Plan for the Day

Callie: "Mom, what are we going to do today?"

Me: "Well, we are going to wash some clothes, clean your room, blend you some food and eat lunch."

Callie: "Then what are we going to do? Adopt a baby?"

Well, sweet girl, it is not quite that easy. We are not able to adopt a baby today. For now we wait.

What a Fantastic Weekend!

We've had an absolutely wonderful weekend! Actually, we've had a great week and a half or so, with Jason's parents in town for Sadie's birthday, Wyatt's birthday, and Easter. It's been one full day after another, and the kids are sure to sleep for hours on end now that Moms and Pops are back in Alabama. (The kids tend to stay up late and wake up early while they're here. Wonder why?)

Wyatt's birthday was on Saturday, so we celebrated all day long. It started with a trip to Sandy's Donuts. The grownups chose rather sophisiticated fried dough, such as dark-chocolate glazed ones or crullers, but Wyatt selected a giant Easter basket monstrosity. An enormous creme filled, frosted thing, with grass, a Peep, chocolate eggs, and a licorice handle made a highly non-nutritious breakfast for the boy. Good thing birthdays only come once per year. Here he is posing with his breakfast delicacy.

We went to Papa and Grannas for the afternoon and grilled out. Wyatt asked for a lemon birthday cake with Peeps on top. Kelli obliged. When he saw it late that afternoon, he was rather pleased.

Like Sadie's birthday, we as parents didn't really go overboard with gifts. Although we didn't recycle gifts like we did with Sadie, we did get him a set of Nerf dart guns that he (and his father!) like a lot. By the time grandparents, aunts, uncles, and an assortment of other family members added their wrapped items, he made quite a haul. Thankfully, they're mostly educational toys (except for the one from his parents - go figure). Here is he concentrating on trying out his new art kit. He couldn't decide whether to wear a traditional birthday party hat or his birthday "crown" he got at school, so he went for both.

Later that afternoon, we also spent some time dying eggs for Easter. If you've not tried to dye eggs with a six year old, a three year old, a one year old, and a dog, all wanting to help at once, you should give it a try some time.

This morning we got up and, although we don't typically dress up for church, we got a little extra spiffy. Wyatt and Jason received matching homemade bowties, so they dressed alike this morning. The sun was quite bright this morning, so it was difficult for the kids to look toward the camera. Right behind us is a new Ohio Buckeye that was set out on our boulevard to replace the Elm that had to be cut down last year. We thought it would be fun to get a family picture in front of the tree each year to see how it and our family grow. Here's the first. Stay tuned over the next several years to see the rest. :)

Wyatt was pretty happy to have a tie like his dad typically wears. It took a little while to get it tied this morning, but we're not a clip-on tie kind of family, you know.

Callie, Sadie, and Wyatt at Papa and Granna's this afternoon.

Callie in her Easter dress.

This afternoon may have been the prettiest day we've had so far this spring. One week ago, this was the scene in our back yard as Jason and Pops pulled up a hedge row.

Compare that to today, with Papa and Wyatt having a Nerf gun war in Papa and Granna's back yard. It was a beautiful, beautiful day!

1st Birthday

Miss Sadie Rose celebrated her first birthday last week. We had a fantastic family celebration, complete with a shrimp boil for her birthday dinner. She didn't partake in it but also didn't seem to mind watching us eat it. Sadie's first cake was homemade carrot cake with cream cheese icing. She didn't eat much but had a GREAT time playing in it. Sadie received many fun gifts (some were "pre-owned" by her siblings but she doesn't know the difference). We are excited about seeing Little Miss Personality blossom even more her second year of life!

Family Circus!

Yes, it's true that it often feels like a circus in our family, with an almost-six year old, a three year old, an almost-one year old, and planning to adopt another in the coming months. However, last Sunday we actually went to the Circus. Papa and Granna were kind enough to offer us four tickets, so Kelli and I took Wyatt and Callie, while Granna hung out with Sadie.

Many of you know that our church meets at the Fargodome. We utilize the conference room upstairs and the meeting spaces downstairs. (Even though the church is growing significantly, we're not quite to the size yet that we need all the coliseum seating in the main arena.) The main arena of the Fargodome often hosts large events like Monster Trucks or the El Zagel Shrine Circus. This can sometimes be confusing for kids. We went to church as usual, ran home and ate lunch, and returned to the Fargodome for the 1 PM circus. Although excited to return to church, Callie kept asking why we were going back to church instead of going to the circus as promised. It wasn't until we walked past the escalators (the ones we ride upstairs on Sunday morning) and into the arena that it started to all make more sense for her.

Getting there early, we got some pretty good seats near the center ring. Here I am with the kids, waiting on the show to start.

Prior to the show, folks had an opportunity to see some of the animals - up close and personal. Wyatt decided he thought it would be cool to ride the elephant. That's him sitting in the front seat below.

They didn't go very far, of course - just around in a circle a couple of times. For Wyatt, though, you'd have thought he rode clear across the African plains.

Callie thought the elephants were a bit much. The ponies, however, seemed to really draw her interest. So I took her down to try her hand at riding while I walked around in a circle a half dozen times with all the other parents holding their children in the saddle.

The circus itself was quite entertaining. It had all the typical circus attractions - tight rope walkers, a human cannonball, tigers jumping through hoops, and clowns that always came across as a bit more creepy than funny.

Kelli and I got cracked up at the tiger trainer. He was in a cage with the tigers and had to move all the equipment around each time before the tigers would do their tricks. So he spent most of his time hooking and unhooking ladders and replacing ramps and moving pedestals and what not, and very little time actually letting the tigers do their thing. In fact, when he set up the ring of fire for them to jump through, he pulled a bic lighter out of his pocket and had to strike it about seventeen times to get it to light. Kelli and I decided he needed a leggy blonde in a rediculous sequined outfit to be his assistant. Well, maybe I decided that and Kelli just frowned when I told her. Either way, he needed some help.

We did get a sweet treat to share - a giant serving of cotton candy. It was about the size of Callie, but she didn't care for it. I think the texture threw her for a loop. Wyatt, however, would've eaten the entire thing if we'd have let him.

When we got home and asked them to tell Granna about the circus, Callie's most vivid memory was that the elephant pooped a lot. I guess the showman on the high wire wearing a shiny vest and no shirt just didn't do it for her.

I've got to hand it to her though, "pooped a lot" is not an exaggeration. It makes perfect sense that an elephant would poop a pile about the size of a Volkswagen, but until you see it in real life, I don't think you can really appreciate it.