Field Day

Today was field day at Rhett's school. He's been excited about it all week, and luckily the weather cooperated! When I arrived, the kids were having lots of fun at the dance station:Rhett & friends from his class:
Their last stop before lunch was the snow cone station. I checked him out after his picnic lunch, so he had a short day but a fun day. He's had a great kindergarten year--I really can't believe it's almost over. I'm thankful for his wonderful teacher and new friends. It's been so neat to see him learn to read and become more independent and confident. Only 15 more school days until SUMMER BREAK!

Mother's Day

It has been a special Mother's Day. Lane got up with C at 5:45 this morning and let me sleep a little longer (thanks, L!), Not too long after that the other two kiddos were up, and R wanted to make me breakfast in bed. They served me a yummy meal of toast (one cinnamon, one with strawberry jelly), bacon and apple slices. When Alexee climbed on my bed she said, "Momma, are you sick?" :) I told her I wasn't and that it was Mother's Day and I felt so special. The very next thing she said: "When is it Daddy's Day?" Guess it's no secret that she's a Daddy's Girl. :) Thanks for breakfast, guys and gal--what a treat! Lane took our picture before church...so thankful for these sweet children. I love being their Mom! I hope they know every minute of every day that they are loved and that they bring me such JOY.Then Lane took a picture of me with each sweet child individually.

Rhett...

Our church had a baby dedication ceremony this morning, and it reminded me of my first Mother's Day in 2004 when we had R's dedication--he was less than two months old. Those years went by fast. Now he's reading, playing outside with friends (without me), losing baby teeth, and talking about how he's almost a 1st grader. Oh, and he learned how to tie his own shoe last Thursday night before soccer practice--he was so proud! I could be wrong, but I think this boy will ALWAYS look out for his Momma. I often ask him, "Do you promise to always give me hugs, even when you're as big as Daddy?", and he always says, "I promise."Alexee...
I love how she says "girl"--she pronounces it "gerel". And I love how she says to me, "Me and you are the only gerels in this family so we have to stick 'togeder' ". I LOVE having boys, but I'm also very thankful to have someone who asks me to paint her fingernails pink, likes to wear dresses and bows and likes to pick flowers (like yesterday when she ran out on the soccer field to pick a tiny yellow flower and she held it in her hand until we got back to the car). She is sweet and funny and full of energy. She makes us laugh every day. Crosby...
And then there's this sweet baby boy. I smile every night when I go in his room and put my hand on his back to feel him breathing (and he makes me smile a thousand other times throughout the day). From the day I found out I was expecting baby #3, I was 99.9% sure that "it" was going to be a boy...I just knew in my heart he would fit perfectly in our family, and I'd be absolutely crazy about him. And I was right! :)
After church Alexee and Crosby took naps and Rhett did an archeological dig in the back yard. :) He got this neat fossil kit yesterday at Mid-America Museum when he went there with his Grammy and cousins. He worked at this for a long time and discovered three fossils.


After his nap we got C to take several steps in a row (5 or 6, I think) by holding the TV remote out in front of him (Lane's idea)--he loves the remote, so it was good motivation for him! Tonight we went out to dinner at P.F. Chang's--a good way to end the weekend!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, Grandmother and to Lane's Mom...
We love you all!

Soccer & Tea

We had a fun Saturday!

After two weekends in a row of rained-out games, Rhett's team got to play yesterday. I love the kids' uniforms.It was a very windy and chilly morning.

Shortly after the game Lane and Rhett went to Hot Springs for the afternoon, and I took Alexee (and Crosby) to a birthday tea party for A's friend, Maddie. It was such a cute party, and she seemed to really enjoy it. When we arrived she got to choose a dress from a rack of costume dresses, then she was taken to her place at the table. The girls got to put on a necklace, a ring, blush and lipstick.
The lady who worked there (it was held at a costume shop) was dressed up to serve the girls:
She showed the girls how to pour tea and add a sugar cube.
Then they served several cute little snacks: tea sandwiches, marshmallow and grape kabobs, chocolate soup and petit fours.
Next to Alexee is the birthday girl, Maddie. They are in the same class together at MDO.
And more dress up...

