Transition

Our house is in transition now, which I hate. My OCD is overwhelming me. I am the type of person that once furniture gets placed in a room to my liking and the room is decorated, it stays that way until I move or something major happens (new furniture or something) that would require me to make a change. My mom used to move our furniture around about once a month. Just because. She still does it at her house, in fact. And I just don't get it. Anyway...so we've been needing to get new beds for the boys and Matthew for probably a year. But I have put it off. Well, now with a baby coming, I can no longer put it off. So Mike and I went shopping this week and bought new beds. Oh, and the most amazing crib bedding for the baby! But those pics will come later. Anyway, we are still in the process of figuring out where everything will go and moving things around. The boys' room is so crowded with their new bunk bed and the crib. But, it is what it is. As we get rooms finished up, I will post pics, but in the meantime, here are some pictures of the boys in their new bed for the first night.

Easter Pics

I hope you had a very blessed Easter! We had a fabulous day! We are so lucky that God is good and takes care of us in so many ways. We got up and did easter baskets...

...the boys loved theirs! They immediately ate a chocolate bunny. That was the start of the sugar rush yesterday.
Kathryn got a new baseball shirt and a chocolate cross among other things...

The boys got new outfits for church from Grandma and Grandpa. Very cute!

The boys of course had to see if Kathryn had any candy that was better than theirs in her basket!

Sorry, no pics of Matthew. He slept in and pretty much decided that the Easter basket is not as important as sleep.

We had a fabulous turkey/ham dinner with friends and family.

And a little Easter bunny house building.

Zachary got new highlighters so he spent his time drawing, and eating any extra candy pieces that rolled his way from the building project.

(Pre) Easter Fun

I have to confess, I sort of felt like 'Super Mom' today. At times I felt behind me to see if I had a cape. Okay, not really, but I did feel like 'Do-it-all mom' if that is such a thing. Our day was so packed with activities, and with Mike's graveyard schedule, most of it fell on me. Let me tell ya, I'm tired! But it was a fantastic day! It started off by dropping Kathryn at her double-header baseball game on my way out of town to an Easter egg hunt for the boys. We're part of this fabulous multiples group in town and one of the moms had us all to her place for egg hunting, play in her awesome back yard, and some time with her goats, chickens, and rabbit.

The boys spent a huge chunk of time on this swing. After a while, I got tired of pushing and made them jump on the TWO trampolines at Kari's house.
Then it was off to the barn to see the animals. Zachary was totally enthralled with the chickens and their noises. He talked right back to them.
The goats were very friendly (and I mean jump-on-your-back-friendly) and the boys got to pet them and the bunny. It was so much fun!

Then came the Easter egg hunt. Well, it wasn't much of a 'hunt'. The hunt was about 200 eggs laying quite obviously in the grass. But for the kids who were all ages 1-3 or so, it was perfect. Oh my gosh, the boys had fun! They really got into the baskets this year.

It was a tiny bit cold outside, but it didn't rain!!!

Tyler was able to collect about 15 eggs and some other random packages of candy in the yard, and Zachary got 6. Only because after each egg, he had to open it, see what was in it, then close it back up and head on his way.

Then it was time for some more playground play...gotta have a rock climbing wall!

Then I raced them home, threw together a spaghetti sauce in the crock pot for dinner, made my green bean casserole, cleaned the house a bit, made lunch for the boys, put them down for a nap, then raced off to Kathryn's games.

It was her first tournament and she did very well! She is playing 2nd base this year. Then it was off to Walmart for a few last minute groceries. What a NIGHTMARE!!!

And of course we had to dye the Easter eggs!

The boys really enjoyed it this year! Its nice to have them at an age where they kind of understand what we're doing a bit more.

By the time Tyler was done with eggs, his entire hands were green. Still are! Mike and I couldn't get them clean so he looks like a little martian.

Zachary is very good about finding multiple uses for items. I was cleaning the kitchen and he kept saying 'mom, mom, mom, mom, mom' over and over until finally I turned around and said, what?!? He said, 'HAT!' with this basket over his head. Okay, so he made me laugh. It was a great day and I think we're all ready for Easter. I'm sure there will be more pics to come from the building of the Easter Bunny's house (think gingerbread house-ish)!

It only takes a few seconds....

Tonight the boys and I made a rainbow chip cake and I let them decorate the top with 'sprinkle stars'. I had let the boys have a taste of frosting as I was doing it so they knew it was yummy. As I finished the cake, the phone rang. I grabbed it, and walked to the other room to talk for about 2 minutes. Just as I'm finishing up, I realized that I had left the cake on the counter. I get back, and what do I see?

Notice the spoon sitting nicely next to the cake. The boys had pulled a chair up to the counter and had a few tastes.

First Camping Trip

We just got back today from the boys' first camping trip! We went with my parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins to Deschutes State Park, which was just beautiful. The boys were so excited to go camping in Grandma and Papa's trailer. They got all sorts of toys and goodies to stock the trailer for whenever they go camping now.

As you can tell, Zachary and Tyler were very excited when we got the trailer set up that night.
They loved sitting at the 'big boy table' to do activities and eat meals.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and the boys loved putting on their boots and digging in the dirt, playing catch with the dogs' toys, and hiking.

Zachary is absolutely obsessed with basketball. We have this little suction cup hoop that he absolutely insisted on taking with him. We stuck it on the outside of the trailer and he shot baskets for what seemed like hours! He even got the adults taking turns to see who was the best shot around the campfire.

We all got to go on a hike along the river. The boys loved watching the dogs play in the water and the trains go by on the other side while we walked.

The basketball hoop and ball even had to go with us on our walk (sigh). Yes, he wore the hoop on his head like a hat during the walk.

We had the best time! The boys got to sleep in their new sleeping bags for the first time, and got to make Jiffy Pop popcorn over the fire. Of course my camera batteries died after the first full day so no more pics, but you get the idea. : )

Parents vs. players

Matthew's basketball team won the championship game a few weeks ago. It was amazing! Even though it was only 8th graders playing, they were amazing! I hope Matthew sticks with basketball in high school. For the final 'game' of the season, they had a parents vs. players game. It was hysterical! Mike was so geared up to play, and Matthew was a tiny bit nervous, I think. I tried to take a bunch of pictures, but they all came out blurry since they were moving so fast! This is the best one I got.

During the breaks, the boys and Kathryn got to play on the extra court.

Both boys love to have Mike pick them up and dunk the ball.

Unfortunately they always want me to do it too when daddy's not around, but there's no way I can even come close!!!

The players ended up beating the parents by 50 points, by the way. It was such a fun night just to watch all of the kids have fun on the court with their parents.