Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful that the weather seems to have finally started warming up for good.  The other night Kent grilled hamburgers for dinner then we took a family walk to the park- it was so nice to be outside at 7:00 in the evening and not be freezing! Talk about your mood booster!

I'm thankful that I finally have everything figured out for the April birthdays as far as dates to celebrate, themes of parties, gift ideas, outfits to wear, etc.  Is your spring looking as busy/crazy as ours??

I'm thankful construction is wrapping up on a home across the street from us.  Since we moved in last June there have been constant trucks (read: noise) working around the neighborhood and now it's complete! There are no more open lots too near us, so all the construction mess will be moving north.

I'm thankful for a few quiet moments to myself while Kylee and Kael are at school and Kase sleeps.  Speaking of sleep, last night Kase slept from 10:00-4:45! That is nearly another seven hour stretch of sleep friends! Wooohoooo!

I'm thankful to be lacing up the ol' running shoes again.  I'm a March through November work out kind of gal.  I've never been too excited about gym memberships as I much prefer to run outside.  I managed to squeeze in a short jog while Kylee was at tumbling the other night and it felt great to get back to it.

I'm thankful I found my old Nadas CD yesterday and popped it in the player in our kitchen.  Memories of summers past came flooding back.  Btw, how archaic do CDs seem? Usually it's Pandora on the iPhone, or iPod playlists but I was cracking up when I ran across some old CDs that sisters and friends burned for me before that became illegal.  Mandy do you remember our Summer Mix CD?? There are some good tunes on there and I am totally bringing it next time we hang out. :)

I'm thankful it's almost the weekend.  The first week back after Spring Break seems like such a long one, doesn't it? Nine weeks and counting til summer break-if you're a local that is.  Speaking of that, I'm thankful the kids are still scheduled to get out in May.  Here's to no more snow days!!!

Spring Break Part II

I'm so sad Spring Break is drawing to a  close, but we managed to squeeze in a little more fun before it's over! (My apologies for the disorganized post...I was trying to blog from my phone and everything uploaded kind of funny.)

Anyhow, we...

had a little Scratch while watching the Iowa basketball game hanging out with nearly the whole neighborhood on Friday night.  In my opinion, Kent totally missed out by being at wrestling.  Our neighborhood get togethers are the bomb!

(Above) braved the cold weather for an Easter egg hunt.  It is always cold for the Ankeny Jaycees hunt but we headed out anyways.  Huge shoutout to my in-laws for hanging with Kase while I took the big kids.  The kids got tons of eggs and candy and Kael even won a prize! Unfortunately by the time we made our way to the prize table, the only prize left was a Hello Kitty puzzle set.  Kael was amazing though- he didn't mind at all and was so excited to run and show Kylee the prize he won for her!

(Below) dyed some Easter eggs.  The kids are the perfect age for this.  There were no spills or stained fingers and that's saying something.  Anyone who's dyed eggs with young children will certainly agree, no?

bought some daffodils wishfully thinking of spring.  Shortly after I bought them, one of my friend's grandma's passed away so I took them over to her.  She appreciated the cheerful bouquet.

made some fruit pizza.  I am going to will the warm weather to come by baking summery foods!

hit up Perfect Games.  Bowling was fun but Laser Tag was AWESOME! I had never played before but Kael and I played against a dad/son duo and we had the best time.  I can see why 8 year old boys dig this stuff! Again, thanks to Cindy for going with us! It always helps to have an extra set of hands in a place like that. Plus, she's just good company and we had a really fun time hanging out the last few days.

took the kids to Climb Iowa.  Kent had the afternoon off on Wednesday so we took the kids climbing.  Even Kase loved it there- he was walking around clapping his hands like crazy.  Kael can get to the top pretty easily by now, and Kylee gets about 2/3 of the way up, which is awfully high!

played a little dress up after some major closet cleaning.

(oops, see what I mean about things being out of order?)

