Bowling for Nolan's Birthday

For Nolan's birthday he didn't want to go out to eat.  He wanted to go bowling at a real bowling alley.  It has been a while since we have been bowling as a family, he might not even remember the last time.  We do play bowling on the wii at home, which is why he specified that he wanted to go to a real bowling alley.  JJ had been out of town at a conference but came home late afternoon.  Lucy played some basketball games and then w headed bowling.  We went to a smaller bowling alley which we had never been to.  It was much nicer then we thought it would be and we had a really fun time playing.  Nolan wanted to do everything by himself.  He would walk up there and slightly throw his ball down the alley.  We had the bumpers up which helped us all out.  He also liked to sit on the little step and watch people bowl.  Everyone had a good game and we had fun playing.  We are glad Nolan choose bowling over going out to eat.

Conference

JJ was excited to attend the COVD conference.  He was glad it was being held in Kansas City.  It wasn't a far drive and he was able to stay with my Sister Kelsey and her husband Geoff.  He went to some great classes and learned a lot.  He saw some great new products and was able to get some ideas of things he wants in his office.  He was also able to reconnect with some friends from SCO who are also doing vision therapy.  He had a great trip and I am glad he was able to go. 

Easter Bunny

When Lucy and Garrett were younger things were different.  I would take them to do everything and make sure each holiday we did all the traditional things.  As I get older and our schedules get busier I don't have that drive to make sure all those things happen for Nolan.  There were several activities to do around the community around Easter and I put a few on my calendar incase we decided to do.  One of the things I thought would be fun was seeing the Easter bunny at the firehouse.  This is something that with the older two I would have made a priority.  I want to make sure Nolan gets these same experiences and so after soccer games we dropped Lucy off at her basketball practice and went over.  I had the boys and I mostly wanted Nolan to sit with the Easter bunny for a picture.  They gave you a free print.  We waited in line which was thankfully much shorter then when we drove by on our way to soccer.  When we got into the firehouse the boys sat at a table together and did some Easter coloring pages.  It was a cute set up and the kids both sat up on the old firetruck with a picture.  We then had some free cookies and punch while we wanted for our picture to print.  The boys climbed up in the firetruck and then we headed back home.  We had a nice time, me and the boys.  I'm glad we made an effort to get out and do that.       

The kids have been doing all the fitness assessments during gym class at school.  They have to do so well in all the categories to earn a presidential fitness award.  They each ran the mile, Garrett's class ran first.  He came home with this award and time of 7 minutes 5 seconds for his mile time.  Lucy ran a few days later and I know she wanted to beat him so bad.  The two are so competitive.  She ended up running it in 7 minutes and 30 seconds, or something like that.  She came home a few days later and had said they let her redo her run with another class and she got 6 minutes and 50 something seconds.  She was proud of herself, and she should be because that's an awesome time.  I know she was mostly proud to beat her brother.  Either way we are proud of them both, thy did a great job running.    

 I had a box that the kids used to make little roads to drive their cars on.  The had fun sitting out on the deck driving their cars around.  Its funny that we have a million different car track toys and they get so excited about an empty blank box.

Run at the Park

I love when the weather warms up and we can be outside more often.  Wednesday mornings we don't go to the gym.  I still wanted to get a workout in so I loaded up Nolan's bike and we headed to the park.  He wanted to run with me so I let him run one lap.  He did good but got tiered.  I got his bike out and he road his bike around while I jogged.  Every once and a while he would hop off his bike and run over to pick a dandelion flower for me.  He would run up to me with a big smile on his face so happy to give me the flower.  I didn't want to toss them so I put them in my running belt.  By the end of my run I had several flowers in there.  It was so sweet, I hate them in my yard but think its so sweet when my kids pick them for me.  I was able to get a 4 mile run in.  The last two laps I did he sat and played in the rocks.  We were the only ones there so I let him play while I ran. We then played at the playground for a while.  It was a really nice morning together.  I really do love my time with Nolan and he is a sweet buddy.  Sometimes we aren't on the same page with what we want to do during the day.  I know I could get more done during the day without him home and run my errands faster.  I often find myself looking forward to him being in school this fall.  I keep thinking about how life will be different for me and there are days I can't wait for that time to come.  This morning I was happy to have him with me and sad to think that our days together like that are coming to an end.  I am trying to enjoy all these little moments we have and be grateful for the friend he is to me during the day.  I have a feeling that I will be lonely at home by myself this fall.         

