"Happy Eeeeeter!"

Easter - another blessing. The greatest blessing of all. As I was reading the Easter story again, I was struck by the love, compassion, and understanding of Jesus...to die on the cross for an entire world of people. That we might have eternal life with Him. Thank you, Jesus.
This Easter weekend was wonderful. So many special little moments to share. On Saturday, we decided to give Siena our little Easter present early. It was a nice day and we weren't sure if the weather was going to cooperate with us on Sunday. And we knew we would have lots of other things going on that day. So, anyway, we gave Siena a sand box! And by sand box, I mean a plastic storage tub filled with purple sand! We put some fun little sand toys in there - she was thrilled! We could not get her inside for anything! She wanted to play outside in the sand all day! We were doing a little cleaning out in the garage, so we moved the sand box to the garage. We were working in the kitchen, so we moved the sand box back and forth on the back porch so we could see her. But she stayed totally occupied with it! Every once in a while she would call for one of us to play out there with her...but she was so content. We totally scored on the gift and it will come in handy plenty this summer, I can tell already!! :)



Yes, Siena really did ask for the sunglasses. It was getting "too bight" outside, and she couldn't properly see what she was doing. So, the sunglasses came to the rescue. I had to just sit back and laugh as she acted like it was no big deal - just sunglasses, Mom.



Saturday night we spent time with our dearest friends for Amanda's birthday! All the kids were together and they played great. We had delicious food, great conversation, and even a little camp fire in the back. We always leave those times SO thankful for our friends. We are better people because they are in our lives. We are thankful Siena has dear friends to grow up with too. Good times.
Sunday morning - Happy Easter! We've been working on the phrase for a couple days and Siena got pretty good at saying it! That and "Hop like a bunny!" We all got up with plenty of time to get ready, not feel so rushed, and get to church on time! Siena had a darling Easter dress, if I say so myself. I probably would have worn an adult version of it if they had one. Yep, I would have been that Momma/Daughter combo that had matching outfits. You would have talked about us behind our backs, I'm sure. :) It's alright.
Church was packed and it was a good service. Siena even stayed in service with us for a little while. She actually sat somewhat quiet on my lap. (We of course were bribing her with water, graham crackers, and Georgie snacks...but whatever it takes to get the child to sit still for a little while!) KidsQuest hosted an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids after the service, so Siena helped me throw out about 1,000 eggs in the wet grass. Those eggs went quick when all the kids came out searching for them!
After church we went to Linda and JD's house for the family Easter. Amazing food, as usual! We all stuffed ourselves silly! There are 4 little ones that were excited to go on an Easter Egg Hunt outside! The weather totally cooperated with us and we were able to spend most of the afternoon outside! Siena had the job of finding all the PINK eggs. (Pink is the only color she can pick out of the bunch and therefore she is obsessed with the color pink. So girly!) It was hilarious to watch her run around in the grass, looking at the eggs! At first we would ask her, "Is that pink?" She would say, "Noooo..." and toss it back! After she got the hang of it, she was on a mission to find pink eggs. When she would see one in the distance, she would yell, "Pink!!!" the whole time she ran to the egg. Lots of fun!! We were going for stuff other than candy, so the kids got stickers, quarters, fruit snacks, bubbles, silly bands, erasers, necklaces, pill animals (those things you put in water and they grow to little animal sponges), and other little trinkets. I think they had a ball! The grown-up kids even got to go on a mini egg hunt and find a couple boxes of candy! Loved that!! :)










We even got a mini photo shoot after the egg hunt?? Random, yes. We just asked Siena to stand back for a picture in her pretty Easter dress...we got swinging of the hips, hands posed behind her back, smiles and giggles, you name it. I have NO IDEA where she would get genes like that...hmmm....





The rest of the afternoon was taken up by Guesstures, play dough, dolls, laying there stuffed because we ate too much, and then more food...
What a wonderful weekend it was! It's always special to spend time with family. We love it - and so does Siena. It was special to watch Siena and the change from last year to this year. She has such a much deeper understanding of what's going on. Well, I guess by "deep" I mean finding easter eggs and eating yummy food. Not quite "deep" when you think of what Easter is really about. But we are getting there. One step at a time. :) Feeling very blessed this Easter season - and always.

Cool Kites!

Lee's Summit had a really great kite festival over the weekend - it was so cool! I guess I mean that literally...for all sorts of reasons. It was super windy (perfect for a kite festival, right?) and not warm at all! But the sun burned off the early clouds and it ended up being a really pretty day! We had never been to see the kites, but heard about it, and thought it would be neat to check out. The kids loved it! We took Siena and Brady with us and they had so much fun! There were lots and lots of kites in the sky! There were professionals with huge, really cool kites, and then there were little kids flying their own kites. The wind did not disappoint and carried everyone's kites high in the air! We packed a lunch, some snacks and drinks, chairs and our coats and made an afternoon of it! We even happened to have some bubbles in the car, so we pulled those out for the kids and they had fun eating, I mean blowing, bubbles into the crisp, windy air! We will definitely try to make this a tradition, as it was great to get out in the fresh air, spend time as a family, and try something new!! Maybe next year we'll bring our own kites!






