dream dinners.

A couple friends and I had an appointment at "Dream Dinners" Friday night.
It's one of those places where you go and make your meals there, then bring them home to put in the freezer.
We had so much fun!



Jana.

Jenn.

You rotate around to the different stations to make each different meal.


All your supplies and ingredients are ready to go. The measuring spoons that you need are already in the spices. Measuring cups are in the right containers. Everything is labeled and organized. (Jana and I love that part!) You just follow the directions and recipes posted.



You get to use ingredients like fresh chopped cilantro... that you don't have to chop yourself!


And the best part? When you are done, you walk away while someone else comes and cleans up the mess, washes your dishes and sets out supplies for the next person!


Then you come home with all these meals... ready to put in your freezer!
Yummy meals!


And they feed you yummy appetizers, too!


Every working mommy needs to visit this place!

party pics.

So many fun presents!



Lawson's favorite gift... monster tetherball from Uncle Casey.


Curious George.


We blew out candles 3 times and sang "Happy Birthday" 4 times.
"Hey... I forgot to sing!"
Lawson loves putting fire on the cake!



Moon Sand.
I think the adults liked this stuff just as much as Sophie and Lawson!

birthday boy.

Happy Birthday, Lawson!

It's hard to believe that you are already 3 years old. You are turning into such a little man. I love your ornery little smile. I love your hugs. I love when you grab my face with both of your hands. I love how much you love to be rocked and cuddled. I love your red hair. I love how much you love your big sister. I love it when you talk about Jesus. I love it when you lay your head on my shoulder. I love it when you say, "I like you, Mommy." I love it when you pray. I love that God gave me a little boy, when I thought I wanted another little girl.

I love being your mommy.

You have been so easy, so sweet and so much fun since the day you were born. I am so thankful that God gave you to us. I am having so much fun being your mommy.

I love you, little man!

almost spring?

The weather has been teasing us here...
68* one day this week.
3 days later it was 34*.
Stupid weather.

We're so ready for warmer weather!


Corey gave the kids some leftover flower seeds to "plant."
They ran out of those and wanted more, so I gave them white rice.
Sophie was excited the other day, wondering if her rice was going to grow!


Lawson was jealous, because Sophie's ladybug chair has a matching umbrella.
His elephant chair does not.
So he rigged up one of his own. :)

1st grade story.

One of my kiddos wrote this story awhile back, but he just shared it with me this week.

I cant waeet for Christmas becus I like God.
God is good.
God taks yoru sins.
If you belfv you will have eetrnl lif.


How sweet is that?
I love it!

curtis c's.

We took the kids to our favorite little hole in the wall diner tonight.
Lawson had his 3 year check up (he weighs exactly 5 pounds less than Sophie does.)
Ever since I told him about his appointment, he had been asking if he was going to get a shot.
He wanted one!
Seriously.
I would ask, "Is it going to hurt?" Yes. "Are you going to cry?" Yes. "But you want to get shot?" Yes.
Strange, I know.

He did get a shot. 2 of them.
Sophie did, too. Poor thing. It wasn't even her appointment! I just brought her along to stand on the scale first so that Lawson would do it, too. (Ever since his very first dr. appt. he has freaked out when they weigh him. Screaming. Crying. Clinging to me. To weigh him. Even when they switched him off the little baby scale and just wanted him to stand on the regular scale. He still screams. But he'll also do anything that Sophie does... so we bring her along to all his appointments now.)

So both kids got 2 shots and we had to go to the lab to get blood drawn! (We wanted to get them tested for lead since our house is over 100 years old and Corey has scraped a gazillion strips of lead paint off the house over the last 2 years.) So the doctor gave directions for them both to get their fingers pricked and blood taken that way. The lab lady wasn't crazy about this, but figured she had to follow the doctors orders. So again, poor Sophie... she's never going to come to one of Lawson's appointments again has to go first this time. She did so great. Didn't even make a peep when the lady stuck her finger and squeezed it forever, trying to get out all the little drops of blood. So great.

Then it was Lawson's turn.
Now he does get excited about getting shots, for some weird reason, but when the time does come to actually get them, he still freaks out and cries. So he's not at all excited about the thought of this lady poking his finger. He's getting a little hysterical on me and the lady says that there is no way he's going to sit still for this finger prick/squeezing out a drop at a time. So she suggests we just lay him down, hold him down, find a vein and just draw it out that way. Fill up the whole tube in no time. So we did. It wasn't easy, but it was much faster than the finger prick, and once he saw his sparkly band-aid and got to pick out a sticker he was pretty much okay with the whole thing.

But now you need to feel sorry for Sophie again.
Her blood sample clotted too fast (or something like that... this is one reason the lab lady said she doesn't like doing the finger pricks) and so they were going to have to do the same thing to her now. After she just sat for 5 minutes and let them squeeze blood out of her finger! And still... not her appointment!

