More fun

Okay, Wednesday was a bit of a disaster. I decided to try to clean the house that day, do some laundry, give baths. . .you know, get some stuff done. But that seriously was interfering with my goal to give the kids some fun during Spring Break Week!
So we started again fresh on Thursday. I went to the Rain Closet. This is the closet where all the birthday toys go, so I always have something new and fun to pull out on a Rainy Day.

We started with clay. I don't know if it was expired or what, but it was really really difficult to mold. Kayte couldn't even cut it with a knife. . .So we abandoned that little idea pretty quickly and moved on. . .

This was very promising! A fishing game for Princess Gems, complete with fishing rods representing four different Disney princesses (something for everyone!) This game proved pretty challenging and I, for one, was quickly discouraged. Kayte thought it was great fun and played on without us. I gave up on the Rain Closet, handed Will and Sara their mud boots and sent them outside.

This was a huge success! The kids mucked around for about an hour. . .

They started out really bundled up (cause that is what they are used to), but by the end of the morning they had shed their hats and gloves, and even their coats. Spring showed up just in time!

Getting into trouble with Little Benjamin

Ben is always on the lookout for trouble. Sometimes I just sit down and watch it happen.

I couldn't figure out how the fan in Ben's room was always getting unplugged. Turns out Ben has been crawling under his crib and yanking at the cord. You can see the (exposed) outlet, and Ben's precious pile of socks starting to accumulate again. He always pushes the crib from the wall so he can watch them fall down behind there.

Then he wanders over and pulls out the bottom drawer and takes all his pants out one by one and tosses them about.
(Notice I don't bother folding them anyway. . . my poor mom!)

He is starting to launch off on his own from a stable position. He stands holding onto something, then lets go, steadies himself, and takes at least one good step before tumbling on down. We are close!

Happy 1st Birthday!

(I'm going to venture a guess that it goes River and then Terran in this one! Feel free to correct me - I'm still getting this down!)

River and Terran turn 1 today!
Jessa endured a marathon labor to bring these two guys into the world. . . but here they are safe and sound, and growing fast! Again, I feel so blessed to be so close to all our family and get to see these little guys so often. They are going to be so fun to watch grow up!
Happy Birthday!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

I don't know much about the history of this day, but it is a fun holiday and I do love green (especially in the Springtime!)
And the kids were absolutely thrilled to indulge in another holiday, especially one that includes pinching! (They needed some convincing that this was an appropriate tradition. . .but then game was on!)

I nearly forgot about this big day altogether, but caught a wiff of it on Facebook, so I pulled out some green clothes for everyone (Will only has one green one, and of course, that had to be dug out of the laundry basket. . .ah well!)

Plus, it was a good opportunity to take some more goofy pictures of the kids. I always enjoy that (much more than the kids do!)

It won't be like this for long. . .

How many more days will we get to snuggle up with our baby and feed him a bottle. . . ?

One thing I never knew I never knew. . .

Ok, Joe and I have recently celebrated 8 years of marriage.
But just yesterday I found out Joe's favorite cookie: plain oatmeal, no raisins, no chocolate. (Does this qualify me for the bad wife award?)
The truth is, I do love to bake. . .I've just been really busy the last 7 years creating and caring for babies, and whenever I had the time (like once a year), I would make Joe what I believed were his favorite cookies: chocolate oatmeal no-bakes (or boiled cookies, as the recipe calls it). Turns out this was all just good intentions (good intentions that still disappeared in under 48 hours - they are still oatmeal cookies after all.)
Anyways, today, armed with a fresh new way to completely charm my husband, the girls' and I whipped up this batch of plain oatmeal cookies. They got to lick the spoon, but nobody was allowed even a nibble of a cookie because we saved them all for Joe. (I got out the tub of Tollhouse instead and made a couple of chocolate chip cookies to ward off the little ones.)
Hope you love 'em Joe, and here's to 8 more years of surprises!

(Poor Sara, who hasn't been exposed to much of my baking, licked up her spoon and then Kayte's, and between loud smacks of the lips she purred, "Mmm. . .this is so much fun!" (Mark 1 in the 'fun' category for Spring Break!) All around, a huge success!)

It's not just me!

Will worriedly pipes up from the backseat, "Dad really needs to fix my gun. Now it is giving me a headache."

Never to be outdone, Kayte hollers, "I have a headache and a tummyache."

See. . . .that gun must go!

Spring Break!

. . .and we are already climbing the walls!
Spring Break is upon us and I desperately want to make it fun and memorable for the kids. But we have no plans for travel, so we have to get creative. So far I've dragged them to Winco one day, and Costco another (although I think Costco is kinda fun - and we did do the wash-down after all, which was much needed!)
But, I'm pretty sure shopping doesn't fall under the categories of fun or memorable. . . so I'm gonna have to do some brainstorming. Any ideas out there?

First signs of The Disease

Joe has started to get a little distant in the last couple of days, his mind wandering from time to time. Last night he was watching the UConn-Syracuse game unfold on ESPN.com. He started getting a bit frantic as the game went into the third overtime, and then the fourth. By the fifth overtime, he could hardly contain himself. I'm contently watching 30 Rock, perfectly happy that we don't have ESPN.

And at the same moment, Joe says, "Man, I wish we had ESPN!"

"Hey wait!" says he, quickly switching the channel over to 24. The channel is full of snow and fuzz with a loud crackly sound. You can barely make out individual players, let alone see the tiny basketball. But Joe turns the volume down and gets all squinty. Moments later he yells, "Wow! Did you see that?"

Umm. . . .no.

And the Madness officially begins. . . .

Gun Malfunction

My warrior:

The other night at dinner, Will says with much concern, "Dad. . .there is something wrong with my gun."
"Yeah? What's that?" says Joe.
"Well, when I shoot it, it gives Mom a headache. . .I don't know why it is doing that." says he worriedly, "Can you fix it?"

