March madness

At the beginning of March our baby turned 2 and princess came to stay with us.  March flew by, which was kind of nice because it was a chilly one!

I can say that my joyful Joshua has a passionate personality like his mommy.  What he hasn't realized yet is that my will is a bit stronger than his.  For now we are coming up with creative ways to teach him that his choices have consequences, both good and bad.  Whenever he is having a rough day I just try to picture this in my head:

Who couldn't love this cute little face?!

As for adding a princess to the house, that has been nothing but a blessing.  The boys LOVE having her in our home.  Every time Casey walks by her he plants a kiss on her head.  Caleb loves to hold her and thinks it is so funny when she grabs his hand.  Joshua likes to share his toys with her and enjoys lying by her when she is doing tummy time.  I feel like we are teaching the boys a lot about compassion and love.  She will always have a special place in our hearts, no matter what the outcome of the situation.

Now to the fun stuff...what we've been up to this month!  

Casey finished his season of UPWARD basketball

 We celebrated Matt's 34th birthday by taking all 4 kids for dinner at Chili's

 (kids eat free on Tuesday nights)

 Grandma Jill came to visit for a weekend and we crammed in a ton of fun!  We went to the Museum, dyed Easter eggs, went bowling and ate dinner at our favorite train restaurant, La Estacion.  

Dinosaur eggs

Bowling on a Sunday afternoon 

When we were blessed to have a nice day we would get out and play.  Let me tell you, these 3 boys have some serious energy to burn.  

Alright spring, we are ready for you!

Our new adventure

On Tuesday evening Matt and I found out that our name had been put on a list of possible foster homes for a baby girl in Milwaukee County.  As the night went on our high hopes faded.

Wednesday morning I dropped the boys off at school and Joshua and I headed home for a morning of cleaning.  The entire morning as I cleaned I did a lot of praying about what I was suppose to be learning through all of this, besides patience.

When I went to pick up the boys from school at 11:30 to take them to an appointment I noticed on my phone that we had a message on our magic jack phone (our land line).  I had gotten "The Call" earlier that morning while I was dropping the boys off.   Right away my heart sank because I thought for sure I had missed "The Call'.  When I called back the woman explained that there was a newborn baby girl who possibly needed a home for the time being.  I was so excited I hardly heard the rest of what she said!  Now I just needed to wait to hear form the case worker.  

This began a couple of the longest hours of my life!

Finally at 3:00 pm we found out that we had the green light to pick up the little princess!  My mom watched the boys and Matt and I headed out.  There were so many emotions going on as we drove to pick her up.  We were excited, nervous, excited, scared, did I mention excited?!

When we met her she was in the nursery getting ready to eat.  Within minutes of picking her up she filled her pants for me:)  She ate like a champ and then we headed out!  It was very surreal.  

The boys were also super excited to meet this little one that we have nicknamed baby Sky or Skyla (depends on who you ask).  For however long God entrusts this precious little girl to us we promise to love her like she is part of the family!

These are the lyrics to a song called All of Me by Matt Hammitt 

that has been preparing my heart for this time:

Afraid to love

Something that could break

Could I move on

If you were torn away?

And I'm so close to what I can't control

I can't give you half my heart

And pray He makes you whole

(Chorus)

You're gonna have all of me 

You're gonna have all of me

'Cause you're worth every falling tear

You're worth facing any fear

You're gonna know all my love

Even if it's not enough

Enough to mend our broken hearts

But giving you all of me is where I'll start

I won't let sadness steal you from my arms

I won't let pain keep you from my heart

I'll trade the fear of all that I could lose

For every moment I share with you

Chorus

Heaven brought you to this moment, it's too wonderful to speak

You're worth all of me, you're worth all of me

So let me recklessly love you, even if I bleed

You're worth all of me, you're worth all of me

It's where I'll start.

Joshua turned 2 already?!

I can't believe my baby Joshua...

turned 2!!!

Who could say no to this face?!

Silly boy!

Joshua has a mind of his own and an attitude to match it!  He wanted a green birthday party.  Simple enough for me!  I put some green food coloring in the frosting and bought some green party ware.  We celebrated with some family by having a pizza party and some cake.  It was a fun evening.

He enjoyed signing along with us.

He was really excited about his presents.  So were his brothers!

He sure loves his new wheels!  

Happy birthday to my youngest son.  I can't wait to see how your little personality evolves.  You are a true joy to have in our family baby Joshua.  We all love you very much!

