Flood

We had the pleasure of our washing machine flooding the back of our house. Not once, but twice in the course of a week. Here are some pictures of the damage.

While they were initially drying everything out, our A/C had to be turned off. It got very hot.

Since the fans were blowing in the back and everything was torn up and dusty and gross, we had a camp out in the family room for a week.

 All of the carpet and flooring in the hallway has to be replaced, as well as parts of the wall in the laundry room. girls room, and garage. All the baseboards in the "flood zone" have to be replaced as well. Awesome. It's going to be a fun couple of months!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was wonderful! The children surprised me with home gifts and cards. Matthew made my favorite breakfast of strawberry waffles with whip cream and bacon. We went to church, and then I got to come home and take a 3 hour nap. It was heaven!

Emma made me a special gift. She and my mother went to the pottery place in the mall and she made me a bowl! she painted and decorated it all by herself. She was so proud and excited for me to open it. it is my official cereal bowl now, and I love it!!

Until We Meet Again...

Today we laid to rest a remarkable women. Marie Felshaw Peterson touched the lives of almost everyone she knew, but none more than her own family. She was an example of motherhood, kindness, faith, devotion to family, service, and enduring to the end. We will miss her more than words can adequately express, but there is comfort in knowing that this is not the end, and we will see her again. We love you GranMarie and are so grateful to be a forever family!

The love Affair is Over

Homework time

You would think homework time would be a stressful one, and granted sometimes it is, but surprisingly enough (especially to myself) homework time at our house is one of my favorite times. Matthew usually doesn't get home until 6:30, so the solo task of dinner, homework, and baths usually falls on me most nights. After dinner is cleared away, we all sit down together at the table, and while Aidan is doing his homework, the other kids are doing theirs. They color, do art projects, or flip through books together.

They even tag team color!

iPad Love

So, Matthew surprised me with an iPad for our anniversary. We had both wanted one, and I was really excited to get it since we don't make large purchases for ourselves very often. However, since purchasing it in October of 2011 I have only used it a handful of times. No joke. It was pretty quickly commandeered by my children, especially Olivia who loves to sit on Emma's bed and watch any form of Curious George on Netflix. I allow it for completely selfish reasons in that it is one of the only things the kids share nicely, and when they are watching or playing games it is quiet and they are kind to each other. Yes, sometimes I let the iPad babysit my kids.

Aidan's School Trip to the Zoo

Aidan's kindergarten class took a field trip to the zoo. It happened to fall on Matthew's Friday off, so he chaperoned.The kids were assigned buddies, and stayed with their parents if they were chaperoning. This is Aidan's friend Alex.

Chatting with the girls. Shocking.

Part of the school tour allowed the kids to see parts of the zoo not open to the public. Here are some stalls, I think where some of the animals sleep and get cleaned.

Aidan's favorite part of the day, lunch.

Waiting for the bus back to school.

Matthew of course took a million pictures of the animals, but I wanted to just post ones of Aidan. He had a really great time and loved that his Dad got to spend the day with him. I think we'll make it a tradition for Daddy to go on the kindergarten field trip!