Looking for a very important picture. Please pray God lays it out in the open for me. I've been looking everywhere I can think of and........ nothing!
When I find it, and I will, I'll be posting more than my frustrations. :)

My favorite - Zeph. 3:17

Don't Get in Trouble at Our House

What is he doing in Dallas' crate?

Looks like a great place for a time out!


Raider is enjoying it.


Dallas can't be bothered by the boys. She has sleeping to do, even if her bed has been taken.


*** No, he wasn't in trouble. He thinks its pretty funny that he can fit in Dallas' crate, so he keeps climbing in there. I just happened to get to my camera this time.

In other news: Braden actually spent Friday afternoon/evening at home with his parents. We played board games and the boys had hot chocolate. Braden almost crushed me to death doing a stunt during Family Fun Cranium!

Also, Jon has been called to report for jury duty on May 7th. He doesn't know it yet! The mail just came and he's still sleeping. (Up late watching the Mavs getting spanked)

Best Buds

Aren't they cute? And almost the same height!

Kisses!


Hanging out in the morning before school. Braden was up at 5:30!


Big stretch!


Doesn't Raider look like a possessed bat?

A Day on the Farm

Last night was Braden's spring concert at the new performing arts center (or PAC, if you are really cool!) It was fabulous, because it last only about 30 minutes! The kids did a great job. And it was made even better because it involved all of the Van Wert 1st and 2nd graders, not just Braden's school. But you can only listen to songs such as Old McDonald, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, John Jacob Jingle...., and others for so long. And we got to listen to 6 rounds of McDonald twice!

Where is Braden? Obviously, you are at an advantage because of his height. He's in the back row. If you look for the hair, you'll be able to pick him out pretty quick.

A Quote

Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies for instance. -- John Ruskin (Real Simple, May issue)

A Beautiful Day

Today was gorgeous! Sunshine, warm, overall a great day! The YM had a "family day" out at Camp Clay this afternoon, so we loaded up all the kids and went to enjoy the outdoors. They had a rock wall, fishing, you could plant a flower to take home. They were supposed to have kite flying and professional kite fliers, but........ no wind! There was also supposed to be kickball (Braden's favorite thing ever!) but no one ever got that organized. It was great to be outside though. Braden and Jon climbed. (Pictures below) And the four-legged kids had a GRAND TIME!

They spent a little time having a drink at the pond. There were geese out in the water that Dallas really wanted to play with. But not bad enough to go in after them! Instead she rolled in their poop and had to have a bath at home.



Raider looked longingly at the deeper water. "Dad, please convince Mom to let me go swimming. Please! I'll behave." Umm, no! Though the boys all tried to change my mind, I was not going to deal with a wet dog. Also, there were a lot of kids around the water. I'd hate for Raider to have a Jaws moment and scare one of them. Maybe another day.

And to wrap up the day, dinner on the grill!
Jon grilled meat, potatoes, and corn on the cob. He got himself the biggest steak I have ever seen. I swear it was a whole cow! We even had salad. It was delicious and easy to clean up, because most of the food was grilled! My kind of meal!

Daddy Goes First

Jon climbed the wall out at Camp Clay first. He floundered a bit at the halfway point. He said if his son hadn't been watching, he probably would have headed back down. (He is not a fan of heights. Which is kind of strange considering how high up he is naturally.)



He "pressed on toward the goal." A little PCA reference there.




And he made it! Way to go Jon!



I had a few more pictures of his climb and decent, but Blogger doesn't want to load any more. I suppose they all look the same though. They're all Jon's backside, just at different heights.

Braden's Turn

Braden has only been climbing once. It was for a friend's birthday party, way back in PreK. This was about as high as he climbed back then.



Jon, while being supportive to Braden, also served as a great reference point. Braden made it over 6 ft!!!



Still climbing, but starting to think about how high up he was.



As Daddy and Dallas look up, Braden looks down and decides he's high enough. He headed back down right after I took this picture. Way to go, Braden!! He climbed really high, almost halfway!

So Attractive

We took the kids on a long walk yesterday out at the reservoir. Braden roller bladed once around and then rode his bike around. Dallas and Raider ran and ran and smelled and left doggy "pee-mail" everywhere. Dallas could have stayed out there longer, but Raider and Braden were pooped!
Raider was so pooped, he barely made it up the stairs before he died.



