A "Big Girl" Gymnastics Meet

Our trip to Spokane was timed so we could go see the Ongoing Debacle's gymnastic meet in Couer d' Alene. Kjersten was impressed with Hannah, Bailey, and all the goings on for this meet!


Who knew, Jamie does hair!!! It was rather impressive. Kjersten fell in love with the spray sparkles they use for competition hair.


Cael hid in the living room with Don. Too much hairspray. Too many sparkles. Too many girls!


Of course, my camera (and/or its operator) is not capable of taking action shots indoors. So, this is what I did manage to capture. Cael. Good thing he's so cute!

Visiting Jack (I finally found some pictures!)

From the trip Kjersten, Cael, and I took to Spokane at the end of February. Since then, Jack's baby brother, Pete, has arrived. If I could get Steve to send me some pics of that sweet baby, I'd post those too!


Jack and his daddy looking at a book. That little boy will look at books all day long. I was hoping some of that would rub off on Cael. No such luck.


He's a thinker, that one...


Cael checking out Sweet Pea. He loved her. She, on the other hand, likes no one. Bad combination. Fortunately, he never actually caught her.

Weird picture, I know. What I'm showing you is Kjersten (that's her yellow-sleeved arm on the right) petting the dog. She is getting better. A tiny bit better.

Rhys' Parthenon

You'd think that the 12 year old would be too "old" to play with Duplo Legos, especially with his gigantic bin of "big kid" Legos down in his room. Instead, whenever he's on Cael duty, he entertains himself and the rest with his Duplo creations.


Here he is working on his model of the Greek Parthenon (temple of the goddess Athena).


Cael is always entertained by the crew hanging out in his room. (And, yes, those PJs have been moved to the give-away box. They're much too small!)


Rhys added a crane. His model is of the modern day Parthenon undergoing reconstruction. (I wonder about that kid some days...)

I forget what the side view is supposed to show, but he requested I take this view as well...

A little patience please...

Forgive the out of order posts... This is what happens when the internet goes flaky and then goes away. On top of a terribly busy spring, our ISP "improved" our service by moving our tower and adding an amplifier. Ummmm... didn't help us! Instead, after an hour of work on the roof and in our basement, the guy loaded up my equipment, apologized for no longer being able to help us, promised to send a check in the mail (which come to think of it... I still haven't seen), and left.

So, besides my laziness, busy days, and general inconsistency, I also have the 'acceptable' excuse of internet issues... And that, folks, is why I am so far behind on blogging!

Bear with me as I catch up and remember that the snow pictures really are current. Perhaps a bit out of order, but still April pictures. Stupid Montana weather!

Easter Dinner

We had Easter dinner with Jason's family after the Easter egg hunt. It's the same every year. Eat. Play games. Eat more. Play more games. Eat more. Stay up way too late.

Grandpa Paul's traditional Easter bunny cake. (I think it's scary and I've never been brave enough to eat any, but the kids love it!)

Boys off to plunder foreign lands with the foam swords grandpa found for them.

Uncle Josh making a point.

Great grandpa Thelmar.

The "whist" table.

The "rage" table with Cael feeding Auntie Heidi some pie.

Cael explaining to great aunt Kathy why he needed seconds!

George: up much too late

Kjersten: also up much too late but seemingly still on an Easter candy sugar high!

And, finally, auntie Heidi... Up too late with NOT enough sugar.

(Jason made me post this pic, Heidi. Blame him!)

Boys' birthday party...

Having three birthdays in one week is great fun! We do one family/ big people party and then little (and I do mean little) individual parties for the kids when we can fit them in...

This year, thanks to weather, an overfull schedule, and a distractable mama, the kid parties are happening a week or two late. No matter. No one cares!


Daddy, Rhys, and Brennen. 38, 12, and 5.





Dirty little boy opening a Transformer... Happy as can be!


