Mother's Day

This Mother's Day started out with our tradition of the kids bringing me breakfast in bed. I decided to spare you the picture of me in my pajamas sans makeup. Believe me - you do not want to see that. So here we are before church. Gracie really wanted to be a big girl and bring some scriptures. She was ready to go! We actually made it on time because there was no early morning meetings, and Ben was home to help with the kids. Yay!

I had to fill in for the Primary pianist in sacrament meeting. The boys were singing with the Primary for the mommies, so we had a little practice session before chuch, because that's when I remembered that I had to play. Oops. And please excuse the butt shot.

Then we had a nice dinner at the Kazmierski's. Here are the grandmas enjoying their time after dinner. The men of the family cook the meal and clean up. I wish every day was Mother's Day!

We had a little song after dinner, performed by Andrew and Lita. They sang together one verse and then Lita did a solo on the second verse. This is Ben's younger brother, Sam, Ben's mom Nan holding Grace, and Ben's dad Fred.

My sister and her family came that day, so we went over to Grandma Jane's next to visit. Grandma and Grandpa Kirschenmann were there, still basking in the glory of their anniversary! They're still so cute - 60 years and counting!

My uncle Paul and aunt Cindy brought Collin, their Grandson with them. Here are the boys playing some sort of video game. It's like a magnet. If I ever want my boys, I just turn on something electronic and they come running.

The next day Lindsey and I decided to take the kids to the park. It was so nice out, I think I got a sunburn! Here are the kids under the big trees. It's like a natural fort under there, so they played Star Wars, of course.

Here is Matt on the swings. I think he was in there for a half hour. He would swing all day if I let him. He just swings and laughs. So cute.

Joey and Emma get along so great. Here they are on an adventure.

And of course, here's Andrew up a tree. That boy would live in a tree if I let him. In fact, he said he could live in this one. I'm just glad no bones were broken today.

The park we went to was full of sand, and so was their hair when we left.

It was a fun day. We wish our cousins lived closer. They absolutely love to play. We'll enjoy it while they're here. Eric comes on Wednesday, so that's when the real fun begins!

60th Anniversary

Aren't they cute?! 60 years and still smiling!

Today was my Kirschenmann Grandparents' 60th Anniversary party. We met my mom, Jerry, and Kelsey at their house and traveled in a caravan down to Hardin. We went to my aunt Carol's house and met up with all the family. We were able to see family that we haven't seen in many, many years. It was so good to see all of them! We love it when my Uncle Paul and his wife Cindy come visit from ND. Cindy cracks me up, and she was so nice to give Joey a sucker when he was feeling left out because he couldn't have the cake. Speaking of Joey, he left quite an impression on my family who hadn't met him before. Joey is very, let's see - transparent - I guess you could say. You can immediately tell his emotions just by looking at his face. They all cracked up with his faces and his comments. Nobody ever forgets Joey! Aunt Linda and aunt Kathy really had a good time with him. Andrew had a great time playing with some cousins. Grace wanted to play catch all day, and Haley and I also played a lot of volleyball. My uncle Leo and aunt Carol have a gigantic yard, complete with a volleyball net. It was great fun! Here are some pics:

Haley grabbed the camera and got some great photos. Here's Grandpa, and behind him is my cousin Jimmy in the orange, my uncle Jim in the grey, my cousin Patrick in the white, and my uncle Paul.

I wanted a picture of just me and Grace, because we were accidentally wearing the same thing. And Kelsey and I matched too! But anyway, Matthew wanted in on the action, so here's all three of us.

I never thought I'd have a child who resembled me. One out of five isn't bad, huh?

Kelsey and Haley had Matthew practicing his new walking skills in the big back yard.

Matthew was very content to have daddy all to himself, for once.

Joey, Andrew and I practiced some baseball. They both made some great contact with the ball. We even played a little more when we got home. I'm so glad they love baseball too!

And here's my little Haley, a chip off the old block. We had a lot of fun volleying back and forth before the net was put up.

Grace really loves her new purple baseball mitt. She begged me over and over to play catch with her.

Before we left, uncle Leo wanted some family pictures. Mom took a couple with our camera. Grandpa Jerry was trying to get the kids to look at the camera, but they just thought he was funny. Hopefully uncle Leo and my cousin Gary got some better ones. This will have to do for now!

Kelsey caught a ride with us on the way home. Matthew kept egging her on. Then he threw a fit and fell asleep. The other kids were zombied out by the movie. It was a pretty quiet ride home.

I'm so glad we were able to share this special day with our family. It's not often we get to see them all. I'm hoping to be able to celebrate our 60th anniversary sometime. I hope we have all our family around us at that time. I can't even imagine!

Playdate

On Friday we had a fun playdate with our friends. It is actually Joey's girlfriend - well, one of them anyway. I should say it's his favorite girlfriend. He usually meets a new girl he wants to marry about once a week. But these two are hilarious. She and her family used to be in our ward before they moved. Joey and Kourtney were in the same sunbeam class, and before that they were in nursery together. That's where it all started. Since then, the entire Primary has gotten plenty of laughs watching them hold hands and snuggle in the front row. He'd put his arm around her, and she would lean her head on his shoulder. So cute! We really enjoy our playdates, and Kourtney's mom and I get to catch up. They have a gigantic yard, and the kids had a blast. Here's Gracie on the playground:

Matthew just crawled around enjoying himself. He didn't even eat any rocks. Then, to our astonishment, he took his first steps! It was so surprising because he gets so mad at us when we try to make him walk. And then he just took off! He's our slowest walker. The others all walked before 10 months. Andrew walked at 8 1/2 months, the little stinker. So I've really been enjoying Matt staying a baby a little longer. But I guess the party's over...

