April 2013

I don't think anyone noticed but I didn't do a diary in March. The beginning was so crazy with Braden going to the hospital and being sick, mom coming, more sickness, etc. that I decided to skip a month. Hopefully I won't regret it too much in the future. It was filled with many house showings, Dr. Seuss, St. Pat's Day, AND Easter so we had a LOT of fun!

April 1- pulled a few jokes on the kids (gatorade aka blue water), mio, school, no piano/spring break, lots of time to play outside in the SUNSHINE, played, laughed, snuggled, talked to Laura about Braden's AWESOME Star Wars pic, party planned with braden, and read tons to the kiddos.
**big marshmallows in the underwear..eesh

April 2- school, two house showings, library, country research for the oldest two, listened to reading, thought about papa a lot...and looked at pics, outside play for HOURS, brian played bball with the kiddos for hours after dinner, talked with mom for a long time, and snuggled my bedtime boy.

April 3- school, pullen park with the keel's, train ride, playground, carousel, exploring, lab work for thyroid, more school, played outside with ephram and kinsey while the older chatted with Brian...then came out, bubble baths for very dirty kiddos (who LOVE to play outside), and party planned.

April 4- corbett's for the day:), SLEET and snow!, had a GREAT time catching up with laura while the other kiddos paired off with their buddies, snuggled with kena, brought bryce home, and did some party prep.

April 5- prepped for Braden's party all day, ran errands, cooked/baked, bryce/braden played all day, girls went to the keel's to play and spend the night, braden's super fun star wars party from 5:30-10, crashed.

April 6- braden's bday!  kinsey's early soccer game, got the kids cfa for breakfast, bryce/braden played all morning/afternoon both board games and outside, cheered on kinsey girl, cleaned, cheered cailey on at her game, brought lilly/abby home for the afternoon, dropped bryce off, girls spent afternoon outside, girls to sn@c at NLC, took braden out for his birthday dinner, went to baileywick for a Sunday School reunion, picked up girls, presents, and finished packing.

April 7- drove to MD, went to dads craft show with mom, kiddos walked and did trash/treat with dad, gorgeous weather..played outside, took pics of dads boxes, and hung out with mom at night.

April 8- slept in (along w/ the kids) walked around the lake with the three oldest and mom, nonny took braden out for a birthday lunch to chinese, went to target and rack room for shoes, ran errands with mom, kids had fun playing upstairs all afternoon while i put dads boxes on etsy, played outside with the kiddos (mother may i, hide n seek), bath night for ALL after the fun had outside:), laura and rebecca came (YAY!), caught up with l, hung out with mom, and crashed.

April 9- headed into dc with the oldest two, brian and laura, toured the archives and the capital (though security at the cap. was a PAIN), a TON of walking, white house, cherry blossom festival, tidal basin, jefferson memorial, sunset over the basin, hard rock cafe for dinner, tired worn out group crashed into bed.

April 10- woke up with SORE feet, covered LOTS of monuments and memorials: mlk, fdr, vietnam, korea, wwII, lincoln, arlington cemetary, went to the holocaust museum, toured the mint, lots o' walking in the hot hot sun, dinner at the old post office, and lots o' laughing. McClenchy...lol! VERY thankful we got everything in..a successful trip!

April 11- up WAY to early:), said goodbye to Laura and sick rebecca:(, ran errands with mom, kiddos went to the castle park with dad and brian, took ephram out with just brian and i, played ball with kinsey/ then was joined by the others, bookstore with oldest three and dad, and hung out with mom.

April 12- said goodbye to mom, drove home all day, unpacked, cleaned the house for a showing tomorrow, kiddos played outside, and relaxed.

April 13- got the house showing ready, left for kinseys' soccer game (and didn't return until 6:00!), showing, brought lilly on errands with us before caileys' game, bj's to get braden's glasses fixed and eat samples for lunch, petco to play with animals, then back to the soccer field, church, and home for waffles and lots of playing outside in the gorgeous weather (clear blue sky and 70's), tons o' pollen, and kiddos had a sibling sleepover.

April 14- slept in a little, went to durant trails and hiked around as a family, saw a copperhead..threw a rock on it and watched it swim away, fun family time, kiddos played outside most of the day, choir, bible study, kiddos played on the bayleaf playground during early choir, made 'love kits' for homeless people with VERY excited children who can't wait to hand them out, read tons of books to ephram, and listened to him read me the ABC Usborne book.

April 15- lots of freebies at stores/restaurants for tax day, early piano lessons, school, both ephram and i have bad colds, listened to my babies' read, swimming, tragic boston marathon bombing, and lots of playing outside in the nice weather.

April 16- school, brian was home sick, worked on dc book, science class for cailey and braden, more school, and played games together when we weren't playing outside!

April 17- school, brian was home sick again, swimming, awana, fun dinner out to celebrate kelly's birthday and another 2am bedtime trying to get our dc book done:)!