Mother's Day Tea

Today was a special day! Rhett's Kindergarten class hosted a Mother Goose Mother's Day Tea for us. R has talked about it all week, and he was really excited that I was coming to his school. The tardy bell rings at 7:40, the party started at 8 a.m. (A & C were going too) and I needed to pick up a teacher-appreciation gift certificate in between so I knew it was going to be a rushed morning. We made it just in time though, even with a long line at Panera Bread (for the gift card) and changing a dirty diaper in the school parking lot.

The classroom tables were decorated with pink paper and vases that the kids made. A flower with the child's picture on it served as the place card. I was so happy to sit by this sweet face:

They even had real dishes for the moms to use.
Crosby and Alexee were really cooperative (thanks to a giant chocolate chip cookie from Panera for breakfast and a sleeve of Ritz crackers).
The students had memorized various nursery rhymes and took turns saying them for the audience. Caden, Garrett, Rhett & R'Iyanna dressed in their PJs and did "Wee Willie Winkie".
After all the nursery rhymes, the moms were invited to go through the line first for cookies, cinnamon rolls and tea or lemonade...what a treat!
Each child had drawn a picture of his/her mother and they were hanging in the hallway with the names hidden so we could guess which one was our portrait. I guessed mine first try--the red hair was a good clue!
Then we all went to the library to watch the cute video that the class made. Miss J interviewed the kids and asked them several questions like: What is your favorite thing to do with your Mom?, Where is your Mom's favorite place to shop? What does your Mom tell you to do over and over again? How would you describe your Mom?...They were all so funny of course. Rhett said his favorite thing for us to do is to go swimming (I promised myself I'd take him more this summer after hearing that!), my favorite place to shop is Hobby Lobby (pretty accurate!), he said that I tell him over and over to make his bed (so true!). Here's R's picture on the big screen:
Alexee got bored so Rhett was sweet to go over to the benches with her and look at books.
Thanks, Rhett, for making me feel so special today! I really enjoyed the party! I love you, and I'm so thankful to be your Mom.

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When we got home Alexee wanted to see if Natalie could come over to play for a while. They are so funny together. They always play dress up and they always do something with baby dolls or stuffed animals. I thought these pictures of them were so cute:

Cinco de Mayo

For some reason I was feeling festive this week for Cinco de Mayo. I bought the ingredients for tacos (for the kids), a new corn dip and quesadillas. The quesadillas turned out to be too involved for me and my limited ability to cook with three kids running/crawling/fighting/yelling in the kitchen. As I was wearing plastic gloves trying to peel a roasted jalapeno without getting it in my eye and Alexee was yelling "come wipe meeee!" from upstairs I knew I needed to go back to Orville Redenbacher's recipe the following night.
The colorful napkins and cups for our special "Cinco de Mayo punch" (clear Kool-aid) were fun though:
Rhett and Crosby enjoyed dinner outside, but Alexee hadn't had a nap so she was in a bad mood. She said she didn't like tacos, so she ate leftover chicken strips.
For dessert, mint chocolate chip ice cream (didn't really fit the theme, but they liked it):
Corn dip and chips (I wasn't crazy about it, actually. It had cream of chicken soup in it, served hot, which seemed like a strange ingredient to me for a dip. It was okay, but I probably won't make it again. There are some corn dips that I love, but this wasn't one of them.
I liked the quesadillas...but probably won't make those again either. Next 5/5 I think we'll hop in the car and go to Senior Tequila for dinner. :)

Cinco de Mayo Corn Dip

I plan to make this tomorrow for Cinco de Mayo (along with my Aunt's Quesadillas).

