This & That

I can't believe spring break is almost over. I took off a few days this week and stayed home with the kids. Mike was off, as well, so we had a wonderful time as a family. Monday we went to Rochester & painted pottery, shopped, ate, & hung out with Bill & the girls. It has been a while since we have seen them. Rachel was at class so we missed seeing the mommy to be :( Maybe we will have time to stop tonight and see if she is home. Tuesday we hung out at home, watched movies, & went to the public library. We have a great library and the kids love to go there. Kailey & I are heading there on Monday for toddler story time. It will be our first time. On Wednesday we took Brayden & Kailey to the Children's Museum. We let Zach stay home and hang out with his friends, since the museum was more for the little ones. We had a great time. There were so many places to experience and play in the museum. With our age groups it is hard to find things that will make everyone happy, but I think everyone enjoyed our activities!! Tonight I am heading back to Rochester to pick up our pottery. The kids are excited to see what it looks like!!!

On another note, please remember my Aunt Carolee, Niece Jada & Mother-in-Law Debbie in your prayers. Aunt Carolee is back home after a short stay in the nursing home. Jada has some spots on her femur bone, she is seeing doctors at the Children's Hospital, but they have not made a diagnosis yet. She has more testing in 2 weeks. Debbie has had a few surgeries and is on the mend. A little prayer for all would be appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

Spring Break

It is finally spring! (According to the calendar) It still is a little cool outside, but the animals are now out. We have seen many robins, squirrels, and even a little owl is spending time at our house. He took over a robin's nest from last year. Of course this is on top of our clothesline pole that goes in the yard, (we have a retractable clothes line.) So I may not be able to hang out clothes this year too. It happens every year!! Mike & I always say we are going to take care of the nest before it makes someone a home, but some how it never works. There was one little birdie that was singing his heart out at 5:00 am this morning. For some reason I was instantly irritated because I was woken up way to early. But now as the day is going on, I am happy the little birdie was singing, it was a nice way to start the day. No beeping alarm clock or cold feet on my back from a little one crawling in my bed. But hopefully tomorrow he sings someone else awake. I would like to sleep in a little on my day off :)

I am taking some time off next week to spend spring break with the kids. It will be a nice break from the everyday work week.

Scouting for Food

Just a quick note to remind you that, in Albert Lea, the Cub Scouts will be picking up donations for the local food shelf on Saturday March 14th. Brayden will be part of this group :) Please have your non-perishable food & personal products you wish to donate on your front door by 9:00 am. (Double bag if necessary) If you are not in Albert Lea, please check your local paper for your food drive dates. Help someone in need!! Have a great weekend :)

Quick Trip (not the store)

On Saturday we took a quick trip to the Cities to see Angie & Abram (Barry too). We had missed his birthday party due to weather so Kailey, Rita, I went up for a few hours. We visited with Angie while Abram napped, then went out for lunch, and rounded out the day with a fun filled trip to Sam's Club. Kailey loved playing with Abram. It was cute to see her show him how to play with the legos we got him and see her feed him ice cream! We made it in time to see 1/2 of Zach's basketball game in Waseca, too bad he played the first 1/2 and we saw the second. Oh well, can't be everywhere at one time. This is the last week of basketball for Zach. If you haven't seen a game and would like too, there is one Tuesday in Mankato and final home game is Friday night. Mike & Bradyen had lots of fun at Norsland, for cub scout camp this weekend. Brayden was full of stories when he got home yesterday afternoon. I haven't had time to look and see what kind of pictures Mike took of all their activities, but hopefully there are some good ones.

Ash Wednesday

Last night was the start of lent for us. I enjoy the lent program that our Church does. It is nice to go to church have dinner, fellowship, then enjoy the sermon. (ususally about 40 minutes long) And I love the Holden evening prayer, it is very soothing way to end the evening. The only problem is that the service starts at 7:00 and most of us with little kids know that this is not the best time to be in church. So last night our whole family attended the soup supper and were heading into the service when Kailey was getting crabby, so we opted for the nursery for her. (which she loves anyway) I am glad because the Ash Wednesday service was an hour and 20 minutes long. When we picked up Kailey she noticed the ash cross on all of our foreheads. She said "hey I want one of those!" So we went back to where Pastor Todd was greeting guests, and she asked him for a cross. Of course all the ashes were put away, but Kailey was content with him just making the sign of the cross on her forehead. He called her the "little true Lutheran." With lent most people are giving up an item for the season. I have decided instead of giving up something, I am going to do something extra. There are many people who are in need of a friend, visit, card game, meal, etc. So along with giving up something, I am going to make my Lenten promise to help someone in need this season.

Spring Cleaning

I have been doing a bit of spring cleaning. Does this mean spring is almost here? I think I am getting a little cabin fever of being in the house all winter. Brayden & Kailey have had a stomach bug for the last week. Kailey was a trooper and made it to the bathroom every time, but Brayden did not! So it started my "spring cleaning" itch. (mostly with having to clean the carpet in Brayden's bedroom) Last night I organized my laundry room and mopped the cement floor in there. We removed some old furniture to the entryway, until it is nice and we can put it outside with a free sign. We also put all the baby "equipment" that was cluttering the basement up into the crawl space. Now we can walk in the basement again. Not sure which project I will tackle tonight, but I am sure it will be fun! Let's hope the stomach bug has left us!! Spring should be here soon, I hope :)

Valentine's Day

I was thinking last week that Valentine's day is a commercial ploy! Ads were out in full swing to buy your sweetheart flowers, candy, jewelry etc. I had a talk with Mike about how I felt and it seemed that he was in agreement that yes it was nice to pick something out for the one you love, but not spend twice as much on something just because it was expected. And it doesn't have to be limited to the date on the calendar! So I picked up a little treat for each child from us and made Mike a fresh strawberry pie. We really had a nice day just being at home with the family and not feeling the pressure to do more or things that we couldn't afford too. Of course I did feel a little sad that there were no flowers in the house, roses are my favorite. But when they are $50-$75 a dozen, they can stay at the store!! I did notice at work on Friday that there were only a few floral deliveries, last year we could not get them delivered fast enough. It's not what you spend that shows someone that you love them!!