Thursday, March 26, 2009

Artists' Hats

"Mom, when I grow up I want to be an artist." Maddie said during finger painting time today.
"You can be an artist right now, you don't have to wait to grow up." I said.
"OK! Well I need an artist hat then." Maddie said matter-of-factly.
"A beret?" I asked.
"Yes, and Abbie wants one too. Can you get our berets please?"

And I dug through their dress up drawer and found two.

And they painted and painted.


Monday, March 23, 2009

The Trek

Jeremy planned our route back to Alaska for the summer. We're taking a different way home than we took on the drive down to Kansas so we can visit family and friends in Utah and Idaho (and to avoid Saskatchewan...that was like watching paint dry!). It all adds up to 4,479 miles and we plan for about at least a week on the road starting the NIGHT of May 17. We're getting excited! Now we just need to find a place to live...

Click the image to view it in a larger format.

Friday, March 20, 2009

A Week Full of Saturdays

Having Jeremy in law school does have it's perks. Two words: Spring Break. We've had his full attention and time for a whole week! It's been wonderful. Last Friday, we drove down to Oklahoma City one last time for a visit with grandma Dee.

We actually saw SPRING! Daffodils were popping up all over the city. At first glance, they were thought to be fake, which would be a typical deduction from Alaskans (we don't see flowers in bloom until June). There were trees in bloom, green grass, and even crops were growing!! It was actually spring during spring break.

Dee treated us to dinner at The Spaghetti Warehouse. We had so many leftovers and we were stuffed. Yum.

After dinner, she treated us again to a horse drawn carriage ride around Brick Town.

Maddie snuggled right up to her grandma the whole time. The girls really loved seeing all the city lights.

We disembarked our carriage near a fountain and started to walk over to a creamery to get some ice cream. However, Jeremy was having an allergic reaction to the horse. A very, very bad one. Poor thing, he was wheezy, sneezy and miserable so we called it a night and got him some medication...while us girls enjoyed ice cream at Dee's instead.



On Monday, we had a picnic at Gage Park because the weather was amazing. We walked over to the playground and finished off the afternoon on the swings and slides.

Tuesday included a drive over to Lake Shawnee where Maddie went on a short bike ride (she ditched her bike about 100 feet from where we started). We all walked down to a dock and the girls put their feet in the water.
Abbie watched her sister splash for a bit before she took her shoes off and decided that it was warm enough to dip her toes into the water. We all donned sunblock that day it was that warm.

Brayton sure loves being carried around in the Snugli. He enjoyed being out in the sun too.

That evening, we had friends over for a St. Patrick's Day dinner (corned beef, cabbage, etc.) and then Jeremy took half of the crowd flying. They got to see all the city lights.
We decided to use our coupons to Cage Gymnastics. They offer an open gym on Wednesdays for the 2-5 year old age group. The girls LOVED it! Nothing was off-limits so they got to play on all the equipment...all of it.

Abbie was fearless on the bars, beam and rings. Madeline was a bit timid, but enjoyed the trampoline and the foam pits the most.

This is the foam pit over the high bar. Maddie liked "digging for treasure" in here.

Abigail saw the other kids (who were obviously in gymnastics classes) chalk up their hands before going on the bars & rings and followed suit. She got right into the chalk and acted like a pro at putting it on.
We went to Sonic after all that playing and grabbed some slushies. Madeline set up a lemonade stand in the living room and served us all $4 drinks (she named the price even though Jeremy tried to give her an economic lesson on supply & demand).

Here's how Madeline wrote "lemonade" on her sign, with a bit of "sound it out Maddie" coaching from mom once she got half-way through writing it.


After all this busyness, we've had to make time to get some grocery shopping, chores and errand-running done. And it's all been done together as a family. Jeremy is now on a Boy Scout camping trip this weekend. When he left this afternoon, I was a bit nervous to have all 3 kids by myself again. Bedtime is always more difficult when it's 3 against 1. We're truly grateful to have had such an enjoyable week together....especially when we're really seeing signs of SPRING!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Practice Run

We've talked to the girls about our trip back to Alaska for the summer and how it involved camping. On our drive to and from Alaska, we are going to tent camp to keep our budget low and as long as the weather is nice...so I figure we'll be in a hotel with a hot shower once we get to the Yukon Territory in May. Madeline has talked about sleeping in a tent ever since. So I came home the other day after being gone a little over an hour to Maddie and Abbie reading books in the living room and Jeremy looking for something in the office. "Where's the baby?" I asked. Maddie replied that he was sleeping in the tent. What?! She said that daddy set up the tent in the basement! I ran down there (I was a bit worried at this point that he was left in a tent in the dark basement) and found him snoozing in a comfy sleeping bag in the tent.

I think it'll be a fun road trip after all...

Friday, March 6, 2009

Presiding in Love

***UPDATE BELOW

A couple posts ago, I had a link to a song Madeline (and every other LDS primary child) is learning this year. Well, the song is based on the Proclamation to the World and talks about what roles a father and mother have. "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families."

Jeremy presides, provides and protects us amazingly.

This morning, Abbie and I were sitting on the couch reading a book while I nursed Brayton. She got down to get a new book and promptly threw up all over the couch and floor. Poor girl. I thought she just had a full tummy and squished it as she slid off the couch on her belly, or that the orange juice and milk weren't mixing well in there. Frankly, I didn't want to face the reality that she was sick. I got the mess and Abbie all cleaned up and everyone piled in the car to take Jeremy to school.

Jeremy said that after dropping him off, just to be on the safe side, I should forgo the grocery shopping trip (I have taken all 3 to the store successfully now) and go straight home. Do you think I'm crazy for actually thinking I'd go shopping with a kid who just threw up? Well, I would have gone - it was just going to be quick - in and out. I listened to him. I went home. Six minutes after getting through our door, the puke-fest began again.

I've learned a few things today:
1. Abbie IS sick. She's now quarantined on the couch. It's all hers today.
C. Orange juice does make milk curdle. I've seen it.
4. I should listen to the presiding protector of the family, even if I think I can do what is not suggested.

This may sound like such a trivial and obvious situation, but I'm glad I listened to my husband today. That would have been an embarrassing shopping trip.
April 2007

***Maddie got sick this evening, so to add to the list of things learned...
D. Kid throw up is magic. It can make 2 loads of laundry turn into SEVEN. Seriously, I've still got two more loads to do and it's 8:30pm.
5. Five hours after consuming an orange, it looks like chewed up pineapple, but doesn't smell like it. Gross, I know.