TBall time!

Valynn had her first Tball game today. She got two hits. Every player gets 6 balls pitched to them and if they don't get a hit then the Tee is brought out. Valynn didn't need the Tee. She played in the outfield and by the pitcher. They only played for two innings and every player got to hit two times. No score was kept and even if a player was out at first they still got to run all the bases. Valynn had fun but I think she got a little bored. In the last picture, that's Valynn in the background rounding second base.

Unfortunately the Peoria Chiefs baseball game was rained out yesterday. CAT electronics gave employees free tickets and a buffet to one of four games this past week. We will be allowed to exchange our tickets for another game so the kids will still get to go.

Iowa Vacation

We had a great time on vacation. We left a day earlier than planned and headed to the Quad Cities. We went to the zoo and spent close to four hours there. They have a lot more features and animals than the zoo in Peoria. We were able to feed some birds nectar, they kids thought it was great how the birds would land on you. We saw a baby monkey playing with it's parents. The kids enjoyed all the animals and the train ride. After the zoo we headed north to Maquoketa to visit Bonnie and Jerald since we hadn't seen them all winter. Bonnie spoiled us with fresh homemade donuts and chocolate chip bars. We always eat too much when we're there. We had a great visit. On Monday we went to Burlington, IA. We went to the waterpark, go kart track, arcade, and bowling. The kids had a great time. Kyra didn't think much of the water at first but by the last day she loved it. Valynn was able to go down the big tube slide with Mark. I think the two of the would have spent most of the day there. It was too cold for the outdoor waterpark to be open, so maybe next time. Valynn and Mason were able to drive their own go karts. We made sure to drive down Snake Alley, it's the crookedest street in the world. We also had to try to tackle their 28" pizza (we ate half). The kids thought it was great to watch TV until 11:00 at night and sleep in the next day. The kids can't wait to go again. We have a busy weekend coming up so I'll be posting more pictures later.

Weekly recap

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It was a busy week so here is the summary. Wednesday was my birthday. The kids baked and decorated my cake (yes that's my belly in the picture with the cake). They gave me a new digital camera for my Mother's Day/ Birthday gift. So I've spent some of my free time learning how to use it. I worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The last two days I taught Kindergarten. Valynn is now officially done with her Kindergarten year, it is so hard to believe. She had a wonderful year and I really enjoyed subbing at the school. On Friday we had Alyssa and Chance over for supper. Alyssa has babysat the kids for the last five years and she's getting married this summer. They came to help Valynn and Mason with their baseball skills. Alyssa played softball in college and Chance is a coach for basketball, and has coached TBall in the past. They did a wonderful job with the kids and everyone had a great time. The kids learned quite a few pointers as well. I tried out the video feature on my new camera so here's some footage from them playing baseball, unfortunately I ran out of memory before Valynn got a hit. After it got dark we went in and played the Wii. Mason beat everyone in bowling, scoring a 203. We wish everyone a great weekend.

All about Valynn

Last night Valynn had her bridging ceremony. She is now officially a brownie. She really enjoyed Daisy scouts and can't wait to start up again next year. Today she had her last field trip as a Kindergartener. We went to Wildlife Prairie State Park. Mark met us there and we had a great time. We got to see all of the animals. The black bears were up and walking so we could get a close look. We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend before Valynn starts her TBall games in a couple of weeks. Valynn has five days of school left and then her Kindergarten year comes to a close.

Safety Town

I think we are finally over all illnesses here. Today we had a play group at Safety Town. It's a bicycle course designed like roads. There is a bridge and an underpass, stop lights, and one ways. I had forgotten about this place. Mason had a great time and wants to go back. I'm sure Valynn will want to go when she sees the pictures. Kyra had fun riding her bike (tractor) as well. It also wears kids out, Mason and Kyra are napping. Tomorrow night is Valynn's bridging ceremony to Brownies. On Friday she had a field trip to Wildlife Prairie State park.

Can I get a do over on Mother's Day?

On Friday Mason has his last day of school which was a field trip to the zoo. Mason and Kyra had a great time. We haven't been to the zoo in a year so Kyra was thrilled to see the animals. After the zoo I rushed home to drop Mason and Kyra off with Chantel so I could head up to Valynn's school. She had a Mother's Day spa for me. They had four stations, a snack station where Valynn waited on me. A massage station where I got my feet and back rubbed. A hair and make up station and a manicure and pedicure station where Valynn painted my nails. It was a lot of fun, and Valynn enjoyed herself as well. Friday night we went over to Brad and Chantel's for supper. On Saturday we went to Bloomington for lunch with Sheldon and Kristen. We had a great visit, and the kids had fun playing. I got the rest of my stuff to finish the girls names. I thought they turned out good, now we just need dad to hang them up.

Now for why I want a do over. Last night around 3:00 we got a thunderstorm. Kyra woke up because she's scared of thunder. I brought her to bed with us and she fell asleep. Around 3:30 she threw up, all over herself and me. She ended up throwing up two more times before 4:30. She only hit the bed once, but she hit me all three times. So far she's been fine this morning. The kids made me breakfast and helped clean up. We're going to stay home from church but I'll maybe talk Mark into running into Princeville for lunch since we were going to go out to eat. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers!!

Yep it was

an ear infection. So now Mason is on antibiotics as well. After some masterful maneuvering, Mark left work early to take Mason to the doctor while us girls got our haircut. Kyra sat in the seat by herself while her hair was being cut. She wouldn't smile but she didn't move either. Normally I've had to hold her on my lap and she keeps turning her head to see what Megan is doing. Kyra looked straight ahead, she just got her bangs trimmed. Valynn got about 2 inches cut off and I got about 3 inches cut off.

I had a doctor's appointment today. So far so good. I'm already to the point where I have to go every two weeks. I haven't heard from Mark yet about how his meeting went with the county board. I'm assuming there were no problems. Off to pick up Valynn for dance class.