We also had a fun slumber party at my mom and dad's house since Kent was going to be gone at the wrestling tournament.  Waking up to the smell of pancakes and bacon cooked by someone other than myself was a real treat! Not to mention the fact that my mom stayed up with Kase when he woke at 5:00 so that I could go back to sleep until 7:00.  Now that's vacation!

Last on my Spring Break list is to (hopefully) spend the entire day shopping tomorrow for all the April (Kael, Kase, Cindy, Brooklyn) birthdays and stuff for the kids Easter baskets and Easter outfits for the kids and myself.  I'll be pleased if I accomplish even half of that.

It's been a good one. :) But it will feel good to get back to school routine, then just ten more weeks- come on, SUMMER!!!!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for a snack holder that Kase can get into.  That thing occupies him for a long time.

I'm thankful for frequent plans with neighbors even though both wallet and waistline are taking a hit. :)

I'm thankful for a few iPhone photos I recently discovered that I hadn't posted.

The boys at Fritz's. 

Eating Mexican food with Aunt Tammy.  Seriously she doesn't even look pregnant in this picture!!! 

Kase joins Kent and I for our morning coffee. 

Um, maybe this is why he doesn't sleep??

 Cat tail on a diaper.  Hilarious!

Not letting the cold weather stopping us from being outside. 

I'm thankful Kase's top two teeth are thisclose to popping through.  Poor guy has been in some pain lately! Almost there, buddy!

What are you thankful for today?

Spring Break, Part I

In an effort to break my recent month-long stint of posting only Thankful Thursdays, I thought I'd try to catch you guys up on the first part of our Spring Break.

Here's what it looked like around here last year:

Notice the green grass, flower buds on our neighbor's tulip tree.  Ahh that was AWESOME.  Here's what it has looked like around here lately:

Oh well, a little snow isn't going to rain on our parade! As planned, we took off for KC early Friday morning.  Kent and my dad both worked half the day so my mom was a trooper and rode with the kids and I earlier in the day in hopes of being on the rode while Kase marathon napped.  What actually happened was that Kase slept for about fifteen minutes.  No worries though! Grandma kept him happy the whole ride. When we got to Kansas City it was a balmy 80!!! We had lunch with Tammy then hit the park in flip flops and tank tops.  I'm pretty sure I got a little tan. ;)

We spent the majority of our time swimming, eating, and hanging out.

The water was a little chilly so Kase didn't swim a lot the first day. 

The cold water didn't stop Kylee!

Kael spent a lot of time in the hot tub and I didn't swim much as I am not exactly in bikini body shape. I swear if it would ever warm up I would get back to running.... 

Kase did eventually warm up and LOVED when Kylee played "bumper boats" with him in their tubes. 

Can you get over this hair? 

I mean, seriously! 

We did venture out once as a big group (there are thirteen and a half of us now; five and a half of our crew are under 8  years old) to Fritz's, this cute diner-type place where food was delivered by train!  You can't see the train in the picture, but there was a track running around the top of the restaurant and it carried that box you see on the platform below.  So cute.  You ordered my phone at the booth then when your food was on its way a light by your booth lit up and a bell rang.  Oh the excitement when our bell rang!!!

French fry moustache. 

Kylee remembered when the leprechaun visited us at the hotel last year and wondered if he would visit us again this year.  He did, in fact, find us again! Left a few fun green surprises: apple juice, green kisses, a green pouch for Kase and seeds for the big kids.

Back to reality and on the way home (literally minutes from our house) our transmission in our Acadia was giving us some problems so we are really thankful we made it all the way home! In the meantime I'm driving a brand spankin' new 2013, fully loaded Acadia with less than 800 miles on it and I am not complaining! I'm sure I would be if it all wasn't under warranty.

Anyhow, we spent the rest of St. Patrick's Day over at our neighbors.  Super fun night.