I sincerely doubt it.

Benjamin: 11months, 7 days

We are now on an official countdown to 1 year!
I love watching Ben learn. The other day I was watching him as he stared intently at the sunbeam across his bed and tried over and over to pick it up so he could get a taste of it. And tonite he was trying to get a hold on the stream of water coming out of a cup in the bathtub. Today he took his first real steps. Steady standing, one, than two, wait a sec, and then he bit it. I know he is close to taking off completely and he is eager and willing.
Will taught him how to break his crackers into pieces before putting them in his mouth (which is just plain messy!) but Ben thought it was totally cool! He doesn't like cheese, and much prefers his Gerber baby food to anything else we offer him(even squash!). He must take his bottle in his crib all alone, because otherwise he will be too distracted to eat. He likes to push the crib from the wall so he can toss his bottle back behind it, where it lands on a cush-y pile of his discarded socks. He plays just like a puppy, always coming back for more. He is really scared of babydolls, and more scared of babies (which I suppose he considers to just be possessed dolls). But he doesn't back down from a fight. I actually caught him hitting Sara today when she took his book away!
He likes to say "Huh?" whenever I give him a command. I will repeat it and he says "Huh?" again. He can do that four or five times before I give up. I don't know who taught him that little trick, but I have three suspects.
He still sleeps 12 hours at night and has good morning and afternoon naps, although the time change has made that a bit rocky.
He says, "Mama, Dada, Ba (for bottle), Hiya, Buh-Bye" and that's it.
He's sweet, I love 'im and can't wait till he is running around!

Another Family Shower

Well, Jemma is about 4 months old now, but it is never too late to be showered with gifts, right? Our family had a busy and snowy winter so we are finally getting down to celebrating Jemma, and our new cousin Christian.
The shower was at my house and I'd like to say that although I did follow through on my promise of bright sunshine, I didn't anticipate the March snowstorm we had this weekend. The ride down for family from Coeur d'Alene was a bit white and treacherous. But it didn't stop most of this hardy Dower clan and we had a good showing!

Jemma Jane, dressed to kill!

She has this wide-eyed, observant stare, always taking it all in!

Aunt Nettie was in charge of the food and as you can see, another feast! (And my very favorite - Lemon Pasta!)

Our new cousin Christian, son of Amanda, is three months old and mellow! He sat quietly chewing on his fingers the whole afternoon.

Well. . .

. . .there is this!
I have been stepping in a lot of puddles of melted snow in the house lately!
But it is still pretty!!!

Seriously, what's not to love?

Another gorgeous day of snow!

It snowed for hours yesterday, and during naptime, I snuggled up on my bed with a book and watched it snow out my big windows. And as I went to sleep last night, I was still staring at all that lovely white snow!

When the kids got up from nap, I popped in a video, snuggled them under some blankets and they had some milk & milk's favorite cookie, the Oreo.
I love snow days!

Hot Milk Cake & my friend Kate.

When I was about Kayte's age or younger, I had a friend named Kate. She was my dad's boss at UI at the time. She was as old as maybe my great grandma and I loved sitting on her big soft lap, she smelled delicious. She lived just down the street from us, and I remember playing frisbee once with her in the driveway, but it wasn't long before she was mostly chair-bound and I would just come and sit and visit with her. She would make me dinner, and give me twinkies & 6 oz. cans of 7up with a bendy straw, and take me to TJ's where I would always always order French Toast. I was her special friend and she was my first friend that was only mine, I didn't have to share her with my siblings :) I visited her in the nursing home when she got sick and I still remember seeing her name written out on the door, Mary Katherine, which I knew just wasn't her name! And I remember where I was standing when my parents told me she died, and the lovely black purse that her husband gave me afterwards. I remember her Nilla Wafer banana cream pie and her Hot Milk Cake. She taught me how to make it once and my dad loved it! So I copied down the recipe in my little 5 year-old handwriting and I would often make it for his birthday or father's day, or whenever I wanted to do some baking.

So, again this year, I decided to make one up for him. Kayte had just woken up from her nap and it only seemed right to teach this little ritual cake to her.

Bedhead, stirring the hot milk.

It looked pretty good here.

But much to my dismay and frustration, and despite my lathering the pan with Pam, it didn't really come out of the pan like it should. It still tasted pretty good, although it had cooled off considerably and is best eaten warm.
But still, a tasty nod to tradition for my dad and a cheers to my friend Kate.

Getting Better. . .

You can see Ava too, with the pink ribbon in her hair.

We got to observe Kayte's ballet class the other day. It is getting really fun. It is no longer just spinning and hopping and skipping. I can't wait for the recital this year!

It's good to be King. . .

. . .if just for a day!

Yeah, so it's pink. . .why should Will be the only one subjected to the sisters' girly stuff?

Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad is known for his patience (think Driver's Ed!) and his thoughtful card-writing. He has an excellent judge of character which is evident in his choice of wife, and in his help in finding three outstanding spouses for his kids. Our own little Casebolt family is blessed by his faithfulness and godly example, and we are very grateful for him! I know Kayte, Will, Sara, & Ben are some of his greatest fans!

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you are having a great day!

Little reader

Kayte has taken up reading full-time. She has always been a big fan of flipping through books and making up stories, starting at about 10 months old. Now she is reading everything, all the time, and the other kids are so happy to have such a willing storyteller!

Waiting for the carpool.

Bedtime stories.
And I often find her hiding out in an empty bedroom with a stack of books, grateful to have a little quiet time to herself!

Pillow Fight!

This is likely every pillow in our house!
Joe let them get a little crazy while I was at Winco last night. The only evidence I found was this photo!