Grammie Got A New WHAT?!?

Ryan: Mommy, grammie got a new boobie!
Me: WHAT? Grammie got a new what?
Ryan: A new boobie! It had Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in it!

See what the Easter Bunny left here?

= lots of tub time fun!
The princess gets her soap crown...

Ry guy gets a beard...

Some Bunny Loves Ya!

My amazing little bunnies on Easter morning!

Fun with the family!
And notice, Julia DID wear her Easter dress!
For those of you who wondered how this was possible,
we woke her up out of a deep sleep and put it on her
while she was still mostly unconscious.

Happy Easter from us!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Amy!

Doesn't Amy just seem over the moon excited. (NOT!)
She tried to tell the waitress her name was Erica. She's a tricky one, that Aunt Amy!

Tonight we all went to church at Windsor Crossing and then to dinner at The Spaghetti Factory.

"This would ONLY happen to you." That is exactly what my sister Amy will say after reading this post.

It has been an interesting 2 days here. Things keep breaking. Like, BIG things. I keep reminding myself, "Things don't matter, people do."

I had to bring my perfectly fine running vehicle to the DMV to pass an emissions test. It failed. So I made an appointment to bring it to one of the "state recommended" facilities. (Dumb idea #1. I have a mechanic I love. WHY didn't I call him??) I talked to the guy at the mechanic place a few times yesterday. I cringed every time the phone rang, because I an not even kidding, I felt like every time he called it was going to cost me another few hundred dollars. Thursday evening we were scheduled to pick up the vehicle. Then they called and said they needed it another day. Today, he called and told me he brought it back for the emissions test and it FAILED. But he was sure once I filled up the tank with gas and drove it around this weekend until it is between 1/2 and 3/4 full --does that sound hokey to anyone else?-- that it will pass. SERIOUSLY? So tonight, we picked up the SUV and on the drive home, guess what light comes on? I heart (not) Check Engine!

Last night during the MONSOON (ok, slight exaggeration there...) Jeff noticed there appeared to be some water pooling on Julia's ceiling. I jumped up on her changing table, stuck my finger up there and part of the ceiling came off on my thumb!

(THIS is NOT ok with me!)

Water freaks me out. Partly due to this. And this. (How did I not get a pic of the mold that resulted from this and made Amy's eardrum - she is allergic - explode?) Partly because Jeff's family seems to have some type of water curse on them. Not kidding. His parents house has flooded now at least twice since we have been married. Jeff has so many more bad water memories as a kid. One, he remembers going on vacation as a kid, coming home to 3 ft of water and the family cat sitting on the television to stay dry. A few years ago, his parents bought a 5th wheel (If you don't know what that is..I didn't!..it's like a fancy RV. Internet and satellite television, and custom drapes, but it is still camping in my book.) and not long after doing so it was in a flash flood and totaled. Welcome to the family.

Anyways, so last night Jeff decides to head up in the attic to try and find out where this water is coming in. (He is thinking some vent pipe from the bathroom to the outside via the roof is our culprit). WOW. Now I know why basement storage is so popular, and people don't seem to use attics anymore. I took one peek up there and tried to forbid him to enter. It looked like a dirty snowstorm had come through. Insulation everywhere. In mounds...like dirty cotton balls all over. Oh..and our attic does NOT have a floor. So he climbed from one side of the house to the other with a flashlight strung around his head swinging from 2x4 to 2x4. What a way to make a wife nervous! I sat upstairs waiting for him to come falling through the ceiling. My prayer life got a great workout!

Oh..and then tonight Jeff ran into Home Depot to grab some part to fix something in our shower. (It was seriously something so small I never even noticed there was an issue). I am reading bedtime stories to the kids, and hear him SCREAMING in the bathroom for me to run and turn off the water to the house. Ok, SERIOUSLY. Turn off the water to the house? Honey, do you KNOW me? This, I did not learn in my Desperate Housewives 101 class. I run into our bathroom with the kids trailing behind me to find Jeff soaking wet (and the entire bathroom, for that matter) and the water shooting out that thingie that you use to turn on/off the water and control the temperature.

Shooting is an understatement. I mean, like think about how you would expect the water to shoot out of a fire hydrant. Yes, you are getting close. The fact it didn't blow him to the ground is absolutely shocking. It's a good thing we have a seat in the shower. =)

We have a FANTASTIC small group. Each of the guys in our group (how do I not have a pic of all of us, again? I will get on this!!) either called or emailed today to see if they could do anything to help. Aren't great friends AWESOME??

...So, the roof is still leaking...it is supposed to rain like the next gizillion days...my husband is blowing his nose like crazy and insulation pieces are coming out (sorry if tmi!)...the check engine light is on making passing this test and therefore being able to renew our vehicle registration impossible...but people matter, not things...and we have great friends, and a big God. One who DIED for us so so many years ago today. Something, in all this craziness, I have not spent enough time thanking him for!

