Spring Break Fun

Last week was spring break and we were excited not to have any major plans. We went to the library, played outside with our friends and did a few little daytrip type things to keep the kids entertained.

The highlight was going to Iowa City with Gentrys. The kids were surprisingly well behaved! They rode the whole hour and half with few problems and really had a great time at the children's museum! There was a hospital, pizzaria, restaurant, grocery store, puppet show castle, flight simulators, golf ball room, bank, wind tunnel, lego room, farm, block room, train area, and many other things we probably didn't even get to. Because it was in a mall, lunch was easy and there was something for everyone. I was very pleased with the ease and fun that we had!!

My favorite memory was watching Grayson in this little pizza restaurant. He put on an apron and took great care in making a pizza with cheese and toppings, then putting it in the oven and bringing it to me as the customer. He brought me drinks and a bill - he was really getting into it!

Zach made a really excellent police car. He was really sad he had to leave it.

Man was this room a hit! hundreds of these soft bendable blocks to build forts or obstacle courses with. The boys played in here for a long time!

This is probably another of Grayson's favorite games. He loaded up about 30 golf balls in his hat and climbed the stairs to let them down the roller coaster one at a time. He would probably still be there if we didn't have to leave :)

I cannot believe we have never been here before! What a wonderful way to kick off spring break!

Spyro

Zachary has been talking about getting a pet for a long time. He wanted a fish, or something that he could keep in his room that was just his. We visited the pet store and read online about what a good pet for his age would be and stumbled upon the bearded dragon.

I was apprehensive trying to push for a bunny, or gerbil - but he insisted on the dragon. He even read about them online and asked lots of great questions at the store about how to hold him, what they ate, how to clean their cage - so cute!

So, we bit the bullet and welcomed spyro into the family. Zach thusfar has been a great dragon keeper. We joke about him growing wings and breathing fire - but truthfully Zach has done a really great job! I love seeing how caring he is, how he reads to him and takes him around to show him our house. He is very careful to make sure he has enough water and crickets and that the right light is turned on at the right time.

This was a great early birthday present and I know they will have lots of years of being great buddies...they can live 10 years....wow!

Ice Skating

I had a groupon that expired at the end of february for ice skating. Since the boys were less than enthused Kenna and I went with Chloe. It was a little underwhelming - because it was 60 degrees and the poor rink was a slushy mess! I made it around a few times and called it quits - the girls only a few more times than me. Not to waste the afternoon, we headed to zombie burger for shakes and then to look at the art downtown. Its been fun watching these girls grow up together. They don't go to the same school, but always have a good time.

Besties

Grayson had his buddy Isaac over after school a few weeks ago (amidst the mess.) It is so fun seeing him being such a good friend. He just loves his bestie Isaac. And they get to play soccer together this summer!

Look who's reading

I'm so proud of this little stinker! He has shown an interest in reading for quite some time, asking about what letter things start with, what sound they make, when he was going to get to learn to read. We have been practicing nightly on some easier books to try and learn basic sight words. Well I was so surprised when this came home with his mail yesterday! What a proud momma :)

Tax return remodel

Josh and I have talked about restaining the wood in our house for years. When we bought our house in 2005 we fell in love with it. The detail in the woodwork, that awesome backyard and all the possibilities that it brought. But, over the years we grew tired of the light honey oak. It didn't quite fit with our cherry kitchen that we had updated and felt a little dated.

We try to reinvest our tax return annually into our house.

So - I surprised him by working with a local artist to learn how to stain the oak and make it look like walnut! I am so so so happy with the results! It took about 3 weeks but was well worth it. I still have the railing and upper stairwell to do. We also didn't touch the playroom with anticipation of all new windows in there sometime....but the impact of just the main living space is awesome!

More Valentines Fun

One thing I really enjoy about staying home is having the time to make things special for the kids. We had time to make valentines boxes the way they wanted them (well we recycled zach's which i was TOTALLY on board with!)

And - I got to help with all three of their parties this year! It was a little more stress than it should have been considering they are meant to be fun - but I was happy to help. Grayson's was easy as I only had one small piece. Kenna's and Zach's were a little more involved - but all a raging success!

This year was different because they were not allowed to exchange candy as part of the valentines day festivities. So, we made do with some fun trinkets -and honestly the kids didn't miss the sugar.

Kenna set her alarm SUPER early on the weekend to get up early and make heart shaped pancakes and bacon for the whole family. We ended up putting the pancake batter in a big ziplock bag and making heats that way after a few failed attempts. Still so sweet that she would do that :)

My FAVORITE new tradition is one I saw online. Each morning I would get up before the kids and add another new heart to their door starting Feb 1st and going through valentines day. It was a way for me to share with them why I love them and what makes them special. One morning I forgot and they were all wondering where they were and asking me about them. I made sure to have an updated heart when they got home. I will definitely do this one each year as it added an extra sparkle in their eye every morning!

Tax return

Well - this was rather comical. Because Josh was awarded some stock from Workiva (previously webfilings) and because they went public, we were responsible for filing a tax return in every state in which they were held. So....19 tax returns later, 2014 tax amendments are done! The funniest part was that some of the checks were for $1....$8....$12...how silly. Thank goodness Emmi and Denny know what they are doing :)