Someday

Jackson: Mom, I'm getting tall. When I get tall, I can be a daddy.

Me: Do you think God wants you to be a daddy?

Jackson: Yeah, probably. Or maybe a king or a priest.

Date with Jess

For Jessica's birthday, we went on a little adventure.

She was PERFECT. It was great to spend some one-on-one time with her.

She was such a sweetheart the whole time! I couldn't believe her little 4 year old manners! It was very impressive.



It was a super windy night, so we did a picnic in the back of the van, went on a scavenger hunt and got slushies at Sonic.



Love you, Jess! And thanks for sharing her with me, Jake and Jena!

Littles in the sprinklers

We had some extra littles on a very hot day recently.

Josh, 6.

This just looks like Patrick to me. He's so often silly and has a great laugh.

Lilly, 4.

A very great day with new friends!

Must be Summer

Holdrege has free hotdogs every Wednesday from May through August, and it's affectionately called "Weiner Wednesday." No cooking or cleaning for me? And no complaints about the food? Yes, please.

 

You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you that this kid will eat 5 hotdogs at a sitting. It's true, though.

Of course, D gets attention everywhere we go now. We went to the bank a few weeks ago and a teller (who I'd never met) ran to the window and yelled, "Is Superman in there? I saw you guys at the park yesterday! I just love the cape!" That's pretty typical. He's becoming very well respected in Holdrege.

One Wednesday, I forgot about it and at about 4:00 that day Dominic exclaimed, "Mom! We forgot free hotdogs!" That was a pretty disapointing realization. Luckily, since then he has been waking up and immediately reminding me on Wednesday mornings.

Me and the twinnies

The twins and I went to Wahoo for the weekend, just the three of us.

Saturday, we went to the Lincoln Zoo. Jackson LOVES animals! It is very cute and kind of surprising. He doesn't really get scared being around any animals and he is very sweet with them. Jackson was the first to feed the llamas and goats. The train ride was also a big hit. It worked as very good bribery the entire day--"No train ride if you can't wait patiently for your ice cream"

I also got to see my sweet Godson, Alex, receive his first communion. You see his very adorable smile? It was on his face, literally, the entire time I was with him. The kid just exudes innocence and happiness. It was such a joy to be with him!

I was so thrilled and honored to be a part of his day!

Congrats to Alex and family!

Epic Storytime

Luke implemented a new nightly ritual a few weeks ago. He lets the kiddos (minus Leo, who just likes to jump on top of the other boys and hit them) each choose two characters and then weaves a whole story around the 6 characters. The Kid of the Day (we take turns letting the three big kids have a special day when they get to be first to do things and make choices like which TV show we get to watch--has saved us a lot of "ME FIRST!" tantrums. Thanks for the idea, Jena!) gets to choose where the story takes place. Luke is quite the story teller. Some stories involve props and all involve dramatic voices and hand gestures.

It is beyond adorable to watch the littles laying on their tummies, looking up at Luke with their faces in their hands. They'll get so excited when Luke mentions their characters. "I picked the Baby Batman! That's mine!"

These kiddos are so lucky to have such a fun daddy.

Boys

What I've learned about little boys:

They are attracted to puddles like a moth to light.

They love wrestling. With anyone. Anywhere. At any time.

They love cars. A remote, small box, piece of wood can all substitute in a pinch.

They love dirt--digging in it, bathing in it, throwing it.

They love talking about poop and even at a young age laugh at the sound of farting (I'm looking at you, Leo)

They don't sit down much.

They love, Love, LOVE superheros.

They love their mamas.

Perhaps these are "Kid" characteristics rather than "boy" characteristics. I know nothing of girls, but I do know that I love these little boys.

Abby Johnson

This woman is one of my personal heros. Abby Johnson was CEO of Planned Parenthood in Texas and had a big conversion after seeing an ultrasound guided abortion of a 13 week preborn baby. She is now one of the leaders of the pro-life movement. Luke and I were able to see her speak in Kearney at the Collage Banquet (a pro-life Women's resource center). I was so star-struck! She is evidence that God can do ANYTHING!

Adventure on a Tuesday

A few weeks ago, I did something very uncharacteristic. I got the kids in the car and had no idea where we were going. A trip to Kearney sounded good, but I always have to weigh the fun we could have there (park, children's museum, fun food) with the fact that Jackson and Leo will, inevitably, fall alsleep on the way home and then be awake the rest of the day. Call me a bad mom, but I can hardly survive the day if they don't take their naps and I get a bit of quiet....

But I digress.....

We got in the car and I asked the kids to choose South or West. They chose South and off we went.

Leo is getting seriously good at saying "cheese." I can't ever get a real smile out of him anymore.

