Lowes' Shoppers

And how could I forget how helpful the boys were when we picked out crown moulding?!  They helped so much that it took 2 days for Andy to figure out we had purchased 2 different patterns.  Andy's favorite phrase regarding the boys comes to mind: "They're trouble.  Nothin' but trouble."  I second that!

Master Bedroom Remodel: Check!

After pretty much 2 years of working on our master bedroom, it's finally complete.  We had it at an ok point a year or so ago, but then it took the past month to clean it up from a year of dishevelment and clutter.  Andy expertly installed crown moulding, and voila! it is done being remodeled.  Of course, I always have ideas of things to add, but the budget and our to-do list dictate we are done with this room for a while.  It is elegant and peaceful and a lovely place to relax and escape (no toys allowed!).  No wonder South Paw spends 16+ hours a day in here!

Dinner of Champions

Whew, I am really feeling all the aches, pains, and exhaustion of being in my 3rd trimester today!  It was a typical busy day of hustling to preschool, cleaning house, picking up Aiden & 1 of his classmates, struggling with the boys for almost 2 hours before they finally succumbed to naps in the same room.  Then I spent over an hour preparing for a family dinner/errand outing (including, but not limited to: boys' snacks and drinks in the car & jackets set out), only to find out from Andy on his way home that he was coming home to bed sick.  Now what?  It's raining, I'm exhausted, and staring at the last chicken breast and my marinade box was doing nothing for me.  So I put on my thinking cap, surfed the net, and came up with an amazing dinner, inciting "yays!" from the 2 and 4 year old crowd: homemade pancakes, bacon and mandarin orange smoothies!

Oh yes, it was a rare no-whine dinner!  Then it was off to the bathtub to wash all the syrup off.  I took the liberty of a self/belly shot.  Not the most glamorous I've ever looked, but hey, it is what it is!

And now from the newly-remodeled master bedroom, with South Paw snoring on my lap and my chocolate pudding cup within reach, I bid you good-night, as silence has finally fallen from the cowboy room and my stuffed-animal throwing/poo-poo joking/opening of curtains interference is no longer needed. 

While Daddy was at Work (or maybe he was sleeping)

Either way, the weather was just too nice to stay home, so the boys and I hit up the town on Sunday afternoon: shopping, pizza & ice cream.  I cannot exaggerate how we have waited all winter and spring for days like this!

And on the way back to the New-New (the boys' name for the new Mommy Car), we stopped to smell the tulips.  So delicate and beautiful!  Ashton has been learning about how God makes all things and he especially enjoys smelling the "fow-was"!

Finally Out on the Town for Lunch

It is FINALLY warm enough for the local restaurants to put out their awnings and deck seating.  We are big fans.  Not sure what we like better: the fact that our kids can drop and spill food and we don't have to worry, or how distracting the vehicles driving down Broadway are to the boys so Andy and I don't have to work so hard at the distraction game.  Any way you slice it, we are happy it's eat-outside season!

Saturday

After a quite-frankly horrid trip to Walmart to purchase the monthly necessities like contact solution that come so much cheaper at the store that doesn't give its employees proper benefits, every other shopper deciding to walk as slow as possible and/or cut my gigantic kiddie-cart off, and Ashton assuming the proper behavior of a 2 year old American brat in Walmart, sweet Aiden's stellar 10-year-old demeanor was rewarded with a Mommy-Boy trip to the local county airport.  It was our first time observing (but definitely not our last!); we both had a blast and I was impressed with how much aeronautical knowledge I dug up from the recesses (thanks Dad!).  I think we have a young pilot in the making.

He chatted (er, asked questions) the entire time.  And I don't over exaggerate: the ENTIRE time!

Then, since it was so positively warm at 62 degrees, we played out front til supper time (since the back yard is under water from the excessive rain accumulation (aka: flooding) our area's been enduring).

