T & A

Lauren had her tonsils and adenoids removed on Thursday May 27th at Cardinal Glennon. She did awesome! She was very brave and has been making a good recovery so far. She struggled a little bit coming out of anesthesia but after I was able to hold her and calm her down she fell asleep in my arms.

Since we've been home she's been making steady improvement. She's definitely milking the fact that she can watch as many movies as she wants and eat as many popsicles and ice cream as she wants. The major struggle we've had is over medicine. She despises medicine and given the fact it hurts to swallow, she really doesn't want to take medicine now. Luckily we only needed the pain relief medicine that has the narcotic for the first two days and now are getting by with just regular tylenol. She's even been playing low key outside some while I have Blake out. I'm just hopeful the rest of the recovery goes smoothly as well.

Thanks to everyone who has called, sent cards and e-mails and been so concerned about Lauren. It's so good to know so many people care about our baby girl!

Sprinkler Time!

Lauren was so excited to get the sprinkler out this past week. She couldn't wait to show Blake how much fun it was. (Grandma Marcia - notice the shout-out in the video below, you'll need to bring your suit along next time you come visit). He was only crawling last summer so he didn't get in on the action. He's loving it though now! He thinks each of the wiggly things is his personal water fountain! You'll notice too that I didn't bother changing him into his swim trunks! He's just fine being soaked in his clothes. In fact everytime he plays at the water table, he poors water down his head so that he gets wet right away. He doesn't seem to mind water in his face at all, which is very odd for a kids his age!

On another note, we took the kids swimming last Sunday and Blake just went running and jumped in the water before anyone was there to catch him. He came up sputtering but then giggled and went back for more. Thank goodness for life vests! Needless to say, we can't turn our back on him around water this year!

Leann's Wedding

My first college roommate at 4H House was Leann Cerven. She was an awesome first roommate and a great pledge sister. She got married to a great guy Wes, a fellow Ford engineer and Illini on May 22nd. Although we weren't able to attend the wedding due to Lauren's recital, we were able to make the reception a little late.



It was an amazing time to catch up with my pledge sisters and their husbands and famililes. I didn't want the night to end! I hope we can find another occassion to get together again soon!

Congratulations Leann and Wes!

Dance Recital

Lauren had her dance recital on Saturday the 22nd. The night before was dress rehearsal where I shot video using my phone so I could share it with you all. The actual performance is taped on my camcorder which I can't put on my computer. So this will have to do. The pictures are from the day of the recital. She had lots of "fans" present which made it a special day for her.

We nearly missed the recital due to a lovely stomach bug that showed up at the Mexican restaurant we were dining at with our dear friend the Gaines' family after the dress rehearsal. Lauren got sick during dinner which resulted in us promptly leaving the restaurant. The madness continued until 3 am and then finally ended. By noon the next day Lauren was begging to attend the recital so I let her. I normally would have said no because I didn't know if the bug would return or not. But since she had worked so hard all year for her recital I didn't want to take that away from her if she felt like dancing. So we went for it.

Lauren clearly loves to dance and is so excited for dance classes to begin this fall. I'm so glad she enjoys it! We're so proud of you!

Field Day

On the last day of school, Albers Elementary has a field day for their students. Each of the pre-K students has to have an adult attend with them because it's a long and fun filled day and some of the kids don't quite have the stamina to make it. So Lauren and I headed up for the day and had so much fun! The day started with lunch and then an exotic reptile show with the man from the Tied Dyed Iquana in Fairview Heights. Lauren thought it was great but her mother was a bit scared. Lauren touched and held all the animals she could including an iquana, 4 ft. snake, 80 lb snake, madagascar beetle (I think that was it's name) and a chamelion. I caved to my daughter's asking and agreed to help hold the 80 lb snake. I have to say it wasn't that bad. I was less scared of it than I was the 4 ft one! Something about safety in numbers I think! I have to say this was my favorite thing of the day because it was so out of the box for the kids. It was a great experience for all.

