Canceled

Soccer practice on Saturday- canceled due to rain and cold temperatures (you know in the 40's cold). Soccer games on Sunday- canceled due to the 5 inches of snow on the ground after a half inch of rain.

Valynn and I had a very nice spa days with the girl scouts yesterday. Today Valynn was able to attend softball practice (indoors) since soccer was canceled. I think I forgot to mention that I am helping coach Valynn's team this year. Her coaches are her girl scout leaders and they were looking for another coach so I said I would be happy to help even if I have never played softball.

Kyleigh learned another "trick" today. She pushes herself backwards when she's on her stomach. She had a huge grin on her face as she pushed herself away from me. She goes back Thursday for an ear check, we're praying that the infection is cleared up. Also check out the family photos, the photographer did a collage of Kyleigh that I thought turned out great.

It's another busy week of Easter parties and meetings, etc. I'll keep you posted.

7 months

Just a quick little update as our little one turned 7 months yesterday. What a difference a week makes. A week ago Kyleigh wasn't rolling from her back to her stomach and with prodding she would go from her stomach to her back. She was perfectly content just sitting there. Now 6 days later not only is she rolling every where she has figured out how to scoot herself backwards when she is sitting on the floor. She will also go from sitting to laying on her stomach. It's almost like you could see the lightbulb go on in her head and she now has places to go.

It's so wonderful to see the other three kids still love her so much. They ask that we put her down so they can play with her. This morning Mason and Valynn watched Kyleigh while a took a shower and she is constantly inundated with hugs and kisses from the three of them. This morning she was the first one up and as soon as she saw the kids come out into the living room her face lit up in anticipation of play time.

Valynn and Mason were supposed to have soccer practice today but that is cancelled as we anticipate 3-7 inches of snow. Tomorrow is supposed to be their first games, we'll see. Today Valynn and I are doing a Mother Daughter Spa days with Girl Scouts. Should be fun.

Good news!!

We got our fridge fixed for less than $150. Oh, and Kyleigh finally rolled today at 6 1/2 months. I'm just a little excited since she decided to make me sweat on this milestone. She was so funny, once she realized she could get across the room there was no stopping her. I have a picture of Kyleigh with Buttons, I usually have to kick a cat out when I go to lay her down. I also have Kyleigh in a picture of how she came home from church. She had two dirty diaper explosions (moving up a diaper size didn't help) so the only option was to put her in one of Kyra's shirts.

I have a couple pictures of Kyra dress in her princess outfits. She has been our princess lately. Valynn and I went bowling yesterday with her Brownie troop. She had a great time. I also want everyone to know that "Valynn's mom has a very cool van". That's right a 7 year old thinks my '97 Suburban is AWESOME. One of the other Brownies that rode with us kept telling Valynn that.

I know I don't have pictures of the other two kids so I'll try to get some posted soon. If you have checked out the link to our family pictures, make sure you do that.

So I jinxed myself

Kyleigh decided not to sleep last night unless she was in bed with us. Kyra woke up in the middle of the night with a fever. And our fridge quit working yesterday. It must be something in the water because the Johnson's had to buy a new fridge this week as well. So after buying electrical supplies for the garage, oak doors for the house, clothes for the adults, all this week, it now looks like we're going fridge shopping. Good thing Mark got his STIP (bonus) from last year.

Recap

Just a few things that have been happening around here. Tuesday night I had some "girl" time with some friends getting a Mary Kay facial. Always fun to try out different make up colors. Wednesday night Valynn had a sleep over at the Johnson's. The other three kids went over there while Mark and I went out for supper and then did some shopping. We had a wonderful meal at Granite City and can't say enough about the wait staff. The kids had a great time and Valynn can't wait to do it again. Yesterday Kyleigh had her follow up appointment for her ear, it's still red so she's on another antibiotic. The good news is she has slept for a 5 hours stretch the last four night, now that I've jinxed myself, onto other things. I got my "boot" off yesterday, I can now wear matching shoes again, hooray.

