War Zone

I was cleaning the kitchen while the kids watched Toy Story II and then I noticed that both kids had fallen asleep during the movie. With the pillows, toys, and bodies laying around, it looked like some disaster zone! Thank goodness not the real thing of course. This is the cute kind.

Family Updates!

Brian: Completed his very first century this last weekend (100 miles on his bike, 6.5 hrs).
Alita: I'm 23 wks and feeling massive. The kids and I are going to the YMCA here in town and while they play, I go for a walk on the tread-mill (sp?). It's been really nice. I really want to ride w/ Brian next spring and do some mini-triathalons (1/4 mile swim, 13 mile ride, 3 mile run).
Michael: Got his first stitches last week. He wacked his head on a shopping cart and got himself 5 stitches. Poor boy. He sure liked the fire truck that came though :) He's going to be starting speech therapy next week with a private speech pathologist through the summer, and then he'll probably start up with the school district if he still needs some help.
Elizabeth: Started nursery a few weeks ago. Such a big girl! Well, sort of. She's in the 5% for weight and 12% for height. Stubby like mama :) She's starting to repeat what we say which is neat. She doesn't say a whole lot of words yet, but she's starting to try more. I think if Michael talked more she's be more inclined.

*We leave for South Dakota in a month to pick up the older kids!!! We are VERY excited. It will be a fun family trip. The hotel we booked has the largest indoor water park in SD which will be sweet! The boys are actually meeting us at the airport when we fly in which is fun. We'll have Rylee's baptism the night we fly in, the water park right there, and we've got to see Mt. Rushmore! We are going to be staying in Rapid City which is where Brian graduated from SDSM&T and I'm anxious to tour the campus with him. Fun, fun, fun :)

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Of course I thought this one was a boy, but Elizabeth got misdiagnosed as a boy from yours truly also. I'm obviously not a good judge when it comes to guessing the gender of my sweet babies. 1 out of 3 isn't too bad right ;) The first pic is of her lil' tooshie, and the second a classic profile shot.

The Tulip Pedal

Another biking event under the belt for Brian. This last Saturday he raced in Skagit county near the tulip fields in the "Tulip Pedal". Very cute name I thought. Anywho. He rode 45 miles in just over 3 hrs. It wasn't meant to be an all dayer like his last event due to conference. And the weather really worked against him (cold, extremely windy, raining part of the time), but over all he was grateful to get in another racing event to prep him for the big one - the STP coming up in July :)

My sweet lil' boy

Couple quick stories about Michael - The first picture is Michael asleep in a pile of blankets I had neglected to put away. He climbed over the child gate after a family outing and found himself a bed that was conveniently closer than his bed, and put himself to bed. He's told me recently that he's tired and just goes upstairs and lays down. Just amazing to a mama who is so used to putting her kids down and expecting a wee-complaint about it. The second picture is Michael playing the Wii. He's in to the taking turns concept we've work with him and Elizabeth with, and so after Mom had played the Wii for a while, it was "Michael's turn". It was cute to watch him sit on the couch like a big kid and get into a video game. My baby is hardly a baby anymore!!!

Family Rm/Nook/Kitchen

My mother is a saint! She offered to come over for a couple days and help finish up the painting projects I've got going. My little sister Nikki came too to watch the kids while Mom and I painted. We got everything done in less than 24 hrs and it looks great!!! Brian was a little unsure of the color I picked out for the kitchen/family room at first, but when he came home and saw how awesome it looked on the walls he was thrilled. He comments on how much he loves it no less than 5x a day :) That makes me happy. What a relief it is to have all that done. Hats off to you Momma and Nik!

Older Boys' Room

Here's the boys' room. 2 walls are blue and the other 2 green. Bold, but beautiful! My mom is going to paint flames on the 2 corners that connect the colors. And I have extreme sports posters that are going to go up too. All the boys' furniture is black that's going in there, and I'm looking for black bean bag chairs to boot. Should be a sweet room for a couple of young teenagers (Braden 13, Zack 12) with the extra tv, X-box, etc.