Sam meets Graham!

A couple of weeks ago, we made the drive to Chicago for the occasion of Graham's baptism. It was Sam's first time meeting Graham and he was thrilled to meet his little cousin and also to share his knowledge of babies with all of us. Apparently, he's some sort of baby expert and even informed his uncle that he was going to have a baby sister soon (a fact I was completely unaware of and left me wondering if Kris had another family on the side). I am always impressed and surprised with how loving and gentle he is with the little ones. This kid is usually on the move but will sit right down for several minutes to cuddle and interact with a baby. Kind of makes me think that maybe he'd do better in a daycare center setting if we would have kept him in the infant room to help "look after" the babies! I have other photos from the weekend to share, but will do so in separate posts. I felt this series deserved to stand on it's own.

bring it on...

We made sure to take advantage of the beautiful weather over the last few days, because we heard the nasty little rumor that seven solid days of rain were just around the corner. It's starting to sprinkle, now, so I should be able to catch up on the blog over the next few days while I'm listening to the rain and not (sigh) gardening or playing outside with the kids. More to come.

Congratulations, Nemec Family!

Congratulations to Scott, Nikki and Olivia on the arrival of Lukas Scott Nemec! We are thrilled he is finally here and so relieved that everyone's prayers were answered! We can't wait to meet the new addition!

Easter Sunday in pictures...

Here are a few pics from our Easter Sunday. We had a great day...Easter bunny surprises including an egg hunt...mass...bubble play (I'll include bubble play photos in another post next week)...and dinner with the Schillo's (who doesn't love a good Honeybaked Ham, a large dish of cheese potatoes and a tray of cupcakes arranged to look like a flower?)

Easter baskets
Sam was thrilled that the Easter bunny knew that he liked Lightning McQueen and that he had been wanting a toy cell phone and toy camera like Grace has.


Hunting for eggs
They were both really excited about this. You'll see Grace politely explaining to Sam that those are her eggs lined up and to keep his paws off. I didn't actually get any photos of Sam during the egg hunt...he was running around too fast. When he spotted an egg with his name on it up on the mantle, he said, "Wow...the Easter bunny is tall!"

All dolled up for church, but grouchy

We knew she'd show up at some point during the day...
the girl that won't do anything without letting her distaste of the event be known.



This one cracks me up...



Sam does a silly little dance to try and make Grace smile :)
It didn't work on Grace...but it did work on me.

All dolled up for church...that's better

Easter eggs!

We dyed Easter eggs with the kids this morning. This was the first year I've been brave enough to do it. They loved it! I knew they would...they both love their art projects. They loved it so much that it looks like they'll be heading to mass tomorrow with green, pink and blue fingers. A few pics:

Excited Grace waiting to dye eggs

Impatient Sam waiting to dye eggs

Sam decided to decorate this egg to look like the Earth...
complete with land, the ocean and purple fish in the ocean :)

Happy Easter everyone!

dora, diego and the beauty shop

I took this series of photos last week after arriving home from getting Grace's hair cut. It was her first time going anywhere for a new do other than the kid haircut place we usually go to. I decided to take her where I go, this time, because, since she entered the phase where me laying a finger on her golden locks is enough to merit a blood-curdling scream at a deafening pitch out of her teeny little body, I needed to ensure that she had a really good haircut that would not require much maintenance. When we got home, she called her Grandma to go on and on about going to the "beauty shop". But, of course, her new sassy cut seemed to escalate the attitude that we've seen building lately, and she flat out refused to get her picture taken. So, I did what any good mother would do...I tricked her. My plan worked. Even though Sam was not so into the shoot, I at least managed to get some cute pics of the new haircut. If she happens to ask you, these photos were taken of her and Sam because they looked so cute in their Dora and Diego shirts. And if you tell her otherwise, I'll have to disown you.

the nude period

Recently, I got fed up when I threw out another set of bath squirters because, instead of squirting water, they started squirting some disgusting, black nastiness out into the tub. This has happened after a few months with every set of bath squirters we've ever gotten. So, after the last set, I went out looking for some other bath options. We already have a set of water flutes that Sam got for Christmas which dry out nicely, but the whole scenario gets old when I'm constantly adjusting the water levels in them and sitting next to the bath reading a card of music so I can tell the kids which color flute to blow in at what time to successfully play Old MacDonald. (I completely regret my decision to ever show them that the music cards existed...they would have been just as happy without them!) So, when I noticed a set of bath crayons while browsing one day, I was pretty excited at what that might mean for bath time in our house.

And I couldn't have been more right. The kids are now producing their finest artwork on the walls of the shower instead of on paper. I'm a little sad that the masterpieces get washed down the drain at the end of each bath, but at least I have their complete cooperation while I'm washing their hair because they are completely distracted by what they are working on. They say every artist goes through stages...as you see below, my children are in their Nude Period.


Sam's first mural:

He even wrote everyone's names by himself!

Grace's first mural:

Too busy to take time out to smile for the camera!

Sleeping Beauty (and his sister)

Below are some shots of Sam that I can't ever seem to resist taking. The kid cracks me up with his sleeping positions and constantly surprises me with where I find him or what he happens to be wearing or what or whom (notice Grace in the last photo) I find in his bed with him. The night I found Grace in bed with him, I decided to leave them there. Why disturb them? When I went in to check on them later, I had to move Grace back to her bed, since they were tangled up with each other like sleeping puppies.
If anyone is wondering why Sam is on the floor in most of these photos, it's because his sheets are pretty much perpetually in the laundry. So far, we have only found one night-time big kid pant that works for him...Pull-ups Night-Time with Extra Absorbancy...and they are rarely available in his size at the store. Apparently, everyone else has discovered them, too. So, if we're using anything other than that, I can expect to be woken up sometime between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. by a very wet little boy. Hopefully, we're close to him waking himself up before he goes. Until then, there will be a mat ready on the floor for him so we can just do a quick change for him and deal with the bed during normal waking hours.

spring

Taken in the yard a couple of weeks ago...they've already wilted and we have full leaves on this tree, now. I'm in love with Kentucky spring...although, it means the unbearable heat is just around the corner. I'll soak in the 60° - 70° days while they last!