Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom!  She does so much for our family.  ANY time we need an extra hand to watch the kids or help us with our latest adventure, she is ALWAYS willing to come.  THANK YOU, MOM!  We can never fully thank you for everything you do for us, but please know how grateful we are!  We love you!

I got to sleep in today for Mother's Day.  It was HEAVEN!!!  We had a lazy Sunday and that is unusual, which made it really nice!  The kids gave me cards, flowers and gifts they made at school.  I loved everything.  Here is Kayley's card:

She knows me so well!  Cooking and driving are definitely my strengths!  LOL!  I just love these kinds of cards because you really find out what your kids think of you.  Who knew I was smart because I know how to make chocolate chip pancakes?! 

I chose a Japanese hibachi dinner for Mother's Day.  Drew and Ryan opted out and ate before we left for the restaurant.

I talked Drew and Ryan into dressing up for me for dinner so I could get a picture with the kids.  Ryan said he was excited.  Drew was less than excited, but complied!

Ryan was not a fan of the fire at the table!  

Kayley and I were the only ones that enjoyed dinner.  Drew enjoyed watching the show, but refused to eat.  Andy doesn't like hibachi either, but was a trooper and ordered some steak anyway.  Next time, Kayley and I will have a girls day and end it at Osaka by ourselves!

Drew's baseball games were cancelled yesterday so we only had Kayley's soccer game.  I only got one good picture of her in action.  She did have t-ball practice earlier in the week and I got a little video of her during batting practice.

We had another big event this week - Drew got braces!!  Long story, but he has a couple of issues that necessitated braces a little early.  They are only on the top teeth and he will have them for 9-12 months.  Then they will be off for about 3 years and then he will have them on top and bottom for a little under 2 years.  He is doing great with them so far.  Unfortunately, the second weekend of June, he will need to get a tongue guard put in, which will be visible.  I am glad it will be summer because it will be hard for him to talk for a little while!  Poor kid!  He got some unfortunate genes from me!  

Goodbye April!

Holy cow, where did that month go?  We have been crazy busy with Drew's travel baseball schedule and Kayley's soccer that the month has flown by.  Andy also traveled to Miami for work for 3 days and I was in San Diego for work for 6 days.  Thankfully, we both have a break from work travel for awhile.

My mom stayed through Easter weekend so it was nice to spend the holiday with her.  The kids did all of the usual things - coloring eggs and an Easter egg hunt.  Ryan was really into shaking each egg as you will see in the videos.

Ryan and I spent a lot of time this month at the soccer field.  Unfortunately, a number of days were cold, like this one:

Kayley is having fun in her soccer league.  Her favorite position is goalie.  She is in the pink sweatshirt in the pictures below.

I got home from San Diego on Friday of this week.  Andy and Drew left for Omaha shortly after I got home.  The kids didn't have any activities this weekend so Andy thought it would be a good time to go visit his brothers and Sox and see his nephew's baseball game.  Kayley, Ryan and I went to the March for Babies on Saturday afternoon.  It was cold and rainy so the walk was shortened this year.  I think of all of the years we have done the walk in Peoria, we have only had 1 year of nice weather.  A little different than the walks in Phoenix!  Kayley and Ryan had a lot of fun despite the cold.

I also thought it would be a good idea to potty train Ryan this weekend because we had so much free time, which is unusual for us on the weekends.  Well, Ryan and I didn't have the same plan because he was not exactly interested or just didn't get it.

It wasn't all failure.  We had a couple of successful potty trips so we captured our excitement on video:

We'll try again later!

Here are a couple of random pictures from the month:

Hello April!

Wow, March flew by!  Andy and I have both been traveling a fair amount so the month flew by.

I took my annual girls' trip to Florida with my friends, Jamie and Missy.  We stay with Jamie's parents  at their condo and have a great time every year.  This year was no different!