Last Day of Speech

We have been working hard the past year with Nolan's speech.  We have really enjoyed working with Ms. Kim at Barfield early childhood center through the school district.  We knew the drill since we had been down this road with Garrett.  I was so thankful that we were better prepared for making sure we progressed quickly and acted on his speech problems as soon as we noticed them.  Nolan started right away with sounds and we worked with him as much as we could at home.  He progressed quickly and we are so proud of him.  He finished speech with Ms. Kim and wont have to enter Kindergarten with any speech delays.  That was always a goal of ours because we felt that Garrett progressed so quickly but plateaued when he got to elementary school.  Ms. Kim was so sweet and gave Nolan his own thing of gum, mints and a Harry Potter keychain.  She knows all his favorite things!  She really enjoyed working with him and we have enjoyed working with her.  It will be nice to free up that time and not have to go each week.      

Conference weekend was beautiful!  The weather was so nice and things are starting to bloom.  Our tree in the front yard blossomed overnight and is so pretty, but stinky.  We listened to what we could on Saturday.  We then went to the church for Sunday morning session.  I always listen better sitting in the chapel.  It also helps me remember its Sunday.  We listened to the Sunday afternoon session at home.  JJ and I were able to get out and go on a walk together in between sessions.  It was so pretty outside and it was nice to leave the kids home playing while we went.  That evening we played a family game of croquette, it has been a while since we played that.  The kids did well and it was an enjoyable evening. 

Wetland Activity

Saturday was a busy day, we got all the cinnamon rolls delivered and then meet up at Garrett's soccer game.  We watched Garrett play a great game and ate our lunch while we watched him.  Then we headed to Busch Wildlife for the wetland activity.  We have been going to this activity since I was pregnant with Nolan.  I felt like this year may have been our last year.  We might have outgrown it or just have been there done that.  We walked around and saw things like birds, we sampled fried catfish, did the fishing activity and went inside a blow up beaver home.  We then went down to the pond where the kids used these nets to pull things from the water.  When they got a scoop they would dump it on a blue tray.  They would then look through it and see if they found anything cool.  Garrett especially enjoyed this activity and didn't want to leave when we were done.  The kids enjoyed going and Nolan is so sweet and always thanks us for taking him places.  So did the other kids!

Soccer Pictures

Cinnamon Rolls

Lucy decided to make and sell cinnamon rolls again during conference weekend.  This has been a great way for her to earn some money for basketball.  We were up late Friday night getting them all frosted and ready to delivery Saturday morning.  She earned her money and realizes its hard work to earn it.  She sold 10 1/2 dozen cinnamon rolls and should now have enough to pay for her spring session of basketball. 

 

Nolan and I went to story time, we learned about taking care of things.  We talked about taking care of the earth and our bodies.  It was another Mister Rogers story time.  The activity was "brushing" a tooth with some toothpaste, which was actually paint.  Nolan liked painting with a toothbrush.  We played and checked out some books. 

 Everything is turning green and lawn mowing time has begun! 

STEM Competition

Garrett's STEM team won the school district competition and advanced to the county competition.  He was excited to go and even got online to look up some possible designs for his STEM challenge.  One of his teammates wasn't going to be there so it was just him and his friend Derek.  JJ took him up there and told us how they did such a good job.  The had to make a catapult and launch a ping pong ball.  They had two tries to see who could get it the farthest.  Garrett and Derek won first place!  It was so exciting for them and we are proud of Garrett.  He brought home another medal and was excited to wear it to school the next day and show his class.       

