Finally...an update.

I guess we have been pretty busy these past few weeks. That means lots of new updates though! Oh, and new pics, but those will have to be in a seperate post. I still have not mastered the art of making a post and getting the pics in the correct order. We have really been enjoying the longer days and gorgeous weather. We have had lots of BBQ's with our neighbors, friends, and family. Mother's day was nice. I had to get up early to go work at the church, but I still had a relaxing day. Kiley wrote me a long, 2 page letter thanking me for all the things I do for her. It was very sweet. Surely something I will look back at in a few years when she is a teen and remember how sweet and appreciative she once was. :) She also gave me coupons for a massage, pedicure, and manicure. I am very happy that Kiley has had a professional manicure and pedicure before because when she gave me mine, it was awesome. Complete with a massage, lotion, buffing, etc. It was a kind gesture. We did miss our church group the weekend of Mother's day because we had family in town and some more family over for a BBQ. We also had our playset installed and it has been wonderful. I did hear the next day at church how fun the church group was, so I was a little sad we missed it. O'well. Fortunatley, they happen every month and we will meet again in a couple of weeks.



Kiley has had a million b-day parties to attend (well, really only 1 or 2 a weekend, but twice she has had 3 in one weekend...and it seems like a million). It's getting quite expensive so I had to set a $10.00 limit for each party. That easily turns into anywhere from $50.00-$80.00 in a month on just gifts. O'well. She has a lot of friends and she does have a lot of fun at the parties. The last one I took her too had a private dance instructor who taught them all the dance moves to "Thriller". When we picked them up they were all made up with stitches, blood, etc and did the dance to the music. It was cute. Kiley has also been busy with school field trips (2 a week for the past 3 weeks), school carnivals and fundraising events, her Girl Scout graduation, an upcoming GS field trip and summer day camp to prepare for. (it's only for 3 days, but it will be fun for her and her friends).



Chad's been busy with work and his licensing exams. Between the two of them, I am doing a lot of running around and "single parenting". Chad has had a late night meeting, (5:30-9:45pm) once a week for the past month. He is meeting with a group of Dr's and they want the meetings scheduled for the evenings so they don't have to miss appointments during the day. They do buy him dinner and he is getting in extra hours at work. Since his work isn't quite busy enough yet to pay him for the overtime, he is tracking his extra hours and going to take some time off when he finishes the project. While it will be nice to get some time off without using any vacation, sick, or flex time, he does have A LOT of that that needs to be used. If work stays slow this summer, he might take a significant amount of time off. I won't complain. He only has one test left to take and it's scheduled for June 20. I can't wait for him to be done testing. It's so time consuming-he puts in atleast 100 hours of studying for each test and it takes about 2 months to study for each one. It's a lot of work for both of us. It will be nice for him to be licensed though.




We are having our neighborhood garage sales in June so we are getting things ready. We have a lot of things to sell this year. Our HOA is great at getting the word out and there is a huge turn out. We told Kiley that she will get all the money for her items that sell. She has to put half in her savings account and can spend the other half. I am hoping this motivates her to get rid of a lot of items.



Cort started crawling a couple weeks ago. He is everywhere now, so we have had to do some additional baby-proofing.




Cooper made his trip here. We are enjoying him so much. He is such a great dog and a perfect fit with our family. He is large and in charge though. He is so big he just pushes you out of his way to get to what he wants, his head is about level with our counters so he can see what is up there and has no trouble getting something down.



Creighton got a "big boy" bed. We left his crib in his room too and thought we would see how things go before taking down the crib. I am glad we left it there, he isn't quite ready to get out of it yet. We have a video monitor in his room. We had it for when he was younger, but we enjoy watching him so much that we left it. He does all sorts of adoreable things when he is alone-like take off his socks and put them on his hands to make puppets who talk to each other. So funny. We tried out the new bed over the holiday weekend. He loved it, but wouldn't stay in it. We could see him on the monitor getting out of his bed and playing with toys, looking out the window, etc. We went up about 10 times before we finally put him in his crib. He likes the bed, but hasn't learned to stay in it yet. We still let him get in it and watch movies, but when it's time to go to sleep we put him in the crib. We have an intercom from our living room to his bedroom, so that does make it easier to tell him to get back in bed when we see him out. He just turned 2, so I am not going to pressure him to move into the new bed just yet. We will let him do it at his own pace.



Only 3 more days of school left. I am looking foward to being able to wake up and not have to make lunches, pack backpacks, and drive Kiley to school. It will be nice to go for walks, bike rides, and spend the day together. The hours changed for Kiley's school starting next year. Currenlty, they are 7:55-2:30 and they will be changed to 9am-3:30. I think I will find it easier to get her to and from school at those times without having to interrupt one of the younger kids naps.



That's about all that's been keeping us busy this past month. We have lots to look foward to this summer.

adorable picture of baby Cort

I took this picture of baby Cort. I love it. Thanks Mary for giving me the idea to buy fabric and take pics at home. It has saved tons of money and given me a new hobby!