Topeka Pride!

We fulfilled our moral obligation and visited a few "Topeka" sites while M/D were here. We went to the capitol and Joshua was most intrigued with the elevator!

Pretty sure this bench was not to be sat upon! Oops!

We went to the children's area of another museum (it was free!) and the kids had a fun time. Kayla liked this antique switchboard -- it kept her busy for quite a while!

Joshua gave the antique sewing machine a try -- it was quite a machine!

Meanwhile . . . father and son were challenging each other with the horse shoes . . . Boys will be boys! We had so much fun -- the house seemed really, really empty today without G/G :(.

Just goofin' around!

Bryan and his dad -- I think Bryan gets a high from being at a McDonalds . .. don't ask me why!!!! He LOVES eating out!

Joshua and grandma cutting paper with his new scissors -- he ALWAYS has a captive audience when grandma is here!

Little explanation here . . . we planted pumpkin seeds this weekend so we''ll see . . . it's a tad early, so we only planted half of them and will plant the others later. Joshua was VERY disappointed when he didn't see any fruit of his labor today!

A little bonding time reinforcing the swing set -- nice tool belt, hon!

Coloring Eggs/Baskets

Warning -- Coloring eggs with a 3-year old is NOT something that should be taken lightly!

Can you tell that Joshua is in a "I don't like my picture taken" phase????

Kayla looking through her Easter Basket -- her favorite part was pulverizing the granola bar!

Opening the car hauler from G/G Nelson. I just realized that I don't have any "going to church" pics . . . Bryan and I were both there at 6:30 am, so G/G graciously agreed to bring both kids in for the 11 am service -- it was a life saver for me!

Happy Easter!

Because I can only post 5 pics at a time, this will take several posts! We were SOOOOO happy to have Bryan's parents here for a week over Easter. They left this morning, and the kids (and I) and going through SERIOUS detox! It was like having a live-in babysitter, dishwasher, and child entertainer for a week!


We had an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, and it was more than a little chilly! I think we hid about 50 eggs, and since Kayla wasn't all that interested, Joshua had free reign!


Since our back yard is very, very open, it was hard to be "discreet" about hiding the eggs!

Kayla LOVES going up the ladder and down the slide . . .

. . . head first!

Happy Spring!

What in the world, you ask???? Actually, this picture TOTALLY represents a "God-thing" as we had been praying to find a used swing set for our kids. I kid you not, 5 minutes after I had told Bryan that I just didn't feel right buying a new swing set, I checked my email and a friend was wanting to get a new one for their kids. YEAH! So -- I "bribed" my family members with ice cream dessert and 5 of us carried, yes carried the swing set onto Dad's truck. I would have taken a picture of that process, but I think I would have been disowned by my siblings who were carrying their part. Hope you have recovered, dad!

It was fun to get out the airplane swing that we hadn't used since we packed everything in PA!

. . . then the neighbor kids spotted it!

OK, this picture was posted to provide comic relief for my younger siblings who UNMERCIFULLY razz us about our "ancient" TV. Last week, the on/off button became inoperable (permanently) so Bryan resorted to taking the thing apart. Very fascinating, actually. We were afraid that the end was near . . .but wouldn't you know, Bryan was able to jerry-rig it! The "un-cabled, ancient TV" lives on!


Last week, one of the secretaries in the office gave Joshua a chocolate Easter Bunny that he was VERY proud of! On our way home from church, he fell asleep -- but not without holding his chocolate bunny. BTW, he woke up enough at home to mumble that he wanted his bunny during his nap. You made his week, Carol!

Just wondering . . .

Just wondering . . . where our baby girl has gone???? The last couple of weeks, she has just grown up so much in how she acts . . .

No, Kayla, the baby doll is not for eating!

Before everyone starts groaning . . . No, I do not MAKE my kids play the piano! But, they like to "play" and pretend they're reading music! Looks like Kayla was getting the historical background on Chopin before she dove right in!

When one's "playing, " the other one wants to "play" as well!

Don't know if I think much of Piglet's hand position, Joshua! I promise . . . no more music geek pics for a while!