Sunday, May 8, 2011

April and Easter Festivities

Ok...I've mentioned before that my blog does this funny thing that I have to upload my pictures in backwards order and can't insert a picture in the middle anywhere...this is one of those times I wanted to scream out loud as I accidentally deleted one of the middle pictures and had to re-insert it at the beginning. Anyway this is from the Kansas City Temple Run kids run. We were worried about putting in the kids because we hadn't registered them and then the run was for kids 5 and older which would only include Kayley. But we were encouraged to just do it anyway and we were glad we did. They had a blast! I don't know if you can tell who is who: Kayley is in front in the purple shirt (and jeans and dorothy shoes), Ashlyn is right behind her on her left in orange, then Preston is in the back by Michelle in the dark shirt and white hat (Preston is on her right), and Cora is by Nick is in the white shirt by Michelle (Cora is in front in flip flops). Nick said that Cora about wiped out twice, but they all had a blast. They all four got medals and wore them proudly for about a week!
And then here is the original beginning of the post....So this is a post with a lot of pictures! April was a fairly busy month for us...at least in regards to pictures! Here is Kayley's class picture they took at the beginning of the month. She has really enjoyed school this year. She loves her teachers and she actually enjoys (finally) being one of the only girls in her classroom. She says she is the fastest runner on the playground when they all play mario kart. (that's my girl!) School has been great for her and she is really looking forward to going to Kindergarten this next year.




Then what is Easter without dying Easter Eggs? The girls loved dying them and watching them change colors.



Rex loved being the audience...it was late and he was getting really tired!!



Intense at work...



Then the next day we went to the Blue Springs Family Fun Day. Michelle and Kendall joined us and the kids were so excited. It was supposed to be a day of inflatables, games, free food, and a huge Easter Egg Hunt. It was our first time going and let's just say it was different than what we expected. I expected more of a traditional type setting and it was more of a Christian based setting. There were TONS of people there so the lines were insane! We got all the kids in on one inflatable after being in the wrong line for two different lines. Then once they were done with that, the huge inflatable (that they really wanted to do) the line was horribly long so we did not do that and instead decided to go get some lunch before the Easter Egg hunt. That's when things started going down hill. They closed all the games, closed all the inflatables, and said for everyone to take their seat in the bleachers (it was held at the High school)...we raced out to get in line for the food only to find they were closing these lines too....only at 11am mind you...for lunch!! We decided to ditch this Easter egg hunt and head to trusty old McDonald's and Bass Pro. Bass Pro had a limit of 5 eggs per kid but it was more of a hunt as they had to walk around the store and actually look for them, versus most Easter Egg Hunts no a days that just throw all the eggs in a big squared off area and it's a big free for all. They loved being able to hunt for them and didn't even seem to mind that they only got 5 each. Then of course Bass Pro came through and had fun crafts for them to do, the Easter Bunny was there to take pictures, and then the kids got to all play in the boats together. They had a blast and we all thought maybe we should have started off with this idea in the first place!




All taking turns on the one inflatable they got to play on...



Rex & Garrett got to just hang out in their strollers...



A week before these events we were also at Bass Pro (because you know Nick) and Kayley refused to take a picture with the Easter Bunny...



But she changed her mind and I finally convinced her to take her picture when we were with Ashlyn and Preston...so I finally got one with all three kids in it....



The craft...I tried and always try to get a picture of all four looking at the same time...never happens!



Then our Easter Sunday got a little scrambled. Nick got up early to go to his meetings as always and I was running late to getting ready as I completely forgot about making cupcakes for YW (oops!) So I had it all played out in my head on how I was still going to get to church on time when Cora came into the bathroom and told me, "There's something all over my pillow in my bed." Sure enough I look over at her and she has throw up all in her hair, all over her PJ's, and of course all over her bed and floor in her room! It was a lot!! So I tried to get a hold of Nick who finally texts me and says he had gotten called in and had thrown up as well that morning quite a bit (he was on call at St. Luke's and he almost never gets called in there, but the one and only time is when he's sick...go figure!) So we stayed home from church and the Easter Bunny had to come after everyone had taken a nap and felt a little bit better. Luckily the sickness was very short-lived and we got to do our Easter Egg Hunt with cousins the next day.