April 18- big kids went to play at camp at NLC all morning, ephram to preschool, cleaned the house, school, packed for the farm, played outside, went to the farm to play with the animals and get settled, and finished our dc book!

April 19- fun on the farm!, chick holding, goat petting, tire swinging, rock throwing,  family time, restful night, stayed home from soccer/swimming/american girl party b/c a storm blew in.

April 20- woke up on the farm:), soccer games, lots of fishing, more animal fun, family time, relaxation, braeden's birthday party, found out water was leaking out of OUR house..went to check and it was the hot water heater.

April 21- another great family day filled with more farm fun together, choir, bible study, tire swing, fishing, animals.

April 22- last morning at the farm, chores, said goodbye to the animals, packed up, school at home, swimming, house showing, laundry, and played extra with kins.

April 23- school, preschool, last science class, fun experiments with dry ice, more school, started moving books and things to give cailey her own room, played games together, practiced awana verses, and had a nice at home night.

April 24- school, turned the homeschool room into cailey's OWN room, baileywick park with kelly, picnic lunch, more school, showing with a mess, out to eat with brian, dizzy dizzy, lots of moving books, another showing..but then canceled.

April 25- P@C at NLC, preschool, errands, cleaned the showers/tubs, started Medi again, read lots of bible stories to my littlest who LOVES to listen to them, school, outside play, room planned with brian, and said no to a showing.

April 26- school lite, met christina at Spring Forest Park for Botany planning, braden started feeling achy and his eye was uber sensitive to the sun, other kids ran and played, AHG, errands, started moving furniture/rearranging as soon as brian got home, cailey got PFAPA again, and went to sleep with the house a complete disaster.

April 27- showed up for an 8:00am soccer game that started at 9:00!, cheered on kinsey girl, braden still achy all over, emptied out the big furniture so it could be moved, brandon came over to help rearrange the downstairs, completed cailey's room, cleaned, tossed out things, organized, moved furniture, and went to bed very tired!

April 28- brian took the girls to church while the two very sick boys and i stayed home, movies, spent the whole day organizing and setting things up/hanging pics, snuggles, high fever and sore throaps for ephram, aches for braden, girls played outside most of the day, bible study, choir, snuggled with my big baby boy, and rocked my baby baby boy to sleep.

April 29- school in our new school room:), realtor came and took sign/lock box (YAY!!), kinsey to caroline's for a playdate all day, two sickie boys still, organized game drawers/cabinets, "looking up pictures of people who like to be tickled" conversation with brian and cailey, played trains with ephram, and packed for l's.

April 30- took braden to dr. walker where we found out he had a muscle virus, HARD day for him being achy/lethargic:(, drove to Laura's to hang out w/ her and the kiddos, caught up, kids played outside all day, laughing, chasing, follow the leader, fb hacking, fun having, and staying up WAY too late.

Matcy Matchy at Spring Co op

 Every week at co op was COLD this winter/spring!  I was surprised because it was hot on others days and in between but never on Fridays...lol!  There are only seven pictures instead of 8 because of sickness...and mainly because I forgot to take a pic. LOVE my matchy matchy Fridays!

caught being good!

Ephram came home from preschool THRILLED that he got a treasure since he was 'caught being good'. He always gets treats there and we are constantly told what a sweet, helpful boy he is. He talked and talked about helping push chairs in, being a good friend, and being a good listener. Ephram couldn't WAIT to tell us all about it!  Love this boy!

Ephram has enjoyed preschool but won't be doing it out of the house again next year. (Mainly because he would have to go three days a week and mama isn't doing that.) It was nice for us this year and was great when we weren't out of town or he wasn't sick...but I think he brought home most of the sickness from preschool. 

hobbit park

 we met the klick's at baileywick park.  they quickly disappeared into the woods and when we went to check it out they were playing hobbits.  everyone of them! (except for charlotte, of course). they had so much fun!

 ephram was building a fire...and carried some pretty heavy firewood!

can you find the toad?  Cailey caught it but let it go as soon as she realized it was wounded in the leg. we hope they little guy is doing better now.

the good ol' days

We've completely rearranged the house and finally said goodbye to the videotapes that I depended on weekly.  Gone are the days of writing down shows for Brian to record on my VHS tapes every week.  Gone are having to watch shows in a certain order...the order they are on the tape.

We switched over to a DVR a few years ago and haven't looked back:).  Before these got thrown away I had to get a pic.

Family Walk

 The weather was GORGEOUS a couple Sundays ago so we went on a family hike.  The kiddos love to explore creeks and woods so we headed to the greenway in Durant.

 they are SO brave...i would never climb down rocks into water!  i'm too scared of SNAKES!

 they brian notice this copperhead. oh.my.word.  for the first time EVER i actually didn't panic. i threw a rock at him and watched him fall to the water....where the kids were just playing. They were done and were NOT allowed to go back in. eesh! SO scary!

