mar8-mar14

March 8
The kids had spring school pictures at school. I thought it was a little strange, school photos twice a year, but whatever... Maddie asked to have her hair curled with the curling iron. Yikes, I thought. What will I need to do to her hair when she's a few years older??? We only leave about 3 minutes in the morning for fixing hair, so Maddie got to school right before the bell today.

Sadie is trying SO hard to roll over from her back to tummy. She doesn't do the belly to back, mostly because she really can't stand being on her belly for very long.

Kaycey was such a big helper today. Well, she is most days. I don't even have to ask her for help. She will walk into the kitchen, empty the dishwasher and fold laundry, wash the bottles, without asking. She has such a big heart, too. I see her joining something like the peace corps or something along those lines!

March 9

Just because she's cute

I went to Archiver's and Hannah's with Katherine, a much needed little day trip to get me in the creative spirit.

Kaycey had a Pioneers meeting at school. They made the cutest little birds and got the kitchen ready at school for the spaghetti dinner they are hosting on March 10.

Emma and Papa got subs for dinner for the kids and they slept over. Mike was at the Bucks game with some guys from work, so it was nice to have the extra sets of hands around. Especially because I had a terrible headache. Pretty sure everyone, including adults, was in bed by 9:30!

Maddie told us that she loves Jack (a boy in her class) and he is her boyfriend and she's really gonna marry him. How cute!

March 10

In the morning I got a phone call from the oncology social worker at Children's Hospital. She put me through to Jennifer, a mom of a newly diagnosed stage 4 NB boy (January). We talked for a while and I am going to meet her next time her little guy is in for chemo, which should be the week of St. Pat's Day. They are from about 2 hours away, and drive down every time he needs treatment or has to be inpatient for chemo, low counts, or fevers. She is also 7 months pregnant with their second baby. Please keep this family in your prayers.

This little one has become the biggest thumb sucker!! It's really nice though that she already puts herself to sleep.

Kaycey and I worked in the kitchen (along with alot of other people) for the spaghetti dinner before church. It was really nice, there was a huge turnout, and we went through almost all the meatballs. There were ALOT of meatballs! I had fun getting to know some of the other moms who I hadn't talked to much before. The girls had a lot of fun, too, helping out in the kitchen. On the way home from church, it was so foggy, we couldn't even see a few feet in front of us. I was so glad to pull in the garage and call it a night! We came home and watched the end of American Idol, which was even enjoyed by the littlest member of the family. I am disappointed Lilly got cut... I thought she'd be around for a while.

March 11

After gymnastics, we met with our neighbor friend and her daughter (Maddie's age). We went to a scrapbook store out close to my house. It was really nice! Stocked full of all sorts of fun stuff, and 3 different rooms for scrapbooking/sitting. I bought a really cool Christmas kit (a tree shaped chipboard book). I rarely buy big book kits, since they are usually pricey, but this one was worth it. Can't wait to do it! I plan on going to some of the late night crops there with Cal's best friend's mom one of these days.

Spring is certainly around the corner, it was pouring rain today!

Grandpa Bo and Grandma Ria brought dinner over, and we ended the night with a game of yahtzee (Cal's latest craze!).

March 12

Poor little baby, had to get shots today. She was very brave, though, and only cried for a little bit. She has nearly doubled her birthweight, and she is very long for her age. Oh, and she is in 90th percentile for her head. Guess she has a big brain.

We picked up a pinewood car kit from a couple who run the derby at school. Kaycey really wanted to do one last minute. Cal wasn't interested, which I was kind of surprised. Maybe next year he'll change his mind.

Maddie had a friend over for a while, and boy she is so bossy. I sure hope that Maddie isn't so bossy when she is at other people's houses. I always hear that she was so sweet, etc...but I wonder sometimes. I kept hearing her friend say, "Well, I'm the guest..." Haha.

Still haven't gotten my hair done, but the gray has become so obvious that I've decided to just dye it myself. On the to do list.

Sadie had cereal for the first time. She rather enjoyed it.

