who's that weird guy in the middle?

Easter egg hunt

Kayla's new hat

getting ready to find easter eggs

Easter egg hunt

Easter morning

Easter

Sorry for this short update. We had a great Easter with the exception of Jake getting very sick. The Easter bunny did find our house and brought some fun stuff. We even had a small Easter egg hunt in the backyard. We loved having family here to celebrate. They all left Monday and have all made it safely home. A special thank you for coming to visit us!!!

Nina and family

Kayla with her cake

Craft time

Lunch at the party

Kayla's new poncho

Kayla opening presents

Bowling Alley

At the bowling alley

Emily and Alayna

Kayla blowing out the candles on her 9th birthday

March 28, 2005

Well, we had an exciting and fun-filled weekend. Corey and Hal came up on Friday and Bob had the day off. They helped Bob get his pegboard put up and organize his tool room. It looks great.

Saturday was Kayla’s birthday. She had her friend, Olivia, join the rest of us for the party. We started off the day at the bowling alley. The kids league didn’t come so we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a blast! Nina’s kids had never bowled before and they had such a great time. Then we came home and the kids played outside in the gorgeous sunshine for a bit. Then we had a pizza lunch and then made a fun craft. Afterwards, we had cake and ice cream. She had a horse themed party and received so many great gifts. She said it was her best birthday ever-whew!
We had a great Easter Sunday as well, but I will write about that and post the pictures tomorrow. Hope all of you had a great Easter!!

Doing the "chicken dance"

Chasing each other around the room

Alayna and Emily doing a special dance they made up

Dancing in the living room

Thursday

Well, yesterday was another day indoors. It has been so chilly. The kids played and spent time dancing (chicken dance, limbo, electric slide, etc) We tried to have a quiet day and were able to get everyone naps, which is good considering the 3 little ones all seem to have come down with colds. Plus, I have this horrible cough and no sleep is compounding the problem. We did, however, watch a fabulous movie last night. If any of you haven't seen "The Notebook", you MUSt go see it. It was a GREAt movie and I was totally sobbing by the end. It is snowing now, so looks like today will be an inside day as well....

Kayla's masterpiece

Jake

Wednesday

The day started out with snow on the ground, but ended up warm enough that the kids went out to play for a few hours in the afternnon. Those who needed sleep got some in the afternoon. That evening we decorated Easter cupcakes and then watched Survivor.

Alayna "decorating"

Tara

Decorating Easter cupcakes

making crafts

Taking pics by Easter set in mall

In the mall

Looking at the fish fountain

Hanging out at the mall

Alayna

March 22-Tuesday

March 22- TUESDAY
What a crazy day we had yesterday . It was disastrous in some ways and fun in others. It has gotten very cold here so we can’t take the kids outside which has totally ruined our plans for the rest of the week. So, I had the bright idea we would take the kids to McDonalds for lunch and play on the playland. However, everyone else in Cedar Rapids had the same idea!! We met Bob there and it was totally crazy. Our kids couldn’t go on the playground because it was like a zoo. So, after lunch, we took the kids to the mall to walk around. We forgot the strollers, so it was crazy trying to keep track of 7 kids. There wasn’t much to do so we went to see the Easter bunny who had gone on a break until 2- it was 1:00 when we got there. SO, we stood by the set and took a picture of our crew anyway. The kids were restless so we headed to a different McDonalds for ice cream. This one had a cool train place where the kids could sit and watch the toy train go by. They loved it and loved the ice cream. However, the stupid worker there mopped the ENTIRE floor, so when we got up to leave, the kids were slipping all over the place. Poor Jake fell hard several times and started crying hard. SO, we raced the kids out only to have Alayna race to the drive-in part and run in front of a car! Talk about giving mom a heart attack!!! So, we came home and tried to give the little ones naps. Jake didn’t cooperate so Nina didn’t get to sleep. We did have craft time where the kids did some fun activities which kept them busy for a couple of hours! After dinner, we got a call from a family in the ward that asked if we could help babysit their kids. Their babysitter backed out at the last minute and they both had to be at the church for YM/YW. SO, we watched their 3 kids and had 10 kids running around for the evening. Then we watched Amazing race and then all crashed in our beds!! Except poor Nina who was up with Emily until 1:00am! She had snuck in a nap while we had dinner and it must have been some power nap. Most kids were up by 6:45 this morning. Today the goal is simple...get some sleep for the mommies!!

Ever wonder how relaxing a walk can be? Emily knows...

Going for the walk

Playing in the backyard

Getting ready for the walk around the neighborhood

Eating chocolate

making s'mores

Alayna insists on pushing her own stroller

Our biggest helper this week

Monday

We ended up having a great day. Nina took the kids outside to play in the backyard for a while in the morning. Then we sorted through and traded boxes of clothes! Then we had a yummy lunch. Then the older kids watched the Incredibles again while the mommies and younger kids slept. In the afternoon, we took a fun walk around the neighborhood (Kayla rollerbladed and Tyler roller skated). For FHE we played Scene-it Junior and we made S'mores for dessert. Nina then got her kids to bed and got to try out the jacuzzi bath, while we watched "Spring Break Shark Attack". I am sure we will all crash tonight and be ready for a fun day tomorrow.

March 21, 2005

We had a very busy week, again. I attended and spoke at the women’s symposium. It was a great success. I came home at 2 and Nina and the kids arrived from Tennessee by 3:00. We are so happy they are able to come visit for Spring Break. We have lots of fun things planned. Saturday evening we barbequed hamburgers on our grill. Then we popped popcorn in our special machine and watched "The Incredibles". It was a fun movie, crazy how the characters hair moved.
On Sunday, we all went to church. Bob and I sang in the choir for the first time. We had a good Sunday and even took the kids out for an afternoon walk.
None of the little kids slept well last night so this is starting out as a really long Monday already and it’s not even 9:00!!

This week

This week is Spring Break and my sister is visiting. So, for the weblog, I will be entering a synopsis each day for the grandma and grandpa that couldn't be here. Normal newsletters will resume next week- thanks!!

Jake and Alayna

Emily playing with barbie

Tara and Kayla

Alayna couch dancing

Emily and Alayna

Jake and Marisa watching Dora

Tyler and daddy doing puzzle

Watching the Incredibles

Jake and Alayna on computer

5th grade orchestra (Marisa's head is hidden- she is on front row)

Marisa on her way to the orchestra concert