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!!!

What Willow Wears :: 12

....while shoe shopping! 

We had to go get Jayden some gear for soccer, which he starts on Sunday.  I told Willow that we weren't going to be able to get her any shoes this time (I'm pretty sure Willow has more shoes than me) and she threw a fit when I had to repeat myself after she found a pair of pink flip-flops hanging on the wall that she just had to have.  We finally made it to the cleat section for kids (me half carrying/half dragging a Willow begging for "pink shoes") and while I'm helping Jayden try on a couple pairs, I turn around and find out that Willow has already taken her shoes off and is trying on shoes herself.!

What Willow Wears :: 11

Willow hasn't really put on anything lately that makes me go, "WOW!  Now that's an outfit!"  Until last night.....

Home

We're back in Wichita!  We had so much fun on our spring break trip, the kids keep asking to go over and play with Brennie and Wyatt and Willow keeps insisting that she needs to "see Aunt KAY-kay".  It seems to me that pretty much that the trip revolved around dinosaurs - we dug for dinosaurs on our hike, we went to a museum to see dinosaurs, the kids played dinosaurs all the time, so on our way home we needed to make a bathroom stop and I knew we were close to this shop on the side of the road that had huge dinosaurs statues.  I'm so glad Royal was easy to convince to stop, even if it did cost him a pretty penny when Jayden found a dinosaur he couldn't live without and Willow found a moccasin purse she wouldn't take off and I found a small cactus plant to give to the people who had been taking care of our house and animals for us while we were gone.  :)   (Thanks hon!)

Since we've been back, we've been trying to get readjusted to our timezone, which usually results in the kids not sleeping and being very cranky all day.  However, this time, I think they are so tired from the 2 day drive in the car, they are sleeping all the time AND they are so excited for papa to come on Sunday they are bouncing off the walls!

Last night, Jayden found some tattoos and he insisted he get to put Willow's on her!