This is how the girls sleep on the weekends. We finally had to make a rule that they could only sleep together on nights that Kayley didn't have school the next day because they were staying up way too late talking and playing and then were very cranky the next day. Cora asks everyday if Kayley has school the next day as she especially loves to have her sister sleep with her!



Our little Rex has learned how to pull up on things...he is so proud of himself. He is just now pulling up to his feet more often. I'm not pushing it too much as I know he just gets faster from there on walking!! But he's learning very quickly on his own as it is! Here he is begging the girls for food like he often does. Sadly they were eating eggs and strawberries, both of which he can't have for another two months.



Did I mention he LOVES to play with Nick!?! Right before this picture he was actually laying his head on Nick's shoulder...he really does just love Nick. My favorite thing to watch is how excited he gets to see him in church. I don't know what it is about church that makes Rex want Nick so much, but I don't complain. As soon as I get there he pretty much launches from my arms to his! It's cute!



And the Temple Run...oh what fun that was!! It was so much fun to do it with all my family that was there and it was fun to do it with all the young women and leaders and the rest of the people in our ward that participated. We really had a ton of people from our ward there it was great!! I ended up finishing 13th in the category of boys (I was put in the wrong category on the results) and then when they changed it I was actually bumped to 16th in my category...so I have my work cut out for me next year cause there were some pretty fast girls in my category. But in my defense I hadn't ran for about 3 weeks because of a hip injury...so I wasn't running at my best. This is right at the finish line taken by my Mom who so willingly watched our kids so we didn't have to use the jogger stroller! Can you see Otto almost immediately behind me? He's in the gray shirt, blact shorts, and white hat on my left. We literally finished one second apart from each other! It was great! Oh...and in case you were wondering...I smoked Nick! He kept bragging about how he hadn't practiced at all for the race and was going to beat me and I'm here to testify that this is our 2nd race to run in (we are cheap so we only race in ones that are free!) and I've beat him in both races!!






Pics of the kids with Mom; the runners: myself, Nick, & Otto; myself, Nick, & my Mom; and then the little runners below.



So since we were sick on Easter Sunday, the kids got to wear their Easter outfits the next Sunday. Nick was already at his meetings (as always) so it was difficult to get a good picture with just me manning the camera and kids. Rex was not happy as he had just woken up and was ready to eat and we didn't have much time as we needed to head out the door. So this is the best I got...I knew if I waited till after church though someone would get their outfit dirty or be too fussy again or asleep so this is what we got! Notice the girls medals they wore proudly to church!?!






This last week Cora was so proud one morning as she had dressed herself and fixed her hair and everything! Also a few days before this she came to me in the morning while I was getting ready so excited and said, "Mom guess what!?!? I squished an ant all by myself and it did not even bite, sniff, or look at me!!" This is a huge deal as my girls are both the type that if they see an ant by them outside they come running inside, if they see one by them when they are playing inside (yes we do have some ants in the spring come in...so annoying!!) they start screaming. Cora also has to start speech therapy this next school year. She is pretty easy to understand there are just a few sounds that she is not getting that she should already have by now. One of which is the 'ch' sound...so the above thing she said from the ants was actually "touched an ant" not "squished an ant" She later corrected me. I guess I had too high of hopes for her to actually squish an ant!!


Then Rex also learned how to drink out of straw and it was cute. He was actually really good at it and it didn't take him long to figure it out. I guess he really is Nick's son...but luckily this is just water he is drinking not Dr. Pepper...not till he gets older can he have a little bit of that!



Then this is Rex at Bass Pro. He was just being cute and willingly smiling for me when I pulled the camera out. Everytime I showed him the phone to take his picture, he was just smile for me, it was cute! He is such a happy baby and we are so blessed!



1 comment:

Simply Sarah *K* said...

Your kids are so cute, Colton! :)