A March in photos

 Upwards Basketball season wrapped up, Robert got to sub-coach once. We enjoyed watching this guy play. Emily and I also worked the Coffee shop/snack counter a couple times this season. She really likes volunteering but is not old enough to do it solo. She is quite good at making the smoothies, and likes to eat a cheeseburger on her break.

 Dallas and his friend Cole have enjoyed after church playdates to play lots of basketball, 3 hours does not faze these boys.

 Robert took me to Kansas City to see the Big 12 Championship game, Iowa State won! It was my first game to see coached by Prohm in person, it was a good one! It was a very fun environment and we would love to go again. Thanks to Lynne for watching our kids for 30 hours (mostly the dog-he is the hard work)

 Emily finished her math book at the beginning of March. 

 This guy has gotten to be quite the soccer dog

 Robert's perfect parking job at the Crowne Center in KC. I don't know how he maneuvers this truck, but he is amazing at it!

We had a Spring Break Medieval feast to eat with our hands, celebrate what our 5th graders have been learning and to joust! We all dressed the part (the best we could!) We had a four course dinner (all gluten-free) and ate with our hands. We did sub ginger ale for "ale" as to not serve minors. The water was not often safe to drink, so mead (honey water or ale was drunk by all)

The dads jousting for our entertainment. We had a couple of jesters to acrobatics, poem reading, historical facts read, Dallas was a page or a knight in training so he helped serve us.

Late season snowman, made with possibly our biggest snowfall.

Two quiche Lorraine's  for Pi day plus a pumpkin pie for dessert. 

Noelle finished a phonics book

We tried Hurt's donuts in West Des Moines.  Verdict- to sweet, fun to see being made and look at all the flavors, but no one finished their choice.

Noelle and her straw bridge she made for science. It held 200 pennies!

I am going to remove this lovely carpet from our basement stairs. I am guessing we won't miss it. The carpet comes off easily, but the glue underneath is going to need some muscle to remove.

Checkers at the library. The kids would like this set. I am guessing this is the Cracker Barrel version.

This girl likes to read Garfield

Easter 2017

 My Easter celebration kicked off with a date to see this gem of a movie, thanks to Lynne for staying over Saturday and coming to church with us in the morning. She also did awesome auntie things and made Peep marshmallow dioramas with the kids. They obvious loved it, CANDY! I am too lazy to pull her picks from FB, so go see them there!
Also, Robert and I have seen the last 4-5 of these Fast and Furioius movies in the theater.... what does this say about us?

 Robert got up bright and early and played percussion in the orchestra for two services. The funny thing was he was also booked to play in the Catalyst service (drum set) and they kind of fought over his services for a bit. But the orchestra lady conductor won out, and Robert finally just found a sub for himself for the drum set.

 Obligatory Easter family picture (with CY)

We brunched at the Gateway Hotel where Noelle ate four plates full of bacon, Dallas had waffles and a Cadbury egg the bunny had gave him and Emily had bacon and then made various trips to the pasta bar.  Bacon always tastes better when someone else makes it for you, glad I have imparted that wisdom on my family. 

Welcome Murphy

Murphy is from Cedar Rapids just like Robert. 

Robert drove over to meet him when he was about 5-6 weeks old. (Not our kitchen and not our ultrasound pictures on the fridge!)

 This is a picture of Murphy at 9 weeks old, saying goodbye to his mom and dad.  Dad is the yellow lab. The parents seem a bit smaller and shorter than Bo was, if you want a reference. Murphy was the smallest dog out of the litter, but not so small he was considered a runt.

 He weighed in at 12 lbs when we brought him home. 

 First night home! We got back to Ames late, but we stayed up to cuddle and play a bit. 

 First day. Dallas thought he should nap near him.  We put a cardboard box in his kennel for a couple weeks to take up space so he wouldn't think he could use the bathroom in the back half!

 More cuddling/napping. 

 I think he looks like a completely different dog in the belly rub position. 

 In his second week with us he got to take a long car ride and spend the weekend/family Christmas with us in Southern Iowa. He wanted to eat all the cords at in the cabin, but only had one indoor accident so we will count it as a win!