That night we had Olympic Night at school. Apparently every year in March, there is a themed night with games and snacks and fun. Well, it was a huge success. Which I'm guessing it is every year. We are so amazed at how involved the teachers are. They are at every single function, usually running it. And they look happy to be there! 90 kids out of 110 in the school were at Olympic Night. They had games, they were divided into teams (Canada, USA, Norway, and Germany), they had music, snacks, and even a guest--an Olympian from the 1976/1980 winter games, Leah Mueller.

Mike brought home flowers today, too. I generally get them when the flower vendor is at corporate. Mike gets a good deal on them, so they're totally worth it. I have to say these were the best ones...they still smell beautiful a week later!!

And uh oh, major sink leak in the kitchen. Mike only noticed because there was a puddle in the basement by his tools! Argh. Part of the wood floor in the kitchen is warped from standing water. Eek. This house isn't so new anymore.

March 13

I dyed my hair, by myself. It cost approx. $6, as opposed to $100. I do still need a haircut!!

Mike and Kaycey started working on the car. They decided to keep it simple since the weigh in is the next day.

We went to my cousin's daughter's birthday party that afternoon. She made the YUMMIEST cake!!

When we came home we played bible hangman on Maddie's wipe off board. But she was mad we erased her picture to play...

March 14

Planned on going to early church. Except that I was up with Sadie at 4am watching CNN and realized it was 5am already. Totally forgot about the time change! Yeah, needless to say, we had a rough time making it to Sunday School at 9:15. After church, Mike and Kaycey went to weigh in her car, which was a few tenths shy of the limit. Mike was surprised at how "all out" some people went for these cars. He's thinking at least Kaycey did hers by herself. It was rather obvious some were the parents' doing!

We went to our niece and nephew's birthday party in the afternoon. There were 20 kids there, 5 under the age of 6 months. It was craziness to say the least. Kaycey played babysitter for a couple of the little babes and their moms asked if they could take Kaycey home. It was a pizza party theme, and they gave the kids hats and had the kids make their own little pizzas. How cute is this pic of Sadie & Grandpa David (Mike's Dad)???

The kids had a great time, but were really mad when we left just as they were about to play a game of basketball outside. Mike has this thing about not wanting to be the last people at a party. Oh well. We started talking vacations, in general places we'd like to go eventually with the kids. New York City & DC (I said I'd only go to DC if I can go to the Smithsonian though), Grand Canyon, some other spots on the East Coast--Boston, Baltimore, etc (did I ever tell you I love the East Coast??? haha : ) California, FL/Disney (we joke that it's a trip for Maddie--we want to go when the older two will still want to be seen with their parents & Maddie will think it's totally magical. And I suppose we'd take Sadie again in 10 years by herself!) When we got home he was online looking up deals for Disney vacations. He says it was out of curiosity (which was sparked by watching Extreme Home Makeover). So perhaps in a year or two we'll go somewhere. Which brings up another issue, he's thinking of driving. Okay, fine. But with what vehicle? We'd have to rent something big enough to hold all our stuff, the minivan wouldn't hold much. Well, HE has been the one joking about getting a new vehicle. He often talks about trading in his truck so I could get a Suburban or Yukon, and he'd use the minivan as his junker/to haul stuff. But I won't let him do that; he still gives me crap for trading in his Mustang (and crashing it up...) when we had Kaycey (by the way, HE traded in his Mustang for the Silverado, I told him he should've kept the Mustang and got the truck!). Anyhow, he constantly jokes that in eight more years, I can get a new vehicle, which I know he is being sarcastic, because in the same sentence he tells me first I have to crash up all the corners of it so they at least match. I laugh, of course. I say at the very least 6 years, because Cal can drive then and he can have the minivan. Hopefully a new vehicle is in our near future???

Cal finished "The Lightning Theif" today...in record time! Boy, this kid can read. It's 376 pages, and he had it done in less than 12 days. He can't wait to read the rest of them, but geez, I can't keep up! Someone better keep writing good books...he reads them faster than the authors can keep up with.

Little Sadie likes her exersaucer (and the TV!), too. And she grabbed her toes today, all by herself!!