HAPPY EASTER

Well easter around our house was not too fun..... we had a lot of unhealthy people hanging around the house and resting up and watching movies. needless to say we did not make it to church, but the kids had a great time collecting easter eggs around our not so spring looking yard. it didn't exactly make for the best easter pictures, but it will have to do. it was fun watching all the kids racing to find all the eggs and then discovering their easter baskets at the end. once everyone got settled and had enough of the easter excitement, we all crashed on the couch to watch a movie. unfortunately due to the circumstances, we did not have a big easter meal! oh, well... maybe next year.

ANNELIES GOT SHOT

While at the cabin with nanny, poppy and the taits..... annelies got shot by her cousin. it was innocent enough, just kids being kids and luckily no one got hurt, but it made a pretty nice looking bruise and a perfect indention where the bullet hit. she was tough and riley was a little sore in the backside for not being careful. it makes for a good story anyways!

SURPRISE!!!

  

Me and Nikki looking beautiful!!

               

        

         

so we got an unexpected wonderful surprise last week. Nikki and Adam ( rob's sister) came for an  visit from Washington State!! They had brought their three little munchkins that my kids hadn't seen in two plus years. We had so much fun while they were here. We all went out to eat at our favorite mexican restaurant and then said our goodbye's until the next night. Nikki and Adam brought the family back to our house so the kids could play and us adults could catch up. Nikki and i prepared for easter and the boys watched some march madness. The next day rob and lorna came to meet the tait's to go to the cabin only to find out once they got there that it would not be as enjoyable as they had anticipated! Nikki, Paige and Annelies all came down with a nasty flu bug that pretty much ruined their trip while Nico, Jakob, Sofia and Ollie were all at home suffering from the same bug! It was no picnic. Unfortunately time and upset stomach's did not permit us to see each other again and they returned back to Washington. In the meantime, not only did the flu bug get spread around between everyone, riley shot annelies with the bb gun leaving quite the bruise and puncture wound. this will make for a great story for when they grow up!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOFIA

 

There is something remarkable about our little Sofia. she is so sweet and entertaining, she always makes you laugh and never lets you forget how naughty she really is. i can't believe how fast time goes by. it seems like just yesterday i was in the hospital waiting to see if it was going to be a boy or a girl. secretly i was hoping for a girl and luckily she arrived and was announced a girl. i couldn't imagine annelies going through life without a sister. thankfully there she was... all 6lb 9oz of her. she was angelic! now on march 16, we celebrated her 3rd birthday. she was so excited and all she ever asked for was dora presents. so for the 2nd year in a row, we got her a dora cake. she was in heaven. in addition to her cake she also got a baby stroller and a new baby doll with bottles and a little mermaid doll. her day was complete. sofia has been such a huge blessing to our family and i am grateful to every day i get to spend with her. i am the luckiest mom ever. happy birthday sofia!!

cute things sofia says: 

1. eel it = eat it  
2. buwday= birthday
3. i not marfa (when rob calls her martha)
4. hoooyee= hurry
5. oliber= oliver

she is at the most fun stage right now and thinks life is so much fun. i hope i don't forget how cute her face is when she is happy or how nice it is to snuggle with her when we watch dora, she fits so perfectly next to me. i will miss her when she gets too big for that. i wish i could think of all the cute things she says. she is a cute little girl, so full of life!

MORE PICS

nice and cozy, ready for bed

my poor car.... going to the "doctor"

 (as jakob would say)

petting the deer

crazy girls!

walking with nanny

MORE COUSIN PICS

lorna- exhausted from taking care of the kids all weekend

lilly singing for american idol- in the basement

brooklyn and nico playing guitar hero

nico taking otto and brooklyn for a ride

all the grandkids and lorna

FUN WEEKEND!

what a fantastically fun weekend. it started out on thursday night when we took a drive down to rob and lorna's to see the nash's. the kids instantly were all best friends and had a blast playing. nico and brooklyn picked up right where they left off and annelies and lilly were inseparable. otto and sofia got along great and this helped ease the constant squabbles between otto and lilly. then there's little mya who everyone wants to play with, but won't leave poppy's side. he is her personal jungle gym!! jakob had so much fun playing and interacting with everybody and loved playing school with brooklyn and nico. all in all- everybody had a great time and nico got to spend the night at nanny and poppy's which was great for him  because he got to miss school on friday. saturday i went to pick nico up and we brought back lilly to play with annelies. they had so much fun. then on sunday rob and i volunteered to give nanny and poppy a little break, so we invited all three nash kids to our house to spend the night. so sunday night melanie and nanny and poppy brought the rest of the kids up to spend the night. before leaving, nico and melanie dueled each other at guitar hero and it was pretty much an equal match. on top of that rob was sick with a cold (how convenient), so i was in charge of all eight kids. it actually was a lot of fun and the kids did a great job entertaining themselves. brooklyn had several art projects going on and got as many kids involved as possible and nico and jakob took the rest of the kids and watched movies and played in the playroom.  then bedtime rolled around and everyone was just fine squeezing in the guest bedroom to watch a movie and fall asleep. monday morning we all woke up and i made everyone waffles and we all got dressed and ready to go to the yellow river game ranch. while waiting on aunt melanie and nanny to meet us at the house, the kids played outside on the trampoline, rode the mule and played with the chickens.it was so much fun and the kids did not want to leave! oh- did i mention my car broke down and had to be towed away. that was fun, luckily it broke down at home so we weren't all stranded on the side of the road. that would have been interesting. once we got everyone filed into the petting zoo, they had a blast petting all the animals and feeding them crackers, carrots and peanuts. it was sad to say goodbye at the end, but it was so good to see them all together again!

i wish so much that my kids could have there cousins live closer. they have so much fun together, but i guess it makes the time that they do have together that much more special.

MY JAKOB

what a sweet boy, yet so mean at the same time. there is a little girl in his class that apparently rubs him the wrong way or maybe he thinks she's cute, i don't know! anyways- i keep getting reports in his daily conduct report that he is hitting and scratching his friends. when i ask him about it he tells me every time that it was Angelica. poor little girl is going home with bruises and scratches almost everyday. his class has a 5 smiley face conduct method. he has been coming home with atleast 2-3 of those smiley faces turned upside down. one day all 5 were sad faces. i was not happy and explained this to jakob. so the next day after many talks and signing discussions, i sent him off to school with a morning prayer. that day he returned home from school with FIVE smiley faces and a report that said "jakob had a good day and at the end of the day he was so proud of himself and signed to his teacher- mom will be proud!" OH HOW PROUD I AM!!