Daddy or Husband

I recently took Sadie with me to a new boutique I had been wanting to check out for awhile. While we were in the fitting room (imagine small boutique, 2 fitting rooms right in the middle of the store with fabric draped over the doorway), I tried on a dress that was way too short and offered to let Sadie wear it while I tried on other things. I knew it would just graze the floor if she wore it, which in Sadie's mind is equated with perfection! As she stood there looking at herself in the mirror and twirling, she said, "Mommy, can I pretend I have a Daddy?" in a voice loud enough for the entire store to hear.

I looked at her and in a voice that I was sure everyone would be able to hear, I responded, "Sadie, you already have a Daddy. He's at home with your brothers."

Sadie: "Well when can I pretend I have a father?"

Me: "Sadie, you do have a father. Daddy is your father."

Sadie: "Oh, I mean a husband. When can I pretend I have a husband so he can look at me in my pretty dress and tell me how beautiful I look."

It was so precious once she got it right! And I told her that I could tell her how beautiful she was and so could Matt. But a friend just pointed out to me as I was telling that story that it's a great testimony to our marriage. Because Sadie does hear Matt tell me constantly how beautiful I am and she will grow up to expect that from her husband someday. So the story was not only precious but also a great example of what a wonderful husband Matt is and how much our kids observe that. And if Sadie marries a man like her Daddy, she will be a very blessed woman!

First Haircut

Matt has been asking that we cut Blake's hair for several weeks now and we finally took the time to do it.

Before

(Matt was mostly bothered by the 'wings' on the sides of his hair)

The only problem was that we hadn't planned ahead and unfortunately our clippers were out of battery, so they needed to be charged (and for whatever reason, they won't work if they are plugged in and out of battery)

So we moved to plan B.....scissors!

We sat him on the 'portable highchair' because it has a belt on it to hold him down and we put it in the bathtub so the hair wouldn't get everywhere

...not so fun anymore...

There are a few spots we need to clean up with the clippers, but overall a definite improvement.

NO MORE WINGS!!!!

Easter Weekend

We went home to Madison for Easter weekend. It was a quick trip but filled with fun! We ended up staying at my parents for Easter since we will be with Matt's family next weekend and the again in a few weeks for some wedding showers, birthday celebrations and opening weekend at Stormy Lake.

Sadie reading her "Sheep" book that my parents got in New Zealand for the kids

It was just the girls coloring easter eggs while the boys were golfing all day Saturday.

Nothing beats the anticipation of pulling the eggs out to see what they look like

Nothing new here....Blake attempting to take down Sadie's window decorations (notice how high she has learned to place things to ensure they are out of his reach)

Our entertainment for much of the weekend.......

Yes, that chubby little mouse was spotted right outside the window of my parent's family room eating my mom's bulbs. And my mom was not only upset by the mouse but also bothered by its apparent habit of eating her bulbs as evidenced by his size!

My dad put a mouse trap out by the bulbs and the kids kept checking the window to see if the trap had caught the mouse.

They even woke up Sunday morning wanting to see if the trap had caught the mouse and forgetting about easter baskets! Actually, Wyatt was interested in seeing the mouse get caught while Sadie was hoping to see an empty trap.

The kids had a tough time finding their baskets. Wyatt especially struggled and began getting quite frustrated, which just reminded my mom and I of how upset I used to get even into high school when we would have to leave for church and I still couldn't find mine (I am sure my sisters remember the frustration quite well!)

Blake did get a basket, but I didn't take a picture of it. It had some goldfish crackers and a PEZ dispenser in it. But Wyatt was especially excited about getting his very own Bible with 'real verses'. Up until now he has been using various 'Kids Bibles' that had stories from the Bible in them but weren't broken up into chapters and verses. But after going through his 1st year of Sparks in AWANA this year and learning all the books of the New Testament, he loves being able to look up passages in his own Bible!

I attempted a few pictures before church but Sadie was the only willing participant....and this is the pose I get every time I ask her for a pictures lately...

(Can you tell somebody likes dance class?)

Blake's Easter outfit was a bit of a conglomeration, but I refused to buy clothes just for one day! And it worked just fine....and I'm glad I didn't buy him anything new (keep reading!)

He loves pointing to pictures and saying who it is or the sound it makes (in the case of animals!)

We did an Easter egg hunt after church and the weather could not have been more perfect!

Blake walked several hundred steps, collected about 3 eggs on his own, got several from Wyatt and Sadie and spent a considerable amount of time eating candy on the steps....

...leaving a trail....

..both on the steps and on his coat, which is why I am so glad I didn't buy him anything new for the day! But he was enjoying himself, no doubt about it!

More of Blake's doings....we were all in other rooms at the time and heard this sound of 'jelly beans rolling all across the floor' and came in to find this! Sadie was not happy that Blake had gotten in to her basket, but we quickly picked it all up and assured her that Blake hadn't eaten it all!

We had a great time in Madison and were so thankful for some great weather. We were exhausted when we got home on Sunday and have had temperatures in the 40s all week, so we are really looking forward to spring! Hopefully it will be coming soon!

How cute is this?

Room Makeovers

This post is mostly for the benefit of those of you who can't make it to our place often as well as for us to remember someday. I realize that styles change and someday we and/or our kids will look back on this and wonder how we could have thought it looked good, but right now we are LOVING our family room. It's been almost a year in progress but it is finally complete! And I am beyond thrilled that we took our time and waited for the perfect pieces for the room....hopefully the rest of the house won't take as long!

Unfortunately I never took before pictures, so these will have to do.....notice the room behind Sadie...

and this chair....

OK, one more look at the old room....

Drumroll please......

(I love the basket just to the left of the TV....perfect for blankets! and also pillows most of the time since the kids just throw them around!)

(kitchen light fixtures are also new...and no, that isn't Matt...it's his younger brother Tyler who will be living with us this summer!)

This owl is one of my favorites! Always makes me smile

So there you have it! We have a few more spaces that are nearly done and I actually took before pictures in those rooms, so you can look forward to those!