Aubrey wanted a scooter so badly. The one she chose at the store, is the cute pink one right behind her in this pic. She rode it all over for about a week and then decided she needed a Razor like Wesley. My neighbor was kind enough to let her borrow one of her daughter's old Razor Scooters. So, now Aubrey feels like a big girl. I am so grateful to have kind neighbors.

We enjoyed attending the kindergarten program this year. It was cute and Wesley did a great job on his one line speaking part, "I'm gonna yawn, yawn, yawn my sleepies out". Wesley is very obedient and loves school. I was able to go read to his class this week, and I was pleased to see that he is friends with most of the kids in his class.

Cali loves to be outside and tries so hard to be just like her older siblings! One of her most favorite games right now is 'Run from Mom and Dad as fast as I can to places I should not be'. So fun;-) ha!

Cali has also taken a sudden turn from being little Miss play-by-myself and happy-with-baby-sitters, to Miss I-want-my-mom-and-nobody-else. It's great to be loved! Hence the third wheel on my date with my hubby tonight;-) *sigh* At least she was pleasant.

Swim practice started a couple weeks ago. Aubrey thought the water was to cold and is afraid of the Coach, so her glory days of swim team totalled about 4 days. She loved the warm-up exercises and is pretty good at doing lunges around the pool; but getting her in the water was not easy. Oh well. She is 3. We will see if she has interest next year.

Wesley is still going strong and is really excited for the first meet on May 8Th. He is doing better and if he could only get his breathing down, he'd be a rocket, I'm sure. :-)

Oh!! And I don't have a picture of this yet to show you, but thanks to my friends daughter, who is Wesley's age, Wesley is now riding his bike WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS!!! Hooray! He is sooooo happy and it was so great to see his eyes light up and to hear his little "I did it" laugh. Wesley saw Mallory ride up on her bike with no training wheels, and decided if she could do it, so could he! So, he set to work practicing on his little red bike - then moved on to 'the big green' bike.

Even though it is warm here now, the water in the pool is freezing! It hasn't warmed up here like in past years. Last year at this time, I thought I was gonna melt.

GO CROCS!!! We will keep ya posted on Wesley's swim season....May he do better and improve his time from last year. Success!!!

Teacher Appreciation

Wesley has the greatest kindergarten teacher! He thinks the world of her. So, I was trying to think of something special to do for her. And then I remembered an idea I got from a friend of mine (thanks Rebecca B.). She does teacher appreciation dinners for her kids teachers. So, I asked Wesley if he would like to invite Mrs. Hasbrouck and her husband over to our house for dinner and he didn't even hesitate before excitedly answering "YES!" We grilled some steaks, had dutch oven potatoes, fruit, salad, and bread. It was all yummy, except I couldn't seem to get my steak done enough! I am one of those " very-well-done" people.

Wesley wanted to do 3 things with his teacher; Roast Marshmallows (we invited a few of the kids from our street that were out to come on back and roast a few),

have an Easter egg hunt, and jump on the trampoline, which I did not get picture of;-) Wesley filled all of the eggs himself and then hid them.

This is Wesley with Mrs. Hasbrouck. She is so beautiful and fun, it is no wonder Wesley loves her so much! At school, when she catches the kids doing something good, she will give them a little picture of a frog and write on the back something like, "You have earned a Fabulous Frog for working quietly during math." It is really fun for the kids. So, Wes and I decided that Mrs. Hasbrouck has definitely earned a Fabulous Frog for making kindergarten so fun and for being an outstanding teacher. Her Fabulous Frog award is in the form of a cute wreath she can choose to hang up in her classroom, or at home for a Spring time. It was fun to make, and frustrating because I couldn't find the frog I had pictured in my mind....but it turned out pretty cute.

THANKS AGAIN MRS. HASBROUCK FOR ACCEPTING THE INVITATION TO COME FOR DINNER AND FOR BEING SO WONDERFUL TO OUR INCREDIBLE SON!!!

Just a quick update...

I have not been very good at taking pics lately. Not a whole lot new, yet. Swim practice starts next week and Wesley is really looking forward to that. I don't think Aubrey is going to make it. But that is okay.
Brady has been busy playing church basketball, working, and playing with the kids.
I have been busy playing with the kids, cleaning, cleaning some more only to have to start over and over. I wasted 45 minutes today trying to get my play list up and going again so the kids could dance. By the time I got it up, they had lost interest in dancing. And I made fajitas for dinner, which the kids turned their noses up to! (shocker, I know.) I have been doing pretty good on my daily bible study. Not saying that to brag, just feels good to have stuck with it more than 2 days in a row;-)
Wesley has an appointment in the morning to get his one cavity fixed. That should be fun.
Aubrey still does gymnastics and really loves it.
Cali is a handful, to say the least. She is so grown up. Happy girl, but very demanding!
I feel a little sad today because the middle child is making me crazy with her baby talk and whining. So, I lost it with her a couple of times today. Hate that. She really is a sweet girl.
So, over all life is good. Brady and I are taking a strengthening marriage class...really enjoying it.
And that is about it for now. I will get pics of the kids and swim practice next week..... so stay tuned:-)
Oh! One thing I have loved, and I will get a picture because it is sooo cute, is that I inherited a bike trailer from a good friend of mine. So, I have been riding and pulling Cali and Aubrey around with me. They love it, and it is good exercise for me. I have only wrecked once. I was trying to swat at some gnats and ride and, well, that just isn't a good idea. Luckily the only thing hurt was my pride. lol

California, Proof We Had Fun!

