Spring Break

So sorry about missing out on last week. It was spring break and we were VERY busy working and having fun. We painted and planted grass and just generall cleaned a bunch. We also had a few game days and went for a special lunch at McDonalds (we would have gone for a picnic but spring decided to give us snow for spring break instead of sun)

So to kick off we painted the dining room. It was alot of fun Alot of work but fun and I think we are very happy with the way it looks now.
David helping paint

Then after we got all the painting done we put a new floor in. We didn't take good before and after pictures but I do have a few older pictures that can show before.

Before
Floor
Walls

After with new vinyl flooring and painted walls we are still working on what pictures/etc to put on the walls but this is it for now

We also had Aunt Trista and Tiffany and Trenton in town for the weekend and that was fun. We went down to the easter egg hunt on Saturday at the ball park. We have been doing this for a few years and never won anything. Well this year we won 3 baskets. Nathan was crying since he was the only one standing around without a basket. Well the people in charge noticed and had some extras that hadn't been claimed and gave him one. So we got 4 baskets!!!!

David and Nathan also had some excting things happen this week. They were chosen to represent their classes in the spelling bee and they both were on winning teams. They don't do district for Kindergarten but David will be going to the district spelling bee for first grade.

Keziah is serious silliness. Her favorite past time is blowing raspberries. How do we know she is awake in the morning?.. we hear a silly little plbbbbtttt sound coming from her bed. She is also starting to move away from her army crawl. She isn't super fast with the regular crawl but she does each about half the time. She also has this new trick.

Yep thats right she has learned to pull herself to standing. She is very pleased with this new development and is itching for more. She is even trying to let go and stand on her own. She just wants to keep up with everyone around her.

More pictures

Kids Easter Sunday morning
Zephen
McCaul
Nathan
Kids together


Zephen and McCaul packing in wood

Keziah looking cute

Easter Eggs and Sun Burns

There is something about spring that just gets to you. You know taking that winter skin out and letting it see the sun in the first time in months. Well we have had some nice days here and there and this was the result. Seems the twins got nice and sunburned. It looked kind of funny yesterday while it snowed and stormed all day here were the twins with bright red cheeks. Ah well.

The kids enjoyed Grandma coming over to watch them on Tuesday night while mommy and daddy went to a meeting. They will get another baby sitter tonight while we got on a *gasp* date. Yeah. Kinda a rarity around here. I am sure they are thrilled.

We also colored eggs for Easter yesterday on half day Wednesday. We had some special kit that they got to glitter the eggs too. At any rate they had fun. And Zephen and McCaul cried when I dumped the dye down the sink. But they had a blast shaking the glitter on them.

Keziah in a bright summery dress
Keziah about to get some rides
Everyone wanted to give her a ride


Daddy doing some art with David

David measuring how long the new scratch paper daddy brought home was.
Three Goof balls

Parent Teacher Conferences and a Dazzling Baby Girl

I know I am a bit late.. its been a rough week. First over the weekend I went out of town to a seminar about educating your kids. It was really good. But when I got home I had strep throat and a bad case of it. Wiped me totally out for a couple days. Since then I am not 100% but my house and myself are both in recovery mode. Sheldon took good care of the kids and the front room and dining room were so nice when I got home. The biggest problem was that not a single dish had been washed while I was gone and then being so sick on top of it.. yeah its not pretty I think I will get the last of it washed today. And if any of you need further proof that antibiotics do not do anything with viruses just as the antibiotics are kicking in and taking care of the strep throat (confirmed through a swap sample) I am now getting a head cold the rest of the family has. Yep.. still gotta have some sick. I know one day we will all be healthy again..right???

I dont have a ton of pictures this week. With being sick and gone, but I have a couple to share. Here are the updates though.

David and Nathan had parent teacher conferences last week.

David.. is doing wonderfully he is reading at an end of second grade reading level and seems to be improving in this area in leaps and bounds. He is doing good in his other work as well. He has a bit of trouble with the speed math tests... He knows all the work and scores perfectly every time, but doesn't always answer enough problems. He gets nervous doing them. Its almost painful to watch knowing he is supposed to be quick and his mind knows the answer (he can answer double the number out loud in the same amount of time) but he fidgets and rearranges his pencil and is a little ball of nerves. But he is still doing really good in this area regardless... Any tips on how to help him not be do anxious for those?? He also got a wonderful comment. His teacher told us he was one of the , if not the, best behaved student in her class. Ohhh to make a mother proud. I am so glad he is well behaved for someone at least.. He is a good kid.

Nathan is doing well also. He is progressing at reading and gaining more confidence in all areas. I also was proud of him for something during his conferences. His teacher told us of a confrontation between him and another child where Nathan stood his ground without getting physical. The other kid was up with balled fists ready to throw a punch when the teacher intervened. What was Nathan doing, standing his ground, he wasn't ready to fight back but he wasn't giving in either. I don't know what the disagreement was about but I have to be proud of a child who stands up for what he believes even when his is about to get a black eye. It is a bit scary to think if this kid rebelled it could be ugly for us... but we wont think about that for a few more years :o) In the meantime I am proud of my little man. We have decided to work with him on some means of expressing himself. He seems to keep most things to himself even when it might be better for him to tell someone or share whats bothering him.

David and Nathan both got to go to the movie on Tuesday night to watch Monsters vs Aliens. Usually we dont allow school night outings like that but there were circumstances which kept them from being able to go over the weekend and the movie will probably be gone after this weekend since we only get one movie at a time and that movie stays typically only one week before its gone.

We also signed David and Nathan up for Clover Buds. Its like a junior division of 4H. There are monthly meetings where they learn about something new and classes on all sorts of stuff. Some of the ones I signed the boys up for include, Bicycle, Visual Presentation (like public speaking with visuals), archery, air rifle, and I think I will sign them up for leathercraft. Anyways its a really good program and I am really excited about it.

The twins... hmm.. Well I am amazed every day at how much more they seem to say. They speak in paragraphs now, say prayers with help, go potty in the toilet with minimal accidents.. This year of life is truley an amazing one. They play together and help each other and take care of each other. Its very sweet. Today I pulled out the trains, something I havent really done too much. They have kept themselves busy for a couple hours now.

Keziah... she is a pro army crawler baby. She can get to most places she wants and most places we dont want her to be :0) . She has also decided that mushy foods arent that bad. Baby oatmeal and apple sauce for example are actually pretty good. Mostly though she spent the week hanging out and dazzling people with her beautiful eyes. Sometimes I think maybe it was a good thing we didn't have too many girls. I am not sure a family or the world for that matter could handle that much beautiful cuteness.. but then I am just the biased mommy.

Keziah taking a bath in the kitchen sink.. she has been kicked out of the bathtub as she wont stay still and tries to drown herself.

Sheldon has a little update too... He is starting cold laser therapy for his knees which will hopefully improve/speed up the healing. (For those who dont remember or know Sheldon got bad chemical burns to his knees last October). So wish him luck on that front.


I believe thats it. Not terribly exciting but what with all the sickness running rampant its hard to do much more exciting. I will really try adn keep the camera out more this week though.

Christina