Our Brady drop off ended up being an evening with friends. It was nice outside, the kids were playing, Rusty and Matt went out to their land to do some work...and Amanda and I just stayed outside and played with the kids. Bryce wanted to get some early practice escorting his date around the neighborhood, and Siena loved every minute of it!! Don't get too used to that, girl!! :)

We even snuck over to the neighbor's house and jumped on the trampoline and played on the teeter totter. It wasn't hot out, by any means, but we couldn't get enough of the outside! The kids played till they were exhausted and filthy. Sounds like a perfect Saturday to me!!

Little Miss.

I want to make sure that I continue to document Siena...all her little quirks and things that make her who she is. When she was little bitty, she had all these major milestones that we wanted to document and make sure we captured. Now, it's not so much about the major milestones, but rather the incredible growth in communication and personality that seems to explode right in front of us. Almost so fast that I can hardly keep up.

Siena does not know a stranger. We love that about her - and yet we need to keep our eye on her. She will go up and talk with anyone...or pull up little girls' skirts because they are pretty. She puts a smile on any face. She is sweet and outgoing and headstrong.

We are still potty training. We've actually taken a couple of steps back. When we first started during the Blizzard, she caught on quick and was all about it. Just when I thought we were close enough to start trying overnight without a diaper, she decided she wasn't interested so much. I hear this is normal, but I'm not a fan. I think she's just choosing not to do it. That little stinker. We still have plenty of success - and I probably shouldn't complain - but I just want her to get it!! We'll get there...

Siena is talking up a storm. She is putting 2 and 3 word sentences together, which is so cool to listen to! She tries to pronounce every word we throw at her and rarely do Matt and I not understand what she is talking about. Now, it's a matter of limiting the "mine!" and "no-no!" and remembering the "please" and "thank you" and "love you"! Some of the favorite words and phrases right now:

- "cuse me" (excuse me) - if she burps, toots, coughs, sneezes, or wants you to move out of her way...

- "bonk" - she loves to make it very aware to everyone when she bonks her head, knee, arm, whatever. Even if it happened 8 hours ago. And to fix the problem...she licks her finger and rubs her bonk out. (She saw me do that to get red pen off my hand one day. She thought that was to fix a scratch.)

- "poka-dot" (polka-dot) - she is obsessed with Minnie's bow and the dots on them.

- "neeky" (sneaky) - she likes to walk on her tip toes and sneak up on people...however, she can't stay quiet long enough to really scare anyone. :)

- "hop ike uh bunny" (hope like a bunny) - just in time for Easter...

- "peeka-up peez" (pick me up, please) - really quite sweet.

- "Go Jayce" - every runner we see outside is titled this. One of Matt's hurdlers is named Jayce and when we go to a track meet, that's all we say. That has become routine at home now too.

She loves to eat. Her favorite thing these days is fruit. She loves watermelon, grapes, blueberries, bananas, corn, edamame, yogurt, naked nuggets, meat and cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, spaghetti, cereal, cookies, "Georgie fruit snacks"...just about anything we're eating, she wants a bite too. You can tell her appetite is doing her some good...she's still got just the biggest poochy stomach. It's really funny, actually.

I suppose I could write on here forever. Every day is filled with moments I don't ever want to forget. I know I'm going to look back someday and wish that I had written every single second down. What can I do?

I guess I can end this blog entry with a random couple of photos that I just want to be in here somehow...so, might as well make it as random as possible. Here's the Burrito Buddies, Siena and Brady...

Cabin Fever!

This past weekend we got to do some of our very favorite things...be outside in the WARM, beautiful weather with some of our most dear friends on Earth. With busy schedules and crazy work lives, sometimes getting together is hard to do! But it worked out wonderfully this weekend...even if it was cut a little short!
Saturday morning after Siena got up, we packed up and headed up North to spend the day at the Meyer cabin! Our wonderful friends Rusty and Amanda invited us, the Sterlings, and the Whitworths to hang out in the gorgeous weather! Their cabin is beautiful and we alway have a good time when we're up there. This time we had all the little ones with us and boy did we have fun!
The weather was absolutely perfect! It was so warm (like 80s!) and not a cloud in the sky! We were outside all day long!
The Easter Bunny was called to make an early egg drop-off for the kids. They needed a little practice before Easter! The kids scrambled all over the yard to find the little treasures...


Sweet baby Laney and Siena on the prowl for some eggs...

Mule riding is not my favorite thing to do in the world, but Siena had her first ride and she seemed a lot more relaxed on the animal than I will ever be.

We did a lot of 6-wheeler riding around the countryside. We chased cows, drove through water, about got stuck once or twice, and took down old corn stalks - all with the babies in tow! The kids loved it...and so did we. Siena even was able to take a nap in the back on one of the rides - LeAnne had to hold her head so she didn't get whiplash! :)
We cooked burgers on the grill, had a couple cold beers in the sun, had good conversation with friends, and relaxed as much as possible. That is a great combination for a perfect getaway!!! I mean, does it get any better than this...?

Please, Spring...Please?

Everyone is always talking about the weather, but seriously, it has been quite the random question mark every day. One day you take your winter coat to work for the bitter outdoor recess, and the next day, it's beautiful and you find yourself out at recess longer because "...well, it's just so nice out...!"

This past weekend, we enjoyed an 85 degree day that we just had to spend outside! We pulled out a few toys, a blanket, a chair and we were all happy as could be. Here are a few pictures of our "hope this becomes more common in the very near future" day!