Well, the rain finally went away and we had a gorgeous weekend here. Lots of sun, a nice breeze and NO rain. I volunteered to work for another pharmacist on Saturday, so I didn’t get to spend alot of time outside that day, but we sure took advantage of the nice weather every other opportunity we had. It was different working a weekend again and I have to admit, I didn’t really like it. So, I am ever thankful of the schedule I have, but glad I could help a co-worker out as I am sure I will need a favor sometime too!

Last night we had our church group over and Jason grilled us up a delicious pork loin. The kids went crazy playing outside and eventually they found our dirt patch where we are trying to grow grass. Well, it became a sand box (only with dirt instead of sand) and all the kids ended up being covered with dirt from head to toe. The littlest one the in the group, Conner, ended up having the most fun, and as a result, also the most dirty. Here are a few pictures of their dirt-fest and some of our other weekend fun!

Today Anya & I are just hanging out. We are going to do some jobs around the house and run a few errands. I imagine we will spend a better part of the afternoon going down the slide…that is quickly becoming Anya’s favorite past-time!

….got love blue laffy taffy!!

Was a productive couple of days around here for us. Yesterday, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and did a lot of outside jobs. Jason built 2 huge shelving units for his shipping area in the garage and I spent a lot of time working on organizing the inventory he has on the new shelves. There is still alittle work to do, but it looks SO much better now and things are much more organized which should make things easier for the guy who does the shipping for us.

Inbetween building the shelves, we also did alot of yard work. I cleaned out all the dead junk from last year in our flower beds and got rid of the weeds that have managed to peek though already. We also aerated our lawn with an aerator we rented with our new neighbors. We were so happy to get the rain showers today after aerating yesterday…hopefully our lawn will green right up now!

Today we went to church and then ran some errands after church. This afternoon we were pretty much confined to the house as it was raining off and on, so we all took a cat nap while the Cubbies played. Then we were lucky enough to be invited over for supper to our neighbors, Lois and Paul. We had spaghetti pie, salad, homemade french bread and an ice cream dish for desert. It was wonderful food and fun to just sit and talk with them for awhile.

So, now we are back home and both Jason & Anya are cashed out on the floor (and both snoring!!), so I better start getting everyone in bed for the night. Here are a few pictures of what we got done this weekend!

I say that cautiously as I thought spring had arrived a few weeks ago and then we got snow again. So, hopefully the nicer weather is here to stay for awhile and the white stuff is gone until next winter!

We had a great weekend here. Today, after church we came and did alot of odd jobs–most of them outside so we could enjoy the warm air and sunshine. The lawn mower made its season debut and Jason worked diligently to change the oil, filter and spark plugs in the mower before cutting the grass. He also did all the edging and fertilized the lawn too…so he got alot accomplished and the yard looks great. While he was mowing and Anya was napping, I spent some time out in the garage going through a few remaining packed boxes we had from the move and did some organizing of all the stuff (or should I say JUNK) that we just can’t quite part with yet. So, the garage looks a lot better also, and will look even better after we get a few more shelves built and installed.

Yesterday we spent some time volunteering with the other 3 couples from our church group at the Hope Ministries Bargain Center here in Pleasant Hill. Hope Ministries is a Christian-based program here in Des Moines that has numerous facilities set up to help local needy, homeless and those that need a little help getting back on their feet. We were there from 9-12noon and they had us doing all sorts of jobs. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet a lot of other volunteers there working also…..I had a blast working with 4 older ladies from Winterset tagging and pricing clothes. We are looking forward to doing it again.

Well, the little missy has crashed for the night, so think I am going to also. Have a great week!

Happy Easter everyone! We just got done having our Easter lunch after church and now we are all thinking about a family nap. We have had a pretty fun day so far. Jason, Jill, Zachary, Noah & Aubrey spent the night with us last night, so we had a full house. When the kids woke up this morning, we had an Easter egg hunt and then ate homemade cinnamon rolls to celebrate Easter and my brother’s birthday today. After that, Jason, Jill and the kids took off to go to church with Jill’s brother Jared and her parents and we took off to go to our church. After church we came home and watched Anya open her easter baskets and ate lunch. Now, after all that excitement, we are all alittle sleepy around here!

Here are a few pictures of our Easter excitement!

We hope everyone has a very Happy Easter and remember, Our Redeemer Lives!!

………..look out below!!!

Ok, to explain that opening to this post. I come home from work tonight to learn that Anya jumped out of her crib. We have been putting her to bed awake lately (instead of letting her crash on the livingroom floor) and it has been going well….EXCEPT for when you try to put her in there before she is ready to fall asleep. Then, she raises all sorts of commotion…screams, jumps up and down in her bed, throws everything out of her crib, bangs her head on the headboard…you get the picture. Well, Jason must have put her down before she was ready tonight. He said she was yelling and carrying on the way she normally does and all the sudden her hears a loud bang. So, he goes in to check on her and is greeted at the bedroom door by none other than Miss Anya. We aren’t quite sure how she managed to get over the railing, but I have a strong suspicion that it was all head first, although she doesn’t seem to have any bruises or goose eggs to prove my theory. So, does this mean we are moving on to a true toddler bed? Time will tell……

Tonight we had our second ever successful session on the Elmo potty ring….Anya went poopy on the potty! I saw her heading for her corner and heard her predictable little grunts that she does when she is getting ready to fill her diaper, so we ran quick to the toilet and made it in time. She didn’t really seem to understand why I was so excited after the job was complete as she kept looking at me like I was crazy when I was praising her. So, hopefully this is the start of our successful potty training phase…I will let you know!

This weekend we had company from down south….Papa Ron, G’ma Jeryl, Aunt Joni and Great G’ma Bertie came to visit us. We had a great time hanging out with them and Anya was VERY sad when they had to leave. I have some pictures of their time here, but my computer is in the shop, so I won’t be able to download them from the camera until my computer gets fixed.

Well, that’s all for now. More later….