Be our guest!

This week we had a special visitor in our home.  His name is Howard.

 

 Howard is a special dog.

When you are in preschool, you get to bring him home for a week and take care of him and then journal about all your adventures.

 This week Howard played all kinds of fun games with us... hide-n-seek, zingo, marble races... he even had a tea party with us.  That Howard wasn't very good at drinking tea with his pinky in the air but we let it slide...because actually this is not Carter's strong suit either. :)

He also went all sorts of places with us - to the store, to the park, to ride go-karts (although he stayed in the car during the go-kart rides!)  He was going to go to Carter's t-ball game...but we left him at home.  Sorry, Howard! :(

 Howard even went with Carter to his kindergarten screening!

(And - can my little Carter actually be going to kindergarten next fall???)

Even cuter?  Howard slept with Carter in his bed for every night of his visit.

Thanks for coming to visit us, Howard!

We will miss you. :)

He doesn't even know his own strength...

Power hitter.

{Friday Favorite Things}

My favorite things this Friday....

A husband who works hard and takes good care of our family and home even on the days he would "rather lick toilets clean for a living"....

Chloe's first spontaneous "I love you, Mama" complete with hug.  Out of the clear blue.  Makes me teary just thinking about it.

Snuggling up with Audrey to watch and comment on American Idol.   Because heaven knows Chad will never do this with me.  And probably Carter won't either.  So glad I have my daughters!

Lying on the kitchen floor with Carter, markers scattered everywhere, to work on his special "This is Me" poster for preschool.  Now I know he aspires to be a drummer AND an astronaut!

Eating a delicious brunch with my Bible study friends after a two-week break.  Sweet fellowship.

Legs that - although tired and sore - can now run 6 miles.

My dirty house....dirty because spring has arrived and 3 little pairs of dusty feet and grimy hands are running all around the yard, rolling in the grass, picking dandelions, splashing through puddles, and making forts in the backyard. 

Up-too-late nights, reading The Hunger Games trilogy.  And for a young female protagonist that is strong, courageous, and not obsessed with boys. 

And coffee.  Always thankful for coffee. ;)

Linking up with....
(stumbled onto this wonderful blog)

Space Cadet

Carter has been VERY interested in the solar system for awhile now.  The planets hang suspended from the ceiling of his room.  He owns a few books about space/planets/etc. that he has practically memorized.  I found some planet flashcards in the Target dollar bins that he enjoys.  He even received this motorized solar system for his birthday this year! 

During church, he used to ask me to write out the planets' names so he could copy them and draw them.  Last week he did this all on his own.  Every single planet written out from memory.  In "fancy" writing no less. :)

Today we were outside and while I was talking with a neighbor, he was busy doing this.  Drawing a solar system out of chalk on the driveway.  He even drew the planets proportionally! (ie, Jupiter is the largest, Pluto is the smallest, etc.)
Tonight when I was saying good-night to Carter, I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, thinking he would say "an astronaut."

He quickly answered:  "A drummer!"

Drums.  Another slight obsession interest he has...

Crayola Factory

Yesterday Chad took the day off and we decided to take the kids to the Crayola Factory.  It was a bit of a trip but definitely worth it.  The kids, every one of them, has really been into "art" lately - coloring, painting, drawing, etc.  So we knew it would be a fun outing for them.

The kids loved that the building had crayons falling out of the box

 

 Coloring on the Dry E-race car

 

 Painting "alien spaceships" (aka paper plates) :)

 

 Playing with the "model magic"

 Coloring a page of Chloe with Cinderella

 Intently working....

...then being a cheese ball.

 We all loved doodling on the glowing wall.

 

 Yup, that's my boy.

 Inside the factory there is also a little waterworks museum where kids can put their boat through a "canal" and see how canals work. 

Chloe had a lot of fun with this too but ended up soaked! She didn't like it so she started to take her pants off right there in the museum...eek!

 

 All 3 kids....and Carter with chalk all over his pants

 Headed to look at the Crayola store (you know they're going to try to get you to buy something else...)  We resisted.  How many crayons do 3 kids need????

 By the wall of colors.  I don't know what's up with all the posing going on but what else would I expect from these 3???

Highly recommend going there if you have young kids.  For us - finding things that all 3 kids (at their various ages and developmental stages) can do (and/or enjoy doing!) is not always easy.  But this was fun for all!

Sweetness is....

....sending your little boy out in the front yard to play

....hearing a little knock on the door a short while later

....seeing  his sweet face bursting with pride and joy as he clutches a small bouquet

 ....watching him hand them to you

....hearing him say "Mommy, I picked 3 dandelions - one for you, one for Audrey, and one for Chloe!"

....bursting with happiness at the sweet and thoughtful heart God has given him - today, for the girls in his life

....praying that he will continue to grow into a kind and caring young man who cherishes the women in his life.  

Easter Fun

Chad was out of town all last week so we were all happy to have him home for Easter weekend.

We started the weekend with some Easter Egg dyeing.

Carter spent the whole day asking "is it time to do the easter eggs yet?" :)

He was pretty pumped about this activity...

If anyone that I went to high school with every reads this blog....do you recognize this "smock"???

Yup, it's my old gym shirt.  I don't know why but I could never just throw it out.  Weird. 

This is the first year that Chloe actually participated in doing eggs.  She loved it!

And somehow, no eggs were broken. 

This picture doesn't show it, but Chad always colors really unique and cool eggs.  Carter was cracking us up because he kept exclaiming things like "Daddy, your egg is so cool!"and "Daddy, your egg is so CREATIVE" !?  Where did he learn that word?

(Okay, I know it is from his teacher at preschool.  She is amazing.)

Partway through this process, Audrey decided that we should have prizes for the best eggs.  So she ran back to her room and made some.  I was very proud of her.  Originally she just made one ribbon, but then she decided to make two and give one to Daddy and one to Carter. 
As you can see, Carter is pretty proud of his "achievement".

This is random and has nothing to do with Easter.

But Chloe drew this on the doodle board and said "This is Daddy, Mommy, Audrey, Carter & Chloe."  Looks just like us, right?  So cute.

On Sunday morning we send the kids on a "treasure hunt" to find their Easter baskets.

They love it!  We hide the clues in eggs.

This year we hid them in the van! :)

Excited about their loot!

Checking it all out.

My first attempt at pictures was not very successful.

Chad was at church early to help with set up/video so I was flying solo.

Carter was pouty about having to wear a "button shirt"...

Chloe did not want to stand still.

Audrey was the only cooperative one!

Yup, even offering lollipops didn't work....

After church we went to my parents.  This picture turned out much better!

After our brunch the kids hunted eggs in my parents' yard.

At this point he has forgotten about the button shirt!

How grown up does she look these days??

As previously noted....Chloe does not like to stand still for long.  Lots of pictures of her from the back!  Luckily the back of her dress is pretty!

The whole gang

Finally a pretty nice picture of all 3. :) 

I love this one....all 3 little heads checking out what Audrey found in her basket.

But of course someone still decided she would not look at the camera. :)

But I have hope for her.

Audrey used to be exactly the same way... and now she is happy to get her picture taken!