Process Of Remodeling Basement Bathroom

We are still in the process of remodeling the basement bathroom. I would say we but it's all Brandon who painted, did the floor tile for his first time, molding and ect.. Brandon's hoping to be done by the end of the week. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Chuck E. Cheese

Brandon and I went to Janesville this week to see 3 of their camping grounds. One out of three we saw was really nice. It was the last camping grounds we saw and we were starting to think we had wasted a trip to Janesville. Since we were in Janesville we decided to check out the mall they have. I needed to pick up a couple of things for my trip to Arizona in May. Before the stop to the mall we were looking for resturants to stop for lunch. We came across Chuck E. Cheese which we thought would be nice for the two kids to do something fun after a long drive. I have to say Chuck E. Cheese rocks. Who knew....... I don't know who had more fun us or the kids. Brandon had fun playing basketball, Gabe loved the rides and getting his license(a machine that takes your picture and prints out an actually kids license), Lily loved playing a game catching popcorn in a pot, and myself Deal Or No Deal which I won (80 tickets). Since we went they still talk about when the next time they can go back.

Brandon Birthday Party

Brandon turned 35 on April 14th. The kids decided they wanted to give Brandon a Surprise Birthday Party that day. So when the kids got home from school they decorated with balloons and streamers. We also made a poster with pictures of Brandon the last 35 years and I framed pictures of each of us with Brandon. While the kids were in school Lily and I tempted to make a 4 layer cake in a hour time ( we have a double oven). I realized to late that I should have bought a cake from the Bakery. It was a bad, bad looking cake. But I made up for it with homemade strawberry magarita's. The kids had a blast hidding and surprising him. Happy Birthday Brandon. We love you.

Easter 2009

We had a wonderful Easter. Brandon and Colin woke up early to go to 6a.m. Easter Service. I also got up early to get Easter breakfast done by the time the rest of the kids got up and the boys got home from church. The kids quickly got done with there breakfast so they could search for there Easter baskets. My mom came over in the afternoon and spent the day with us. She came over with plastic Easter Eggs with money and candy. The kids found 38 out of the 40 hidden. Please excuse the pictures I put them in in reverse order.

Colin helping Gabe open candy and Noah trying to eat as much candy without anyone noticing him. He so sneaky.

Colin found his Easter Basket in the Laundry with Brandon giving him clues with Hotter and Colder.

Noah's Easter Basket (Lighting McQueen) was hidden on the bottom shelf in their playroom.

Gabe was so excited to not only get candy but also the Bionicle figure.

Lily's Easter Basket was hidden in her oven.

Funny Stories Per Child

Here are 4 stories that happened the last couple of weeks in our house.

Colin

A couple of weeks ago Colin sang with his class at church. When church was over I asked Colin if he knew which little boy in his class sang really loud and had such a beautiful voice. You could hear every word he sang. I went through all the boys names in his class wondering who had such a beautiful voice. He told me he didn't know who it was. So, Wednesday night Colin's class is going to be singing for the church. That night while I' m making dinner Colin asked me if I wanted to hear him sing. So I listen to him and he sounds good. That night I went to church by myself which was nice not to worry about any of the kids. Middle of the service his class sings and they're in the back balcony. I could hear Colin sing but to tell you the truth it sounded like it was between shouting and singing. I sat there with the biggest grin on my face and I almost burst into laughter it was hilarious. When I met Colin in the class room to pick him up he said "I need a drink my throat hurts so bad from singing". I told him they did a wonderful job. He also asked if I heard him. I said yes. Note to self keep comments to myself. Colin made a truck for his Art Fair at his school. Made out of a box and what else tape. Pretty cool.

Noah

Noah always says some of the funniest things. This morning Noah had left the house forgetting something. So, I ran it out to him on the bus. His bus driver is very nice and she always has a funny story with Noah. She told me once she over heard him telling a child sitting next to him that he loves his mom, dad and he loves himself. This morning she told me that she had to take a toy away from him and he told her he was going to tell his mom on her and she was going to get in trouble. I told her I hear that alot from his teachers. What a bully.

Gabe At dinner we usually go around the table and everyone tells about there favorite part of the day. Colin went first and said his favorite part was he started division, next Noah said Swimming Class and Lily's favorite part was playing the dominoes game. Gabe through out kept interrupting the kids wanting to tell his favorite but we told him he had to wait his turn. So, finally when it was his turn he said his was cheese crackers, granola bar, banana and etc... he named in order all the snacks he had that day. I asked him that there must be something we did that day that was fun like play games and again he named all the snacks he had. We all started to laugh. I guess he really liked his snacks that day.

Lily Last week Brandon worked nights which can be very hectic. Making dinner, cleaning up, homework and bathtime can get overwhelming. By bathtime it felt like an asembly line doing nail, ears and brushing teeth. So after helping the kids brush their teeth I was cleaning up the bathroom and counting the minutes when the kids would be in bed. So as I am cleaning up the clothes and I see Lily sitting in the hallway with our dog Madison and it looks like she's brushing the dogs hair with what I think is a toy brush. So I ask her what she's doing and she tells me she's brushing the dogs teeth. I stopped what I was doing and told her that it was a bummer she no longer has a toothbrush and asked her to give me it. She gives me what I think is her toothbrush and I look down and it's mine. That's all I could say is Come On, why not your dad's? She shrugged and said Maddy's teeth are clean. My thought was Yuck..

Spending a Day in Lake Geneva

We had a wonderful Sunday afternoon. Colin sang in late church with his class. After lunch we had decided to go venture out to Lake Geneva for the day. This weekend they had ice sculptures going on by the lakefront. When we got there to see the ice sculptures we noticed you really couldn't make out them because of the beautiful weather we've been having. Oh well, how can we complain we love this weather. We got a chance to get down by the lakefront to walk on the ice and they had helicopter rides going on there. We took a walk around the downtown area. We then stopped in at a Coffee Shop to have hot coco and white chocolate covered pretzel sticks. The kids loved it.