Cali officially loves candy.

One and a half scoops??? Wow!

We had an Easter Egg hunt with all the Tingey's. It was so fun and great for us to be able to do something like that with family. Grandma put money in some of the eggs and after we all went through our eggs and counted up how much money we found, grandma surprised the one who found the least amount of money with a 100 dollar bill. Uncle Nick was the winner. I think he ended up with a grand total of $101.somethin'. He was pleasantly surprised.

Of course, the kids all got to go out to the barn and see the cows and chickens and help feed the cows. They always love that.

We went to Chuck-E-Cheese for Cali's birthday. Everyone had fun.

Cali loves to slide about as much as she loves to swing.

This was a fun slide at a park in Berkley...it is cement and you slide down it on cardboard.

On of the calves died, and another calf lost its mama. So, grandpa took the skin of the dead calf and put it on the living calf to "trick" the mama so she'd take care of the living calf. Grandpa Tingey said it only took a day for the mama to take to the orphaned calf.

Aubrey in one of her lovely ensembles...She has on a size eighteen month dress.

Brady teaching Wes to mow the lawn.

My Latest....;-)

The scoop on the kiddos: Wesley went to his first dentist appointment. He did AWESOME! He had a cleaning and they took x-rays (which he was phenomenal during the whole process--I was so impressed) and found he has about 8 cavities!!! Yikes! So, we have been referred to a pediatric dentist who has some new laser technology which, I hear, makes the whole experience of having cavities "fixed" much more pleasant. We visit that dentist on Monday to get a plan going. GOOD TIMES:-)

Aubrey is something else these days, always wanting to wear eye shadow and lip gloss and dress up. She has her own dollar store make up, but still likes to sneak into mine on occasion! She is getting pretty good at painting her own nails, and loves to sing and dance. One thing I love about her is she loves to entertain Cali. As soon as she hears she is awake from her nap, Aubrey runs up stairs and starts the key board playing and continues to laugh and dance and sing for Cali. Buys me some time to get a few things done before Cali is UP from her nap.

Cali has started making the cutest little faces and is becoming very possessive. She isn't afraid to push Aubrey and Wesley out of her way. She still can't go down the stairs.....She is cutting teeth like crazy and that has been loads of fun for us.

Cali and Aubrey are just getting over having "the pukes". Need I say more about our past couple of days? I think not.

And here is my first yarn wreath (got the idea here and here)!!! It was so fun to make.

It is in honor of our little good luck charm, Cali.

And my latest defeat.....A CHILD'S BACK PACK!!!!! (this one is for Wesley. He even picked out his fabric.) Phew! This has been quite a brain work out. I finished it, flipped it right side out, and just about burst with excitement!!! No, it is not even close to perfect. There are several imperfections. But, for making it all up, I'd say I did a pretty GOOD JOB!!! Ha! I have conquered!!!!!! ( gotta do something to keep my-self feeling productive. Not that cleaning up puke is not productive. But it sure doesn't give a very good adrenalin rush. lol) I got it in my head that it would be fun to make the kids little back packs for our trip out to California; something I could personalize, something that would be new and fun to hold all of the dollar store junk I bought up for them to entertain on the plane. I googled 'how to make a child's back pack' and read a few idea blogs and realized everyone just made up their own dimensions etc. So, I made my own pattern and went to work. The one thing I wish I could have found was a tutorial (free of course) because I don't know that I went about sewing it together in the most effective manner. But hey, it worked. Hooray!!!! Just need to add the D rings..............................................

Cali's First Time on the Trampoline

I thought about taking pictures for you of all the excuses I have for not blogging....but I don't have time! lol Let me just name a few......................
*Laundry
*Laundry
*Laundry (I am so grateful I have clothes for myself and my family..........really!)
*Teething Baby
*Food Poisoning (yes, I poisoned Brady and I...the kids don't eat what I cook 90% of the time)
*Sickness
*Learning to sew....and it is "SEW" fun! LOL I am funny.
*Tired
*Tired
*Tired
*Church Calling (I got a new one, activities for the 8-11 year old girls...love it!!)
*Playing with kids
*Reading with kids
*Teaching Cali
*Parenting
*Parenting..........etc and on and on and on.
*Maintaing our home......i.e. trying to keep it somewhat clean!!
Sooo........be patient. Iwill put up new pics some time.