They got their exercise today...

We met one of my high school friends and her children at an indoor inflatable play place today. There were 10 inflatables there for the kids to jump around in, and that's what they did, for about 2 hours. This picture was taken when we were about ready to go home. Look at Seth...he obviously was moving the WHOLE TIME.

Evan thought that he was one of the big dogs, and therefore tried and did most of what his older brothers and sister did. That boy, unfortunately, has no fear. I tried several times, unsuccessfully, to explain to him that he is TWO. He failed to see what age had to do with it.

While Dave was driving home from work today, there was a huge rainstorm. As soon as he came home, the sun came out while it was still raining. That's when we found this BEAUTIFUL full double rainbow. It was gorgeous, and we, along with many of our nieghbors, went outside to marvel at it. Caroline, especially, was amazed. Evan was mostly excited that it brought his good friend, Ryan, outside. :)

Things I love about Henry

I love his brown-hazel eyes. They remind me of his father's.
I love his sense of humor (most of the time!). And I love his laugh that goes along with it. It makes me happy. :)
He is a very good friend...fun, sharing, caring. And he has very good friends that we all enjoy.
He's kind and polite.
He's a good big brother, plays with his brothers and sister well most of the time :), and is more and more setting a good example for his siblings to follow.
He's very patient with and gets such a kick out of his littlest brother.
He's a wonderful reader, and really enjoys his books.
He's passionate about his interests, from volcanoes and dinosaurs to the Iditarod.
I'm proud of him.

I think March has this wrong.

Isn't it "In like a lion, out like a lamb"? That's what I thought.
Yup, it was one of our first days of spring break, and this is what we got...6 inches of snow. Click on this to see what we were doing a week ago...Hard to believe, isn't it?!

9 children: 8 boys, 1 girl...

...all in our house last night. Don't worry--Caroline held her own. We had some friends over for pizza last night. They just had their fifth boy! It was a busy house, to say the least. :) I do believe the kids had a blast.

At one point, I went upstairs to check on the kids, and while the older kids were watching a movie, I found the two year olds taking turns spinning each other on the computer chair. I was wondering what the giggling was all about! Then they both wanted to sit together, so I gave them a spin myself.

The kids were so worn out from last night that they ALL slept in until 7:30, including our youngest who usually likes to get a 5:30 or 6:00 start to his day. In our house, everyone sleeping until 7:30 is a miracle.

She's talked about it all week...

...and finally her big day arrived...the day she got to wear her pajamas to school!!! She brought her sleeping bag, stuffed animals, and pillow. She was even able to make a new pillowcase. When she got home, she and Evan played sleepover to their heart's content in the livingroom.

Dave and I went out for a date night tonight. We saw Slumdog Millionaire...great movie!

My Three Sons

I am so proud of these boys! The older two came home with wonderful report cards, improving in all areas we had focused on. Henry's teacher actually wrote, "Yahoo, Henry!" in the comment section! Love that!

So, I wanted to take a picture of Henry and Seth with their report cards before Seth left for cub scouts...of course, Evan wanted to be a part of it, in all his lasagna-faced, training pants glory. I'm proud of our youngest too. He continues to do a fabulous job potty training. And lest you think that I am not proud of our daughter today, I am, very much so. She was an excellent gardener's helper/worm collector this afternoon.

Dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs!

This boy is all about dinosaurs...

Evan was playing in his room while I was cleaning the kids' bathroom. I went to check on him, and this is what I found him doing...sharing his favorite dinosaur book and a baby bottle with his frog puppet.

Its fun to watch his imaginary play develop. He was having his dinosaurs play hide and seek today...in Caroline's dollhouse!

His favorite shirt is the one that has a t-rex on it, compliments of his Uncle Mark and Aunt Nacibe. Oftentimes, it comes out of the dryer and right on to him.

Last, but not least, he finds it quite funny to have his dinosaurs use the toilet. Its always good to have potty-trained dinosaurs.

Art Gallery by Caroline

Our sweet Caroline...she always has crayons or markers in hand...and the fun ideas she comes up with...and the sheer quantity of artwork she delivers on a daily basis...she amazes me, and makes me happy. Love that girl!

(Speaking of art, one of Henry's pictures that he did in art class at school was chosen for the district art fair! He was sooo excited, and made me write down the date for the fair in my calendar right away.)

I love the detail in this picture, the leaves on the tree, all the clouds, pumpkins (in the spring!), a little girl with rainbow hair, and even, if you look very closely, a worm in the dirt!

Rainbow hair is a recurrent theme in Caroline's pictures

I had to include this menu Caroline made for lunch yesterday. Her restaurant was offering PB&J, carrots with dip, chicken nuggets and ketchup, as well as "chips with little green things on them" because they are her favorite (sour cream and onion chips).

Potty training update:
Evan had another great day! He had two accidents, but also made it a couple of times too. Keys to his success today: Elmo juice boxes (such a find I made at Aldi, he loves them!), his "Where's Spot?" book (I think we read it at least 10 times today), and squirting Mommy with his water bottle (that kept him sitting for long stretches). He's very proud that he can pull his pants up and down all by himself, and can climb up on the potty all by himself. He's a big boy!