Randoms

 The kids spent the afternoon playing at Riley and Robbie's house today.  They went to Grampy and Barbara's house for dinner.  When they got home, they were pooped.  Grace crawled in our bed to watch t.v.  Not long after that, Gabriel joined her.  You know these two are tired when they lay next to each other and don't argue and fight.  Ha!

Our ants have been busy.  They have made lots of tunnels through the gel, and now they are working on tunneling through the gel pieces at the top.  They are also working on eating away at the foam around the lid.  It makes me nervous that they might get out of the tank.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Mazzi's 1st Birthday!

We went to the Lewis' house Saturday evening to help Mazden Rose celebrate her 1st birthday! The kids were so excited to get to spend some time playing with their friends.

Grace posed for a pic before going down the slide.  She's such a little ham!

Gabriel and Lucas started wrestling in the backyard.

There was no shortage of kids to play with or fun things to do.  The weather was beautiful, and it was perfect for the kids to get some outside play time in.

This was "the boys' table" as Jake said, but Grace sat there anyway.  Do you think a few boys are going to stop her?  No way!

The boys were playing a modified version of tee-ball.

While Grace and Darbi played with babies.

Grace entertained us by singing into her microphones.  BTW --- she took the back skirt out of the dirty laundry to wear it.  Grandma created a monster with that one!

Happy Birthday to Mazzi!

She was NOT shy about diving into her cake!

She looked like she was having such fun eating her birthday cake.  I think I want a cake all to myself on my birthday too.

Ice cream on a paper plate did not work well for Grace.  She spilled half of it on her lap.  No worries . . . Alicia helped her out.

The boys kept playing while the birthday girl came inside to open her gifts.  Her birthday party was a rose theme because Mazden's middle name is Rose after her Grandma.  So sweet!  She looked like such a little princess.

Mazzi was very attentive for gift opening.  (Sorry these are sideways.  I couldn't get them turned the right way.  Boo!)

Maz got lots of neat gifts for a pretty little birthday girl!

Meanwhile, outside, the boys kept playing.  It wasn't long before a storm started moving in, so we hightailed it home before the weather got bad.

Happy 1st Birthday, Miss Mazden!  Thank you, Janelle and Damon, for inviting us to celebrate with you!

Walk-a-Thon

 I met Gabriel at school on Friday afternoon to walk with him at his school's walk-a-thon.  He was so happy I was there to walk with him!

He had gone on a field trip Friday morning to Schimpf's, the library, and the fire station.  They had all sorts of goodies to take home from the field trip, including this fireman's hat.

Handsomest Boy EVER

 Gabriel had his kindergarten graduation pictures today at school.  It was suggested that the boys wear a button-up shirt and tie.  He looked so amazingly handsome!

Of course Grace can't stand to be left out of the pictures.

Making Music

 One of the many things I love about kids, not just mine, is their creativity.  Sunday afternoon Dan was cooking and I was working out.  Grace started retrieving cans from the pantry and lining them up in the living floor.

 She got a couple of spoons out of the drawer and started banging on them to make music.  She was having an absolutely great time!  She figured out the different sized cans make different sounds, so I guess it was somewhat educational too.

It wasn't long before she'd called Gabriel upstairs to bang on cans too.  He made things a little more interesting and decided to stack them in different formation before banging on them.

Who needs toys?  We have canned goods and spoons!

Ants!!

So let me catch you up to speed . . . .
Grace and I sent the Sea Monkeys to live in the pond on Friday evening.  Let's just say that once Sea  Monkeys become full-grown, they are pretty --- uhm --- boring.

As perfect as the timing was, we received some harvester ants in the mail on Saturday. 

As soon as we got them in the house, we got out our AntWorks Habitat and got those suckers in.  (We had told the kids that they were taking a bath when we got home, not knowing that we had our ants in the mailbox.  So when we got home Gabriel had to use the bathroom and went ahead and got undressed for his bath.  That's why we have a naked kid watching the ants.)

Of 30 ants that were shipped to us, 27 of them arrived alive.  Unfortunately, we lost a few when transferring them into the habitat.  Harvester ants pack a pretty good sting, so any that did not immediately make it into the habitat were euthanized.

They immediately got to work inspecting their new home.