He briefly came back from the dead to have Daddy scratch his belly/armpits. (It doesn't even look comfortable!)

Slipper Socks

I got these cute, purple slipper socks at Kohl's a few weeks ago. But......



Those aren't my feet in the picture. Yes, Braden found them and put them on yesterday. He's so excited about being a girly little boy! (And he really loves wearing them.)

She's So Cute

Dallas trying to get Raider's attention. She's ready to play!

"Mom, make him stop chewing that bone and play with me!"

Cheese!

As you can see, Jon and I were made for each other! We even make the same faces.

Braden looks a little alarmed.
As you can see, I've been pretty busy making faces. I guess that is why I kept forgetting to bring my camera upstairs and load my pictures. Sorry! Hope these will tied you over for a few days.

Dogs

Jon spent some time this weekend trying to get a good picture of Raider. Because of his black face and inability to hold still, it's been almost impossible to get a picture worth keeping.
Here are two of the pictures Jon took:





And naturally, if Daddy's taking pictures of Raider, Braden needed to take a picture of Dallas. Doesn't she look thrilled to be photographed by Braden?

He's a Smart One

Jon ran into his truck on Friday. (It looked much worse in person.) That same day, Braden was bothering Raider and got a scratch in the same spot. His mark was too small to capture on camera though.
I'm so lucky to have such cool guys!

Saturday, April 14th

It melted on Sunday, and we had green grass and sunshine all day. But really! It's April!

Katherine Mae

Finally, I have gotten the pictures I took on Wednesday to load!

This is little Kate asleep in her swing (for just a few minutes!) Isn't she just precious?!?

Here are Kate and Mommy (formerly known as Ali).


How cute is she? She has a very familiar look about her. I just can't figure out why.


She enjoyed napping on me while I was there. We also bonded over a bottle and a diaper change!

**On a side note: I now have real curtains hanging in our bedroom. We've only been living here a year and a half! It's very exciting! I can't wait to not be woken up by the sun in the morning!

Why can't I load more pictures?!!?!?

Stupid blog.

I'll try again later.

New Shirt

Here is Jon sporting his new tee. I found a "Dunder Mifflin" shirt at Kohl's on Tuesday. It's the paper company they work for on The Office. We love that show!



Also, doesn't Dallas look super long?

Jon and His Bunnies

Jon lucked out this year! His parents sent us each a chocolate bunny. Braden doesn't eat much chocolate since the "Butterfinger Incident" at Christmas. And I don't like large quantities of chocolate. So he gets 3 bunnies, plus the white chocolate one I put in our basket.

I couldn't decide which picture of him I liked best, so I posted all three.

Easter Basket

He was up way too early this morning, but you'd never know by the smile. (Although the hair is another story.) Here is Braden with his Easter basket. He also got to find 12 jelly bean-filled eggs the "bunny" had hidden throughout the house.

Three Amigos. Braden has wanted this movie since his dad rented it months ago. Now he has his very own copy!


There was also a little paint-by-numbers in his basket. FYI: Braden does not have the patience to paint by number.


Doesn't that look tasty! Grandma and Grandpa sent us an Easter box filled with goodies. Braden loved his bag of gummies. Who would have guessed they go great with grapes?


He's almost too cute for his own good.

My Poor Dallas

Last night, Jon was holding her while I clipped her nails. The first back nail I clipped (notice the boot) I clipped too short. I was paying more attention to Raider, worried that he was going to come over and make her pull away, that I wasn't watching what I was doing. I felt, and still feel, terrible! She yelped/barked and was bleeding a lot. Jon held her with her foot wrapped up for a while. Then we put her in her crate so she would not get blood anywhere. It stopped, but it keeps opening up again. (I just pulled my duvet out of the dryer after washing all the blood off of it.) So today, Jon thought of the boot! (He's a genius!) She hates her boots, so she has spent her Easter depressed, but at least its better than being locked in her crate.

I am such a terrible mother!

The Boys

Here are all this boys, busy today in the front room. Don't you just love how Raider is has smashed himself up against Jon's butt?

Two were playing PlayStation and this one was chewing on his Easter rawhide. This was actually given as a distraction to keep him away from the Easter eggs and grass.