Picture explosion!

These are in random order...but in summary: Gabbie's dance recital, trip to Des Moines for Dam to Dam and the Guard family day with my brother-in-law, and summer stuff :-)

Father son picture at the family day last Saturday.

She thought it was warm enough!

Family picture. I get to look crappy because my sister and I ran 12.4 miles and did not stop to shower before we went to the base :-)

A year ago this would have freaked her out. I don't think she knew who these characters were, but she posed for a pic anyway!

We were surprized she did this!

First Sunday School session last Sunday. I love how you mention school to kids and they assume they need a backpack

Monday she had to plan the menu from the book as well as write the items on her chalkboard. I actually could read that she wrote 'Chocolate Chip Cookies' so that's promising for school this fall.

I'm stuck!!

Cheeeese!

She was reading him a book. Sometimes they get along really good...most of the time they are pushing each others buttons

Time to hatch some eggs; there goes more of my counter space thanks to the incubater

Look what I did! I always find it a milestone when they can do a puzzle without help. For all I know he's been doing this, I just noticed it today

Family day, Brice and Jon

Thanks to Grandpa we got the training wheels on to give this a try. We have lots of work to do; she fell off 3 times the first go round. Doesn't help she has no attention to task

Flowers from Dance recital!

The Finale on Sunday night...most of the little ones in the front row were half asleep I think! 

With Kennedy

My view of the recital for 2 nights (Gabbie is second from the left)

Hundling Grandparents

With Jodi

Ready to perform!

G'ma Linda

Saturday night with Daddy

The Dancer and I

The class and their teacher getting ready to go onstage

This past Sunday Gabbie started T-ball. More proof she is our experiment child: she is the only one who showed up without a glove. Duh Mom!

6 years ago tonight Brice and I were not parents, and we were pulling an "all nighter" driving to Minnesota to get my sister and bring her home to plan our Dad's funeral. I was overwhelmed with phone calls of concerned friends, overwhelmed with the task in front of us of organizing a group of people who did not see eye to eye as well as try to honor the wishes of a man who obviously had not been well, plus do this in a matter of 3 bereavement days before I would need to return to work. I thought the next year was full of more difficulty than I thought one could handle as everyone went about the grieving process in their own manner, looking back now I think this was over several years-especially for myself as I think of my interactions with others and incorporating being a parent 1 1/2 years after Dad passed away. Today I am sad that he is not here to be with his grandchildren, but can honestly say I am happy and for once am not sad for the past or waiting for something in the future. I am confident he is enjoying the kids from his own seat in Heaven. And I am wishing someone would have told me 6 years ago how far we would come by this point...but what would be the fun of that!

Crabby Monday

I'm just plain cranky today! I can not find a rhyme or reason and have tried to lift my mood, just seems like I can't get in the grove of things. I just finished making some homemade bread, and am getting to the bottom of the mountain of laundry. I thought this would be a good time to sit down with a cup of tea and download my 100 pictures from the past month and remember that I am blessed, just cranky!

New baby goat! This one has an interesting color to him, very cute.

"Big School" Preschool graduation. I felt bad about Gabbie in this picture. The ABC song was playing, and she kept singing too early, and each time she would put her head down like she was upset at herself. I hate to see her get too hard on herself too early...

The kids ran down the snow pile and jumped in mud puddles! Only in May in Iowa!

She got back in the swing of things with the hokey pokey :)

I was floored she didn't want to be a princess when she grew up! And that she likes the dentist that well!

Brice wasn't too comfy :-)

"Church pre-school" field trip to the zoo

All day she kept saying "Daddy will be so sad if we don't find the peacocks!" Well, they were the last thing we saw for the day! And last Friday we went and picked up 2 of our own to have on the farm, so she won't have to worry about finding them at the zoo again!

Baby Monkey, very cute!

Church school graduation

Hooray!

With all her grandparents!

Enjoying spring on the bike

Rolling down a hill. Of course she asked me to participate and I was sick to my stomach the rest of the evening!

Ugh. I noticed brown spots in the ceiling several weeks ago, finally today we called the plumber. Part of the ceiling was removed, we need to re-caulk in some places. Thank goodness nothing major (at this time anyway). The annoying part is this was just remodeled 2 summers ago!

This coming weekend is Gabbie's dance recital so its going to be another busy week! Will be fun to see how she does on stage, we know she isn't shy!

Running!