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

And, this, is what REALLY matters. Yea, God!

**I promise to post pics for this post and the last soon!!***

Dying Easter Eggs 2009

The cousins have their priorities -- must eat to keep strength to dye eggs!

Tyler, Julia, Me, Ryan and Baby Lucas anxiously waiting for our eggs to dye!

Grammie brings a little pre-Easter surprise for the kids.

Ryan "carefully" dips an egg!

Wardrobe Trouble

Julia HATES her Easter dress. And that is putting it mildly. I tried it on her the other day. I thought we were doing ok, in the fact she even allowed me to slip it over her head. (Particularly when these days she seems to fuss over anything that isn't pajamas or looks like them.) Boy, what an incorrect assumption. She looked down at it. And said "No, Mommy. I don't like this dress!" And then when I sat there staring at her with this fake smile she said it louder. And louder. And louder. I sat there in complete denial until Ryan walked up with his hands on his ears saying "Jew-e-a is being too loud, Mommy!"
My angel apparently does not realize she is shattering all those visions every mother has when she hears those words "it's a girl!"...you know, the ones about getting to dress her up in long gowns, like a little doll, complete with matching accessories and very large hairbows?
I have tried to talk sensibly to her about this.

I have tried to bribe.

I know it is superficial...

...but somehow, it still seems important.

Any suggestions??
(Ryan, is quite satisfied with his new shirt and can't WAIT to wear it to find eggs and candy).

Hiccups and Favorite People

Gnip Gnop

Tonight I got a text from Hannah (one of my cool Fusion girls and future SEMO student) to see if it was okay to come by for some hang time. Our Ry guy was super excited to have the company!

Giving Kaity a big hug. (Kaity, by the way, who is one of our blog readers, another Fusion-er and was just accepted to Vanderbilt. =) ).

Jeff takes on Kaity at our Gnip Gnop game, a Harriss favorite! David and Hannah cheer.

Hannah defends her championship title!

Hangin' at home fun

The old saying about how the kids play with the box as much as the toy that comes inside...true. I had some plastic storage bins laying around here this morning and we were entertained at least an hour!
Ryan is Mr. Turtle, and he is hiding from Baby Sister inside his shell.

Our bins then turn into goals, as we take turns throwing a big red ball at each others bin!

Score! Julia and her baby doll cheer us on.

Our soccer star...

Today Ry had his first soccer game!

When we first arrived, he ran off the field and said, "Mommy, no one on my team knows me!" I pointed out his friend Charlie, and he smiled big and ran back on the field. Here's a pic of the buddies!

My handsome little man...

Go, Ryan!!

...and his fans!

Daddy and Grandma keep warm. The temp was predicted to be near 70, but it was so windy it sure didn't feel like that!

Aunt Amy, Papa, Uncle Jeff and Grandma cheer our little guy on!

Uncle Brian, Aunt Krista and Tyler arrive after their trip to see the Easter Bunny!

Lucas gets the award for "most excited" fan!

Thanks for coming!

God's power

Me: Ryan Andrew! Come and put on these pjs RIGHT NOW!!!
Jeff: Ryan, if you don't come and put your pajamas on now you will NOT play soccer tomorrow!
Ryan: (comes running and asks us with a very serious look on his face) What, you will talk to God and it will rain?

Uhhh..we Jeff and I were both laughing too hard to even give him an answer to that!!!

The best part

This morning the kids were playing in the family room and I noticed that things got very quiet. Any mom knows this can be cause for concern! I peeked in the room to find the kids huddled over our wedding album. Ryan was pointing to pictures and talking to Julia about them. It was super sweet. Then as he is turning the page, he tells her "The best part is coming up!" I, of course, am thinking he's getting to the 'you may now kiss the bride' photo, but next he says, "Look at this cake!!" And then he tells her, "Isn't it great? That is one BIG cake!" To which she responds, "Ohhh. Cake." And then he points to another picture and says, "See, it is like a tall tower!"
Then he says, "You want to see some of RyRy's books?" And she says "Uhhuh!" while he proceeds to pull out his two crammed full scrapbooks. And then, the question comes which no mother who is over two year behind in scrapping ever wants to hear from her 2 year old, "Where are my books?" Eek!!

Part of my purpose and dedication to this blog is to serve as an online scrapbook for the kids. It completely relieved my guilt about being so far behind, knowing if I ever do get around to catching back up, the blog will help me remember what happened when, journaling, and so forth. Until today.

Visit with the Greats

Julia has a heart to heart this morning with grandma while playing with her little dollhouse.

Grandpa always brings M&Ms or some other treat for the kids...which I usually end up eating during naptime. =)