 STILL wanting to go down and explore after finding the snake

 finding the perfect rock to throw in the water

 brian found this fun sand bar type thing to take the kids out on while mommy stayed safely behind. they had a blast playing and exploring.

 they were walking like this then all of the sudden broke out ring around the rosie. it was hilarious!  very sweet.

picture with daddy:)

seems like we are always super busy in the spring even with saying no to activities so this was a nice change.  and the scenery was beautiful!

Last Stop...Old Post Office

 After our very full day of accomplishing everything we planned, we went to the Old Post Office for dinner and shopping. It was a great break to sit down (after over 8 miles of walking:) and relax before taking the metro back to the hotel and driving back to mom and dad's.

 They each picked out an after dinner treat.

Last time on the Metro!

We left after rush hour so we wouldn't be sitting in hours of DC traffic. Turns out it was a GREAT decision!  We drove home and were greeted by excited Kinsey and Ephram:)!  We were able to do so much on our trip and the kids learned a TON. I made them a keepsake book including all their reports that they can remember their trip by. When we got home that night I looked on a bookshelf for something in the kids' room and happened to find the photo album from MY 5th grade trip to DC with dad!  We couldn't believe it was just  sitting there among books!  It was awesome to look back and see the similarities and differences about our two trips. We had a GREAT time!

American History Museum

 It was only natural after studying American History that we go to the Smithsonian with the matching name!  It's the only one we went into this trip since it was a school trip and mainly learning about History.

 civil rights...looking at the 'sit in' counter from Greensboro. This was Cailey's favorite item.

 Dorothy shoes used in the Wizard of Oz. This museum is full of Historical things ranging from inventions to pop culture.

 checking out the inventions

Braden's favorite things were the old dr's instruments and the old scientific machines.

Bureau of Engraving and Printing

 I had been hoping we could get the tour of the 'mint' (which really isn't a mint because they don't print coins) because I remember enjoying it when I was in 5th grade. We were walking by and they happen to be handing out tickets for tours (YAY!)

 After a video we were led through the different stages of printing and engraving. We learned that paper money is made from linen and cotton.  We saw more money in the tour than we will see in our lives!  We learned all about everything from how the money is dyed and how it is cut, to quality control.  It was a great tour but we weren't allowed to take pics.

 They had fun looking around the store after the tour.

Holocaust Museum

 The kids knew all about the holocaust and were looking forward to learning more about it at the museum. There was a section for the kids to start in called Daniel's Diary which was perfect for them.

 After the diary we each got a booklet and name of someone who was a Jew in the concentration camps.  It was a biography and ended with telling us what happened to them (if they died by gassing or natural causes, if they survived the holocaust, etc.)

It was so so sad and we could have stayed for hours longer.  I'm sure the kids will want to go back when they're older so they can learn even more as they mature and can comprehend it better. The museum itself is amazing and covered everything. I'm glad we were able to go!

War Memorials

 The Korean War Memorial was Braden's favorite!  SO amazing to think that if the US didn't help then all of Korea would be communist and most likely we wouldn't have been able to adopt any of our kiddos. (Since you can't adopt from North Korea).

 He kept staring at it...

 Vietnam memorial

I learned WAY more about the wars through Brian teaching us as we went along and
editing the kids' papers!  Crazy how many wars were fought over trying to help the communist
part of a country not take over the other part of the country.

 honoring nurses in the war

 WWII memorial

We also saw the WWI memorial (big gazebo) but I didn't take pics of it. Each of the children had to chose a war to research and write about when we got home. Rebecca chose WWI, Cailey chose WWII, and Braden chose Korean. They all worked together to find facts about the Vietnam war.

Remembering Those Who came before us....

 Our plan for day two was to try and see everything we didn't see on Day 1!  After the Arlington Cemetery we wanted to cover the monuments and memorials. We started at the Martin Luther King Memorial.  This was new to me and his giant statue reminded me of King Nezzer in the Veggie Tale Video!

 Brian thinks they folded his arms which made him look like a rapper.

 Next we went to my FAVORITE....the FDR memorial

 the bread line. I love that the girls new all about the different periods in History because of all their American Girl books.  Cailey remembered Kit's family had to stand in bread lines during the depression.

 There was a statue of his dog right beside him.  People were actually posing with the dog instead of FDR!  Gave us a good laugh!

 finding shade wherever possible!

 STAIRS!  yay:).  We went up to see The Lincoln Memorial.  My kiddos have seen this one a ton but it was Rebecca's first time (other than as a baby) seeing DC.

The view from Lincoln Memorial

After we came home each of the children had to choose two people to do a research report on.  Braden chose George Washington and John F. Kennedy, Cailey chose Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln, and Rebecca chose Thomas Jefferson and FDR.  This was definitely a learning trip for them and we asked questions and taught them along the way. I'm thankful for Brian's awesome History brain!