a blessed April...

family photo:
You would think we would have one from our trip to MI this moth, but no! So we snapped this one after a Saturday night "pizza in our pajamas party." The kids and I were filthy after playing outside in the rain while S was at work so I threw them all through the shower with me and we got dressed in our pajamas before S got home. We always have pizza on Saturday night and G was concerned about eating in her pajamas until I made it into a "pizza in our pajamas party." The kids thought this would be fun, but they got REALLY excited when S came home from work and put his pajamas on too. Apparently seeing dadda in his pajamas is a much rarer occurrence than seeing momma in her pajamas...=)

April was a month full of beautiful weather! So nice to have such an early spring after a long cold winter. We played outside a lot, got all the outside toys and bikes out, and started checking clothes and other things to prepare for summer. I do realize that we live in MN and that summer is a ways off, but we had to get the hats, sunglasses and sunblock all ready! We also took a big family trip to MI to celebrate Grandpa A's 90th birthday.

G notes:

• Still loves her nature center classes...
• Still likes growing her bangs out...is putting her own clippies in now...
• Still wants to do crafts on a constant basis...
  
• Is practically reading now - S and I can't spell things to each other anymore because she is figuring the words out!
• Is SUCH a big helper with little C lately. She will play with him while I put W down for a nap, she can distract him if I need to run to another room for something, is always trying to make him smile, and loves to shower him with hugs and kisses.
  

W notes:

• He is starting to play games! He understands and can play some of our favorite simple games and now frequently asks/orders: "Wanna play a game wif me? Yeah, sure you do! How about....ORCHARD GAME!!!!" This really is fun for all of us because he can play with G now too. I actually have found them playing games together with their own made-up rules.
• His 2-yr old personality is raging yet. At the mere suggestion of "no," "wait," or "stop that" he falls apart. But he is definitely a bi-polar toddler because he can be so happy one minute, and then "So So Saaaaaaad" (W's words) the next minute.
  
• Clingy...he is the middle child and therefore almost always with momma or dadda or siblings. I still attend Sunday School classes with him, and while we have gotten over the hurdle of him actually wanting to go to class, he still clings to me during singing, and has major issues if I leave the room even for a minute during class.
  
• He is growing up so much in other areas - talks crazy good now, starting to want to dress himself, can undress himself, takes care of his own shoes, and helps out when asked (most of the time)
• W also makes us smile and laugh a lot - he talks so much, is getting jokes and being silly, and he doesn't have attitude yet (that somehow seems to come automatically when they turn 3).

C notes:

• Loves to copy his brother and sister! He tries to run the same way they do, sit the same way they do, play with the same things in the same way they do...my favorite is him crawling after G & W barking like a puppy.
  
• It has been a month of bonks and falls for C. He is just at an awkward stage with his walking and moving. It seems like he can trip over nothing, bonk into things he was no where near a second ago, and fall for no apparent reason (among tripping and falling and bonking over stuff too!). I am ready to strap him on my back and not let him do anything...
• ...because one of his bonks or falls (and we really can't recall any specific ones!) knocked out one of his beautiful new crowns. He broke off part of the real tooth too, so there is not enough to attach a new tooth to. We don't have to pull it out, he will just have a tiny nubbin. One more gapped-tooth kid, oi!
• His new tricks are showing us his muscles and roaring at us on command. I will have to video these for you because they really are hilarious.
• New words: car, monkey, cow, baby, water (both to drink and bodies of), shoes, socks, train, please, and thank-you. He said his first phrase too: "Bye Da" at S on his way to work!

S & C notes:

• S had a good time at his managers' meeting in Chicago. They learn a lot of things in thier meetings each day, but they also get out and have some fun and relax together too. This time they played something like bumper car lacrosse one evening, and then went to an amazing Brazilian steak house the other evening.
• I have been distracted by being outside with the kids a lot which means inside chores and projects have been getting ignored...=)
  

(we were) on the road again...