I ran a half-marathon today! I ran through most of the winter, but didn't officially 'train' for this one. I'm signed up for a couple more this summer. I struggled on miles 8-11 with a foot blister forming, so I need to learn to be more prepared for that! I've also been enjoying a mild 'stomach bug' the past few days, so really I was just glad I wasn't throwing up! I have such a goofy face in this picture because as I was finishing I saw a random lady holding Gabbie and realized it was our friend Skip from Carroll!

Crazy Will won't sit still and all I want to do is eat!

Gabbies "runners pose" before the kids run

She's her momma's child, which means she is NOT a sprinter by any means! She got second to last but was a good sport about it.

Such a good sport that for our picture she said "hooray we won!"

I need to get off of Pinterest. One weekend my Mom kept the kids so I could give the house a good scrubbing and in the process I just had to try an accent wall that I had seen on the website. Now I feel the need to paint my living room to blend with the wall. Lucky for me my Mom is always painting something and she is helping pick some colors. I'm holding back until I get the 3 rooms I've started all finished :)

Gabbie girl working on her rocket ship. Amazing what a diaper box can do. She has spent hours over the past month or more working on it. Today we added 2 screws to hang pictures and 2 light sticks so we can see in the dark.

Some girls at work got me addicted to a store near Dedham called Mollie's that has tons of fun decorating tips and ideas. So we went down one Saturday and I spruced up several boring spaces. Wish I could come up with that stuff on my own!

Eggs, anyone? The chickens are going crazy and I'm out of egg cartons. I better start eating egg sandwiches for lunch!

Springtime!

Winter wasn't so bad, but it is nice to see signs of Spring. We have our garden seeds started, the tulips are up, and we have been spending some time at the park.
We had our "winter get-a-way" in Des Moines a few weekends ago with some friends and their 2 girls. It was fast and furious for sure! We went down to DSM on a Saturday afternoon, took a loop around the mall trying to get Will to take a little nap, checked into the hotel and swam, ate out for supper, swam some more while the Mom's did a late night Kohl's run, chatted with friends while the kids 'slept', woke up Sunday and the kids and Dad's swam while us Mom's did a Target run, stopped at Lowe's to get more 'house stuff' and see if we can put some finishing touches on last years remodeling, then headed home Sunday afternoon so the Dad's could get to taking care of their animals! But it was nice to get out of town, even if just for 24 hours.
The night we stayed in the hotel was not a fun one with Will. He woke up multiple times through the night crying. I attributed it to being in a strange place. However, its been constant ever since. Midnight, 3 am, 6am. He woke up at daycare screaming once this week also. So, hoping its just something simple like growing pains or night terrors. A couple of nights this week I just let him cry it out during the 3am wake up call, but it took 20 minutes before he went back to sleep. Thank goodness Gabbie can sleep through a tornado because she has never woken up during his crying. He had just started sleeping through the night at 18 months, so I'm a little frustrated that he's gone back the other direction! I am a 'teeth grinder' at night, which lately let to my ears ringing, teeth hurting, and headaches. I had just started taking a muscle relaxer to help me sleep when Will decided to wake up during the night; maybe him and I can split it and both sleep well?
We had a fun Easter at my Mom's house with my siblings and Brice's parents. The big hit of the day was Brice made a fresh ham, and we ate it fresh off the smoker. It was darn good, and I'm not much of a ham person! The Easter Bunny dropped off some clothes and summer items for the kids. But as Gabbie pointed out, he didn't fill the eggs with candy. That darn Bunny is always forgetting something!
Today I had my 3 month check up since Lasix surgery. I was excited to be at 20/20, although still a bit blurry. I apparantly have a problem with 'large pupils' which is why I can see fine in natural light outdoors, but have trouble indoors. So my eye doctor started me on these new drops that are actually for glaucoma patients. He says he's never tried them on anyone so he is excited to see how they work. And I'm pretty excited to be part of an 'experiement'! I used to love doing those at the University of Iowa, although they would pay me...I don't think that's the case this time! But its nice to know I will not need the revision after all and my eye doctor and the surgeon both just say I'm healing slower than most people, but I can be assured its healing. Whew.
Otherwise we are pretty boring lately. I got my "Spring Cleaning Schedule" out and started tackling that this week. Yes, its an actual schedule and yes, Brice thinks its OCD. This week I worked on taking all my windows out, rinsing them in the bathtub, then washing them. Started sorting everyone's clothes and began the fun yearly project of re-sealing the grout in the bathroom. I'm in the middle of a painting project. And the Goodwill box is already half full. Thankfully my Mom is going to keep the kiddos overnight this weekend and hopefully I will get everything done in one day and then just enjoy.
Wow, what a boring post. I should enjoy this though as it appears every weekend this Spring looks busy, and we have at least 8 weddings this summer, so boring is okay!