We ended up in Ragan, Nebraska, population 57, or something. I was hoping for a park, or at least something resembling a park. Instead we found sheep. We actually enjoyed seeing the sheep follow each other around and run into fences and barns. It opened up a whole discussion about sheep being not-very-bright (still trying to stay away from the use of "stupid." I'm sure that will last...) and how they need a shepherd. Which led us to a discussion about how Christ is our shepherd. Who knew a theological discussion would result from a trip to Ragan?

We got back on the road and happened upon Wilcox. Wilcox, though, did have a pretty good park.



 Patrick rode on this horse the entire time we were there--about 30 minutes.

I told the kiddos we'd try to find something for lunch and two blocks from the park was the Wilcox Cafe. I got a little nervous when our family and two other small groups walked in and the waitress muttered "Oh Great..." But the kids were rockstars. They all requested corndogs and, surprisingly, the Wilcox Cafe had that on their menu. While we waited, we chatted about what number table we were sitting at and what jobs the waitress has (thanks to the Bubble Guppies episode about restaurants). Even Leo was a champ at a sit down restaurant!

That morning is probably one of the best memories we've created together! We had so much fun  simply by getting in the car. I'm thinking about starting an "Adventure Tuesday" around here just to see what kind of awesome-ness we can make! (I said "thinking". Don't quote me on that)

Deaver/Guenther-Palooza

Oh, we miss our dear friends, Katie and Paul, so much! We have been doing pretty good about getting our families together every few months and Katie and I manage to get in phone chats every now and then.

They all came to visit us last month. We had a great weekend.

They got in late on Friday and Saturday morning, we went swimming. The kiddos all had a good time!

I love having to pull the extra leaf out in our dining room table. Just seeing it out makes me happy because it means there are extras in our home!

I just wanted to squeeze Brynlee's cheeks all weekend long!

We spent the afternoon playing outside and grilling. Just like the old days...

When did this kid get so big??



I know I have this exact picture of him taken in 10 different places. It just exemplifies his personality so well right now...



Red light green light.



Then plan was for them to go home at bedtime on Saturday, but the weather was terrible, so we convinced them to stay another night! They were off before I was even up, but I'll take any extra minute I can take with them all!!



At 5

Sweet Dominic turned 5 on Thursday (more on that later, if I ever get caught up on blogging....if I ever....). Here's his answers to my birthday questions.

What is your favorite color? Orange

What is your favorite toy? Broom

What is your favorite fruit? Cantelope

What is your favorite TV show? Bubble Guppies

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Mac n' cheese

What is your favorite thing to wear? Baseball shirt and Nike Pants (but, really, he's still wearing his Superman cape every. single. day)

What is your favorite game? Chutes and Latters

What is your favorite snack? Pizza and Cheese (tortilla with melted cheese)

What is your favorite animal? Monkey

What is your favorite song? ABCDEFG

What is your favorite book? Farm (My little People Farm Pop-up book)

Who is your best friend? Nick (Weides)

What is your favorite cereal? Milk

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Swing

What is your favorite drink? Chocolate Milk

What is your favorite holiday? Spring

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Gorilla and Blankie

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes and chocolate milk

What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Special Mac 'n' cheese and peas (mac 'n' cheese with Velveeta)

What do you want to be when you grow up? A dad

Aunt Emily

Dear Aunt Emily came to visit for a bit. Any amount of time is never enough, it seems.

Emily has a sister who is a great photographer. I felt like she was really great at looking cute for photos. :)

Lots of playing, walking, going to the park, bubbling, and sidewalk chalking. And we usually manage to carry on a conversation the. entire. time. she is here. It's great.

The Dirt Pile

Our sand box has been replaced by a big dirt pile. The kiddos could spend hours playing out there.

Easter, Part III

The Triduum began in our home with a visit from Uncle Jake. We were so happy he got to stay and see us for a few hours.

Yep, I freaked out every time he did this, but all of the kiddos remained bruise-free.

Saturday we dyed eggs.

Even Leo got his own egg and dye.

All the littles got new jammies from G and G Deaver.

The one picture of all the kiddos in their Easter best. I made their ties--a good idea until I got to tie number 3 and remembered how long it takes to put together four of anything (especially given my very basic sewing skills).

Little boys with their hands in their pockets = one of my very favorite things.

How Patrick has a million different silly faces for every picture = another of my favorite things.

At Easter Mass, our new nephew, Joshua, was baptized, followed by a great family brunch.

Here's Joe, enjoying the limelight.

Ben, Brittany and Sophia came over for a few hours following the brunch. This little is so cute. I think I took about 50 pictures of her. She kept giving me the cutest little faces and never threw her hand up in disgust at my repeated attempts to photograph her (I'm looking at you, Jackson...). I've been needing a baby to photograph with my new camera. Thanks for being a great model, Sophia!

Happy Easter!