Naughty little thing took off with George's blanket that grandma made. (Yeah, I also wonder why my husband's family couldn't pick and NFL team with normal colors, like the Seattle Seahawks!)

Easter Egg Hunt

Helicopter dropping eggs (in safe designated spots) just before the hunt started! How fun is that?!

Rhys holding Cael's hand while they patiently wait for the bell...

Waiting not so patiently...

Finally!

Success!

Kjersten wouldn't do the egg hunt without someone with her. I mean, in the taped off area just for 8 year olds. Argh! So... she didn't hunt eggs. George went with daddy and had a great time as well, but since I'm the one who had the camera, you'll just have to take my word for it!

Springtime in Montana

Cael playing in his room...

Giving him pointers, Rhys?!


What baby doesn't prefer the world from this view?


Peeking through the "window" on the slide.


Think he's having fun?!

Missoula Children's Theater

As if we didn't have enough to do in the month of April, we also had Missoula Children's Theater. If you aren't familiar with MCT and what they do, click here. It is so much fun.

This year, we did "Red Riding Hood." Rhys was a forest shadow and Kjersten "wolf" in the "wolf gang." As usual, the kids had a fabulous time. The mama was worn out by the end of the week, but the production on Friday night made it all worthwhile.


The cast of 50+ kids and 2 MCT directors. Those directors met the kids on Monday, practiced all week, and put on a terrific theater production Friday night!


Kjersten is almost dead center and the only wolf with glasses on! (And, yes, she said her lines just fine. The first one was a bit timid, but from there on out... she was nice and loud.)


Here she is up close...

The forest shadows with Rhys in the middle. He, too, did a super job. Nice and loud and no forgotten lines!

Kjersten's Mini-Meet

Kjersten's gymnastics mini-meet came at the end of a ridiculously long week... Yet, she still was thrilled to be there and did very well. Grandpa Tom, grandma Barb, Rhys & I were there to cheer her on. The purpose of these meets is to give the kids a chance to show what they've learned and to give some experience performing in front of others.




She doesn't look nervous, does she? She claims she was.


On the beam.


The girls were to do a somersault on the beam. Not sure why this was part of the meet. Not one of them could do it without some help. But, they certainly tried and did very well!

The girls get judged on each event (floor, bars, beam and vault). For each event they get a score and a ribbon for participating. She LOVES those ribbons!

Let the Games Begin!!!

Here's George's 1st t-ball game! I love, love, love t-ball. The kids are so small, so easily distractable, and so funny to watch!


Cael not watching his brother's game. The dirt was just too fun...

Good hit George! Now, RUN!

Whew! Made it to 1st base!

Landing squarely on 3rd!

He had a great time, got a 'Bug Juice' afterward, and can't wait to go again on Saturday... Good thing. We have 2 months of this, 2-3 games/ week. Hope it's this much fun 7 weeks from now!

"Why can't we praftice until dark?!"

After years, and I do mean YEARS, of eager anticipation on George's part... t-ball has begun! These are pics from his 1st practice (which he pronounces with an 'f').


Cael wanting to join in the fun. 4 more years buddy...


Here's Lou and Rhys playing in the empty irrigation ditch.

Learning to field a ball...

Looks to the mama like he's actually bowling. I left it to the coach to do some instructing. I was merely there to document this historic day for Brennen!

The pictures above show that, for a nearly 5 year old boy, playing with a stick or playing catch is a difficult choice. He figured out how to do both. George's solution was to throw the ball to his partner as hard and far as possible. While the other little boy went in pursuit George had time to play with the stick in the dirt. He didn't even hesitate. As soon as the ball left his hands, he dropped to the ground to play. George resumed ball duty once the ball was actually flung in his direction. Great multi-tasking!

George running bases. As we predicted, he loved this! Given that he runs lap all day long in our kitchen/dining/living room, base running is his "thing"! (I do mean laps ALL day long at home... think 50+/day... Lots of energy in that little boy!)

Rhys in a tree.