Love the swing!

Lots of Easter Bunny! I got some potting soil and potatoes to plant! Dad got socks and T shirts. Kiddos got everything else!

Looking good and ready for church! Even if Will does spend half of church in time-out...

Last year at Easter, just for comparison.

Gabbie got a princess cookbook from the Easter bunny. So...we had to make a cake for "Jennie's Birthday". Jennie is the imaginary friend, but when Jennie needs to show up to blow out the candles she appears in the form of a white teddy bear. Gabbie wanted a picture of the party and the cake (which she mixed up and frosted mostly by herself).

March Mania!

 

We are ready for Spring! The garden seeds are up. I've been running outdoors (until the recent snow anyway) and the light has been extended in the evening. But we'll enjoy the snow for the short time it is around! Gabbie built a 'snow castle' tonight and Will enjoyed a ride to the mailbox in the sled. I signed up for a half marathon to keep my motivation up and give me something to look forward to-though last time I signed up for this particular half-marathon it rained the entire run.

 

Here are some pictures (from my phone...so the quality is a little questionable but not too bad!)

 

 

Getting the fish tank ready! Too bad the kids both ended up sick for a whole week after we got it ready, so we still have not been to get the fish.

 

I have a heck of a time getting a good picture of both kids! I've been trying to get a good 18-month photo of Will instead of having a professional. Now I see why I get a professional! I'm hoping to try a few more times, maybe will have a good one before he turns 2.

 

 

After this picture she went and found a mouth for the snowman using my mulch! Supposedly this day the kids were home sick. She seemed fine so I sent her to daycare the next day, when she got sick again. At least they got some fresh aire I suppose!

 

 

 

Working on her spaceship. I had to hand her whatever color crayon she requested! She's so creative! And sometimes so adult like. Tonight one of my home health clients called and Gabbie answered the phone so well saying "Well hello, how have you been lately?"

We were really classy and took our kids to the bar :-) Good thing it was for an anniversary party.

 

 

 

Wearing my snowshoe boots!

 

 

Above-our drive home on Sunday afternoon. I'm sure glad Brice was driving! I hadn't anticipated the bad weather. Below is a picture from 2010 to remember that 9 inches of snow isn't so bad!

 

 

 

Toward the end of last year I was finding that continuing home health was not fitting well into my schedule. So I started turning down clients. But lately I took on 2 and was not sure why I did that, knowing it would be stressful. Well, everything for a reason! Above is a quilt square from several years ago. Lucky for me one of the clients quilts and I see her in the evening, at which time she also helps answer any questions I have about this project. Lucky I don't go to her house until I get the kids to bed since it makes for a lengthy session!

 

Below is a fun result of the other client. My New Years Resolution was to be happier in the 'here and now'. Until now I've always 'looked forward' to something...marraige, kids, another kid, a vacation. So this year I'm going to be happy in the moment. Its been fun-I find I go for a run more often over my noon hour (instead of worrying about how crappy I may look the rest of the day), and I drink a lot more Cherry Coke (because in that moment at 3 p.m. it sounds so good!) I also decided that instead of waiting until my kids are grown and I have time, I'm going to start now with something I've wanted to do since I had Gabbie at St Anthony Hospital. I always said that when I had more time I wanted to make the blankets and hats that volunteers make for the new babies. Well, turns out it doesn't take long to make those. Just is going to take me time to get good at it. Anyway, my client helps with these and showed me several of hers. She also showed me the Prayer Shawls they make for the more critically ill patients at the hospital. She showed me her patterns and told me who I could talk to about donating.

The start of a purple baby blanket. I find I have to knit on round needles, not sure why. It drives the lady at the Yarn Basket crazy when she's trying to help me!

A hat, the green yarn is fuzzy so this one is kinda fun!

 

And just for the sake of randomness:

                                                     This picture was taken 3/9/12...                               

 

 

This on eon 3/9/13!

 

Both shots are blurry, but the point is a lot changes in a year!