April 2007 - Post 5 - Grandma Jordan's Visit

Okay -

This is the last "April" posting.

I know it has been awhile, (prior to the these 5 posts) but as you can tell from the following SIXTY-THREE photos, we have been busy! Enjoy catching up!

The last week of April my mom, Penni, (AKA Grandma Jordan) was able to fly out for a visit. We were sorry Grandpa Jordan was unable to come, but we sure appreciated him sharing Grandma with us :)

Picture below was taken shortly after we arrived back to our house after picking Grandma up at the airport and eating lunch at Wendy's.

Krystin loved having Grandma play "peek-a-boo" with her at bedtime. She would grab Grandma's hand and pull it to her face :)

Grandma got to read lots of books at our house!

One afternoon while Krystin was sleeping, Ethan and Kaylin made monster cookies..... Grandma helped a little :)

At one point Grandma thought she saw an oatmeal husk, so the kids helped look for it. Kaylin played (i mean looked) in the oatmeal a long time. You can tell by the picture Ethan was a bit too distracted by the baking soda - which he loves to measure out with the teaspoon.

When Krsytin awoke, she thought Grandma could use her help spooning the dough onto the cookie sheets!

"Is this how we do it, Grandma?!"

As mentioned earlier, Ethan got a bike for his birthday. While he is getting pretty good at peddling, stopping is another issue. Grandma was a big help working with Ethan on his stopping technique. Thanks, Grandma!

The girls in their walk/trike gear :)

I think having 3 kids of her own was good training. Look at the pro making a PBJ while holding a toddler! :) Notice Ethan enthrawled with the paper towel dispenser and Kaylin demonstrating to Grandma how she wants her sandwich cut :)

The girls getting ready to go pick up Ethan from preschool. Look at those CUTE new outfits from KOHLS!!!! YEAH!!! I now have a Kohls were I live! :)

Grandma was GREAT at giving (mostly me---I was needy) massages. Thanks Mom! Here Ethan is giving Grandma a hand/arm massage.

I repay my debts with child labor ;)

Grandma then returned the favor to Ethan.

Ethan had his preschool "Spring Sing" one evening. He did a real nice job of singing along and doing the actions.

After the Spring Sing

Ethan was glad to have Grandma Jordan attend his show.

(And Mom and Dad were glad for the extra help with Krystin)

Thanks again for coming for a visit Mom. It was great to have you and the time went WAY TOO quickly :( :( :(

April 2007 - Post 4 - Birthday Party on Saturday, April 28th

On Saturday, April 28th, we threw a "knights and princess" birthday party for Ethan and Kaylin. Ethan invited his preschool class and Kaylin invited 3 of her friends (conveniently daughters of 2 of my friends. In total there were 12 kids ages 3-5 :) Fortunately my Mom was out for a visit and I have a very helpful husband - as well as very helpful friends.

Anyway, we rented a castle jump house, played foam-sword joust, and pin the crown on the princess. Of course, the afternoon was topped off with cake and opening presents. The kids had a blast and we did too - well, at least speaking for myself. I think Dan and Grandma got most of clean up duty while I jumped with the kids. Below are a few pics of our family testing the jumphouse prior to the party.

Kaylin and her party guests..... or, as she exclaimed as they were arriving: "My guestES are here! My guestES are here!"

Ethan and his friends. It was a nice turn out with 7 of his 11 classmates attending.

Krystin woke up from her nap towards the end of the party. Even though she is not shy, having an extra 15 people in your backyard is a bit intimidating after a nap - fortunately Dad was a secure perch until fully waking up :)

More jumping after the guests left

I finally convinced Grandma to take a bounce :)

Kaylin kept taking Grandma "around and around"...

God blessed us with GREAT weather - low 80's. But with all that jumping we got pretty thirsty! Ethan loved the water jug operation.

Look at those red cheeks!

Of course - with water and toddlers there are bound to be spills - both accidental and otherwise :) Thanks to Mom (Penni) for these great feet shots! (first 2 Kaylin - last 2 Krystin)

April 2007 - Post 3 - Misc

April 16th - First time we took Ethan's new bike out for a spin. (As you can tell by the purple cardboard stuck in his wheel.... and the fact we did not adjust his seat height, yet) Anyway, This is the first time Ethan rode a bike and the first time Kaylin rode a tricycle. Still a ways from being able to go on family bike rides... but it is a start! :)

April 24th - Valentines' Date

I know - that was 2 months ago.... and Dan and I HAVE been on a couple dates, but this was the first time we were able to / flet like dressing up and going to a nice restaurant like we wanted to for Valentines Day. (I think Dan was sick on V-Day date)

April 2007- Post 2 - Ethan and Kaylin Birthdays and Papa Masson's Visit

OKay - so the title of this post is long..... but alot happened. Ethan turned 5 and Kaylin turned 3! Papa Masson was able to be here for a short visit to help celebrate. The kids had a great time with their Papa, and vice versa as well :)

Here is Ethan's Castle Cake. (chocolate-chocolate)

I asked Kaylin if she wanted me to make her a bunny shaped cake, but she last minute changed her mind to just a round cake with a big number 3! (Hey, it was a lot easier!) Her cake flavor, if you are wondering, was strawberry)

Birthday Boy with his loot from Dad and Mom. The big gift was his BIKE!!!!!

Birthday Girl with Mom and Dad - and all her presents.

(She loved the bounce ball and hot wheels track - but stated plainly she did NOT like the fairy wings costume. Hmmm..... I wonder who she reminds me of?!....)

A couple nights while Papa was here we had fun playing Settlers of Cattan.....This picture is for you, Jesse. Watch out - next time we get together, Dan and I are prepared. By the way, Britt soundly whooped the men the first night..... and we won't discuss how poorly she did the second! :)

OK - even though Papa is not fond of pictures, I HAD to at least post a couple of him with the kids to prove he really WAS here! The first day he and the older 2 built a really tall tower - taller than Ethan :)

Once she was able to get it all to herself, Krystin REALLY enjoyed Kaylin's new HotWheels track. Once the cars were released and sped down the track, she would exclaim with delight and with a huge grin on her face, toddle as fast as her stubby little legs would allow after the cars.....and bring them back to Papa to set up again. How many times would you say you helped her set up the cars, Papa? 50? :)

Thanks for coming for a visit, Papa! It was a fun time :)

April 2007 - Post 1 - Easter

Our Family Easter Morning

(Don't be fooled by the picture..... Dan and Krystin ARE happy that Christ arose!)

Kaylin after the egg hunt at church

Krystin after the egg hunt at church.... (she didn't really get into the spirit of picking up the eggs - she was happy just watching everyone else)

Krystin did a LITTLE bit better during our family egg hunt at our house

Ethan showing his good find

Ethan and Kaylin hard at work gathering eggs....... as you can see in the background, Krystin quickly lost interest in eggs and had more fun playing with the balls