Sleep, sleep and more sleep......

It is now 4:45 pm and Colby has been sleeping since 12:30. I have been walking around the house waiting for him to wake up as it's getting to the point of me thinking..... 'what if he is sick?' 'what if something is wrong?' 'why is he not up yet?' Of course, I do this everytime he takes an extra long nap and then everything is fine. He did sleep in until almost 9:00 am this morning, though, so this is a little odd today.

I decided to cut caffeine out of my diet and today is the first day with NONE at all!! I guess this is a good day for Colby to be sleeping a ton!

Well time to go pace the house a little more waiting for the little guy to wake up.....

Picnic Time!!!

Today is about the nicest day weather wise that you can get! After preschool, I fed Colby lunch and laid him down for a nap and then Maddy and I had a nice picnic out in the front yard. She was so excited when I told her about the picnic. She helped me get all of the food ready and of course we had to bring the picnic basket out as well (even though we really didn't even use it ;-)) It's all about the experience, I guess!
Some days after I get Colby down for a nap, my 1st inclination is to either shut down and just try to relax for a little bit or to check email, do laundry, etc....I am really trying to take some of the time to do some fun things with Maddy as I know in a just a few months, she will be in school and I won't have these afternoons to spend with her like I do now. Seeing how excited she gets about just the littlest things, makes it almost hard to NOT do these things with her!!!
Here are some pictures from our picnic:


The spread! We had meat and cheese kabobs, strawberries on a stick, banana bread bites, heart-shaped banana bread, bagel dogs from Costco (so good!), and of course some gum for the end (put in a bowl by Maddy; just more for looks ;-)) Maddy kept asking, 'So, what are we going to have for our 'real' food?? When I told her this was it, so couldn't believe this was going to be our lunch! She had to ask me several times! It was really funny!


Maddy in her 'fancy' hat:


Me in my 'fancy' hat (ok, not really, but it's the best I had :-)) Grandma K, do you have any of your old fancy hats laying around??? I might need to borrow one!


And some ice cream for dessert! I used to love those little ice cream cups as a kid, so bought some today for our picnic. I remember Grandpa K used to get them for us at the store sometimes and I always loved them!!

Beautiful Days.......

The weather has just been so awesome lately and we have been spending so much time outside! It's like we just can't get enough of going outside after the brutal winter this year!! Even though I have to pretty much stay on top of Colby when we are out playing in the front yard, it is still so awesome to just be out - Everyone is happy and it's so nice giving Maddy and Colby wagon rides down the block and back and talking to all of the neighbors. Colby's newest thing is to run down the sidewalk into the neighbors driveway and try to run out into the street -- Not sure why he doesn't do this in our driveway, but at least it gives me more time to catch up to him and stop him. He thinks it's pretty funny when I have to chase him --

Here are a few pictures of some things we've been doing lately:


Water table fun on the deck:


Colby got so wet from playing in the water table that he was shivering outside, so I had to bring him in after awhile. He gets so wild with the water, that he was competely soaked by the time he was done. Good thing I put his swim suit on!


1st time at the zoo this year. Colby did pretty good riding in the stroller for about half the time, then had to get out and run around everywhere ;-)


Maddy feeding the fish at the zoo:

Cy is the Best!!!!

Here is Maddy and her best buddy Mya posing with Cy at Elise's Cyclone party the other weekend. Cy was so awesome making the rounds and playing with all the kids! It was such a fun day!



Family photo in our Iowa State gear!! (except for Maddy - I need to get her a new shirt this year ;-))


Colby loving the tire swing:


Swinging away on the swingset:

VA Trip

We got home last week from a week-long trip out to Richmond, VA to see Jeremy's sister and her family and his parents. His parents live in Greensboro, NC, but drove to VA so we could all see each other. It was a great week and the kids had a blast seeing their cousins and aunt and uncle and grandparents!! We were pretty wiped out when we got back, but it was definatley a great trip!

All the cousins after church:


Our family after church:


Easter morning:


Colby and Champ -- Champ loves laps!!!!


Ohhhh, a spiderweb, leave a message and I'll call you back....(sorry, have that song going through my head ;-)) --


Grandpa Dave with his grand daughters:


Colby swinging at the park:

Ahhhh.....It's Friday!!!

Looking forward to a beautiful weekend ahead --- The weather is going to be perfect and we have a lot of fun things planned. Maddy has her first soccer practice. We have a birthday party tonight for Jeremy's godson, Drew, a birthday party tomorrow for our friends' little boy Harrison who will be turing one and a party at our good friends', the Lamberts tomorrow afternoon with Cy himself!!!

Our friends, Wendy and Brian, just found out less than 2 weeks ago that their little girl Elise has a brain tumor. They were up at Mayo this week and got to come home for a few days before they go back this next Monday. Some people at Iowa State called Wendy's brother the other day and said that Cy would like to come visit Elise and Evan (they are twins) on Saturday. They are HUGE Iowa State fans, so they are very excited!! Brian and Wendy decided to make it a party and have some friends over to grill and just hang out and have fun before they head back to Mayo on Monday. I think everyone could use a little pick-me-up after the last couple weeks of devastating news.

They will find out Monday what the treatment options are for Elise as the tumor is inoperable. They are looking at chemo and radiation, just need to get further details and figure out the best place to have the treatment done. They may start this immediately or may be able to come home for a few days before the treatment starts. They need to be prepared to be gone for weeks, though, when they leave Monday. We are going to miss them a ton and already have that uneasy feeling of not having them around and being able to see them whenever. Of course, they are prepared to do whatever is necessary to save Elise's life -- The prognosis at this point is 6 mo. - 5 years for her and we are praying for a miracle as this time-frame is just too short.....

I just can't stop thinking/praying for Elise and all that she is up against. It really is heart-breaking to watch this sweet 4 1/2 yr. old girl go through something this terrible. It is hard to make any sense of it. There is no explanation as to why or how she got this tumor and everything happened so quickly. I just don't get it, but I know we can't lose hope for her or stop praying for a miracle as she is a special little girl and we won't give up on her. She is very lucky to have such strong, faithful parents and such a loving family, support system and community. Miracles do happen and we are praying for one now!!!!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!!!!!!!

Everyone has told me......

....that boys eat a lot, but I didn't expect Colby to be sneaking food already!!!!!!