Drew had one weekend off from baseball so we decided to use that time for a quick trip to Fun City with the kids.  It was much busier this time so the kids didn't get to ride the go-karts and play laser tag 20 times each like last time, which was actually a plus because it ended up being much cheaper this time around!  They spent a lot of time in the pool and the arcade.

Ryan went all day without a nap so he and I went back to the hotel room pretty early while Drew and Kayley stayed with Andy for more fun.  I made Ryan a little bed on the ground and he thought it was great!  We'll see how he feels about sleeping on the floor in a few more years...

We are participating in the annual March for Babies later this month.  Kayley is writing thank you notes to everyone who donates to Team Kayley for the walk.  She has been busy and is loving all of the support she is receiving!  THANK YOU to everyone who has donated.  If you haven't donated and are interested, you can donate here:

www.marchforbabies.org/teamkayley

Working on her thank you notes!

Andy took his annual trip to Phoenix for spring training with his brothers.  They stayed with Dad and kept him entertained.  While Andy was in Phoenix, Mom flew here to watch the kids while they are on spring break.  We had to skip a spring break trip this year because of some work obligations I have, but I hope to plan a vacation for us later in the summer after baseball and t-ball end!

Ryan got sick while Andy was gone, but wanted to let Dad know he was taking his medicine:

Mom's birthday was on March 30th so the kids helped bake her a cake.  I am not sure who was the more excited about Grandma's birthday - Grandma or the kids!  ;-)

I spent the past three days in San Diego for work. I got home last night so it is nice to have a 3 day weekend to spend time with the kids.  Andy heads to Atlanta and Miami for work next week and then I go back to San Diego for a week later in the month.  So, it looks like April will be busy as well...

Spring Fever

The week started off cold and even included another missed day of school due to icy roads, but it ended beautifully!!  We are looking at 50s and 60s from this point on!!  And then bring on summer!  Ok, I won't get ahead of myself, but I am so glad winter seems to be over!  

Ryan attended his first birthday party yesterday.  It was at Monkey Joe's and he was SO excited!  Andy took Drew and Kayley to a school night at Home Depot on Friday night so I took Ryan with me to the grocery store and he told almost EVERYONE that he was going to Monkey Joe's.  I have never seen him that excited.  He got a little confused a couple of times and told people it was for his birthday.  :-)  

He went down this slide at least 20 times

Kayley and Ryan entertained us last night.  Kayley was a horse first.

Then Ryan was the horse.

You would think with all the nice weather I was talking about, I would have pictures of the kids outdoors, but I didn't take any pictures on our walk today.  I was just too excited to think about taking any pictures!

Fun with Friends!!

Two of my friends from law school, Mel and Angela, came to visit on Saturday with their kids.  It was so good to see them and their adorable kids!  It was a quick visit, but a lot of fun.  The kids had fun playing (when Ryan wasn't crying about having to share his toys) and Mel, Angela and I had fun catching up.  The weather didn't cooperate (what's new!) so Mel and Sam had to drive back Saturday night instead of Sunday, but everyone made it home safely thankfully.  Here are a few pictures from our day:

Kayley (6), Amelia (7), Drew (8),
Ryan (2), Sam (1) and Quinn (2)

Our super cute toddlers - Sam, Quinn and Ryan

Everyone needs some ice cream on a cold
February day - Sam, Quinn, Kayley, Ryan and Amelia

Is it Summer Yet?

The last few weeks have been bitter cold so we have been going a little stir crazy.  My mom came for a visit a couple of weeks ago and I am sure she was wishing we were visiting them in Phoenix instead!  Drew and Kayley were excited to show off for Grandma at swimming lessons:

Ryan had fun showing us different emotions:

While I was working on this post, Ryan came over and watched his video.  He wanted to do it again so here you go:

Last weekend, Andy's dad came for a visit.  While Andy and his dad did things around the house, I took the kids to the school carnival, the Launch.  It was nice to have something to do since it was so COLD outside!  

Making constellations

Ryan's constellation was a straight line of
stars and random coloring

Drew made a rocket launch pad

Astronaut Ryan