bathing in the kitchen sink

I have pictures of each of my boys bathing in the kitchen sink. Zack's can be found HERE -- they were some of the very first pictures I ever put on this blog. He was (and has always been) a goober. Ben and Luke's pictures are darling too, but they aren't digitized and I am too lazy to scan them in at this very moment. Anyway, the pictures are all hanging next to each other in a cute 3-picture frame. It's time to buy a new frame and add Simon to the mix. But first, I must decide which one is the best-- it's hard to choose! I think the little foot on the last one is my fave..... ?


Simon has been quite the ham for the camera lately. He says CHEESE loudly and proudly. The other day, he wanted some string cheese that Ben was eating and Ben told him to say "please". Instead he got a big grin and said, "CHEEEEEEEEESE!" which won him the whole stick, and anything else he wanted. We sure love him! Even more so when he's clean.

I'd prefer to keep my head.

My boys recieved awesome dry erase boards from a recent BBQ/birthday party with friends. They have spent COUNTLESS hours playing pictionary with these babies... there's nothing like seeing your kids draw, laugh and scream at each other over a homemade game. They also use it for secret messages. On my way out the door on a crazy Easter morning, I passed this sign hanging on the banister:

(meet me on the tramp after we change out of our church clothes. from Luke)

I thought it was particularly cute because all three boys are usually changing out of their clothes together after church. You would think it would be just as easy to tell your brothers face to face that you want to jump on the trampoline after church...? Is it wrong that we let our kids jump on Sunday? probably, but we have a good time living in sin.

Last weekend while shopping as a family at Kohl's, Zack pointed to two mannequins and said, "Hey look! Two girls without heads! I should probably marry one of them!" It was hilarious - especially hearing the way he said it, as if he had just landed on a goldmine or something- but the conversation that followed was even more entertaining and... insulting. My boys literally went on for 20 minutes about how COOL it would be to marry a girl without a head. First reason being: they wouldn't have to kiss her. That was followed by a long list of insolent remarks about women... she wouldn't EVER ask you to do anything, she couldn't complain about you stinking because she couldn't smell, she wouldn't roll her eyes or be mad, she couldn't see you do anything wrong, she couldn't BREATH or THINK or ARGUE or TALK... these are what I can remember off the top of my head, but the list was much longer. When we finally met up with Daddy, the boys started again-- telling Dad how cool it would be to marry a girl without a head. Instead of sticking up for his wife (& all women in the universe) Daddy replied, "Sounds pretty awesome to me." I told them all to be careful... if they're allowed to get rid of a body part, their wives should be allowed to chop off one of theirs. And we won't need a head to use a knife.

Forgive me for speaking so violently. I love men, especially mine. I literally have been on my death bed the past 48 hours. The only time I got out of bed yesterday was to walk to the toilet. I am 16 weeks pregnant and think I should be done with this nonsense. The things we do for a baby!! Aaron has literally waited on me and my children hand and foot. He went back to work this morning and we are all missing him dearly. Which is exactly why I've called him four times in the past hour, "Are you homesick for me yet?" If I didn't have a head, he would miss me calling him, of this I am sure.

That's all I've got for today, folks. Headed back to bed for a minute.

easter. twenty eleven.

My two older boys aren't eating candy in 2011. It's a pretty crazy challenge they took on in January and have stuck to their guns. I went without candy for a year when I was in high school and my parents paid me $100. While chatting it up with my dad over Christmas, my boys wanted to know if they could get paid to not eat candy. I welcomed the challege, but figured it would be too difficult for them. After four months without candy, they aren't even tempted... I'm sure it helps that they are doing it together. They have lots of willpower (and must be money hungry!) Every once in a while, Ben & Luke will give Zack a challenge to go without candy for five days-- or a week and at the end he will get to pick one of their lego men, etc. Needless to say, it's been an interesting year without candy in our house.

Which brings me to Easter. What fun is Easter without candy? Turns out, it can be pretty exciting. In fact, my kids Easter baskets were totally radical. They got string cheese, crackers, fruit snacks, granola bars, new toothbrushes and toothpaste, silly string, water balloons, goggles, etc. Were we crying over missing jelly beans and Cadbury eggs? Absolutely not. (although Aaron insisted that the Easter Bunny bring him candy this year, and his wish was granted..)

Simon got a basket too, but was a little confused to find a box of Mr. Clean erasers instead of a toy. As soon as he stops making messes, we will all be a little more happy around here..
I was happy enough to stay away from the sweets & nibble on this chubby neck. This is my nephew Oliver and he is oh! SO! scrumptious!

Aaron's brother and family came to stay for the weekend and we had such a great time together. We met up with old friends for a BBQ and stayed up late talking every night. kt (my sis in law) did lots of cooking because I wasn't feeling too hot. It was so nice to take a nap after church on Sunday and wake up to yummy potatoes and ham for dinner! Too bad I ended up throwing it up a few hours later (and too bad for my husband for having to clean it up because I didn't make it to the bathroom in time.. I did contain it all into one blanket, but still... he is my hero.)


All in all, it was a great Easter weekend and a fabulous week leading up to it without any television or computer in our home. It makes me realize more than ever what really matters in life-- and what we really NEED to be happy. I love my family and I am so grateful for the blessing which are ours. We are all so eggcited to welcome a new little person into our home.

how long does it take three boys to peel 15 potatoes and 15 carrots?

approximately 45 minutes.
How long does it take three boys to clean up the peelings off of the floor after having a potato peel fight? approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Tomorrow is the beginning of our traditional 7 day MEDIA FAST (beginning the week before Easter). Six months ago we got rid of television and haven't wanted it back. We have also downsized to one computer, which doesn't get used very often. Our family life is much different than it has been the past few years during these media strikes, so we probably won't see much of a difference. We shall see. Anyway, I will catchya in a week or so. Happy Easter!

winnebago

The Kesslers rented an RV for the week and came to Vegas! Karlin and Jason have quite the krew with their three kiddos and two teenagers (Karlin's awesome siblings they've raised since her mom passed away.) We L.O.V.E this family to pieces. We had lots of fun catching up, swimming @ Mandalay Bay, playing with the kiddos, making homemade pizza, hanging with the Capuas and just being together. Driving around town in their RV made me want to get one so badly! Yes, I still have dreams of traveling the country with my family in one of these.
The adults were also able to sneak away for dinner. None of us had been to Cheeburger Cheeburger and after dinner, I think we were all happy we went. Yum! There's nothing like eating greasy food, cherry cokes and hanging out with old friends... wish we could do it more often!

*for documenting purposes. My favorite part of this night was Aaron's high school memory about a kid name Saul who got expelled for "plopping" his wiener on some girl's shoulder in their art class. It's amazing how you can be married to someone for ten years and never hear a story like that until it casually comes up in a dinner conversation with friends. Oh man, I am still laughing....