Monday, April 1, 2019

March Round-Up!

Hi, friends! Today is April 1st which means it's time for my March round-up post. We are only a quarter of the way through the year, but we've had some significant happenings, for sure!

On the last day of February, my parents sold their Missouri house and drove a U-Haul full of their earthly belongings to my house.

They spent the night with us that night (since they were homeless!), and closed on their Oklahoma house the next day. Below, they are pictured with their realtor, Ryan, who was so very patient in helping them find a house that worked for their needs.

They purchased their Oklahoma house on a Friday, and we spent the remainder of that weekend working hard to help get them moved in and somewhat settled. Before the day was over on Friday, we had the U-Haul unloaded and returned, temporary blinds hung, their bed set up and made, the living room arranged where they could sit in their recliners, and the coffee pot unpacked. It will be a while before they are completely settled, but they are making progress almost every day.

The last few winters have been very mild for us. We haven't had any snow to speak of since 2015, which is unusual. However, the very first weekend that my parents officially lived here, we had snow! It came in early on Sunday morning which caused church to be postponed to an afternoon service only. The kids were beyond excited and couldn't wait to get out in it!

After taking what seemed like forever to get everyone bundled up, we got out in the snow for just a little while. It was bitter cold and windy, so even the big kids didn't last too long.

Brooke, Brianna, Brenson, Brecklyn

YAY for snow!


Brecklyn

Brenson

Brooke


Brianna


Because it was so cold, it wasn't good snow for building anything or having a snow ball fight. We did do a little bit of sledding in our yard, which was fun until Brianna hit the back of my legs with the sled and took my feet right out from under me, lol. I'm sure that was quite the sight! Like I said above, we didn't last long due to the bitter cold temps, but we were still excited to have snow!

As it generally happens around here, everything was melted by the next day. We didn't mind though, because Mom and I had a trip planned on the Tuesday following the Sunday snow event. Even though it was only five days after Mom and Dad moved, Mom and I (along with the little girls) went to Wichita to see my Granny and my Mom's sisters. The timing of the trip wasn't great, but my Aunt Suzie (Mom's sister who lives in New Mexico) was in Wichita visiting my Granny and it had been a few years since Mom had seen her.

Mom, the twinbies, and I headed to Wichita as soon as I dropped the big kids off at school. I had arranged for Dad to pick them up that afternoon so we could stay the whole day.

Aunt Cindy, Aunt Suzie, Granny, and Mom

Aunt Cindy, Aunt Suzie, and Mom

We arrived safely in Wichita a little after 11:00am, and spent a bit of time visiting. Then, we went down to a private dining room (on the property where my Granny lives) and ordered pizza for lunch. One of the staff members offered to take a group photo for us.

My Granny's boyfriend, Herm, didn't want to miss out on the photo opportunity, so he squeezed himself right in the middle of us :-).

After lunch, we all went back to Granny's apartment and had a great time visiting. The little girls love Granny and she loves them!

Brecklyn, Granny T, and Brooke

Lol!

My twins were born on my Aunt Cindy's birthday, so I call them the birthday triplets. I love that they share their special day!

Brecklyn, Aunt Cindy, Brooke


My Aunt Cindy always has an activity for the children, and this time she brought a huge pack of solo cups for the girls to stack and play with. They had a ball with those cups! I would have never thought of that.

Brooke with the cups

Me and my Granny Tiger . . . she's so special to me!


We got back home around 8:00pm, which made for a long day. However, I was so thankful that we were able to go. My Aunt Suzie had never met Brooke and Brecklyn, so that was special, for sure. And - as a funny side-note - like I mentioned above, my Dad picked the big kids up from school. He took them to guitar lessons, then to the park to play. Once they got back to his house, he went to take a quick nap and told them not to wake him unless there was an emergency. He ended up sleeping until a little after 5:30pm! When he woke up, he said to Brianna and Brenson, "It's supper time! Why didn't you wake me?!?" They responded, "You said not to!" So now he has a new rule . . . if he's napping, don't wake him unless there's an emergency or it's supper time! Lol!

The Friday of that same week (we're still in the first week of March!), the kids' school hosted a movie night. We invited Chloe Jo to join us, and the kids also invited Grampy and G-Jo. The movie How To Train Your Dragon was being shown in the gym. Admission was free, but concessions were being sold as a fund raiser. I'm putting it mildly when I say that IT WAS NUTS in that gym! The kids loved it, but I could go a long time without another experience like that again!

We are so thankful that the weather has warmed up significantly, and we were able to spend some time outdoors. This cutie makes me laugh with his stocking cap, gloves, and short-sleeved shirt!


With the warm weather teasing us, I started thinking about switching out clothing for my children. I think all the girls are good as far as warm-weather clothing goes, but Bren only had a few short-sleeved shirts that fit him. That means that he got a shopping afternoon with Mom . . . he loved the one-on-one time, but shopping is definitely not his favorite activity!

It's no wonder we had to go shopping . . . both big kids had their well checks with their pediatrician a few weeks ago. They are healthy and growing like weeds (and acting like clowns!).

I can't express enough how grateful I am to have healthy children. At this appointment, Brianna weighed 70 pounds (65th percentile) and measured 54 inches tall (73rd percentile). Brenson weighed 56 pounds (70th percentile) and measured 52 inches tall (96th percentile). This means they are the same difference in height as Brooke and Brecklyn!

Brecklyn has always loved cooking in her play kitchen, and more recently she has really started wanting to help me cook. Right now, her "help" isn't always super helpful, but I'm hoping that will really start to change this year. I love that Chris grabbed my phone and snapped a few pictures of her helping me with dinner one night!

This is her "I'm not so sure about this" face, haha.

She definitely wants my help when she's in the kitchen, whereas Brooke wants to do everything "by herself"!

Finally, I'm going to end this post with a sweet photo of my four favorite little people this past Sunday before church. You can see by the way we are dressed that we are gearing up for Spring! I'm always grateful to live in a place that has distinct seasons because by the time the seasons begin to change, I'm ready for it!



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