30 Kids and Counting......

Emmrey LOVES babies.....okay maybe that is an understatement...she is OBSESSED!!  At last count she had 30 "kids" and she is still hoping for more:}  How does this happen you may be asking yourself? Well, first of all...we did not buy them ALL {some were gifts}.   Honestly...for someone like myself it makes me crazy...they are everywhere...all.the.time!  I have not been naive to the fact that she has too so many, every time I try to tell her we need to trim down to a manageable number...she falls apart.  They each have a name and she takes care of each of them (on different days), so for her it would be like asking her to give away a part of her family:{  So I continue to search for the perfect solution for storing all these "grandkids" {haven't found it yet} and try to remember that these days pass quickly and I should enjoy it while it lasts.  As much as I love a tidy house....I love even more watching her be a lil' momma. It's the one thing she plays daily...so at least its not another wasteful toy that is bought and then played with once in a while.  Now don't think she does this entirely on her own...she does have a "hubby" named Jo that has been in our family for over 2 years now-I'll have to write more on that later;}  So here you have our little "baby hoarder" (Mark called her this and now she calls herself this with pride) and her kids from l to r (back to front)- Coydroy, Kilya, Simon, Anna, Jack, Scarf, JJ, Boo, {Emmrey}, Matilda, Jillian, Lavender, Patches, Coconut, Tiana, Dorothy, Teddy, Georgie, Cris, Buffalo, Flista, Iguana, Jewel, Tiger, Blue, Berry, Penelope, Sun Bear, Renae, Molly and {Jo} Not pictured: Jenni {who was sick in bed}

Oh...later that day...Emmrey told us that she and Jo were having a "date night" and so her cute little sisters set them up a romantic dinner in dad's fly-tying room.....so thoughtful!  Of course the dinner was served with Ketchup ....Jo's favorite!!!

Oh how I LOVE this age!!

Yippee!!

I have spent the past 4 weeks waiting with bated breath to hear whether or not I passed the PRAXIS II .....well I got my results this week.....and.....I PASSED!!!!  I not only passed, but I scored above average in most areas.  Can I tell you how relieved I am:}  This {4 hour} test is pretty grueling and covers everything and anything that has to do with teaching.  Not only is it difficult to study for, but it is expensive to take and if you don't receive a high enough score, you just have to keep taking it over .....and it is not offered locally (had to travel to Billings).  So needless to say...I am pleasantly surprised {because I didn't feel very optimistic after taking it:}  One more thing down on my path to making it official......finish up portfolio, diploma in hand and then I will be set.  For what....I don't exactly know yet...but it sure will feel good to have that degree!!

Easter Eggstravaganza

Am I the only one who feels like Easter really snuck up on them this year?  I think it was because it was so early in the month...although I do remember year(s) when it came in March...yikes!!  Ready or not....it came with all the hoopla:}  We kicked things off by coloring eggs....a favorite for sure.

We made our own dye this year and I have to say the colors were much more vibrant.  These girls don't mess around when dying eggs....Bailee is a bit more conscientious than her sisters, but Kars and Emm were done in no time at all.  Were not a huge hard boiled egg eatin' family, but we did all want to do something different with them.  Karsyn likes to peel and eat them, Bailee wanted to "devil" some, I wanted to try making egg salad, Mark was indifferent to them, and Emmrey wanted to color them and "keep" them...she certainly doesn't want to eat them in any way unless they are scrambled:}

We woke up Sunday and sure enough the Easter Bunny had come and left a few surprises in their baskets.  He/She even remembered Stewy.....bunnies gotta stick together!

The Egg Hunt would have to wait until after church.  Normally {some of us} are out of our church clothes as soon as we walk through the door, but that doesn't fly on Easter Sunday, I was happy we all endured for the sake of some pics of our Easter digs {I think Cadbury eggs make it more tolerable}.

The Easter Bunny brought a dress for each of the girls dolls as well, so they had to get a photo as well.