S's Grandpa A turned 90 on April 7. He is doing so good and living in his own home yet too! We are blessed to be in his family and decided to make the trek to MI for his 90th birthday party the Saturday following his birthday. After making this decision, S gets an email from work informing him of a manager's meeting in Chicago that he needs to attend Tuesday night through Thursday that same week. At first we thought it would mean we couldn't make the trip to MI, bu then we realized that with Mom and Dad B's help, we could make it work quite well. So S flew to Chicago Tuesday, and Mom and Dad B drove to our place. Then Wednesday Dad and Mom B, the kids and I drove to Chicago. We stayed in the same hotel S was in (us with S obviously =), and during S's meetings on Thursday, the rest of us went to the Brookfield zoo, not far from our hotel. After S's meetings were finished on Thursday, we picked him up and continued on to MI where we met up with S's sister M and her husband C and enjoyed the rest of the weekend altogether. On with the pictures!

It was 40 degrees F, windy, and drizzly for our trip to the zoo, but we had fun anyway!

S and little C crashing at our hotel in MI

Friday we spent most of the day with S's Grandma B. She is 92 and still lives on her own! It is always great to see her and she loves watching the kids. Her apartment was pretty cozy with all of us visiting, so for supper we went down to the community room where C & M made us pasta for supper. S's Uncle S and Aunt B joined as well. The kids did just great - they were happy with room to run around and dance!

You can always count on Grandma B for a bowl of ice cream!

Grandma with our family

Grandma and Grace

Saturday morning we swam in the hotel pool. The kids loved it, of course!

Saturday afternoon was Grandpa A's 90th birthday party (the whole reason for the trip!). It was held at Grandpa's church, open house style. And there was a fabulous spread of appetizers and treats made by S's Aunt Sally and cousin Brett, who is a professional chef.

All his kids (pictured are Aunt J, Uncle D, and Mom B with Grandpa) and spouses were there, and most of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. Then he had siblings and cousins and some nieces and nephews come too! Grandpa is not used to having people fuss over him, but turning 90 is a good reason for people to fuss and he really enjoyed visiting with everyone. It was nice to see a smile on his face all afternoon.

Great-grands singing Happy Birthday to Grandpa A

Grandpa with our family

It was a lot of fun for us to catch up with S's cousins, too. All our kids are very similar in ages! We had 7 of them under age 6 there that afternoon! Being that there were so many little ones who needed some entertaining, S's cousin K (who has no kids! but is in college now studying to be a pharmacist so S had a lot of fun talking with him and reassuring him he would make it through classes like Organic Chem) and K's girlfriend B put together an Easter egg hunt. The kids all had so much fun searching for the many eggs. Thanks so much you guys!

The littles! Best shot we got... =)

We visited Grandma B and Grandpa A one more time on Sunday and then started the trek home, staying in Rockford that night (bad motel, don't get me started). This picture was from an emergency potty stop at a really dirty gas station - G did her best to spruce the place up!

Splitting up the 11 hour trip between 2 days meant pretty easy travel days. We caravanned with M & C and the adults rotated cars depending on who G wanted sitting in the back of the van with her. Here she was knitting with Auntie M, who was crocheting. G thought that was pretty cool. =)

Dad B's birthday was the following day, so when we stopped for ice cream Monday afternoon, we decided to get an ice cream cake to celebrate! We all sang happy birthday and made quite a rukus. It was a great little birthday party, and the nice people at DQ even cut the cake into slices for us. Happy birthday Papa!

"No honey, this horse is just for sitting on. No, I do not have any money for the horse. No, I do not know if it does anything else. I think it is just for sitting on and taking pictures. How about that?! Say cheese! =)"

For the next week, if you asked W what his favorite part of the trip was, he would tell you "Watching the scooper trucks dig dirt!" This was the scene across the parking lot of DQ. And we had to put W in the van fussing and crying for the last leg home.

And it was so good to be home! But oh, the laundry...
What a great trip full of time spent with family - we are truly blessed.

giveaway at not only mom...

My wonderful and crafty sister-in-law, C, is having a giveaway at her blog, not only mom. She interviewed Stacey Trock, the author of Cuddly Crochet, a very neat crochet book, and she is giving one away! All you have to do is post a comment (you don't have to have an account to post a comment, just post as anonymous and leave your name in the comment), and the chances for winning are pretty good, too. =) Contest ends tomorrow morning, so go check it out! Thanks for the giveaway, C!