whatever

okay – that snow on Friday was CRAZY!
that was the most bizarre weather for april in kansas. the snow was coming down so quickly and it was thundering at the same time – for hours!
but my friends and i braved it (literally . . . lots and lots cars were in the ditch – not ours) to go to a crop. we scrapped till midnight. getting our supplies in and out in that slush (wearing slip-on backless shoes) was quite funny. my feet were soaking wet. but i was happy to have had a night out of the house even with freezing wet feet!

my family made it here on Saturday. we had a very nice weekend.

the moms and grandmas took the kids to the circus.
sean was loving it! the clowns cracked him up. he said just as the lights went down in the beginning “I want to see something AMAZING!” And during the monkey part “when can i get a trained monkey?”

when we came home we had easter dinner. a repeat of last week. craig made another ham – he’s getting pretty good! my mom and my grandma made yummy desserts. i ate way too much.

we got the kids to bed. the adults and lauren were playing a game. 2 hours after we had put annie to bed she was yelling “mom! i need a dry shirt!” i got up there to find she had destroyed the bathroom. she had been very busy. 2 brand new bottles of shampoo were emptied out onto the floor. lipstick was all over the floor and bathtub. the shelves of the cabinet were all a mess. it looked like vandalism . . . or a raccoon had been loose in the house.
that baby.
and all she had to say for herself was “mom. i need a dry shirt.”

on sunday my almost 1 year old niece was crying during naptime. my sister went to check on her. she discovers annie is the room and the rabbit in maya’s playpen!! no wonder she was crying. that is not a fun way to be woken up – a rabbit dropped on your head. poor baby maya.
annie just wanted maya to be able to play with the bunny too. that was a lot of work to do that too!
she is a handful!

then a nice afternoon of relaxing outside . . . playing catch, shooting hoops, trampoline and laying in the hammock. yes – all that crazy snow is gone already.

and pray for me . . . i started potty training today. 5th and final.

this day is feeling crazy . . . but i am determined to not let it get to me. that rain is driving me nuts.

first things first:
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRI.
WE MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU!
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all the kids have a different schedule today. school is out at 3 completely different times.

my parents, my sister and her 2 kids and my grandmother are coming to visit for the weekend (2nd Easter – minus the eggs and all the candy). so we are getting ready for that . . . cleaning. it’s nice to get it done before saturday anyway. i still have some beds to make. and bathrooms to clean. do you think they will want to eat? i may have to get some groceries.

and i have to say hooray for my boys!! they are in their room since they got out of school playing legos together. nicely and quietly by choice! awesome. it will not last long but how great this 1 hour has been.

i did get in the craft room this morning. usually i can’t get going in the mornings. but this morning we had to take lauren to school after she missed her ride. she didn’t notice it was raining. i was not happy but it did wake me up. the little girls joined me and made some sticker art and a bracelet. and i got one page done.

also a few minutes ago annie was screaming at sean upstairs. i got up to go see what was going on. as i get to the stairs i see a diaper with no baby in it. that’s never good. i get upstairs to see what the fuss is. there is a very naked baby just wanting help opening her dollhouse. what a goofball! she loves to take her clothes off – it’s her new thing.

loving my chalk board door that i discovered yesterday morning – completely covered in scribbles.
and that is Annie is the bucket – not me – if you were wondering. ha ha

yesterday talby had a bike-a-thon at pre-school.
they love to bring their own bikes to school. and why wouldn’t they?
it’s so cute to watch them work so hard to make it around the big sidewalk path. one of the teachers had to go out to the other end of the path to help some of the kids get out of the dip in the path. their little legs couldn’t pedal hard enough to get up the tiny hill. so cute.
annie went around too on her push bike. i sent talby to go help her when she was all the way across the path (pretty far away). it was precious. you could see her talking to annie, annie nodding her head and then talby starts pushing annie on her little bike as fast as talby could go. too sweet.

funny picture.

i love my new page of my niece Maya Grace even though it took 3 hours to make because i was watching 3 shows – including an Oprah where I was full on sobbing – at the time and it was late at night. craig came in and had to laugh at my crying.
he is a robot. no tears.
i am all tears all the time. i could probably cry on command.
and then talk about crazy . . .
i laughed myself to sleep last night.
sean made me laugh earlier in the evening (not that funny though) and i started talking about it again and i lost it!
i don’t know what came over me but i was laughing like a woman going to the looney bin. at nothing. for a long time. craig kept telling me to stop laughing and go to sleep. i just couldn’t. i also couldn’t breathe. it was hysterical to me. i finally wore myself out and fell asleep. i have to admit that’s a good way to fall asleep.
makes me smile just thinking about it.
i think it was a my body releasing stress. better that way than yelling or more crying.

i was so happy to see my old friend Chad today. it is so nice to have friends who are able to pick up where you left off from the past visit no matter how long it’s been . . . comfortable . . . genuine real friendship. . . timeless.
it was too short of a visit but that’s just life. and sorry again for the not having any food. we should have gone to pizza hut to relive the good old days of our employment.
i wish you didn’t live in Seattle but i don’t think you’d like it in Newton anyway. can’t wait to see you in December again!
talby took this picture of us!

what a beautiful day today.

just beautiful.

we surprised the kids this morning with their very own Easter bunny.
i know it’s silly. it wasn’t something it was planning to do.
i went on friday to see a piano we were considering buying and left with a bunny.
that is just so typical ME!!
the family selling the piano is moving and she was showing me other things she had for sale and we walked past a rabbit in the hutch twice and i finally said “What are you doing with your bunny?”
saturday night i drove out with my friend and we picked up the rabbit at 10:30 PM!! it was just fun.
i didn’t sleep well . . . fearing it would get loose or our cat would kill it before we got up.

it was great. they were so happy. so surprised. i heard from lauren “Oh Awesome!!” i loved that.

they are debating on names.

Donuts
Surprise
Thumper
Betsy
Bo

I am going to call him Donuts even if i’m the only one.

our church service was uplifting. lots of singing today and sean was arm in arm with me smiling brightly. it was full to the back. it was neat to see so many people there.

we got cooking right away when we got home. lauren and scott helped prepare food. talby was in her element setting the table with cloth napkins even.
we had family and friends here for a yummy dinner. craig made a ham and it was fabulous. i only tried one new recipe and was pleased with the results. our house is never calm and quiet but our friends know that and it’s okay . . . right?
and then strawberry cake with fresh strawberries. mmmmm

while clean up was going on in the kitchen i hid the eggs.
so much time goes into a 2 minute egg hunt!
but they love the race to find the hardest ones. to be fair we make them all get the same number . . . stop when you hit 14.
then the trading begins . . . i will give you my jelly beans if i can have your kisses.

after all that there is nothing to do but take a long nap.

now i think i need a little more strawberry cake.