Field Trip to the Zoo

On Friday Dylan's class went to the zoo for a field trip. I was happy to be able to go along, the girls and I met his class at the zoo entrance (since they can't ride on the bus). We had a group of 5 boys that ran in every direction! It was fun to see each kid enjoy different areas and see them interact with one another.

This is the group of boys...

This was about nap time and Isabelle was definatly tired.

The girls did great and had lots of fun also!

T-Ball

This week Dylan started his first T-ball practices. We had two this week and he will start games in a few weeks from now. This is his first time playing sports on a team. At first when I asked him about playing he was really nervous and said he didn't want to play. He was afraid of not knowing what to do. I asked if he wanted to be on the same team as his friend & neighbor Emerson and he said, "I guess so". So I signed him up & found him some cleats (which he thinks is so cool). He has done great so far and is really enjoying it. :)

This is his team & coach. Dylan is on the left side with the tan hat on. He is the biggest kid (and probably oldest).

I told Mark we have now entered into another phase of life of sports playing & watching. I'm excited to see him try out all different sports and figure out which one he really enjoys as he gets older!

Growing up

Isabelle is almost 20 months old now. She has been so much fun lately as her personality is coming out more. For the most part she is so easy going, listens really well...but when she has her mind made up about something there is definatly a loud shrill of a cry that is let out to let us know she isn't happy. :)

I came into Dylan's room to find Isabelle dressed up like this. She was by herself and done all the work herself...wearing two winter hats, had one shoe on while playing with a toy volcano and eating a apple!

This was her getting a straw out of the drawer. She couldn't see so of course the most logical thing to do is open the bottom drawer to stand on to be able to see in. :)

This weekend marked a big weekend of her moving to her big girl bed! She now shares the bottom bunk with Cadence. She has done great so far...has only gotten out of bed 1 time!
Yesterday evening I posted the crib on Craigslist to give away for free. It was bitter-sweet to see it go. All the kids used the same crib and it has pretty much been set up and being used for almost 7 years straight.


We also had the first pig tails this week. Isabelle's hair in back is finally getting long enough to pull it back a little. They don't last very long before she pulls them out but they are soooo cute while they last. :)

I let her have a chocolate popsicle while she was taking a bath this week...well I should say that I gave her a chocolate bar and saw how messy she was getting so I put her in the tub to finish it up.

All the kids have "hooded" towels from Grandma R. They love to snuggle up in them after baths.

This last is one of my favorites. This week is also the first time that Isabelle asked for me to help her put dress up clothes on which happened to be a "tu-tu" outfit. She and Cadence were dancing all around and Dylan joined in. He was teaching the girls to raise their hand over their head and twirl in circles. I taught Dylan how to dance with the girls like a standard male/female would dance. The picture is of the two of them dancing. I watched them dance for a long time that evening, I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. :)

Oops

Today the girls and I were getting in the car in our garage and Cadence closes the door to the house and says "Look mom, the door is locked". Which probably wouldn't sound strange to most people except for us that meant bad news. We don't carry a house key with us on the keychain (I don't know why but we don't...it will definatly be on the to do list to get one made).

I replied with "Oh, no. We don't have a key!". I asked her to get in the car and wait while I thought for a minute. I went to the car to check for a key in my purse and as soon as I opened the door she said, "I'm really sorry mommy". It was so tender and sweet. I assured her that I knew it was a accident and that I was not upset at all.

I decided to go do what we were planning on doing which was going to the library and I would figure it out later. As we were driving down the road she says to me "I know mommy, if Jesus came back then He would be able to open the door for us". A huge smile comes on my face and I gave her a reassuring reply that I thought that was a great idea.

Sweetness.

Speed Racer

For Christmas I gave Mark the gift of taking a race car driving course at Firebird International Raceway. Unfortunatly the class wasn't until this last weekend so he had to wait a little while to be able to enjoy it. On Saturday we headed out to watch him drive a formula one race car around the track. They gave him a little class on how to handle the vehicle and some safety information and then they were off driving!

Mark said the cars are really tight to get into and then once your in they put the seat belt on super tight and then go back around again and tighten it one more time. He said he couldn't move at all, even his legs were tight together and the car is driven with the pedals in front of you with your legs out straight.

This is them getting ready to take the laps around the course. Mark was a natural of course, he sped off right away. He ended up passing all the other cars that left before him. At one point he skid out the car when he was going around the curve. It happened to be the curve that was right in front of where we could watch from so we watched the whole thing happen. It was like watching slow motion...I hear the wheels trying to grip, see the car start to go sideways, then the complete opposite other way and eventually stop. My heart was racing! But he held it together great, never got off the track and no one passed him. He just started it up and was off again! Maybe he was born to be a race car driver!! :)

Happy 61st

On Saturday we celebrated my dad's 61st birthday! We had the family over, Mark grilled amazing steaks and we had the meal in our front yard picnic table. It's the only place we all fit...and I enjoy eatting at it. :)

The evening was enjoyed by hanging out with the chickens :), playing ping pong and a fun game of guesstures!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Valentines Day

The kids were on treat overload yesterday. Between the gifts from grandparents, the little treat that Mark and I gave them and the valentines from school that Dylan got...they were on overload! it was fun to see them excited and enjoying all the fun stuff they received.

Showing off their treats. :)