Now this is a river!

Now that the weather is warmer, and the flowers are in bloom, we drove up to see the Maumee river that is not to far from our house. We found a pretty spot, and I plan on having some fun BBQ's there this summer. The rivers in Ohio are not like the rivers in Utah. They are much bigger and wider. It fasinates me. Lee snapped some pretty pictures and then painted one of them. He has talent that I wish I possessed. He participated in the local Art stroll this past Saturday. We feel blessed that he has been able to sell some of his paintings. Lee has only 1 more week of the semester! Only 3 more semesters to go!

Seriously...this happened

I am wondering why sometimes nothing goes right in a week. I think I am being tested to see if I am keeping track of the kids every minute of every day. I love being their mother but sometimes I shake my head in wonder. If you can recall last week I posted about the Zoo, and how Mara got lost and was picked up by security. I think I was awarded the" mother who didn't realize her daughter was lost for 1/2 hour " AKA bad mom award. Lesson learned and catastrophe avoided.
Well little did I know what this week would bring. Lee was gone Fri-Sat most of the day with the scouts on a camp-out. It was a warm day (yeah), so the kids were spending most of the day outside with their friends in the neighborhood. They were coming and going and being good about telling me where they would be. Mara's friend from across the streeet came over to have Mara play with her. Her parents were home so they left to play over there for a little while. Carson had been riding his bike around. Lee got home and was getting ready to shower, when Mara came running in the house. She was yelling that Carson's bike was run over by the neighbors car(the friend Mara was playing with). I ran outside to make sure he wasn't hurt and saw the neighbor pulling Carson's mangled bike from underneath the van. Carson was fine. I went inside to ask Mara what happened since I knew she was probably involved.:) She said they were playing in the van and her friend pushed a button and the car started to move. It hit Carson's bike that was parked in back of it in the driveway. Long story short after talking to everyone involved was Mara, Carson and a couple of friends were playing with the sidewalk chalk when Mara's little friend decided she wanted to listen to music. She went inside and got the car keys and all the kids got in the van and she put the keys in the car and somehow she shifted it in gear. Luckily they didn't make it out of the driveway before she stopped it somehow. I think Carson's bike acted as a buffer. I was trying to finish my gospel doctrine lesson while Kale was asleep. I really had been checking on them every few minutes. Her parents were in the house! Kids are so sneaky. :)
Carson was upset that his bike was injured. It is pretty fixable, but will need some new parts. We had a good talk with them about playing in, on ,around, behind, and under ANY car. I think they have learned another lesson. I was just grateful that no-one was hurt. It reminded me of when my nephews hijacked a car in front of my mom's house when they were really small, and were lucky to survive the ordeal. (Remember Suzy?! :0)
Kale was also on one this week. He didn't want to pee in the potty. He had been dry for several hours and was bouncing around. I had tried to get him to go, but he would sit and then do nothing. Finally he started asking for a diaper. I refused. This went on for about 1/2 hour. I left the bathroom for a minute, and he darted out of there, and went into his room. I found him. He had pulled his shirt down around his privates and peed in his shirt!! It ran down his legs, to his socks, and on the floor. Fun times. Remind me why we just can't leave them in diapers? =) So in all, this past week has been eventful. Hopefully this week we can avoid disasters.

Easter

Our family had a really fun Easter. We started out Sat. when we had our friends come over and help decorate the easter eggs. They had so much fun coloring and decorating them. Thanks for the Hawkley's for helping us!

They were concentrating so much! They wanted to get them just right. Mara liked experimenting with the colors.Kale's favorite part was putting the stickers on after they were colored. Bethany and Allie joining in the fun. Thanks guys! Our finished products. We definately got some originals!

The kids enjoyed finding their easter eggs and seeing what the easter bunny brought.

Fun at the Zoo

We really enjoyed our week! Even though it snowed and rained the first part of the week, the end turned out great. We were able to go to the Zoo in Toledo. We had a great time, and so did the kids.:) They had a lot of animals to look at. The exhibits were spaced apart great, and we still didn't have time to see everything. We have a annual pass so we can go back to see what we missed! Our only mishap was that Mara somehow seperated from the pack, and got lost. We went to the Zoo with some friends and together we had 11 kids to keep track of. We all stopped at the playground to let the kids run for a few minutes, and I thought I had counted everyone, I guess not. :) We were rounding up everyone when I couldn't find Mara. After about 5 minutes of looking I was panicked, and was just going to notify security. Just about that time I heard my name being called by a security officer and she said they had Mara in the main offices. She had ended up in the cafe, and a employee called security when they realized she was lost. She was fine, and so was I once I saw she was OK. I am just glad an observant employee found her.

Here are some pictures of our fun day at the Zoo. Below is Kale with I think the seals. The next picture is with the giraffes. Then we have the elephants. We have the picture with the whole gang. Lastly is Mara with *security*. She was happy to find this one. :)

What happens when the 3yr old finds the camera.

Kale found the camera recently. He enjoyed taking some pictures. (Quite amazing he knew how to turn the camera on, AND take pictures). When I found him with the camera he very politely told me it was HIS turn to take some pictures. He had taken about 10 or so. These are some of his creations. I think he has some potential. :) The first one is the inside of the garbage can in the kitchen if you couldn't tell.

I have been following a very cute baby that I helped take care of before I moved from Utah. He is amazing and has been through so much. He was born 17 weeks early and has endured so much. He recently developed more problems. If you could say a little prayer for him and his parents, they could really use it. Here is the link for cute baby Jonah. http://laynebabyjonah.blogspot.com/