Bathrobe Buddies

Jayden and Willow have taken to wearing their bathrobes around (and outside) the house in the morning.  I think it's the cutest thing ever!

Little Black Butterfly

We found this little guy in our grass today.  I think there might be something wrong with one of his wings because he won't fly off.  But we got him moved to a safer location, so that the kids, or the dog, or the garden hose wouldn't squish him.

Jayden is VERY concerned about him, since he can't fly.  And I wish I carried my video camera around in my pocket because as Jayden stood and watched him, he sang him a song about how much he loved him and would teach him how to fly.  :)

Happy Feet :: Speed Power

Jayden had another soccer game today against the orange team!  We won 10-5, with Jayden scoring a goal, but whose counting, right???  Other than Jayden of course, and another kid Max who's on his team.... :)

Jayden saw the the pictures I posted last week and he said, "Where are my fast pictures?" Your what?  "You know, my speed power pictures, where I'm running really, really fast!"  So, I promised to try and get some pictures that showed just how fast he runs around out there.  What he really wants are pictures of the dust he thinks is flying behind him when he runs, kinda like the poof of dust the road runner makes.  I'm not sure I captured it this week, I'll just have to wait and see what he thinks of them.

Does this look fast?

Or this?

What about this?

Jayden's teammate, Max, is a goal scoring machine, so their coach had Max work on passing to his teammates.  Here is Max passing the ball to Jayden.

And Jayden taking it all the way in!

Papa Time

We don't get many visitors out here in Kansas, and with plane ticket prices getting so high, we don't know the next time we'll be back in Washington, so it was so nice to have a my dad come out and visit for the week!

The experience with each family member who comes to visit is so different.  When Royal's parents come to town, I pretty much get kicked out of the house.  It's not that they don't want to see or visit with me, but they are really here to spend time with the kids and they know they won't get the undivided attention if the kids are constantly coming to me for things.  And it's also so that I can make doctor appointments, or get some shopping done, or just get out of the house without the kids.  They are really trying to just give me a break, since we don't have family around to just drop the kids off with when we need one, and I really appreciate it.  While it's hard for me to just get up and leave and do whatever I want without feeling somewhat guilty about shirking my "job",  I try to enjoy as much alone time as I can because I know they won't be back for another 6 months - although half the time I can't figure out what to do and pretty much just drive in circles.... :)

When my mom comes to visit, I get a buddy to do crafty things with, or an expert in the kitchen to ask advice of.  My mom helps a lot with the kids, playing with them and reading to them, and what not.  However, I usually get something out of the deal, since my mom and I usually find a cooking class or painting class to go to, or she shows me how to do something on my sewing machine!  It's nice to have someone to tag along with and not have to go do these things by myself.  :)

When my dad is around, he is kinda like my shadow and proves there is a laundry elf and a dish elf!  It's like when I only get half way done with one project before the kids pull me off in another direction, he just quietly goes behind me and finishes it.  I might get the breakfast or lunch dishes off the table and back to the kitchen, but my dad will get the plates cleaned and in the dishwasher and the counters cleaned up before I can even remember that I still had dishes to finish.  I'll get the laundry clean and in baskets ready for me to fold and when I turn around again, my dad has them all folded and stacked.  It's awesome!  He just tags along with us and really just enjoys our life with us, even if it means getting in the car 12 times a day and Willow kicking the back of his seat yelling for a piece of gum, or the kids fighting over whose turn it is to open the garage door.  It was great to have him here and we miss him already, especially since my dishes are still piled up in the sink!  :)

We shoveled a lot of dirt while my dad was here, filling up our new garden boxes.

 And when my dad gave Royal and I a night to go out without the kids, we came home and found that my dad had convinced the kids to help him shovel an entire truck load of dirt, so Royal didn't have to do it in the morning.  :)

Thanks for all the help, Dad!

Another One?

Another garden box?  You bet!  Thanks to my begging and Royal's hard work!  Royal keeps saying at this pace, pretty soon our whole back yard will be nothing but a maze of garden boxes worked around our sprinkler system.  You know what?  That doesn't sound so bad to me!

Happy Feet

Jayden had his first soccer game this afternoon with Happy Feet Soccer, and he just so happened to get on the blue team, his very favorite color!

They spent the first 25 minutes doing drills and practicing, and then they spent the last half hour playing a game, with no goalies and nobody keeping score.  Then at the end of the game, all the kids got to line up and kick one in the goal.  Jayden's team won 6-3, with Jayden making one of the goals, but who's counting????  (and believe it or not, but it wasn't me who was keeping score, Jayden told me the score at the end of the game :) )

"Big toe, little toe, shoelaces"

Here is Jayden with his coach, "That goal, right?"

There are 5 kids on Jayden's team, and only 3 play in the game at a time.  Here is Jayden patiently waiting his turn.  It was hot out today, like 89 during the game, Jayden's coach kept telling him to keep drinking water during his breaks because his face was "as red as a tomato".  :)

Backyard Work

I went running this morning with Moms in Motion and then when I got home, I quickly jumped in the shower and got dressed because the kids and Royal and I were going to our church to make Resurrection eggs, in preparation for Easter.  I'd never even heard of them and thought maybe we'd be making some sort of egg that Jesus would pop out of Easter morning.  But turns out, it's better than that!  It's an advent calendar of sorts, with an egg to open every day, for the 12 days before Easter, with a symbol and Bible verse to read and talk about with the kids.  Wish I had some pictures of us creating them, but well, I was in the middle of the creating and I also happen to be the picture taker, and sometimes I can't do both very well.  :)

We then went and got a whole bunch of stuff to start getting the backyard ready for summer!  More wood for one more garden box, some manure and top soil to beef up the other garden box's dirt, stuff like that.  We had some friends stop by to play, and our neighbor's daughter Goldie invited herself right over to show Jayden just how good she was at swinging these days.

We uncovered the sand box and I raked it and poured a good amount of vinegar into the sand to help keep the bugs and critters out.

We also managed to pick up a couple more pots to plant our sweet peas in.  The kids were real interested in Royal drilling some holes in the bottom.

It was a real fun  afternoon and was so nice to feel spring outside.  Our strawberries our starting to sprout out and go crazy, some of the garlic I planted last summer to help keep the mice out are already getting big.  Yea for summer!  We can't wait for you to get here!!!