When it was lunch time, Joey felt like he needed to scoot his chair over to sit right next to Kourtney.

Here's the two cuties chasing each other in the back yard.

And here they are taking a boat ride together.

It was a fun day, despite the spurts of rain. Joey even got to stay a little longer and play after I left to give the little ones a nap. Can't wait to see them again!

Mother's Day Lunch

We had a little Mommy's lunch at my in-laws today. Jill and I provided the sandwiches for Nan and Bertha (Ben's mom and grandmother). It was a really nice lunch, and the kids were very happy to get to play together. It's so nice to be able to have family close! We really enjoy their company. Here's the gang:

Matthew just made his way around the table getting scraps.

Lita was so nice with the kids! She's growing up to be such a nice young woman! Here she is entertaining Matt:

The kids had some playtime before lunch.

And Hiram lost his first tooth! They tied a string around it and he slammed the door. It went flying, but they found it and the Tooth Fairy gave him a whole dollar! Lookin' good, Hiram!

These two had a great time blowing pickle breath into each others' faces. They are best buds.

Grandma and Gracie got to sit next to each other. Gracie especially liked the pickles. She put three on her plate during the prayer, and I think she ended up with four altogether.

Here are the babies of the family (so far). There are 6 boys and 3 girls on Ben's side of the family. I think these two could be brothers - don't they look alike? They're going to be best buds, too.

Happy Mother's Day, everybody!

Mutual at our house

Okay, real quick before I tell you about mutual last night, I have to tell you what Joey just taught me. He said, "Mom, did you know that after monkeys scratch their butt they throw bananas?" How very interesting! Thank you, Joey. I didn't know that.

Well, last night we had the YM/YW over to our house. This actually happens a lot, because Ben is the YM president. The YW were looking for something to do, and I had a coffee table that Ben pulled out of the garbage in Missoula. So I had the girls and their leaders come over to our house to sand and stain it. It turned out pretty good. I got iron legs for it on ebay for $8.99, and after I have my handy husband put them on I'll post some before and after pictures. It's going to be a pretty cute table, I think! Here are the girls working hard:

Such a Great Daddy!

My husband is going to kill me for this, but I have to tell you what a great daddy and husband he is. On Tuesday night, Gracie came into our room at 11:00 because she "wanted to sleep with daddy". So he was brushing his teeth and she climbed into his spot in the bed. She proceeded to pee, and leave a nice wet spot for daddy, which he discovered as he picked her up to take her back to bed. Being a nice daddy like he is, he changed her clothes and her sheets, too (because she had peed there first), put her back to bed, and then camped out on our floor. I told him he could go sleep on the couch where it was more comfy, but he said he wanted to still be close to me! Isn't he awesome? And, yes, in case you're wondering, I still slept in the bed next to the pee spot. We have a giant bed, and I have 5 kids - sleeping next to pee doesn't bother me one little bit. I think Ben got up with her two or three more times that night, and once with Joey (which is rare - our kids usually sleep through the night). What a nice husband!

Day at the "Zoo"

We just love our little "zoo". I don't know if you can really call it that, it's more like a really great nature walk - with a tiger, a bear, two wolves, and a barn. It does have a great park though, and some nice trails. We go there all the time, and today was 71 degrees! So that's where we headed. Grace and Joey said they wanted to walk, so I just brought a small stroller for Matthew. They did pretty good, and didn't start complaining until the very end. All three of them fell asleep for naps too! We started at the barn, where we fed the chickens, ducks, and peacocks. Grace was trying to coax them over to her. I was really proud, because usually she's to scared of them to think straight, let alone enjoy the experience.

Matthew just sat in his stroller swinging his legs. As long as there was something to see, he was happy.

Joey really likes Jake the horse, but only if he doesn't get too close.

This is the showdown. Joey loved this little pygmy goat. This was the daddy, and the mommy looked like she was going to burst any minute with little baby pygmies.

This is Grace trying to explain to me why the ducks want me to buy them more food.

When we left the barn, we found this little creature. I don't know what it is, but it's not a squirrel, it's not a chipmunk, it's not a prairie dog. All I know is they're splattered all over the road by our house. Joey was trying to claim it for a pet, but it wasn't in the mood. I think he just wanted a snack.

We took turns pushing the stroller. This was Grace's turn. We went really really slow.

Then it was Joey's turn. We went really really fast.

Here we are on the way to the wolf enclosure. This was a favorite today, because the kids have been asking me to tell the story of Peter and the Wolf over and over again. It started out a couple days ago as a lesson in lying, and they just love the story. If somebody is making something up, they say, "Don't be a Peter!" I think the wolves turned out to be not as scary as they were picturing when I told the story. Oh well.

"Bear!"

We had to take a little rest on the rocks. They were just too tempting.

Then off to the park. We stopped at the wobbly toys first. Matthew had that thing rocking! He was just glad to get out of the stroller.

Here's Joey singing a song on the wobbly toy. I'm not sure what kind of creatures they're supposed to be, but he decided it was a snake.

It was a very fun day, but I've gotta go. Grace has no shirt on and she's asking for "basagna". She means business.