neighbors and McKenna and Kinley decided on chocolate chip cookies for the mailman and their dance teacher. 

McKenna made these cookies, start to finish, on her own.   She even allowed Kinley to help!  That is no small task.

She packaged them up in some cute containers that I had downstairs and included a handwritten note.

The most difficult part was traversing the still slippery driveway but she made it!

Cooper and I had a minor mishap with the first batch of cinnamon roll bread.  And the second too.  Ultimately we had a few loaves that turned out okay and we are working on cooling them, adding the icing and delivering them.    

It was a successful afternoon of keeping the kids occupied and giving me something to do while we are here in the house - again. Kinley is apparently sufficiently tired out.

 It's supposed to start snowing again soon and we will likely have a school delay tomorrow morning.   I should start working now on finding more for us to do.  Perhaps I can interest them in laundry.   

Cabin Fever Craziness

These three drive me crazy on a variety of levels but they never cease to make me smile.

We had a case of the crazy's tonight while stuck in the house - again!

The arrival of spring is going to be so sweet but perhaps not nearly as much as these memories. 

Old Friends/New Friends

I feel like this weekend had a lot to do with friendships.   Friday evening Earl and I went to dinner with a large group of people mainly from our church.   Some of them we know well and some we are just getting to know.  We had a nice time and appreciated Mimi and Pappy inviting the kids to sleep overnight. 

Saturday morning we had a basketball game.  At the end of the game I felt a tap on my shoulder.  When I turned around I was greeted by Cooper's schoolteacher who had come to watch his game.  He was so excited.   And I think a little nervous.  While we were cheering for Upward, McKenna's Sunday school class was enjoying a trip to the bowling alley.   They had each earned the outing through their efforts in class.  It's safe to say they had a blast.  

We managed a couple of errands before we had to be home to host our good friends, the Lehman's.  It's sad to say that we haven't seen them in nearly a year.  

We shared a great meal and hours of conversation.  Really and truly, it's the first time in 11+ years that we weren't running after children.   

The girls had a great time playing dolls and minecraft while the boys stuck with Xbox and Legos.  They don't get to see each other often but it doesn't seem to stifle the fun.  

Kinley is a little under the weather today and we had more snow and cold.   Those factors kept us at home and inside today.  I suppose it was a good idea because we have a jam packed week ahead full of concerts, work deadlines, doctors appointments and finally an evening watching our local high school musical. Lots of good blog material to come.