Happy 60th birthday!

My mom turned 60 this past weekend!  We had a little family gathering at my sister's house to celebrate.  We had tacos, played games, and enjoyed some fun time together. 

Here we are playing some "Minute to Win it" games.  There was a tie for the win:

Team Andy and Casey

Team Nick and Hannah

 Happy birthday mom!

 All the kids and grand kids came up with a list of 60 things we love about her.  

Planetarium

Recently I discovered a Waukesha gem while on a field trip with Caleb at the Retzer Nature Center...a Planetarium!  They have Saturday shows for the public at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm.  The show at 11:00 is intended for small children.  We decided to take all 3 little men to check it out a last weekend.  

The show was great for the boys.  Joshua was even interested for most of the show.  The kids thought it was really neat to see all of the constellations in the night sky.  We took a trip all the way to Pluto and home again stopping to learn about each planet.  

After the show there was an area where we could do a little exploring.  

It was a fun family morning out.

Snow fun!

The boys have really enjoyed the snow this year.  They help shovel, love to go sledding, and enjoy the huge snowmen daddy makes.

They give me the giggles!

My children make me laugh on a daily basis with the things they do and say.  Warning, most of these stories have something to do with poop or the bathroom.  I do live with 3 little boys and one big one!

While we were at the store this morning I had to use the restroom.  While I was sitting on the toilet Joshua busts out with, "mommy has stinky pants!"  Maybe that is too much information for you, but I thought it was too funny.

Before Joshua's nap time today he insisted on sitting on the frog potty.  I personally have no interest in potty training him, but I let him anyway.  While he was sitting on the frog potty I read him a potty book and then explained to him that once he begins using the toilet on a regular basis he will get to wear underwear.  I asked him what kind of underwear he would like to wear.  His response, "green star wars underwear".  Really?  Only the 3rd child would say that!  I then left him alone to get him a water cup and when I returned their was a puddle on the floor. 

While Caleb was doing his "homework" I noticed that he smelled so I asked him if he pooped in his pants.  He replied, "no, it's just hanging out of my bottom."  He then decided to try to go on the toilet.  He then shared with me that it was too hard so he was just going to sit there until it got softer.  Hmmm...he is still sitting there!

And then there is my Casey.  He is too smart for his own good and his comments reflect things that adults say to him.  After I had asked Casey and Caleb to clean the living room and Caleb didn't budge Casey says to him, "Caleb, you know what is expected of you."

The joys of boys!

Casey's 7th birthday party

Casey was so excited to invite his classmates and close friends to his 7th birthday party at the Waukesha YMCA.  He choose to have a gymnastics party.  I am pretty sure that everyone who attended had a blast.  The birthday boy sure did!

We just arrived and we are ready to party!

Really mom?!  Another picture?!

CHEESE!

The kids enjoyed jumping across the large trampoline.

Lilly and Cal got a bit tired.

Casey did a face plant onto a mat.

Joshua enjoyed the balance beam, as well
 as everything else we would allow him to do!

The kids learned about patience as they waited their turn.

Caleb loved jumping off the springboard onto the tall mat.

Nice looking bunch of monkeys.

They sure are a silly group of kids!

Cupcakes for everyone!

While Casey was opening his gifts things got a little crazy.
 We decided to play a  "quiet" game to calm them down before their parents
came to get them.

FROGGER

Thanks to all of Casey's friends and their parents for helping to make this such an awesome day for Casey.  A special thanks to Nana for helping us with Joshua:)

Upward Basketball

In the beginning of January Casey began his "career" in basketball through a program called Upward at our church.  Upward basketball helps kids discover and build athletic skills, values, self-confidence and a love of the game!

Matt volunteers his time to coach Casey and 9 other boys.  They have practice for one hour on Monday evenings and they play games on Saturdays.  

It has been a very positive experience for Casey.  Each practice and game he gets a little bit better and gains a bit more confidence.  

After each game the coach gives out stars that the kids iron on to their uniform.  The awards are for best offense, best defense, sportsmanship, effort, and being Christ like.  This past weekend Casey earned the best defense award at his game.  He did a great job staying on his guy and trying to get rebounds.  He was super excited about this achievement.  

Star Spangled Banner

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Listening as he finds out which award he has earned.

Casey's memory verse for the week:

Everyone should be quick to listen.  But they should be slow to speak.  They should be slow to get angry.  -James 1:19b