Baby Shower for Jenny and Anna

Jenny's family gave her a really nice shower for her and baby Anna.  We are so excited for Jordan and Jenny and can't wait to meet baby Anna.  Lucy was excited to come to the shower with me.  She has never been to a baby shower before and was looking forward to see what they are like. We all chipped in and got them the stroller and car seat they registered for.  They were so grateful to receive it!  My Mom made Anna a beautiful quilt, it turned out so good.  It was fun to visit with my Mom, Christy and Kelsey who had driven in for the weekend.  That night we all went out to eat at Olive Garden so we could hang out together with Kelsey while she was in town.  We haven't been to Olive Garden in years.     

Alpaca Farm

 Lucy and Garrett are on spring break, to bad they all weren't on spring break at the same time.  It really threw my schedule off, it was hard to remember what was going on each day.  Nolan still had preschool while Lucy and Garrett were on spring break.  The weather was only going to be nice and sunny one of the days.  We decided that would be the day we would plan to go do something fun together.  Nolan was fine to miss preschool that afternoon so he could spend time with us.  I was trying to think of something fun to do that wouldn't cost to much but also be fun for the kids.  I didn't want them to have such a boring spring break.  We thought of the zoo but knew it would be busy, we thought of Big Joel's safari but they aren't open yet for the year.  I then remembered something posted on Nolan's preschool page.  They have been posting people's favorite things to do and there was an alpaca farm that I remember seeing and thinking sounded fun.  I looked up their website and knew we would love it.  It is someone's private family farm but he gives free tours of his farm.  I called that morning and asked if we could come and so we made plans to head over after lunch.  It really was his private property with animals not to far from his home.  It was so neat and the guy was so nice to give us a private tour of all the animals.  We started with the chickens, they have over 200 chickens there and they sell the eggs.  He said they have been very successful selling the eggs.  He taught the kids how to pick up and hold a chicken properly.  They loved that and all took a turn holding a chicken.  I even held one, he was a very friendly chicken that use to be a family pet.  The family could no longer have it so they gave it to him.  He showed us that the chickens only come in the chicken coupe to lay eggs.  Sure enough as we were there a chicken got down and we saw the freshly laid egg.  He picked it up and let us feel how it was still warm.  All the eggs looked different and it was so interesting to see them all.          

 

 He drove us around in his gold cart showing us the goats and the ducks and geese.  They have several goats that they breed and use the goat milk to make things.  They make soaps, lotions, Chapstick and body scrubs.  They also sell the duck and geese eggs, they have a baker drive up from Branson once a week to buy them.  We then went to see the female alpacas.  He told us how we needed to walk slowly around them so they don't get scared.  He told the kids to not stand behind them because they couldn't see them.  He also told us that they are very friendly and will most likely come up to you.  They seemed busy eating and not very interested in us.  He told us all about them and it was all so interesting.    

 We then headed to see the male alpacas, he told us they would be more friendly especially towards me and Lucy.  He said they love females.  He was right, as soon as they saw us they started walking towards us.  One went right up to Lucy and wanted his neck rubbed.  It was fun to interact with them more.  If you lean in real close and say "kisses" they will put their nose us to yours and give you kisses.  The kids really tried hard to get kisses from anyone that would get close to them.  I think we all got kisses from a few of them.  It was a really fun experience to be that close to them.  Their coats were long and he said they were most likely hot.  They were going to be shaved the following week.  

 We had the best time and loved it, we want to go back!  We went into their store to see what kinds of things they had made and what they were selling.  They had lots of alpaca yarn and other handmade things.  I wanted to buy something small since the tour was free.  I saw their soaps and they weren't to expensive.  They had a basket of soap butts, the scrap piece from the end of the soap block before they start cutting the bars of soap.  They were only $1 so I told the kids they could all pick one out.  They were all looking forward to a nice bath with their new soaps.  From there we went to Towne Park to play and have a snack.  It was such a beautiful day and I feel like we deserved it with all the cold weather we are still having.  I enjoyed sitting in the sun on a bench watching the kids play.  They could play for hours at that park.  It was the best day and the kids were so excited to tell JJ all about it.