Weekend

So I know you're all anxiously awaiting news of how we survived the weekend while Kyle was off playing with friends. We did great! We played with some cousins, played at home, and enjoyed a rainy lazy day. After the kids were in bed, my friend Meredith came over and we had girls' movie night and ate junk food. Sunday was spent going to church and having lunch with the family. It wasn't long before we went to the airport to pick up Kyle. Everyone was very excited to see him and Andy and Colin were happy to receive a new UNLV hat. (For those that don't know, UNLV is Kyle's favorite team.)

As for his trip, he went to Las Vegas for a college friend's bachelor party. He had a great time catching up with old friends and even managed to win $40 gambling. Now we're looking forward to seeing them all again in a few weeks at the wedding.

Baby Chicks

My sister, Kelly, is an assistant principal at an elementary school. They had baby chicks hatch recently and she invited the kids to see them. Kyle was home today and we had several things to do, so my mother took Colin and my niece, Micah, to see the new chicks. Colin was so excited about the baby chicks and talked about them nonstop all afternoon. He and Micah got to hold and feed them and learned that the chicks were being sent to a farm tonight. Here are a few pictures of them.

Payback Time

Well, the time has come for me to repay a favor to Kyle. He left tonight for Las Vegas for a friend's bachelor party and the kids and I are on our own for the weekend. A few weeks ago, he stayed home with them while I took a little vacation with friends; he never complained and they had a great time. We'll see how good I do. So far, I can't say I've enjoyed it, but let me tell you why.....

The kids and I decided that we would take Daddy to the airport tonight. So they had a bath, put on pajamas, and we piled into the car. We had no idea it was about to storm. And it was one of those storms where you couldn't even hear the kids talking in the back seat, couldn't see much, and you knew it was going to flood because it was raining too hard and fast for it to drain. We get those a lot here. Anyway, we made it to the airport slowly, kissed Daddy good-bye, and started for home. Only I was driving now. And you know, I usually consider myself to be a fairly calm, laid-back girl, but for some reason, the older I get, the less I like driving in the flooding rain when I can't see 2 feet in front of my car, have 4 helpless kids with me, and am forced to drive 25 mph on the freeway. So it was a little stressful getting home. And then I had to get everyone in the house. I don't park in the garage, so I hope you're enjoying the mental picture of me vainly trying to hold an umbrella and make 4 separate trips to carry each child into the house because 2 are scared of lightning and thunder and 2 would have blown away in the wind and rain. But I did it! And only Colin needed new pajamas. I was completely soaked, but at least Andy and Colin got a good laugh out of that. I changed, the kids went to bed, and now I'm wasting time instead of going to bed myself.

And to add to the stress, Kyle decided to tell me on the way to the airport about the time he was a freshman in high school and his airplane was struck by lightning. Nice, huh? Actually, it was interesting because I've always wondered what would happen when lightning struck airplanes. Apparently nothing, in this case, except a very loud noise. But it does add a little worry for me that he's flying in this weather.

But besides the little stress from the storm and worrying about Kyle arriving in Las Vegas in the middle of the night, we're doing good and looking forward to finding fun activities tomorrow. On that note, I hope you all stay dry and have a great weekend!

The Sweet One

And finally, Colin is receiving his own post. He is 3 1/2 and already planning his birthday parties for the next several years. Colin is the sweetest little boy ever and is constantly bringing me flowers every time we go outside. His favorite activities include playing outside, building train tracks, and pretending he's a fireman. He's promised me a ride on the firetruck when he gets big. He enjoys attending preschool and playing with his cousins. But, like everyone else, Colin has his flaws, mainly when it comes to eating. The boy just does not like to eat, period. He'll happily eat breakfast, junk food, candy, and snacks, but absolutely hates dinnertime. He's even asked us, "Why do we have to eat dinner every night?!" The pediatrician says he'll grow out of it. We're still waiting on that. But despite his lack of an appetite, he somehow continues to grow. Miracles do happen.

Our Budding Athlete

Since I posted about our youngest 2 kids, I thought I'd write a little about the older 2 boys. Andy is almost 6 and is currently in love with all sports. He's been involved in soccer, track, basketball, and now baseball, and also likes to hit golf balls with Kyle. Clearly, he received his father's coordination and athletic ability and not mine. We're all thankful for that. Here are some pictures of his sporting adventures. The running pics are from a recent "Run to Read" fundraiser at his school. He ran (and walked) nearly 2 miles and was very proud of himself. Oh yes, and as I write this, he's here watching a baseball game on TV. He keeps asking me about the rules and, because of my non-existent knowledge of the rules, I keep telling him I don't know. Finally, he said, "Is Daddy coming home soon? You don't know much about baseball." Smart kid.

Double Trouble

I've always heard that twins are twice the work but twice the fun. Every day, we discover that more and more! Elizabeth and Ryan turned 15 months this past week and they are quite the pair. They're very competitive with each other and need what the other has. We cannot feed or hold one without the other coming to get in on the action. The only exception is at diaper change time, when Ryan sits behind a chair and tries to hide. But they play well together too. They love to play on riding toys together, or rather, Ryan sits on it and Elizabeth pushes him. But the funniest part is how they've quickly learned to work together to accomplish something. Neither one can open the drawers in our china cabinet alone, but they can work together to get it open. Often, they get very quiet until we hear the "clink, clink" of the china they found. We have an ottoman pushed in front of the fire place to keep them out of it. It no longer deters them. They can work together to push it slightly to one side, then one twin holds the gate open and the other digs in the fire place. They also started hiding toys in the fire place. But at the end of the day, we realize how sweet and adorable they are when we see them cuddled together in their bed. They're definitely a lot of work, but they're such a blessing to our family.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to you all! We had a great time with the kids and a fun holiday. We were able to relax at home for a few days, dye eggs with the kids, and just play together. Kyle fit in a trip to the driving range with the two older boys so they could practice hitting golf balls and have boy time. We also spent time outside practicing baseball, going for walks on the nature trails behind our neighborhood, and enjoying the nice weather. On Easter Sunday, we gave the kids their baskets and hunted eggs before church. Andy and Colin had a good time hunting eggs and collecting candy and coins from them. Ryan found one egg, discovered it had candy inside, and gave up the hunt in favor of eating. Elizabeth actually got into hunting eggs and collected 3 for her basket before she discovered Ryan had candy. Then she needed some too, of course. Finally, we had a huge lunch at my mom's house with the whole family and had another big egg hunt over there. A few cousins could not be there because they were on a cruise, but we had fun without them. Now we have way too much candy in the house! And, of course, we thought the kids looked adorable in their new Easter clothes, but you probably can't tell from the pictures. Getting them all to sit still and look at the camera is an impossible task these days.