Monday we totally vegged out.  I mean we did not get out of pajamas allll day.  We did get around to planting a few seeds, which I'm really excited about.  The kids had so much fun doing it and I'm so so so hoping something grows! I did finally manage to get out of my pajamas when a friend called and asked Kent and I to join her and her husband for dinner out at Sonny's.  My mom and dad happily kept the kids for a few hours so we could enjoy an adult night out.  We had such a nice time.

Today the kids and I hit the mall to see the Easter Bunny.

Aren't they sweet? They had just thrown a penny into the water and I always wonder what they wish for but I don't even ask because I know they think their wishes won't come true if they tell!

I wasn't sure what Kase would think of the bunny but he did so well!

Even a little smile!

We met some friends there. 

It is awesome having Kael be so much older than Kase.  He was an amazing help with Kase on the train! Kase had spotted the train from a long ways away and kept making choo-choo motions with his arm so of course he wanted to ride! 

As if Kylee would ride anywhere but the conductor's seat. ;)

Whew.  Well, there's the first half of our break.  I hate to think that it's half over already, but we sure have been having a lot of fun!

What have you been up to?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for Daylight Savings Time.  Call me crazy.  I know we lost an hour of sleep.  But somehow my kids always sleep better after Daylight Savings in the spring.  The first night Kase slept uninterrupted from 7:00-2:00.  I know that might not seem like a lot but you guys that was 7 straight hours of sleep.  A huge deal for Kase!!! The next morning he was in bed until 7:00 AM.  Honestly that hasn't happened for as long as I can remember.

I'm thankful for kids who get excited for each other.  Kael has a map in his room and the other night he was asking Kylee some of the states and she was able to read pretty much all of them.  Kael ran down the stairs so anxious to share the news with me and Kent that, "Kylee's reading! I was asking her the states and she can read them all!" Kylee was beaming.

I'm thankful for a short week and Spring Break ahead. KC, here we come!!!

I'm thankful that some of my dad's friends were getting rid of a ping pong table and we were the lucky recipients of it! The table currently resides in our Kent's newly heated garage but will make it's way down to our basement at some point.  Come on over and play!

I'm so thankful for the garden bed Kent built for me! Crossing my fingers we can make something grow in it!
Thanks, Missy for letting us borrow your plan!

I'm thankful for the opportunity to visit Kael's music class.  Instead of having a concert for second graders this year they invited parents to come visit the classroom and it was so fun! The kids were really involved.

I'm thankful for the brownies my mom brought over to our house yesterday.  Every now and then when Kase goes to bed early, we let the big kids stay up and have ice cream sundaes.  This is SUCH a treat for them and they are so excited when I let them know it's an ice cream sundae night.  We pull out all the stops- inside their sundae dishes are brownies covered with ice cream, chocolate, strawberry and caramel syrup, whipped cream, sprinkles and a cherry.

Have a great Spring Break, you guys! 

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful we have our pool passes purchased for the summer!

I'm thankful for the most recent searches on Google on my phone.  Kael asks me questions all.the.time that I have no answer for.  Recent searches are, "How tall was the world's tallest second grader?", "What is the ninth largest city in Louisiana?", "Where is the world's largest elementary school?" Thanks for your help, Google.

I'm thankful that Spring Break is only a week away!

I'm thankful for a fun, family weekend last weekend.  Tam and Rob were back in town and we all had pizza at Mandy's on Friday night.  I can't believe I hadn't seen Brooklyn and Tyson since Christmas! All of us hanging out gave me such a great feeling- knowing that Tam and Rob moving back soon, we'll all be able to hang out much more often!!!

I'm thankful for upcoming plans some high school besties.  You know it's a good friendship if you can go months, nay years without seeing each other and pick back up as though no time has passed. Plus, how fun is it to reminisce about how crazy, cool, young we used to be. :)

I'm thankful for a Spa night tonight! One of my dad's cousins sells BeautiControl stuff and the products are awesome.  A night of pampering with girlfriends isn't so bad either.


How's your weekend looking?