Andrew's Birthday

This year, Andrew finally got his wish for a Millenium Falcon birthday cake! (It really helped that Santa had brought him the Millenium Falcon Transformer toy I could copy. And, that McCormick started making black food coloring, to make gray frosting.)

Because the house is on the market and we weren't sure if we'd have a showing that day (which we did, but earlier), we had made arrangements to have his party at Grotto Pizza in Edwardsville. We'd invited only Andrew's best friends (Adam W., Kip M., Cael H., Ethan C., Sammy S., Matthew F., Emily C., Lydia P., Ethan Slade, and Grandpa Slade), and only a few of them could make it- which made it a nice, easily controlled party. There was pizza, soda, arcade games, presents, and cake with melty ice cream (next time, remind me to bring the ice cream in a cooler). Andrew impressed some parents as he read each one of his cards outloud, without help. He got lots of fun toys - mostly Star Wars themed, which fit the party theme (thanks all!)

On his birthday, a few days later, I made him his favorite breakfast, crepes, and he got to wear the Birthday Boy pin that I forgot to have him wear at his party. That afternoon, we had the Costanzos over for fun and food. The kids ran through the sprinklers (It was like 80*!), ate hot dogs, and made pictures with markers. It was lots of fun.

I can't believe Andrew is 6 years old now! He's getting so much bigger - I think his legs just grew two inches or more recently, which is a good thing, 'cause he's small for his age. He's so much more independent lately, almost to a fault - I have to remind him to ask permission for things still, so I know what's going on. He's still so obedient and has a strong desire to Choose the Right, for which I am so grateful! I'm proud of the ways in which he tries to be a good example and a missionary to many around him! He's a good big brother to both Ethan and Alex, and he still gives me hugs and lets me kiss and hug him back! I'm so excited to keep watching him grow up! I hope and pray he will continue on the path he's on, to become an intelligent, kind, righteous young man!

Family Pictures

We finally got family pictures taken again! It's our first professional portraits since Alex was born. Rather than have each photo posted, I took an idea from my friend Annie and arranged them into collages. (Don't worry family, we got lots of sheets, so you'll probably all get at least a wallet - as long as I remember to pass them out at the first family function after we move.) This is the first time we've ever gotten the CD, so we can legally post these pictures online! And, anyone who wants to can legally print any of these from home, you just can't pay anyone to make copies from the CD (which has been something we didn't fully understand until now.)

Getting pictures taken is always such an adventure with kids, as most families know! Keeping each boy in position, without their hands up to their face, or their eyes looking off somewhere else, is truly a challenge! As always, though, each one had their own little charm and charisma that won over the photographers! Andrew got a good laugh from the lady when she asked what happened to his two front teeth, and he casually explained, "The dentist extracted them, because I had an abscess." Ethan kept giving a silly smile with his lower jaw off to the side and his eyes all squinty. Alex kept trying to crawl away from each shot. It was a lot of fun!

Easter

This year, as always, the Easter Bunny came to our house on Saturday (We don't want to make him work on Sunday :-) I think the Easter Bunny went a little overboard with the candy - perhaps to compensate for the lack of time the kids have had with their parents, as we've been working on several projects to get our house prepared to sell.

We dyed hard-boiled eggs Sunday afternoon. I got a cool Camoflauge Dye kit, since Andrew's really into Camo lately. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of the final products. They turned out pretty cool!

Fun with Friends

We had fun painting with watercolors while Andrew was at school. (Left to right: Ethan, Andrew K., Sammy, Julia)


Julia had Tub Time with Alex. Nice 'Do, huh?

When Mike came home, it was time for football! (Left to Right: Justin (neighbor), Mike, Andrew K., Andrew S.)

Dinner Time! (Left to Right: Audrey, Alex, Sammy, Julia, Ethan, Little Andrew, Big Andrew.)

JuJu & Ethan became good friends.

We're so glad we had this opportunity to have our friends stay the night so their parents could go to the D.C. Temple! We all grew closer and wished we could do it again sometime!

Fun with some of the Kohlert Kids!

We were lucky enough to babysit some of the kids in a family we just adore, overnight, while their parents enjoyed a trip to the Washington, D.C. Temple. Here are some fun shots from our time together:

Career Day at Kindergarten

It was Career Day at Andrew's school today. He wants to be an Inventor ("not a scientist", he clarifies to those who make that mistake). I let him take a calculator with him in the pocket of Mike's Sunday shirt. I warned him not to play with it except at recess, but he did admit to me after school that his teacher had to take it until lunch recess. What can I say - he's 5! He often says that he's going to invent magic first, because that will make inventing everything else much easier. But, in case tht takes a while, he's going to start working on a Time-Slowing-Down machine, and a Time-Speeding-Up machine! (As soon as he's an adult, that is.)