 Aiden happily digging up my flower garden in search of worms

 Ashton getting into trouble in the garage

 South in a tizzy over all the good dogs getting to go for walks while she is tethered to the baby apple tree

A fun Saturday, all things considered.  Note to self: shop at Walmart late at nite without children & still have fun with them at the airport & in the front yard!

Monday.

Sigh.  Monday.  And the Monday after Easter, no less!  It almost seems as bad as the day after Christmas.  Such a let-down after such great anticipation and joy.  Maybe it's accentuated by the pessimist in me; joy is suppose to stick around for a while, right?  I could blame it on the weather: gloomy & rainy as it is, forcing the heater to kick on.  At this point in spring, I loath the clicking of the gas ignition from the recesses of the basement.  But wait a minute, isn't this everything that Jesus rose from the dead to overcome?  Death and gloom and sadness?  Why yes, it is!  Ok, deep breath, a prayer for Satan's sad lies to be dispersed, and a re-focus on all God's blessings.  I can do this.  First, there are my happy children running around in their pj's, eating muffins and building Thomas train tracks criss-crossing the living room.  There's also the happy movements in my womb of baby #3.  Oh, baby #3!  Now the cobwebs are beginning to fade!  [Pause to fill up my favorite mug with coffee (and half hazelnut creamer)-the one Dad brought me when he returned from Bosnia.  It reads: "Smile! 'Cause God thinks you're special...and so do I!"]  [Another pause to approve of Aiden taking his socks off.]  There is much to do!  Easter decor to be returned to it's bin, Polish pottery pulled back out, the planting of seeds indoors to ready for the garden, not to mention preparing for the baby!  There is a trundle bed mega-deal to be found (along with mattresses), an Ashton to transition to big brother's room, shelves to be installed in closets, clothes bins to be purchased, new lovies to be ordered (Aiden picked out some adorable green and brown ones online), and the myriad of [pause to break up a train fight] projects Andy and I have planned for the house.  Anyone want gift ideas for baby #3?  I have a wish-list; I'll work on posting it.  (Insert smile here!)  And then I remember that Mom is coming for two and half months.  Woo-hoo!  I can't wait for her to see me running my house, spend endless time with my boys and enjoy some r&r in our beautiful part of the USA.  And this week alone should be fun, with a routine dr's appt, Andy's "weekend" on Tuesday and Wednesday, prek & softball on Tuesday and Thursday and no doubt playdates & a dinner out with friends sprinkled in-between!  Praise the Lord, life truly is amazing, [pause to get Ashton a cup of milk] for HE is good, and His love endures forever. 

Virtually?!?!  Does that mean that my dishes are actually NOT "rinsed right"?  

Spring?

This winter was long and cold and spring just can't come soon enough.  So I am not so sure my iris buds were appreciative of the white stuff yesterday. 

Spring truly IS beautiful around here ... whenever it finally decides to come!  But Ava brought me some beautiful flowers from her yard yesterday.  I was very grateful for a bit of spring.  Not that I know what they are called, but they are lovely!

Praise the Lord, it's Easter!

Easter is a big deal around our house - Jesus is the center focus of our family and this day has been greatly anticipated.  We have been preparing our hearts, focusing on our unworthiness & Jesus' unselfish greatness of dying on the cross and rising from the dead, triumphing over eternal condemnation for us.  Our house has been decorated for Easter for 6 weeks & the Easter story read and re-read.  I was up late last night, making blueberry muffins for breakfast, stuffing eggs with candy, and pulling out all the treasures I have hidden around the kitchen in the past few weeks - all while watching the Ten Commandments, of course.  And this morning was a fun hustle of basket reveals, egg hunts, muffins & church clothes.

Popeye and Olive Oyle contributed to the overflowing baskets (er, buckets) of gifts.

And yes, even South Paw received an Easter gift.  She was elated!

And we had the pleasure of coloring boiled eggs yesterday with our dear little friends, Ava and Loralei.  There's just something about the pureness of children's happiness that is so contagious!