(But I really was trying to help her out... she needed 5 shots before kindergarten in the fall. I thought getting 2 and then 3 sounded better than getting 5 all at once. And the chicken pox has been going around. Pretty sure we don't want that. So I did have good motives.)


So after all this drama, we rewarded out little troopers with supper at their favorite restuarant. It's just a little locally owned place. Sports memorabilia everywhere. Baseball and football cards under the glass on the tables.

(See the pretty sparkly band-aid on her finger?!)


And the kids get those cool cups with the straw built right in.
(Except Lawson always cries, because they always bring Sophie one with a pink lid and he of course wants the one with the pink lid. Corey is so proud.)


And for an extra treat... a chocolate malt!
I didn't think about taking the picture when she first brought it.
It looked all pretty... whipped cream on top... you'll just have to imagine it.



We love Curtis C's!
Such good little troopers today.
"We like shots, because shots keep you healthy!" (That's our motto, anyway!)

home remedy.

This was my Uncle Pete's suggestion for what my dad and Corey needed to make them both feel better.
Corey happily gave it a try.
I think the antibiotics and cough syrup that the doctor prescribed today will probably do a better job.
But Azithromycin and Prometh aren't nearly as much fun to say.

easter.

The sweet little Easter bunny even left me a basket full of all my favorite things!

Mint Milanos, Peeps, celebrity gossip and my very own hanging basket for tiny grape tomatoes! Lawson and I love them. Corey can't stand them! Nothing says Easter like baby tomatoes. :)
I'm thinking I will share my cute little construction basket with Lawson though. It will match his room better than mine.

Thanks, Easter Bunny!

easter eggs.

sick daddy.

Corey had lots of love these last several days while he was under the weather.
Sophie had him all tucked in with a blanket and she brought him her little stuffed Roo to cuddle with.
Lawson brought him a toy cell phone and a hammer.
Because every sick person needs a hammer.

at least he's honest.

Yesterday after nap time, Lawson comes downstairs gives me lots of hugs and cuddles. "I had a good nap, Mommy."

Then he gives me this ornery little smile and says, "I made a mess in my room."


This would be a brand new box of Kleenex.
Torn into little pieces.
All over his room.




You are such a mess, little man.


But how can you stay mad at this sweet little face?

spring break.

So our Spring Break hasn't been quite what I had planned, but it has been a break, and I am grateful for that. Sophie spent most of the weekend running a fever and coughing. Lawson came into our room at 3 am Saturday with a nasty cough, too. (This is while I was away scrapbooking!) Sophie went to Grandma and Grandpa's and got lots of love and attention and Corey did the same with Lawson. Unfortunately, Corey also caught the same bug.

Sophie's fever has been sporadic this week, her cough has been persistant, Lawson's nose has been running non-stop and Corey missed 3 days of work and is currently sounding like he is going to cough up a lung any minute. (He doesn't like to be reminded that this is the same bug I had a couple weeks ago that my super-strong immune system managed to fight off while just missing 1 day of work! Love you, honey!)

Last night around 11 pm, Sophie's fever hit 104*. I wasn't sure if I could give her ibprofen along with the cough medicine I had given her 90 minutes earlier and we knew Dr. Mom (aka: Grandma) was already in bed. The pediatrician on call said to give her some and to bring her into Immediate Care (9-12: first come, first served) the next morning (Saturday). We left this morning armed with snacks, a water bottle and a big, thick book full of Disney stories. Contemplated sitting out in the hallway after checking in to stay away from all the other germy people there. (A couple ladies looked really bad!) But we found a nice secluded corner, sat and read our book, came out an hour and 20 minutes later with a prescription for amoxicyllian. (Isn't that the cure for everything?)

All my sick people are napping now (or watching basketball) and hopefully all will be healthy enough for church tomorrow. Easter is my favorite holiday!


We did manage to get outside a few times this week to play in the sand and mud...

And we played lots of dress up.

And my happiest day... Thursday my mom came down, the kids went to daycare and we got to spend the whole day shopping together! Since these little people (who we both love dearly) came along, we realized we never get time just the 2 of us anymore. So much fun! (And we only bought one matching thing, k1!)

I love my new green purse! It's so springy... and clean! (And it looks so cute with the little pink wallet!)

How fun is this little bag?! It's my new camera bag!
The one that came with the camera is ginormous and not at all cute. My neighbor gave me a regular camera bag that was almost big enough, but not quite. (Thanks anyway, Amy!) This is perfect! Big enough for the camera, my wallet, phone, etc. I can already picture taking it on trips to the zoo!


And because I loved the big red bucket so much...
Can't you just picture these filled with paints, ribbons, stamps and other scrapbooking supplies?
(There's a yellow one somewhere that Sophie ran off with.)
Just more motivation to get the garage loft finished!



On our agenda this evening: decorating Easter eggs and watching "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!" Happy Easter!