And now for our brag, we had Valynn's conferences last night. The teacher said she almost called to cancel because there isn't anything to discuss. Valynn is doing wonderfully, she gets along well with others, her work is top notch, and Valynn is respectful. The only area to improve on is she sometimes gets sloppy with her writing and coloring which we know is her sign of boredom. Her reading is still scored at a 3rd grade level because she is having trouble with the critical thinking and the teacher is going to try to work on that the rest of the school year. An example of this is if in the story Anne mentions her brother but the brother isn't actually part of the story, Valynn needs to be able to infer what Anne thinks about the brother. All in all a wonderful report and Valynn is headed to 2nd grade next year. We joked with the teacher on why Mark is now the one checking her math homework. See I was checking it but missed a couple that Valynn got wrong and so Mark thought he could do a better job. I still think he should check it while cooking supper, answering questions from Mason and Valynn with Kyra throwing a tantrum at your feet while Kyleigh is crying in the background just to see how well he can do it. So far, Mark checks it after supper when it's quiet.

We are having a nice relaxing day at home before we're off to the races this weekend. The kids have meet the coach for teeball and softball, Valynn has soccer practice, Valynn has bowling with Girl scouts, and we have friends coming over. Sunday we have church and Mason has soccer practice. Well, back to reality, laundry needs to be folded and Kyra is ready for her nap, now if only she will nap (she didn't yesterday).

Family pictures

We are definitely enjoying the nice weather that we've had the last few days. They kids have been outside playing and I finally gave up on Mark taking down the Christmas lights and did it myself. Which in turn made the neighbor finally take his down as well. Saturday we had family pictures taken, here is the link I think the pictures turned out nice, she commented on how hard it is to get 5 let alone 6 people looking the right direction and smiling, especially when one is 2 years old and the other is 6 months. On Sunday after soccer pictures we decided to go out for supper and as we were deciding where to go the Donsbach's called and invited us to Elmwood so we went there. You can never go wrong with beer battered fries. Mark has been busy stimulating the economy, on Saturday he bought most of the electrical supplies he needs to wire the garage, with the help of Conrad who was working at Lowe's that night. Tonight we are buying oak doors for the house since they are on sale. Mark has a lot of trim work ready to install and needs the doors to complete the project.

This is a busy week for us. Wednesday night Mark and I get a much needed date night while the kids are at the neighbors, Valynn is having a sleep over over there. Thursday are parent teacher conferences, doctor's appointments, and another playdate. Saturday is all kinds of crazy, from practices, to meetings, to friend coming for supper, oh, and girl scouts bowling in there too.

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. Valynn received a very nice trophy from basketball and she is signed up for basketball camp this summer.

Don't you love how Kyra is cleaning the window? With a squirt gun full of water. It's the thought that counts.

Valynn has been home the last couple of days with an upset stomach. She napped yesterday which is a good sign that she isn't feeling well. Hopefully everyone is getting over the illnesses. I'm waiting for Kyleigh to start feeling better in hopes of her sleeping better at night.

Sigh....

Kyleigh's 6 month stats
Weight 15# 2 oz. (23%)
Height 26 in (55%)
Meeting a developmental milestone, except for rolling. The doctor will give her 2 more months to figure that out.
Ear infection.
The ear infection would explain the lack of sleep the past week.

I'm doing good with my foot. I still need to keep it elevated some during the day otherwise it starts to swell.

Valynn had her last basketball game last weekend. She got a trophy and has decided to want to do the basketball camp this summer.

Mark's brother Lloyd is back in Afghanistan for 3 months.

Mark's parents are coming tomorrow night for the weekend.

Valynn and Mason have meet the coach for soccer on Sunday.

Girl scout cookies come in tomorrow. I'm watching Annika for about 7 hours tomorrow.

Kyra is flexing her independence more and more every day. Kyra just learned how to spell her name orally.

I think that's a brief summary of our lives, I'll try to post some pictures soon.