Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom has a blog and on a loved one's birthday they have an entire blog entry dedicated to them with a story of why my mom loves them.  I have to admit, she has made my eyes wet on more than one occasion.  I thought I would return the favor since it is her birthday.

 When my sister and I were in high school and college the three of us would go out shopping.  These were not practical trips but shopping trips dedicated to spending time together and socializing.  We would frequently be out around lunch time and my sister and I would say, "Mom, we're hungry!". On more than one occasion my mom would say, "Well, let's go get some ice cream".   And that we did.  Ice cream for lunch is the best. I still enjoy spending time with my sister and my mom... they are the best at saying, please don't buy that or that looks great. 

She has passed on this love of fun with the grand kids.  She is a great mother but she is an even better grandmother.  We love you mom! Happy Birthday.

Peter Pumpkin Eater

 

Pete had his 18 month check up today.  The kid is 25% in weight weighing 24lbs 12oz.  He is 95% in height with a measurement of 34.5 inches.  Looks like we have a tall skinny kid.  We have nicknamed him "stealth" for his excellent running and hiding skills. 

What we've been up to

Happy April Fools!  We have a serious cat problem here in our neighborhood.  We are always joking with the neighbors about the cats living under their deck and under our swing set.  We made them a kitty litter cake in honor of the cats.  The cake was actually really tasty if you could get over the looks of it. 

Dying Easter eggs is always fun and by fun I mean a smelly mess.  We created egg "monsters".  They turned out pretty cute. 

I threw this in here because I find them doing this a lot... you know, hanging out in their Hawaiian gear.  No, just kidding... they love to sit on the step and read Pete's animal book. 

Pete is a lot like the Peanut's character Pig Pen.  I thought to myself, if Pete wants a mess I'll give it to him.  I filled the bowls up with flour and let him have at it.  There was flour everywhere.  I think next time I will use rice.

The Easter Bunny came a day early at our house.  Brenden's grandpa passed away earlier in the week and he went up to WA to attend the funeral.  It was sad news!  Grandpa Reid will sure be missed.  We are glad that Brenden can be with all his family for Easter!

The kids during the Easter Egg hunt- Emmie running at full speed while Pete sits and eats his first find. 

And lastly, this is what you get when you say "cheese" to Pete.  

Happy Easter!

Ten minutes before church started... bribed with one peep each. Not bad at all.

Happy Easter!

Hawaii

My parents, grandparents, Gregg&Rachael, Jim&Richelle&kids all decided to take a trip to Hawaii.  We were super jealous but my parents sent back these cute outfits.  Pete just needs some shades and a camera- don't you think?

Sandhill cranes

Brenden and I took the kids to see the Sandhill cranes last week.  Millions of these guys migrate through Nebraska this time of year.  We tried once during the day but all the birds were in the fields eating so we went back right before bed and caught a few flying in to the banks of the river.  It was really cool. 

Trip to Lincoln

We drove to Lincoln last week so Brenden could attend a couple conferences there.  The kids and I tagged along so we could visit our good friends Brad&Emily and Mike&Jamie.  I would have never imagined we'd have this many kids between us- 7 and one on the way!

 

Hunger Games

My neighbor came over the other day and invited me to go to the midnight showing of the Hunger Games... in costume.  Um... Yes!  We visited the Goodwill and some consignment shops and altered some clothes into some pretty awesome costumes.  We went as Effie and Capital people.  It was really fun but kids kept coming up and asking us for pictures.  Really?  We were the only ones over 17 who dressed up.  My friend Lauren (Effie) even won the costume contest. 

And I would like to say for the record that I am not pregnant in the picture above.  It is called a pizza food baby.

AZ

The kids and I just got back from a long trip to Arizona.  February/March is the best time to go visit.  The weather was perfect.  We had a blast!  I can't think about it too much because it makes me a little teary to think we live far away but we'll be back in May!

 

This was day 1.  Covered in mud.

Wicked!  It was awesome. Thank you daddy!

We spent a good amount of time at Grandma B's.  Here we are throwing oranges to the cows.  My mom, grandma and I all threw one to see who's would go the farthest.  Grandma won.

Chuck-e-cheese.  I never want to return but my kids LOVE it so until next time.

Our cousin Kate takes gymnastics at a really cool gym.  Here is Emmie mid-air jumping into the foam pit.  The girl is fearless.

Pete is mooching ice cream off of Grandma.  She gladly spoons it into his mouth. 

Emmie's very first official haircut.  Yes, she is 3 1/2.  It really did take that long for it to grow past her ears!

Pete loving the tractor at Grandma B's.  One day we went out there and my grandma said, "we should go to the park" and then we said, "this is the park".

Emmie's favorite people in the whole world are her cousins.  We took them to see Beauty in the Beast in 3-D.  They even dressed up for the occasion. 

The Rensink grandparents even came down!  It was so fun being able to see them.  And yes Jenna, I included this picture on purpose.

Emmie got to go to preschool as her cousin's show and tell.  It was pretty cute.  Here she is showing everyone her new shoes... and her underpants. Luckily Lorinda had a pair of leggings which quickly got put on.

Emmie and I took Jenna lunch at school.  Isn't she just the cutest 2nd grader?  We had so much fun.

The Phoenix zoo. Why do kids love the petting zoo so much?  At least they give you these neat little mits to comb their hide. I don't know about you but goat's eyes freak me out.

We had a cowboy-themed baby shower/party for my sister-in-law Lorinda.

Here we played "There's a snake in my boots". I now have 20 little plastic snakes around my house since my mom make me pack them up and take them with me.

The end.

We had so much fun.  It was nice getting to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and friends.  We are so lucky to have such a terrific family.  We can't wait until next time!

We have been in AZ for the last 2 weeks.  It has been a blast.  While we have been away I have noticed that my kids truly are disgusting.  They are constantly dirty.  It must be the dry Arizona soil because they look like pigpen every day.  To give you an idea of how gross they are, I'm going to give you a list. I'll let you guess what thing goes with who.  

1. Found a used band aid in their mouth.

2.  Tooted and then asked their cousin to smell it. 

3.  Played in the toilet so often I ran out of shirts... and once while their sister was going #2. 

4.  Had the dirtiest feet I have ever seen and then decided to bite their toe nail.  

5.   Likes to suck on rocks and leaves and dog food.

6.  Finger pained with ice cream all over the booth at Jason's Deli.

7.  Licked the entire chair seat at Jason's Deli.

 8. Goes through the trash regularly. 

9.  Was given a piece of granola bar which was squished, dropped, stuck on the bottom side of a sock, then picked up and eaten. 

10. Was sent to the bathroom before bed and after about 15 minutes came out with wet arms past their elbows.

 

I know there are more.  I promise that Brenden and I are good, clean people.  We have taught our kids none of these habits.  Where do they get this?  And I want you to know you'd be surprised which were Pete are which were Emmie.