Ice storm and projects

Last week the local news stations got us all pumped up and ready for the beginning of tornado season, but instead of tornadoes we got an ice storm. I do have to say though that I'd rather an ice storm than a tornado. Even having grown up in Kansas, I'm still insanely scared of tornadoes! I do like that they can be forecasted for the most part though unlike earthquakes, etc. The morning after the ice storm was insanely beautiful! The sun was shining and the ice was sparkling. We drive to the next town east of us for Miles' preschool and that 15 minute drive was full of pretty sights. Miles and I kept saying, "Oooo, look how pretty!"

The peonies were all bent over from the ice on them, but I think they will survive. Here are some pictures of the ice on our trees.

Miles' swing almost on the ground thanks to the ice on the tree weighing the branches down

The tree branches encased in ice

Kind of pretty

When Miles first started standing unassisted I started looking for a way to keep track of his height knowing we wouldn't be living in our townhouse long-term so it had to be movable. I found a cute wall sticker measuring thing at the local craft store and thought that would probably work. Because of the texture on the walls, the sticker wouldn't stick to the wall. Dave brought me home a very large piece of paper from one of those big rolls of paper that they had at his school. I stuck the sticker to that and we hung that piece of paper to the back of Miles' door. We kept track of his height like that for a while. Then the big move to Kansas happened and I no longer had the confidence that the piece of paper would last long-term so I turned to Pinterest. I found an amazing idea of using a piece of wood like a very large measuring stick. That way it is sturdy but also moveable. We are not settled for the long haul yet so it is nice that we can keep track of his height and not risk having to leave it behind like we would if we kept track on a door frame, etc.

Here is the final project. I do have to say that I absolutely LOVE it! It is hard to see the markings in the picture, but for those of you who are curious...at 3-1/2 Miles is almost 42 inches tall. He continues to be such a tall boy!

Easter Weekend

We had a jam-packed fun-filled Easter weekend this year! Dave had a four day weekend and we took advantage of it.

Over spring break I wanted to go to KC and visit an indoor water park (CoCo Key Resort) I had heard about on the radio, but when I looked at the ticket prices ($25 each) I sort of backed off on that idea. I then found a calendar on their website that listed their hours of operation and prices for specific days (they're not open every day apparently). I realized that on Good Friday tickets were only $10 each. Much more affordable especially when I knew we'd only be there for a couple of hours before Miles was done.

After Dave got off work on Thursday, we drove up to my aunt's house in Olathe. Friday morning we visited the water park. We were there for about two hours and had a blast. It was so nice to be able to play in the water and not worry about what the weather was like outside...and not have to worry about sunscreen! It was sort of dark inside though so I didn't really get any good pictures. They had lots of things to keep Miles entertained. They even had a couple of adult slides, but Dave didn't try them out. He just hung out with us.

He loves playing with fountains!

Too busy to stand still!

The lazy river

Enjoying himself in the kiddie area

After swimming we headed back to my aunt's house for nap time. Miles took a super long nap. We wore him out swimming! He had a lot of fun and even almost a week later continues to ask if we can go swimming again. I wish Wichita had something like this!

Friday night my aunt and uncle made us a delicious Easter meal featuring a fantastic ham and a very cute bunny cake. Miles loved eating different parts of the bunny!

Saturday morning my uncle drove us out to their new house. They are in the process of building a new home in Missouri. It is on a lake. I'm so excited for them to move this spring and am excited for Miles to get to make fun lake memories while visiting Aunt Cathy and Uncle George. I had the same opportunity as a child with my grandma living on a river in Arkansas. SO much fun for kids!

So in love with their kitchen!

Fireplace and TV cabinet

Front door

It is a dark picture, but I love how you can see the boys chatting and all of the windows that look out on to the lake!

Their backyard - a lot of this will become a patio

The front of the house

After seeing their new house, we went back to their old house and spent a little more time with them before loading up to head home. We took a scenic route home and had fun seeing a part of Kansas neither one of us had ever seen before.

Sunday was Easter. We did our traditional get all dressed up in our Easter best for church. Miles always looks SO dang cute. His pants are always too big when they come in a set, but we make it work.

After Miles' nap we hosted Easter dinner at our house and invited over my grandma and grandpa, my dad and his wife, and my mom. I'm so glad that these people that I care so much about are able to be in the same room together! It makes my life easier for sure knowing I only have to host one meal and not multiple meals. Lol! We had another delicious ham meal. I asked everyone to bring the sides and dessert and it all turned out fabulous. 

Look what the Easter Bunny brought!

Buzz & Slinky

Flying Buzz around

I forced him to hold still so I could get a non-blurry picture

Post dinner conversation

After dinner we had an Easter egg hunt for Miles in our backyard. He had a lot of fun running all over finding more and more eggs. He had lots of helpers too so I think he found all 42 eggs that the Easter Bunny had left!

I found one!

Hunting with Dad

Found another one!

Gotta shake it to see what's inside!

As you can see we had a fabulous Easter weekend! Thanks to all for making it so special!

It's hard to believe that Dave and Miles only have about eight more weeks of school left! Time sure is flying by!

Family photo shoot

We had our family photos and Miles' 3-year-old photos taken a couple of weekends ago. Miles is now 3 1/2 so I'm a little behind, but late is better than never, right? I didn't want to spend a ton of money on photos since Miles is at an uncooperative phase right now with pictures so I decided to go to the local JC Penney's. My grandparents had recently had their 80th birthday pictures taken at the same studio and their pictures turned out great so I thought I'd give them a try. I am nothing but pleased with the pictures! The photographer did an amazing job at interacting with Miles and getting him to smile! They are so good. Below are my favorites. If you'd like a copy of any of them, email me and I'll get them to you.

  

 

THE best picture EVER!

 

Miles' personality shines in this one!