The Start of Four.

 We took Kadence and her friend Kendallynn to Chuck E. Cheese for a little pre-Birthday celebration.  We are headed out of town Wednesday for the rest of the week but we wanted to do something special and include her good friend.  Kendallynn is in Kadence's class and they talk nonstop about each other.  It is actually pretty neat because her mom Bethany is an old coworker and friend of ours from our days at Meritcare.  Kendallynn also lives in our development so hopefully the two of them can play together after school is out.  We picked Kendallynn up and they were holding hands and skipping on the way to the car.  I couldn't help but smile.

 We started out with pizza and the kids were so excited they could hardly eat.

I followed the girls around as they spent their tokens.  They were having so much fun.

 Kenzie was having a blast and was a handful at usual.  Landon loves playing all the games and him and Ryan had fun playing boy games together.  I have to tell a funny story.  Towards the end, as I was struggling to watch all 4 of the kids play, I looked over to see Ryan tossing footballs at a game like he was back in high school.  I thought, boys will be boys and didn't have the heart to call him over.  Then after about 10 minutes I was losing my marbles and looked over again to see him still tossing footballs.  It's true, boys will always be boys.  Thank goodness he ran out of tokens and we were ready to go!

We stopped for some ice cream on the way home.  Kadence picked Dairy Queen and I know Ryan was very disappointed.

 I call her the queen...

She finds a way to get whatever she wants from EVERYONE!  Kendallynn started sharing her ice cream with Kenzie and then they all were.  Nothing like sharing some germs!

What a fun little night of celebrating.  Kendallynn brought Kadence a cute little outfit and the two of them were attempting to plan their matching outfits for school on Wednesday.  Is that even possible, at such a young age?!  I suppose, girls will be girls.

Can't wait to continue celebrating her birthday this week at the farm and then next weekend at the hotel!

Tooth Fairy.

It is safe to say my boy is growing up too fast.  First registering for Kindergarten and now this.  I can't handle it!  Landon lost his very first tooth.  It has been loose for a couple weeks and he kept saying it was "bugging" him.  I guess he wiggled it enough and it was ready to come out.  He let Ryan pull it out and it didn't take much force.  It bled a lot and Kadence was freaking out along with me.  I kept saying, I don't think it was ready, Ryan!  Which actually translated to I was not ready.  He looked a year older immediately and I wanted to cry.  I tried to contain my disappointment because he was really excited!  He put it under his pillow and the Tooth Fairy visited our home.  He was so excited.  Turns out the permanent tooth is already popping through (I guess that confirms it was truly just me that wasn't ready).

Kadence was so excited for Landon she was running around and kept hugging him.  Well, after it stopped bleeding and she stopped crying!

The Ides of March.

 We have had some amazingly warm days and our family is loving it.  It is so fun to get outside and expend energy while soaking up the sunshine.  Kenzie absolutely loves being outside and brings us her coat and begs to go out constantly.

I captured this video of Kenzie at the park on my phone and it was hilarious.  She has been very reluctant of the new surfaces she has experienced outside.

Reluctant to walk on the wood chips, but climbing up to the top of this and standing up and clapping...no problem.  She will most definitely have the next broken bone...or head.

Can't wait to get our play set in our back yard!

Kindergarten Registration.

I have now registered Landon for Kindergarten! It is so scary to me how fast time seems to pass by.  The past 5 years have just blown by.  I remember being at the hospital with sweet Landon like it was just yesterday.  I can remember his sweet face and how he just slept and slept and slept as a newborn.  He was a busy body baby and ran from the day he started walking.  It was always a chore to get him to eat and he love love loved Elmo.  Now Landon has become a kind hearted little boy with the biggest heart and the biggest brown eyes ever.  I find it so sad to have to share him with the rest of the world and send him off to Kindergarten 5 days a week, but I think he'll be ready-regardless of if I am.  He is doing well in his 2nd year of Preschool which is actually "Kindergarten Readiness."  He has met most of the suggested requirements for Kindergarten (alphabet, writing name, colors, basic shapes, ect.) and he is socially ready as well!  His teacher absolutely adores him as he behaves very well and is always willing to try new things and help her out.

I am so proud of Landon and how much he has matured and blossomed this school year.  I know he will just continue in the years to come.  Even if it means my letting go and giving him to the world.  I have a feeling there will be some serious tears shed at the end of August...

Casey.

My cousin Casey came and visited us for a few days of her spring break.  She is just 2 months short of graduating college and is very excited!  We love when people visit us and it was great to see her.  She rented a room at the hotel here with a pirate ship pool area for a night so the kids could swim.  They (and we) had an absolute blast.  I just want to mention that the hut in the pool area makes the best drinks.  I hardly even have a drink these days but had three, they were so good.

I took Landon and Kadence swimming while Ryan and Kenzie napped at home.  Then when he came back the 4 of them swam while I visited with Casey and Christina and captured some good photos.  The hotel had the little tube and Kenzie absolutely loved it!

Time to warm up in the not so "hot" tub.  Poor Kenzie's lips are purple!  She was chilly!  

Cutest little babe!  Love her!

 We all had such a good time hanging out and there were not very many people swimming which was awesome! I was so glad to have Casey come visit us and spend time here!!

Sofie goes home.

Grandpa Ken and Grandma Debbie came to get sweet Sofie.  I knew it would be hard to see her go but she made them so happy!  She bonded with them right away and snuggled in.  I know the next time we see her she'll look so much bigger!

The kids were very good about her leaving and didn't even shed a tear!  She absolutely loved Landon and she would have been his dog if we were keeping her!

Kenzie was the first to try out Sofie's new pink kennel!  She had a blast in there.  So glad my parents were able to get another sweet puppy!

Miss Sofie.

We were fortunate enough to be able to pick out a puppy for Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Ken and keep her with us until this weekend.  I thought this was such a fun thing to do (we did the same thing with  kitty Roxy for Aunty-although she had picked her out) I forgot how attached you can get in just a short period of time.  This is the sweetest little puppy in the world.  We all just love her to death.  I don't think I'd be able to give her up to anyone but my mom.  We are spending the week enjoying every minute with her.

 Sofie likes lots of snuggles and she sure gets them!

 Sofie is 1/2 shih tzu and 1/2 king charles cavalier spaniel.  I can't wait to see what she looks like when she grows bigger.  We take her this morning for a vet check up.  She has been so good that she has had NO accidents in the house during the day for 3 whole days! I can't wait to see how happy Grandma and Grandpa will be when they see her! And...I think Emma will be more than ready to see her go.