Hallelujah - He is Risen! (and I have help again:)

Last week, Dave spent the week in Grundy Center, IA filling in for a CRNA buddy of his that was on vacation (lined up with Dave's vacation here). It is good money and Dave likes to do it (gets pretty high praises from everyone everywhere he goes:) and though I had agreed that it would be okay last fall, I was pretty nervous as his week away approached! But as with most things, I get a little overwhelmed and then I get a "kick your butt" attitude:) Amazingly, it was spring break for Mauston and the surrounding area, so Kate's soccer and dance were canceled for the week. She still had school in New Lisbon (they don't have a traditional spring break) so we only had school to get to during the week, and that was very helpful. 

So many smiles from this guy

Daddy jumped into some painting we were doing before he left

Kate wanted to take a picture of all of them

We received a package from Japan!

Playing with the stickers from cousin Quinn

The days went fast, as you might expect with a 5 year-old, 2 year-old and 10 week-old:) We had some difficult moments but lots of great moments and it all went well. I was also getting ready to be gone for Easter weekend and our first overnight trip away with Ayden! On Thursday I picked Kate up from school and we headed straight to Burr Oak for Easter weekend. It took me all week to organize, pack and get us ready to go, but the house was even clean when we left:) There were some very timely and long naps to ensure that everything got done - thanks kiddos!

Bathtime when Daddy is gone!

A-Dub

Some warm and windy days turned calm. Our backyard.

My super helper

Playdate with Nolan

Collin checking on Freya

Hmm....

The drive to Burr Oak was fine. We had an hour "layover" in La Crosse which included a Katie potty break which had to happen just shy of La Crosse, I took an exit I've never taken, and ran with all three kids across a parking lot of a grocery store. Good times. Then nursing/changing Ayden and grabbing food for us. I can still climb into the very back of the van (next to Kate) to nurse but it was a little tight with the van packed for a long weekend! I did text Dave once to tell me it would be okay. I sometimes need him to tell me everything will be alright. And if I text him telling him all hell is breaking loose, it often turns things around:) While in line for the drive-through Panera, Ayden was crying so loud that I couldn't hear the gal and she couldn't hear me:(  But one giant iced green tea later, we were cruising on the interstate and Ayden was sleeping once again. I uttered an early Hallelujah:) 

They love the toys at Gma & Gpa's (they are so super old:)

Kate wanted me to text Kylie and then she was going to send her one picture of a flower.
This is what I found had been sent...

Dave joined us in Burr Oak on Friday and we had some nice time together, visiting, playing cards (I dominated the Shanghai game, thank you very much) and playing with the kids. Kate and Collin slept in the basement and Ayden slept in the mainfloor bedroom with us. (upstairs bedroom is staging place for bathroom renovation!) and the sleeping went well. The first night, everyone slept through perfectly. Just what I needed! 

The consensus of the group was Collin's vocabulary and enunciation has improved leaps and bounds. It was fun for them to hear all his little words/sentences. He will be just as chatty as Kate, I think.  Whew, is that really possible? He finally was able to say "Gramma" so much better. "Bapa" and "Gramma" And he is pretty obsessed with them. As soon as we arrived to the house (Mom and Dad were still at work) he went around saying, "Bapa, home? Bapa, home?" I thought for awhile that he was saying "Tractor" for "Andy" as he often said that while pointing to his picture but he definitely says, "Annie" for "Andy" :) And I mean, there are a lot of tractors in the pictures of Andrew at Mom and Dads!

Well, wouldn't you know, the Whippy Dip was open!

a

Ayden's first time! Maybe he can sample some later...:)

The perfect size cone. For Kate.
Not for me:) 

On Saturday, we went to see Grandma at Wellington Place, something I have been wanting to do for SO long. And she needed to meet Ayden! So, we tried to arrange the visit to be optimal for Collin and Grandma:) A feat that is slightly tricky! 

It was hard to keep the big kids in that little room for that long, so they took some walks around and visited the fish and birds:) Ayden slept the whole time in the stroller and we had a good visit with Grandma. At the end, I woke Ayden up so we could take pictures together. I think Dave wanted to kill me for waking him from his long nap, but I wasn't apologetic! And we happened to get some wonderful pictures. That memory was totally worth the gamble (and he did fine with the abbreviated nap anyway)

GGma holding Ayden!

With the big kids

These are two of my most special gals

On Easter, we went to 10:30 a.m. church in Burr Oak. We, of course, sat down at about 10:29 a.m. so we were up front. Great. We were split between two rows as well and it was the three-kid shuffle for the first part of the service. Then I took Ayden down to nurse and he fell asleep in Gpa's arms after that. Collin had a hundred snacks/pouches and tried to grab both the wafers and wine at communion. We headed straight home afterward and enjoyed the beautiful weather! It was so, so nice out and the kids were outside most of the day (fun activity of the day - picking up sticks!) We distracted them out back while the "Easter Bunny" hid eggs out front. The prize inside this year was money. Change from my car:) and the Easter Bunny texted Uncle Andy about the egg hunt as well. These are some fun times, my friends:) I also have to thank Gma, Gpa and Andrew and Kylie for all their help pulling off the holiday for our kids. And to all our family for what they do each holiday - thank you! 

Decorating eggs

Kylie and Ayden supervising
(who knew there was so much wine involved in dying eggs:)

Easter morning!

On our way to church

Playing outside after church

Us too:)

This wasn't even the egg hunt. Just running around cuz it was nice!

We attempted some family pictures...it went about as expected with Collin trying to bolt from our laps at first. But after the combo of us all in the porch swing, Kylie taking the picture and Gma and Gpa jumping around being ridiculous, I think we got it! I was suffering mightily from a horrible cold over the weekend. My eyes were watering/burning, throat hurt, cough, almost lost my voice, etc. I am applying my oils now and am feeling better but I was pretty miserable through much of the weekend. Geoff, Mary and Kelsey stopped by on Sunday and it was so good to see them! We sat and chatted out on the back deck in the sun and they got to meet Ayden:)

These two were ready for pictures!

Yup. I did it. My first time dressing the boys the same!
It was surprisingly hard to find what I needed when shopping though:( 

Sweet smiles on Easter

When we came back home on Sunday, we had a little mini caravan going:) Collin wanted to go with Daddy and I had Kate and Ayden. Ayden was just the right amount of tired as we loaded him in, he slept the entire ride. Kate got to watch a movie so Mommy had a perfectly quiet two hours. Heaven. It was so nice to come home to a clean house and we shuffled the big kids to bed pretty quickly (they are always calling me Gma after we leave grandparents. Collin even called me Gma this morning:) Ayden had a very rough night back home. A couple nights actually. He ran a fever and was fussy and congested. Probably his version of my cold? Whew- I'm not used to being up that much, surprisingly! He seems better now, thank goodness. It is is just too tragic to see a wee little one sick. And of course, Dave now has the cold. We are working hard to make it a quick one and to prevent the big kiddos from getting it as well. Wish us luck!

Happy Easter!