 You'll notice all of our pictures are in the kitchen. He hasn't earned the right to be in the living room or on carpet yet.  We hope soon! At four months he still considers everything is edible and should go in his mouth to be eaten or chewed.

 Really her dog. A puppy has been on her Christmas list for 4 years running! 

Evidence of the chewing. Robert loves getting texts from me during the day of the next victim.

Overall we love him and he has been a great addition. He can hold it 6-7 hours (all we have tested) during the day and 8-9 hours overnight in the crate. We need to work on his table manners- he likes to steal our food. He quickly learned sit, lie down, and shake and will perform at will. He is fairly good on the leash with Robert and I, less so with the kids, but they don't really enforce any leash manners.
Now that he is four months his fully vaccinated and we wait for the snip-snip after six months.
I would say that Emily likes him best, Noelle takes the least sass from him, she will put him in his place when he jumps or nips, and typical of all things Dallas, he loves him in the good moments, and wants to sell him in the poor- like when he had his basketball shoe in his mouth.

Dallas 8th Birthday

 One of the presents we gave Dallas was a couple of rides at MB2 the indoor motor cart track in Des Moines. They had a great Groupon.com deal 

Robert and Dallas went and took their rides after Christmas and they both enjoyed the experience.

 We had the grandparents and family over for a little birthday celebration. Of course he got Legos and they got put to use right away!

 Robert and I gave Dallas a Traaxas remote control Slash truck.  It gets played with a lot and hasn't broken yet.  It looks really fun.

 Loving on his sisters

 Having a friend party in December is fairly difficult. I talked Dallas into having a couple buddies over on a Thursday night to watch the Iowa vs. Iowa State Mens Basketball game and call it a birthday party. We ordered pizza, had popcorn and ice cream. Everyone took guesses on what the score would be. It was a good time, but in reality all they really wanted to do was play wrestle-tackle football in the living room.  I don't really consider my house to be super large. But having a couple extra humans, plus a Christmas tree set up makes it crazy. Next year remind me to see if I can rent a wrestling room for the party.

 Eating!

 Three pizzas was just the right amount

 Cole, Trent, Micah, Dallas and Lucas

Playing with the Traaxas in the snow for the first time.

The Perfect Gift 2016

This church event has weaved it's way into our family Christmas traditions. Again this year we made treats attached an invite to The Perfect Gift and handed it out to over 20 people in our neighborhood. 

My kids absolutely love doing this. 

This year we strongly encouraged Grandpa Dallas to get involved so we signed him up to be a greeter at the door! I think he liked it?

 We also decorated again. This year we did a Patriotic tree. It was more of a hassle this year because the prelit tree we were provided was not working. The lights they had available were icicle lights. We ended up at Walmart to try to remedy the situation and came out with one package of LED blue, and a pack or regular red. It is breaking Robert's Christmas mantra to mix lights or use LED, but it was a make it work situation.  Most of the ornaments were Robert's moms and then we borrowed some from a friend who had done a USA tree in the past.

The girls were in the Christmas show/pageant. Emily had a singing solo, she was a sheep with curly horns. Noelle was an angel.

We also pulled taffy all day. I think we did 6 batched. The last batch was without my Dad and Barb, but only  made possible by my sister. I think she hit the nail on the head, I might be a little too distracted in that environment to successfully get a batch cooked. But she is a pro! For some reason I can't find a picture of that awesomeness!

Winter Pictures!

 Noelle and a finished phonics book!

 Emily and her car! 

 Robert took each kid on a date to shop for their siblings. Looks like Noelle got a hot chocolate out of the deal!

 Emily modeling a headband we liked at a local store

 The devotion we used this Christmas required a candle. I couldn't find one locally, my nephew made this at preschool, so I am posting it to remember for next year!

 I love this little bag from Aldi. I eat this with shredded chicken frequently for lunch. One bag lasts me about 4-5 days. It is easy to prepare when I have the chicken on hand. I like it with a sprinkling of sriracha sauce.

 I didn't make Christmas PJ's this year at it was so pleasant! These pajamas came with a pack of markers so the kids could color in their shirts!

 We had an apple pie making party. Invited the expert Benji and his daughter Abby over to show us the ropes. Total we made over 20 pies. Emily and Abby made at least 7 between themselves.

Some of the men from the pie prep party.