cOrrUpTiOn...GrAnDpA sTyLe...

When I am not looking, this is what "White" Papa lets the kids get away with. Madison LOVES the thrill (because Bethanie does) but when she goes down, her face is like she is scared to death!!! I struggle to even watch.

Today's joke on the lower right side bar...

WOW, I guess she has issues...more like, HE has issues! I know it copied small, but if you want to see it, click on the actual joke below.

DeAtH & 6 yEaR oLdS...

We were minding our own business, eating a happy sloppy joe for supper, the sun was shining in through the opened deck door, when all of a sudden, BLAM. Something hit the door, very hard. We all jumped in our seats and got up and ran to see what it was. This side of our house rarely has any action, but what happened was a sweet little girl cardinal flew face first into our window. The impact knocked her to the floor of the deck. Of course, we were all looking at it. I knew immediately the poor little bird was dying. I closed the door and proceeded to comfort my very traumatized 6 year old daughter. She has seen death before, in the form of smashed squirrels on the road, or bunnies, or deer...but never anything like this, so personal. Her heart was broken. I tried to get her to sit down and eat her food while I snuck out the back door and on to the deal to get rid of the poor little bird, who had already died, and I almost succeeded. My plan was a good one, though not well thought out. I was going to tell her that it got up and flew away, but she saw me from the back door. She KNEW that I had gone and picked it up in a wal-mart bag and was going to throw it in the trash (harsh, I know, but she caught me). Anyway, she has cried off and on all night. She is so broken hearted. She was very interested, though, when I told her that Heavenly Father has birds in Heaven and that she was likely there already. I hope she can move on tomorrow. I am so sad for her broken heart, though I am glad that she has such deep feelings like her mom. :O(

BaKe SaLe...

As you may or may not know...April is Autism Awareness month. So in preparation of that, our local autism support group put on a bake sale to help fund some of the weighted blankets, books and different things. The lady who runs it is FANTASTIC. So many people committed to bringing food items for the bake sale (at Wal-mart). Also, many volunteered to work it. Sadly, only one teacher and myself showed up. I brought 5 different things, and they sold immediately. I felt bad for the poor woman who runs the group because no one showed up to work or bring baked goods. Thankfully the teacher (the one I did practicum with) and me, Jeff's mom brought 3 things of cookies, and the gal who runs it baked until 3 am, so there were plenty of things. Its just sad when people say they will do something, and people count on that and then they don't even bother to follow through or let people know they cant for what ever reason.

Easter Egg Hunt!!!

Every year, the Wesleyan Church puts on a city wide Easter Egg hunt. It is so much fun. There are like 20,001 Easter eggs. They have it set up at the city park, and age groups are roped off. We are out numbered with children so we strong armed White Grandma and Grandpa to come with us. We had to twist their arms really hard. But they came, and we divvied up kids. I chose Madison for a couple of reasons. The main one is that I have had to leave her an awful lot because of my schooling and different meetings and responsibilities that I have had. Another reason is that this is only her second time doing this! I wanted to be with her. I terribly missed being with the other two, but one mom cant do it!

Madison was so excited. They started the hunt a little late, so it seemed like we waited for EVER and a day. Madison collected 12 eggs before the hunt began. LOL! She just couldn't wait!!!

She is holding on to the tape. The wind was sooooo strong. Poor thing! She almost blew away a couple of times!

During the race...it always reminds me of a huge vacuum. There are tons of kids, and tons of eggs. They scoop up the eggs very fast, clean up the ground and it is over before you realize it! All of the kids had several eggs, and goodies in side!

After the egg hunt, we took the kids to the little petting zoo they had set up. This was a new baby calf. Madison loved this little "doggie". He was really clean and soft, and warm in the sun light.

YES!!! Finally some pictures of Bethanie!!! She is such a hoot. Every picture I snap of her, she is posing for. What a natural! LOL! She is holding this little baby chick. It really loved Bethanie. He fell asleep in her hands and he was quite comfy. She now wants a chicken. Get serious!!!

This was shocker of all shockers! Matthew isn't especially comfortable around animals. He is awkward around them and doesn't understand them very well. he was totally interested in the baby chicks and baby ducks. He even kissed a baby duckling. How fun! He loved it!!! I love seeing him so tender with one of God's creatures!

We tried to let Madison pet the little chicks. She really wanted to but we were afraid she would squeeze them to death. So when she tried to pet them, she ended up POKING them with her finger. They would shake their little heads like, "What's up with that???" We quickly moved her on to the bigger beasts...

These are baby goats. She thought they were "doggies" again. One little boy picked one up next to her. He was a year or two older than Madison. The little goat baaaa'd and Madison thought it was hilarious. The next thing she did was try to pick up a goat kid too, but it was too big for her. She doesn't know she is little...

It was fun. The kids had fun, they always do. Lots of goodies, lots of fun. Hippity Hoppity Easter is on its way!!!

So PrEtTy!

The day didn't start off so well. The kids were frightened when the electricity suddenly went off, and the sound of the quietness of the house woke them. Well, the girls anyway. Matthew was already awake. It was still black outside and the girlies freaked out. So I got them each a flashlight. The power went off and on for a few minutes, just enough to try and kill some of my electronics (none have died that I know of). But once we all get up and look outside, this is what we saw! It is a very WET blanket of snow. Just perfect for making a snowman, if there were enough. So, I got the older ones bundled up and off to school. When Madison and I got home, I pulled some snow off the van into snow balls and showed her how to throw them at the ground. She thought this was the neatest thing ever...then I threw one (gently) at her and she could not believe that was even a possibility. So she started to grab handfuls to toss at me. It was great fun, until our fingers started to burn from the snow....

Now she is watching Curious George.