In just about five minutes, they got busy digging a tunnel in the gel.  This gel in the habitat is so cool!  It is both the ants' food and hydration.  We don't have to do anything to care for them.

This evening when I got home from work --- about 48 hours after receiving them --- this is the work these busy little ants have done.  It is amazing to watch them work so hard!

Reading with Riley

Riley and Robbie came over Saturday afternoon to play with Gabriel and Grace.  The kids had been a little rowdy upstairs chasing each other.  The girls had been squealing and sounded a little angry at the boys, so I sent the boys downstairs.  A few minutes later I noticed that the girls had gotten really quiet, so I went to investigate.  I found the girls sitting in Graces bed, and Riley was reading a book to Grace.  Grace LOVES to read and to be read to.  She was in heaven with Riley reading to her.

Chicken on a Bone

 Right after Gabriel had his tonsil out, he made a comment about wanting to eat some "chicken on a bone."  The poor kid was still on a basically liquid diet at that point, so Dan and I promised him that once his throat was better, we would be sure get him some chicken on a bone.

It took some work for me to figure it out, but I realized last weekend that he was specifically talking about a chicken leg.  So that's what we had for dinner tonight.  A little KFC for my feeling-better-boy!

Honeysuckles

Grace has been so excited that the honeysuckles are blossoming.  She has asked SO many times to go out in the yard and taste the honeysuckles.

We decided to go outside last night and give the honeysuckles a try because they were starting to look a little brighter yellow than white.

I'm not sure if they're just not ready yet, or if they're just not going to be as good this year as last.

We tried honeysuckles from all of the honeysuckle plants around the yard, and really, there were no good ones.  Oh well!  We still had fun trying though!

Riding the Greenway

Sunday afternoon, Grandma asked us to take our bikes down to the river to ride on the Greenway. That was a great idea, and the weather was beautiful. When we got to the river and got all the bikes unloaded, we realized that Grace's bike had a flat tire.
While we waited for Papaw to come with the air pump, the kids played and posed for some pictures.
Running up and down the wall was fun.
Grace decided to walk the wall like it was a catwalk.
She posed for a pic with Grandma.
We couldn't get Grace's tire aired up, so Papaw took Grace and her bike home with him. Grandma, Gabriel, and I rode down the flood wall and back. It was a nice bike ride, and it will be fun to ride again.

Cracker Barrel Breakfast

Since Eddie and Stacey couldn't come down for Easter, we met them at Cracker Barrel in Edinburgh Sunday for a belated Easter breakfast. After breakfast, we hung out on in front of the restaurant enjoying the beautiful weather and each others' company.
Grace was even more hilarious than usual Sunday. She was doing tricks like her Daddy. She pretended to hide a package of Smarties in her hands, but really she had put them in her pants. Now when Dan does this trick, he hides the candy in the waistband of his pants or a belt loop. Grace's candy ended up in butt crack, I'm pretty sure.
Papaw and Uncle Ed gave Gabriel a good teasing.
Aunt Erin taught Grace the fine art of giving a Wet Willy.
Here's the gang: Dan, Brian, Erin, Mom, Stacey and baby, and Eddie.
Our little comedienne and entertainer was the life of the party.

Nora's First Birthday

Nora celebrated her first birthday Saturday with a very special Ladybug Party.
Gabriel was very excited to see his buddies. After the boys had been gone from the basement for a while, I went to see what they were up to. I poked the camera through the bedroom door and discovered that they were playing something that looked a little like Wrestle-mania. Yikes!
Grace and Jake tried on the Ladybug masks.
Mazzi Rose donned her pretty ladybug outfit too.
Dan managed to squeeze in some snuggles from his favorite girl.
Ninny enjoyed a little time with the special birthday girl.
Janelle and I had run Jake away from the cake a few times. Gabriel thought it would be funny to pretend to stick his finger in the cake just to hear me fuss at him. Silly kid!
Happy Birthday, Nora Christine!
She dove right in to her special ladybug cake. She was not shy about enjoying her cake.
Mazden played in a tub of toys. While she played, Grace pushed her around the basement.
Nora had no shortage of help with opening her presents.
Alicia gave out treat bags full of candy. Grace was kind enough to share hers with her friends Kate and Darbi.
The big boys played video games.
I had to include this one because I thought it was so funny. These two girls are over-the-top. Love it!