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.