Then the kids got to climb the giant inflatables and do other various games such as bag toss and a relay race. They all loved the inflatables but weren't quite understanding the relay race. They are just a little young to be really competitive at it yet.

Finally, the day ended with a magic show. Lauren was selected to help with one of the tricks which she really enjoyed despite her nervousness!

Thanks Lauren for letting mommy attend your fun day at school!

Preschool Graduation

Lauren had her preschool graduation or "moving-up" ceremony on May 20th. Her class performed a skit based on the book Caps for Sale. Lauren was one of the monkeys. Then they got their certificates and sang songs for the parents. They celebrated with ice cream treats!

Here is blurb of her class signing. Enjoy!

Awesome recipe

I made this awesome dessert tonight to celebrate Floyd and Vernitta's 41st wedding anniversary which happened on Monday. Everyone loved it! I thought I'd share in case anyone is looking for a super easy chocolate dessert! This is unbelievable with a scoop of ice cream on top. I just wish the ice cream was homeade. Grandpa Bruce, can you please make me some???

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/my-grannye28099s-chocolate-cobbler/

Little Gym Show Week

Blake completed his first semester at Little Gym yesterday. It's amazing to see how much he's grown over the semester. The things he was scared of at first like the balance beam and the air track he now is trying and liking. His favorite thing is still swinging on the bars and acting like a monkey. It was cute to watch his reaction to the medal; he wanted it off right away!

Braden is 1!

My only nephew Braden turns one on May 20th. We celebrated his big 1st birthday a little early this past weekend. He is such a calm and well mannered little boy. It was great fun to watch him devour his cake and enjoy his presents. I can't wait for Blake and him to really start being buddies together! Delaney, Blake, and Braden will be quite the trio as they grow!

Mommy Makeover

Lauren's preschool class hosted Mommy Makeovers on Friday last week. When we arrived we had to find our seat by identifying a picture our child had colored for us about something their mom does for them/with them. I was honored to find Lauren's picture that said "my mom loves me." I sure do!

The kids started off by singing us a song about moms. I've included the clip here. Then we had a muffin and juice, colored a picture, and then the children gave their mom's makeovers. Lauren painted my nails purple and gave me a beautiful make up job. Sorry, no picture of the final product, I was a little scary looking!

Grant's Farm Fieldtrip

Lauren had a field trip to Grant's Farm yesterday. The weather turned out awesome after a very cold day the day before. The rain held off so we were very blessed. Sad to say but this was Lauren's first trip to Grant's Farm. She had such a good time. The teacher let us do our own thing which was great! We were able to take in a bird show, feed the goats, ride the carousel, eat snowcones, and my favorite part see the clydesdales. There were lots of babies around the farm so that was exciting to see too. I can't wait to go back and take Blake along too!

I'm a winner!

I have never won a contest before but for some reason I was inspired to enter one on a food blog I recently discovered crockpot365.blogspot.com. The contest was for a new crock pot and the blog author's new cookbook, Make it Fast, Cook it Slow. I figured what the heck, I won't win anyway. Well to my complete surprise, I got an e-mail a couple weeks ago from the book author saying I had won! I still didn't believe it until it actually arrived with the UPS man today! I'm thrilled and can't wait to try both of my new toys out.

I have to give credit for this to my Aunt Anne who introduced me to the famous food blogs The Pioneer Woman Cooks, Tasty Kitchen, and Cookie Madness. All three websites are must reads for me and have provided me many awesome recipes. It was from the Pioneer Woman's website that I discovered the crock pot blog which has now also become a must read. Thanks so much Anne!

They really do like each other!

Some recent pics of Blake and Lauren monkeying around in the house. It was cold and rainy here yesterday so we were trapped inside all day. They enjoyed riding Blake's tractor together and continuing their Mothers Day show.



Blake really knows how to get a reaction out of Lauren, pull her hair! He screams just like she does just before she starts screaming knowing that's the reaction she's going to give. I'm not sure when she's going to learn to quit screaming so he'll quit pulling her hair!