Erik's Wedding was Wonderful!

We had a wonderful time in Utah again! So wonderful, in fact, that Andrew was in tears the night before we came home, wishing we could stay. If we would've agreed to it, I think he would've stayed there at Aunt Kathie and Uncle Henry's house and let the rest of us go back to Pennsylvania without him. Saying goodbye is always hard. Especially when we're not sure when the next time we come back will be. So, here's the play-by-play of our trip (as Mike accurately says, I am challenged when it comes to being brief!):



The day we left, we went early to Philadelphia so we could spend some time at the Franklin Institute. Andrew and Ethan loved the "giant cement heart" (the picture on the left). Alex loved the sound vibration board (behind him in the picture on the right). I can't wait to go back soon to see the Chronicles of Narnia exhibit! (I'm so glad we got a membership this year!)

We had a blast at the Chases' our first couple days there. Uncle Trevor got out of school early, and Aunt Amber brought Hayden and Peyton over, so the kids were all able to play for hours and hours together! I laughed when I asked Andrew what they'd been doing and he replied, "Oh, just rockin' out in Bito's room." I didn't know that 3, 4, 5, and 8 year olds could "rock out"!

Erik's Wedding on Friday was marvelous! There is such a special spirit- beyond what is usually felt in the temple- when you're there with family! It was wonderful to look around the room and see sisters, brothers, parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents of mine all in the house of the Lord! My heart was full of joy as I watched my little brother lead his beautiful bride to the alter and carefully arrange her dress for her. What a tender moment!

Grandma and Grandpa Larsen's house was our "base" this time. We loved having that extra time with them each morning and evening! Grandma had stocked the house with foods we like, and prepared two rooms for our family. Grandpa took us all to breakfast at IHOP, and even went the extra mile, literally, to get Andrew the McGriddle he wanted instead. Darlene brought Sam over to play on Saturday, which was fun, and G.G came for a while too! (It was so good to see her again!!) We kept trying to play a game, but when Mom remembered that she'd bought the complete collection of Fairy Tale Theatre shows, that's all D.J. and I wanted to do! It was so great to reminisce as we watched some of our old favorites!

Sadly, I discovered that day that, for some unknown reason, our camera lens would not come out all the way. In trying to fix it, Mike succeeded in breaking it for good. (Boo-hoo, no more pictures of this trip, but Yippee, a new camera was in the near future!)

That Saturday being Valentine's Day, Mike and I were thrilled as Mom and Brent agreed to watch our boys so we could have a lovely dinner at Rochelle & Josh's, who also had a sitter. It was the first time we'd ever been just the four of us!
Sunday we were going to attend church at our ward in Roy, but we forgot that Valentine's weekend is always Stake Conference (oops!) Grandma and Grandpa Slade were delightfully surprised that we joined them for church. The highlight for Andrew, of course, was when Jase and his family came later for dinner at the Slades.' Ethan was very happy to see Brooklyn as well - she plays the part of "the Little Mommy" with him, and he likes the attention! After hours of being together, and knowing they would have most of the next day together, they still had trouble parting at the end of the night.

Monday was great! We lounged around in the morning, (watching more Fairy Tale Theatre episodes), then Mike and Will watched the big kids while Heidi & Braxton, Carina & Tyler, Darlene & Sam, Mom, Alex & I went out to lunch! That night Mike gave a Family Home Evening lesson on recognizing each others' talents, and we took the kids to McDonald's to play on the playground and have ice cream for the FHE treat. There's not much that could've made that day better!

Tuesday we caught up all the laundry (we love coming home with clean clothes to put away!), made a huge snowman to welcome Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Gavin home, and then went to the Clearfield Aquatic Center to swim! (We've decided they should have places like that here in Pennsylvania! There was a water playground, a lazy river, a hot tub, a water slide, and regular swimming, AND we got the whole family in, and bought swim diapers, for ONLY $18.) Aunt Amber & Uncle Mitch came with their kids. And Uncle Kevin, Uncle Bryan, Uncle Bito, and Grandma and Grandpa Chase came. We'd invited a lot more friends and family, but there was a huge snowstorm that day that kept most of them away.

That last night we spent at Aunt Kathie and Uncle Henry's. We got the tour of their house, Kathie taught Andrew Checkers, and they learned just how picky we are (except Mike) over pizza toppings. Henry even let the boys play his drums before we left for the airport the next morning!

All in all, we had a wonderful time!