Coloring Eggs. . .

Multi-tasking: We are eating pizza and coloring eggs at the same time so that we won't be late to the Good Friday service. . .

I remember Will at this age. Everything is a ball and must be thrown into the basket. But when you are throwing an egg in to a big cup of dye, results can get a little messy. And then they aren't too excited about waiting for the egg to be done. They just want to take it out and toss it again!

See. . .he gets it now!

Kayte's favorite color is yellow!

Hey friends!

The last week has been above and beyond the usual run-of-the-mill Casebolt chaos: we had an open house, did a couple extra showings, attended an auction (and won ourselves a vacation, yay!), Easter at the fams, Ben's big birthday number 2!, potty-training!, and then more house showings.

I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself for pulling off the first day of potty-training, followed up by a showing, and topped off with my two-week trip to Winco, that ended up being such a haul that the cashier remarked, "My, you must live pretty far from here. . ." as if storing up for a winter, rather than just two weeks. Thankfully, my mother-in-law fed my family that night and kept them out of my newly-freshened house. Seriously. . .food and water comes second (or third!) around here lately! I don't know what I would do without extended family to tie up my loose ends! The kids are headed back out to my mom's this afternoon for yet another showing.

I'm encouraged by the amount of traffic we've been having through the house in the last week (and we've gone through nearly 60 flyers from our front yard since we've been on the market). And I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that it didn't sell the first week :)

Now, for a little blog catch-up!

We're not having any fun :(

All grown up. . .

Well. . .almost!
She isn't this little thing anymore:

How sweet is that?

Big Boy Unders!

Ben is ready to go! If I didn't have such a hard-core policy about birthdays being nothin' but fun every second of the day, this kid would already be in training. But his birthday is four short days away, and I just know I can't get it done that quickly. But he is showing all the signs and he even had a dry diaper for 4 hours this evening!
Sign us up! On April 6, the party kicks off!
Go Ben!

Bedtime stories. . .

Open House this Saturday!

Well, we are doing an Open House showing this Saturday, April 3rd from 2 PM to 4 PM!
You all are welcome to come and have a cookie and pretend you are really interested in my house and say all kinds of fabulous things about it to any potential buyers that I'm really hoping will show up!
Let me go on the record now with this comment: If my house sells before my birthday, no one has to buy me a gift! That is all that is on my wish list! (Aren't I easy to please? :)

Spread the word :)

Will's terms of endearment for Sara:

My little chestnut.

Squirt (and because that is his nickname for Ben, he added:). . .y pants.

And. . .another one bites the dust.

Notice how his eyes don't actually leave the screen.

. . .the Madness continues.

And there was great rejoicing. . .

Two months ago she was 27.6. . .

She did it!!! She gets to go to preschool - Yay!!

. . .and now if only she can avoid the nasty stomach flu!

Who can blame him?

She's just so irresistably snuggly!

Sara: Potty-training Ben.

Ben's nifty little tres-modern IKEA potty chair.

Sara demonstrates.

Ahh. . .if only it were that easy!

Leave this kid alone with a bowl of spaghetti. . .

Seriously. Why pay for entertainment?

March Madness Redeems itself in Round 2!

Back up to Spokane for more basketball on Sunday and for Maryland vs. Michigan St. That has to be one of the most exciting games I've seen yet. . .and I actually liked both teams which made it that much better!
If you'd been there, you would understand why I'm game for it :)

Root Cause Identified

So, everyone probably knows that little Sara is just that; little. We have been trying to bulk her up a bit over the past few months and have even told her she needs to get to 30 lbs. before going to preschool. Today I was discussing just this topic with her and she claimed that it was just not her fault. Naturally, I asked why, and she stated indignantly,

"Dad, it is Ben's fault."

Pressing further I asked inquisitively, "Ben's fault?"

"Yes" she says, "he keeps sitting on me and that is what is keeping me so small!"

Ah, if anyone has seen Ben, they are likely to believe such a story. And so, now that we know, look forward to Sara hitting the 30 mark very soon as long as we keep a diligent eye on Big Ben.

Our Basketball Marathon. . .

Yesterday was the kick-off to the NCAA basketball championship games. We were there! And we have the pictures to prove it:

 

 

 

After 10 hours of basketball and at least $50 in concessions for the day I think even Joe decided the view from the couch at home may be preferable to the sidelines. . .I think he likes the rapid-fire switch back and forth between all 32games so that you never miss a highlight! But it was so awesome just to hang out for the day, eat lots of junk, and have absolutely no responsibilities. . .and we did get to see a couple of "one shining moments" live, which was really pretty cool! We are off to round 2 tomorrow (and this time we're smuggling in our own snacks!) and we expect the excitement to ramp up as the winning teams here are off to Sweet Sixteen!
(However, we will be rumbling up to Spokane in our old-reliable Geo Prizm, as our very young and pricey little Trailblazer had some kind of electrical(???) fit on the way home last night, 1 hour from home, 10:30 at night, in the blackout-area of our cell service. We hurried home in 3rd gear praying all the way and did indeed arrive safely in Moscow in good time. I am so thankful for a God in heaven. Who else would get us safely home on just a prayer. . .and where on earth would I lay my fear and worry in the meantime? Seriously?)

Warning: Not for the faint of heart!

We had our first experience with stitches today. . .somehow Will ended up kneeling on a broken teacup and it sliced right to the bone! . . .in typical great-mom style, I managed to grab the camera. . .but didn't bother with his shoes :)

 

 

Six stitches cause he's 6! They didn't want him looking as they worked, so I wanted to make sure I got a shot of it so he could see it later. . .

 

All done!

 

Calling all the grandmas to re-tell the great adventure. . .Yeah, he's a pretty tough kid!

Spring Break!

While Will was busy with basketball, the other kids were just doin' their own thing! The break, for the most part, has been kinda nice. One day the girls are playin' with the girls, and the boys doin' boy stuff. . . and the next day it was Sara & Will, and Kayte & Ben. It has been fun to watch the youngers catch up with the olders!

 

 

 

Ben is super-funny about getting his picture taken. He will always give me a big "cheese" and then if I take the picture and the flash doesn't go, he gets bummed out, "Oh no." says he, like all that 'cheese' was just wasted.

Yep! He's got the Fever!

Will got off the phone with Joe and says to me, "I have to do a favor for Dad."
"Ah good," says I, imagining raking leaves, cleaning his room, or mowing the lawn as possible favors. . .
"I have to watch basketball." he says, oh so responsibly.
Sigh. "O-kay. . ." but I couldn't imagine he would actually stick with it for long. Half an hour later I see that I was wrong and he'd actually settled himself in for the day:

 

I've discovered that not everyone knows about March Madness, I mean, my mom thought we were headed to Spokane this weekend so Joe could play in a tournament. . .and while I'm well-educated on the whole thing, it wasn't so long ago that I actually remember being blindsided by the importance of the whole affair. I'd go so far as to say, within this millenium I actually knew absolutely nothing about March Madness. . .until 3 months into our marriage. That was my first real face-to-face introduction to the Madness. And I'm not talking about March Madness the basketball tournament, I'm talking about March Madness the actual, clinically-defined, all-consuming disease. Suffice it to say, I won't be planning any romantic vacations during Spring Break again, unless said vacation includes a 60 inch flat screen, surround sound, and some chicken wings - or better yet, tickets to Round 1! This new bride quickly (eventually. . .) learned to love a good basketball game and I will happily sign my husband over to this fever every March through the beginning of April. And in the spirit of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em", we have finally scored our very own tickets this year, and 10 years later, I have to say, I'm not just smarter. . .I'm happier :) . . .and really really excited! :)