Easter late

Easter was a month ago. I'm finally getting around to posting some picture so that we have some memory of it. I felt lousy that morning so Kerry played photographer. I've sure relied on him a lot lately.


At our house the kids each have an easter basket that they use every year and just like a Christmas stocking, they set it out for the Easter Bunny to fill. Every year the Easter bunny hides the baskets for the kids to find. Not sure how much alike it is in other homes, but this is how the Easter bunny does it at ours.

backyard project

Our backyard has a unique shape to it. We've not known how to best use our side yard. We had a pathetic patch of grass there and a planter in the corner that we've never really liked. The area's not big enough for a swing set. We toyed with the idea of a trampoline but I wouldn't be able to see it from the sliding glass door. (too afraid that kids would be doing crazy things that I wouldn't know about). After going back and forth with various ideas, we finally decided to expand the pool area. We think this will be a better use of the area. My brother is helping us with the planters and the pavers. We are going to have tear down part of the pool gate and build a new one. Cross our fingers, we hope it will turn out nice and be space better used. I decided to take some before pictures. this is what its looking like now. The pictures aren't very great, but neither is this side of my yard. Hope to be able to post some after pictures soon.

good news

Decided it was time to tell my kids why their mom has been laying around a lot and why their dad has been doing all of the cooking and shopping lately. We are expecting another baby. I figure once my kids know, everyone else will too. I was very surprised to find out I was pregnant, but we look forward to having another member join our family. Had an ultrasound last week and learned I'm 10 weeks. This is two weeks further along that I thought. I have to admit, right now I'm more excited at the idea that I have two less weeks of morning sickness to deal with. I've heard of so many surprise pregnancies lately and it makes me wonder if there's an urgency for spirits to come to Earth. Brayden is hoping for a little brother and the Shelby and Claire say they want a sister. We just want a healthy baby.

getting healthy woes.

Kerry recently found out that his cholesterol is high. The doctor recommended he go on medication feeling that his lifestyle probably didn't contribute to the high numbers. Taking medicine each day seems kinda scary to us so that pretty much leaves us at eating better and exercising more. We've been eating more fish which Shelby is still convinced is going to kill her and more vegetarian dishes. I never realized how much cholesterol is in my cooking! No wonder Kerry has a cholesterol problem. My kids like to eat my chicken parmesan. Tonight I decided to make it just the same but instead of using chicken, I used eggplant. I knew that if I told them what I was making, they would not even try it so I told them it was chicken parmesan. I was hopeful that I could pull this off. Plated up the dishes and Shelby dug right in. Brayden took one bite and asked if I added giant mushrooms to it. I assured him there were no giant mushrooms. Shelby then answered, "Brayden, it's chicken." Brayden didn't buy it. I finally admitted it was eggplant. I figured at this point it was going to be hard to get Brayden to eat it, but I hoped that Shelby had eaten enough to decide that it was still good. The moment she found out, she did not take another bite. It instantly turned into something gross. Why does the bad stuff have to taste so good?

Rainbows and more

Took this picture a few weeks ago on a Sunday morning. Think this is the most beautiful rainbow I've seen here. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Had my sister's kids over this afternoon. Took a few pictures.

LOVE

Since February is the month known for love (at least for most), decided that my one post for this month would be on this topic. There are lots of things that I love. Here's my short list:

1. My husband. We spent our 15th valentines together. Went out to dinner and a movie. Neither one were the greatest, but it really didn't matter because we both still like each other and enjoy alone time together. Kerry has to rank pretty high when it comes to best husband. I'm not sure there's a better one out there.

2. My Kids. since the husband came first, the kids are listed second. I have three great kids. I began loving them the moment I found out I was pregnant. Nothing makes me happier than to see them happy. My kids are good to the core. Not to say they are perfect. They're not, but they really have a sense of compassion and respect for others. I LOVE that about them!

3. Animals. Always have. I have a few nieces and nephews that are petrified of animals since the time they were babies. I wonder, are you either born an animal lover or not? I'm sure there are some that are in between these two extremes. If I could make it happen, I would have more land so that I could have dogs, cats, goats, chickens and maybe a few others too. Right now, I'm settling for a dog and a cat. I'm not complaining though, because most days I do well to take care of my three kids.

4. Sports. OK I like to play some sports, but mostly I just end up watching them. My favorite to watch is college sports. I love it when I know a good game is coming on. I will look forward to that all day. The crazy thing is, my husband isn't much of a sports fan. I have friends that hate that their husband always wants to watch sports. Me, I usually watch by myself unless it's a golf tournament. Then Kerry watches with me.

5. Good Food. Who doesn't? I'll leave it at that. If I tried to list all the foods I enjoy, the list would be entirely too long.

6. Laugh. I love to listen to funny people. Laughing makes me feel good. My family sometimes says that I lack a sense of humor. That may be true, but I still love to laugh.

I have to end by saying that I Loved the weather today! The news has been reporting blizzard like conditions in other parts of the country. It's hard to even imagine that when you walked outside today.

A lesson for Claire.

Last week Jake and Haley came over to play with claire. While they were eating lunch, claire started teasing Haley about the fact that she did not get the pink cup. This is how the conversation went:
Claire: "nanny nanny boo boo I have a pink cup and you don't.
Haily: "Claire, that's bad words to say"
Claire repeats "nanny nanny boo boo.
Haily turns to Jake who is sitting in between them and says: "Jake, Claire is saying bad words to me."
Jake turns to Claire and says: "Claire, don't say that to my sister. Jesus will be mad."
Claire: "They're not bad words. I say them all the time."
Jake: "Yes they are and Jesus will not let you say them."
Claire: "No they're not and I say them all the time!"
Jake (getting very frustrated at this point) says "Claire, You're being like a wicked Lamenite! A VERY wicked Lamenite!"

Even though I was not happy with Claire's behavior, I just wanted to bust up laughing hearing this conversation. Jake said it better than I could have ever put it! Claire learned a good lesson that day from her little friend Jake.