Circus

We went to the local circus today. We had such a great time. Jesse's Mom and Dad went with us which was great as we had our hands full. Nirvana our neice came too and they all got to ride an elephant!

Jesse

Jesse is finally finished traveling. It is so nice to know that he will be home everynight. The first weekend he was home he had a lot of little honey do's that were driving me crazy. He fixed our bathtub leak ,my computer and the alarm system.He weeded the yard and cleaned out our fish tank too.He did a bunch of other little things too, but I wont bore you with that. It is so nice to have a man around the house.

Hailey update

Hailey is getting so big! In the past week she has really been progressing. The first thing she has been doing, finally,is sleeping at night. She tends to get up only once and some nights we are so lucky she doesn't get up at all until about 5 or 6.I think this gives her the energy to move. She can roll multiple times and also propels herself from one end of a blanket to the other. She tries to go forward but ends up going backwards.I'm still impressed. She also said her first word today....no it wasn't Dada it was MOMMA!!!!! I was so excited. I told Jesse about it and then she said it again. This was nice as it proved to me I wasn't crazy. I can't believe my baby is growing so fast. My pregnancy sure took a lot longer!

Date Night

Jesse and I have been incredibly blessed throughout his travel time at work. We have gotten to go on more dates in the past 8 weeks as we have had in years. Since he has been gone during the week we have been going out on Fridays to celebrate his return. He has spoiled me rotten at some great places and we have found some places that are so not worth the money.


Our favorite is The Keg. The service was great, the dinner was wonderful and the price was really reasonable. Our least favorite was Bob's Steakhouse. We thought it was insanely overpriced to the value and the service was just okay. Some other good ones were Sambuca's and Sullivan's. At Sullivan's we did a special Jazz night and even danced to our choice of song. We are going back to the Keg tonight and I can't wait. It has been so nice to Date my hubby again. Reminds me of why I fell for him in the first place.

Holly Lake Ranch

Ok so I took the kids on a road trip to Holly Lake Ranch this week. My parents have a timeshare in Branson that is BEAUTIFUL, but it was simply too far for Spring Break so they decided to trade for someplace relatively close. (2 1/2 hours) They were told this would be an equivalent resort to their own, so we where really looking forward to our vacation time there. WELL, let me tell you the person who said that flat out lied. This place was such a dump in comparison.A few examples...
The couches had a film of grime on them.
The master bedroom was open to the bathroom with mirrors all over the bathroom, including were the toilet was. Yeah picture that in your head.
The whole place felt very claustrophobic.
I could go on but you really don't want to know.

My poor parents had to have been livid, but we all tried to make the best of it.We spent as much time as possible outside. We took the kids on a nature hike. (Hailey was such a good sport during this.)We miniature golfed.(Cade more or less ran around and got in everyone's way, but he seemed to enjoy himself.) We took them to the playground and we let them "swim" in the tub.(see picture above) To them it was great and I'm so glad. They actually wanted to know why we were leaving early!

School

Cade started his preschool class on Monday and was so excited. (He will go every Monday for about a year and a half and then I will probably put him in a three times a week preschool until he goes to kindergarten.) He walked in happy, proud and confident. Everything went smoothly until I took him to the bathroom and when we came back out more kids had arrived. He went super shy and clingy. I was a little worried to leave him, but I knew he would be fine when he didn't have me to depend on. Nevertheless, I drove by once and looked in to make sure he was ok. Anyway, when I went to pick him up he was having a great time and his teacher said as soon as I left another little boy came in. The little boy was crying and Cade went right over and comforted him. He did excellent after that too.

Genicey got her class pictures back and she looked darling so I had to add a picture of that also. PS. She is on the second row to the left.

Car Trouble

I have so much to write about, but I want to add pictures. I simply do not have the time to manage that so I'll just write a brief note about ...well obviously car trouble. We just fixed a few "minor problems" on Jesse's car and I thought I took it pretty well. Things happen. EXPENSIVE things, but still it's just money right? Well guess what....today the kids and I got stranded at Exxon for 45 minutesish. I went after a long day to get gas and then my car wouldn't start. Apparently Saturns are known for ignition trouble, but have never recalled them. Mine had been acting up on me a little, but always started after a try or two, but this time I kept trying and nothing. I had three hungry, cold and tired children. They were very good though considering, but my goodness is that a big deal for them. Actually Hailey was great, but the two big kids were very aware something wasn't right.) I felt terrible. Then of course Cade had to use the bathroom so I took all three kids in the cold rain, to the bathroom where they preceded to touch things (what isn't nasty in a public bathroom).Luckily, my Dad came and helped us out. He got the car started and I got home. I have no idea if the car will run tomorrow, but Im just happy to be home safe and sound.

Genicey reading her first home reader....

Genicey's school started sending home, "Home Readers" about a month ago. This was her first one and we were quite proud of her. I guess technically this video should be first, but I didn't realize I would be blogging then:)

a day in the life....

I wanted to post last week, but I simply couldn't find time to actually write anything. Hey at least I loaded a few pictures right? Anyway here are the highlights...

Jesse found out he has to do a bit more traveling before this is all over, but sometimes these things simply cannot be helped. He does get to be in town one extra day a week though so that is a major plus.

Genicey did start gymnastics and is hooked already. I am so glad we are able to do this for her. I can see her flipping all over the place by next year.:)

I finally signed Cade up for a once a week preschool. I think it will do him good to be on his own a little and start learning a little of what school is about. Genicey went to this same preschool and I loved her teacher so I think he will really enjoy himself too.

Hailey is teething like mad. She has had a heck of a time with those poor little gums and I will be so happy when they finally come through and give her some relief! She was just starting to sleep well at night.

Jesse and I did manage a short date on saturday night. We went to a place called The Keg. The name is very misleading as the beer selection is quite small. The Keg is a wonderful steakhouse and our meal was delicious. The music was simply over the speakers, but a great selection of songs were played during our meal too.