Week Night OUT!

Tonight my friend Hilary and I took in the "Taste Of Home Cooking School".

We had a great time catching up.

The show was fun too!

Dana Elliot, a Taste of Home culinary specialist, has been here the last three years. I have had the pleasure of helping prep before the show, and seeing it come together in the evening.

Taste of Home has lots of great recipes that use ingredients most of us have on hand. I would encourage you to check out their website...I think we'll be trying the Savory Pork Salad. And the Triple Chocolate Pie. And the Three Cheese Tomato Pizza. Man am I hungry.

More Changes.

Along with rolling over,

2 New teeth,

Jack grew some hair.

Hugs and Kisses Aunt Tracy! Love, Stewie.

Monday Morning Giggle

Bea is our goofy child. She fits pretty much every middle child stereotype.

This is what I overheard her singing to herself this weekend:

"I like big butts...and I cannot lie"

I have no idea where she heard it, but it made me laugh!

Milestones

He rolled from back to front today...

And got his second tooth.

It's all moving too fast.

Photo credit: Bea

First Tooth!

Tonight Jack was chewing on my fingers and I felt something sharp...hhhmm.

Sure enough; "tap, tap, tap," on the spoon!

We put him in the exersaucer last weekend. He loves it!

Farm Fed

This week Jack had his four month check-up.

16 pounds, 4 ounces, 25 1/2" inches long.

Nice legs!

Bea had her 3 year check-up.
She's 25 pounds and exactly three feet tall.


How long do you think it will be until they weigh the same??

No Longer Hidden Talents

Last Friday was Elle & Will's school talent show.




The talent posing for the paparazzi.

Bea watched from under the table.

I recorded the kids acts ~ enjoy!

Now, when Will told me he wanted to be in the talent show, I was shocked. I had no idea that he had any talents besides melting my heart. Turns out he can do cartwheels. Who knew??

Elle has been practicing with the school dance troupe, this is one of her three performances of the evening. The girls will be performing at several other different venues until the end of school. She is having a great time, and we are having fun watching her. In this clip she is on the far right. Sorry for the "spanning" video, I was trying to get the boys on the right who were clapping to the music.

Green Thumb

When I was visiting my parents they introduced me to their lovely neighbors. Mom had told me about her beautiful quilts and wanted me to see them. She also told me that R. had a little greenhouse with some blooming plants.

These are the blooming plants.

Orchids.

They were stunning.

I could only wish for her green thumb..

Oh, the quilts were just beautiful too!

Another Exciting Weekend

My brother came for the second weekend in a row~ We are looking forward to having him again next weekend too! He's been helping Ryan get ready for spring by doing maintenance on our equipment. We love having him, and his boys. These cousins really do like to hang.

T. and I went into the local quilt shop sale. As she told someone, "First, she (me) signed me up for a bag class, and then she signed me up to make a quilt top, and now she has me going to sales at 7 am in my pajamas". It was a pajama sale. From 7-9am, show up in your jammies and get 35% off. What a deal!! I'll post some of the fun stuff I got maybe tomorrow?

Spring Break

A late posting of pictures of Will and Elle and their spring break at the Grandparents.

Elle and Will went to work with them, and hung out at the house.

And the Grandparents always do something fun....

How did they get her to match socks??

He is the best sweeper....

While Elle got to spend time with Uncle Cowboy & Aunt Cowgirl,

Will went to Cabella's...

Branson Landing...

Went on a train ride. He LOVES trains.

With the conductor, who punched a "W" in his ticket.

How cool is that??

Checking out the scenery. Two bridges, a tunnel and a

snack bar!

And this? he could not explain....

Elle had a wonderful time with her Uncle, Aunt and cousin. Miss Lena is two, and the cutest thing. Elle thought it was so fun when Lena called her "honey."

Our Baby...Our Big Boy...

Last night for the first time Jack had cereal.

Three nights at the all-night buffet was making mommy tired.

It didn't help. But we tried again tonight...keep your fingers crossed.

Family Fun Day part 2

A few more shots from our "Family Fun Day".

This is Jack's first measure on the pole~ He's not the youngest to be measured (Will, 6 weeks) but most definitely the tallest for his age!

(he did not cry the whole time Island girl...just when we woke him up!)




Another fun activity: Cousin Wes hanging the kids from the bar.
(why do we buy them toys??)

Miss Lena and Bea having a bedtime snack and snuggle with Nana.

How cool is that? Eggs ready for Easter ~ fresh from the chicken!

Easter Egg Hunt

Sunday after church and a DEE-LISH dinner at T.'s, we had an egg hunt...

The hiders and the hunters:

Bea, M, Elle, Wes, LT, Jack and Will.

Elle is on to the game...she hunts alone.

We had to remind him to leave the easy ones.

She had a blast! In total awe every time she found one. Too Cute!

Monkeys

Jack is outgrowing some of my favorite clothes.

I hate it!

He wore these monkey jammies for the last time this week...

He was burstin' the buttons!

Two little monkeys cheesing in a tree...

"Cheeky Monkey"

Good Friday

Jesus died on the cross so that I may have eternal life.

Family Fun Day

Last Thursday the kids and I took off for my parents house in the Ozarks for our bi-annual "Family Fun Day". Travelling alone with all four of my people for over 12 hours in the car...well, lets just say that I'll look back on it with fond memories. Maybe. When I'm 60.

Scenes from the road....

The ups & downs of the road. I couldn't take photos of the curves...

These animals were a hit!

Halfway through the trip we stopped at a hotel for mom to regain some sanity. Jack liked the sheets as much as I did. What is it about hotel sheets? I know that they are supposed to be gross, but I really like them.

Bea got a special bed of her own....

We kicked off Family Fun Day on Saturday with an early morning hike to the top of the mountain to find these precious little gems.

I'll spare you the embarrassing story of the hike. (No shower, No coffee, and most definitely no breath.)

I found five. Dad and Simon found the other eighty nine.

(they were tasty!)

Jack meeting his Grandma Great for the first time.

Half of her grandchildren... We sure miss those Texas cousins!

Half of her great grandchildren...

After lunch we were off to the river for the kids favorite activity, skipping rocks. Poor Elle, one of the rocks "skipped" off of her nose. A little crying, a little blood, and she was back at it.

The river was full and green. It is a beautiful spot with the rocks stretching up the sides and the river flowing through...

These cousins. They love spending time together. Even now, when the oldest is 14, and the youngest is 3 months, they always have the best time. I hope it continues for a long time.

Whenever we visit my parents, the kids always get measured on "the pole". The kids think it is great, and we all like to see how much they've grown, and compare them to their siblings and cousins.

Elle making sure he does it right.

I love the way she holds onto the post.

He loved the swing! It has not really been warm enough at home to use his.

Dad's goat had these cute little kids while we were there.

Will loved the goat dogs, "Bonnie" and "Clyde".

As for me, I loved the look of spring,

Dogwood blossoms, right out the back deck!