Cinco De Mayo Corn Dip

(from www.recipezaar.com)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups corn kernels (either fresh cut or frozen and thawed)
• 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup grated monterey jack cheese (or Pepper Jack cheese)
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions

1. 1

   Let the butter melt in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat.

2. 2

   Add in the green onions and garlic; stir/saute for 3-4 minutes or until softened.

3. 3

   Add in the chiles, bell pepper, cumin, and chili powder; cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly (so the spices do not burn).

4. 4

   Add in the soup and corn; stir to blend.

5. 5

   Bring mixture to a boil; remove pan from heat.

6. 6

   Add in cheeses and sour cream; stir until melted.

7. 7

   Serve warm with tortilla chips.

Missing Tooth #2

Last night Rhett lost his second tooth (bottom right). As I mentioned on 4/29, it was just barely hanging in there, so last night before bed he asked us to pull it. Lane tried to pull it out a few times, but his hand kept slipping so he wrapped dental floss around it (Rhett told us this is how Bobba pulled the first one) and out it popped with ease! A little too much ease, actually, because the tiny tooth went flying and hit Lane in the neck then we spent the next 10 minutes or so searching the room for it. We'll be more prepared next time. Lane finally found it buried in the carpet, right below where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Whew! So we carefully wrapped it in tissue and R tucked it in his tooth pillow. I took a picture of him when I went to check on him later.

Crosby woke up at 5:45 this a.m., so I was in the kitchen stumbling around--half asleep--getting him a bottle when I turned around from the microwave and there was Rhett! I was not expecting him to be standing right there so it gave me a good scare, but he was just excited to show me the $2 that the tooth fairy brought him! He explained to us tonight that "the amount the tooth fairy brings depends a lot on the size of the tooth." I guess he's expecting a bigger pay day when he loses the top front teeth!? Here he is before school this morning:

And here's a picture of Alexee for the post, taken Sunday before church (my sister got her this dress when she was just a little baby):

Today we were playing school, Alexee wanted to be the teacher, and she kept calling me "Lil' Darlin' " for some reason! "It's time to clean up, Lil Darlin...It's time for nap Lil Darlin, etc." I thought it was so cute and funny. I'm not sure where she heard that--maybe her teacher at MDO? She's always entertaining.

And one of Crosby yesterday, just looking cute in his monkey shirt:

C has just learned to squeal, and he does it all the time now! He squeals for fun when he's happy or we're chasing him, squeals when he's mad because Alexee takes a toy from him, when he doesn't want to be confined in the car seat, etc. The noise level around here just went up even a little more!

The weekend so far

Welcome, May! How is it that you are here already!?

Friday afternoons are nice. It's a good feeling to be done with the school routine for the week and have the weekend to look forward to. It was warm yesterday afternoon, so the kids wanted to play outside. Neighbor friends were out too, and before long they found a water hose. They had a blast spraying each other with that cold water! Meanwhile, the girls were playing inside over at N's house. They were so cute when they came outside all dressed up carrying their dolls. I wish you could see N's high-heel dress up shoes in this picture! :) They came in our house after this, and I loved hearing them talk to Crosby. They kept calling him "honey", which made me laugh. I think he liked the extra attention.

Today's soccer game was cancelled due to the weather. Instead, my sister's kids came and stayed with us for a few hours. Jaiden brought a bag of stickers and paper which kept them busy for quite a while. Jaiden decided to write a story about Toads in her journal (and draw an illustration to go with it) while Rhett wrote a letter to Mo and Granddad, Alexee played with the stickers and Jeryn threw the ball for Bogart over and over--Bogart got his exercise today! Rhett & Jaiden also watched a movie while the little kids played in the playroom, then they all went out on the deck for a while and ate cotton candy.

Alexee and Jeryn got a little muddy in the back yard (we had a big rain/thunderstorm last night). This is what A's dress looked like when we brought her, Jeryn and Bogart inside (they all went straight to the bathtub). Thank goodness for Shout.