Stars in the Making

Lauren and Blake entertained us all on Mother's Day with a "show" as Lauren affectionally calls it. She turns up the music as loud as can be and sings and dances to whatever is playing. Blake got in on the action playing his musical instruments.

Don't you just love Lauren's new cowgirl princess hat? It fits her personality to a tee!

Mothers Day

I had a most enjoyable Mother's Day 2010. We went to church on Saturday night so I could actually sleep in for a change on Sunday (never mind the fact I had to get Blake out of his bed and take him to Bradley to watch, but hey I got to go back to bed so all was well). Oh how I love to sleep in! Lauren has gotten into sleeping in lately too so that's been super nice. Anything after 7 is sleeping in at our house!

Grandma and Grandpa Wolter and Uncle Keith and Aunt Leslie came to our house for lunch. We enjoyed a fabulous steak dinner an dessert. The guys finished up the swingset (except for the roof) which was great. We worked in the garden and enjoyed the nice weather. We attempted to get a loving picture but as you can see, Blake wasn't interested!

Lauren presented me with several cards and a coffee mug she had decorated. Super cute! I love homeade gifts!

Spring Concert

The end of Lauren's final year of preschool is in sight. As of today, only eight days left. Last Thursday was her spring concert. Lauren was nervous as usual and kept her arms crossed the whole time except when doing her "moves" as a comfort to herself. Bless her heart, I hope her stage fright passes soon! School is Coming to an End and The Puppy Song were quite enjoyable. Blake and his buddy Hannah loved dancing along to the music!

T-ball

Lauren started t-ball. Last Tuesday. It was a marathon day, Little Gym in the morning for Blake, dance at 5 for Lauren and Kaylee and then rush back to get to her first t-ball practice only 20 minutes late. She understood she'd be late so she wasn't flustered when we got there so that was good. She seemed to really enjoy the first practice. We just have a lot of work to do on catching and throwing! As long as she has fun, I don't care. She even got to meet some girls on her team that will be in Kindergarten with her so that was great.

Hanging on the Farm

The kids and I went and visited Grandma and Grandpa Bartlow last weekend. My mom's birthday is May 4th so it was good timing to celebrate with her. Then on Sunday we met up with Aaron's family and enjoyed some quality cousin time in Springfield playing at the park. It had rained a lot at mom and dad's so they were not able to farm. However, that didn't stop Blake and Lauren from climbing around on all the machinery parked in the machine shed.

Blake loved the big planter tractor. He thought the computer monitor and all the buttons were just lots of fun. He kept turning around to check out the planter too. Then he hopped in the semi and loved pushing all the buttons and blowing the air horn. It's a good thing the neighbors aren't close! Lauren got in on the semi action too. We also enjoyed taking four wheeler rides and checking out all of the baby calves and playing with the dogs.

Signs of Spring

We have been thoroughly enjoying the spring weather by spending lots of time outside. Thank you Daddy and Grandpa for our new swingset! Our kitties are happy too because now they are getting lots more attention.

We have new baby calves.  I love this time of year when we see new life.  It's so awesome!  We are calving all bull calves it seems so far.  Hopefully we'll end up with a heifer or two in the mix. 

Lauren has started t-ball.  These pics are of her practicing throwing and catching.  We still have lots of work to do on this but as long as she's having fun that's all that matters.  She is really getting the hang of riding her bike on two wheels as well.  I'm very proud of her!

Our New Swingset

Bradley and his dad have been working very hard building our kids a swingset. Bradley decided to foregoe a "kit" and design one himself. The primary reason for that is because the wind where we live is very strong. Thus, we have to have a swingset that can withstand this. Here are a few pics from a couple weeks ago and our progress to that point. As you can see, Blake had to get in on all the action moving every piece of wood (keep in mind some of these are very heavy) he could! He loves anything with tools.

I'm proud to say now all that is left is the roof on the big play house, the final accessories, and a few more spindles on the walls. I am so appreciative of this swing set as now I have instant outside entertainment for the kids. They are absolutely loving it! Blake has never sat so still for so long as he does when he's swinging! Lauren is enjoying having underdogs daily!