We ate, relaxed and then later I read our traditional Easter story with the items in plastic eggs.  My mom had given me this idea for Resurrection Rolls, so along with our story we made these rolls that represented the tomb, Jesus' body, the oils/spices.   Well things were going great....I even made sure they were all "sealed" up good.....and when the time had passed....THIS is what we saw.......Mark was giving me a hard time because the marshmallow represented Jesus.....OOPS!!

Oh well, I think they got the message and they tasted good.  Once we took them from the gooey pan, we did have a few that looked "empty" like they were supposed to, so it wasn't a total flop.   Thanks for the idea Mom!!!

Later that night before bed, we did a Flashlight Egg Hunt for the girls.  We were going to do it outside, but after a really beautiful day, the evening had cooled off and I thought that might spoil the fun of looking for the eggs in the dark.  So we opted for the basement, which gave us more places to hide and hunt.  With headlamps in place, the girls set off for the dark basement {Yes, Emmrey is shirtless!  Quite often she and Karsyn will look like this at bed time because they are hot:}

The basement was DARK {although it was difficult to capture that in the photos}.  The girls had to search for 24 shiny eggs with just their flashlight/headlamp.  It was pretty tricky{they were hidden well}, but so much fun.  Karsyn was getting frustrated because that is just how she is if anything takes too long.  But when they opened them up to find dollars inside, she perked right up.
                                                                                                                                                                       

                                                   

 

   
We had a great day with our little family and hope that you all had a very Happy Easter with those you love!!!

Spring Break comes early

We have spent this past week living it up in Jackson.  Mark had a work conference and we decided to make it a family getaway!!  My dear parents were kind enough to make arrangements with their Time Share Association so that we could use their condo rather than be couped up in a hotel room all week.  Let me tell you it made all the difference in the world!!  It was like "home away from home" with all the comforts you could ask for but none of the daily worries or obligations.  It was so nice to have a kitchen so we didn't have to eat out EVERY meal....that gets old very fast.  The time-share system is how my family went on vacations as a kid, so it always brings back many happy childhood memories. And now as a parent myself, you just can't beat the accommodations....I don't know how we will manage to stay in a hotel room again:}

It was still wintry in Jackson...but not really enough for us to do any snow activities, so we spent most of our time hanging around the condo.  It was a perfect opportunity to catch up on Emmrey's scrapbook.  She has been asking me lately why she doesn't have a book like Bailee and Karsyn...poor lil' thing.  I made some serious progress, but I have a hard time choosing what pics to scrapbook.

We played and played and played.....we played games like "Goldfish" or you may know it as "Go Fish":}

The girls brought their dolls and spent every day creating a new scenario to play....one day it was school, the next hospital, one day they took them out for a science fair presentation in the commons and another they went swimming:}  I loved it!!  These are those "mom moments" that I relish in as I watch my girls just simply being kids and hoping it lasts forever...but sadly knowing it won't:{

There was also some creativity flowing with a dress "fit for a Queen" (made with an extra bed sheet;}

Despite all the play...there was time spent working as well.  In addition to Mark working all day (and some evenings)...Bailee did a wonderful job keeping caught up on her school work
(maybe we could home school after all).

We soaked in the Hot Tub...which was very HOT.  Persons under the age of 8 were not allowed in, so Emmrey had to be content with feet only.  She was actually "fine with that" and used the bathroom "shakoozi" as her substitute:}                      




We walked around the shops downtown and Emmrey wanted a picture with every stuffed/carved/bronzed critter we came across...it was pretty cute.

I caved and took the girls to the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.  I had a gut feeling as soon as I purchased the tickets that I had made the wrong choice....but it was too late.  There were a few cool things in there (the girls thought it was all cool:) like the spinning tunnel, and the Gibbet used for public executions...yikes!  But overall it was like paying for a movie where you've already seen the best parts in the preview:{  Should have known better...oh well, the girls were amazed.
      

What a relaxing week we had together.....made me want to move right in!!  But alas, we must return home to real life....such a rude awakening.  Hmmm....what will we do for our real Spring Break?

A HUGE Thank You to Mom and Dad for getting us hooked up with the condo.....we absolutely enjoyed every minute of our time there!!!