One more...

I realized after I posted our Disney vacation entry yesterday that none of the pictures featured Grams. My mom joined us for three days of park fun. Thanks for hanging with us mom!

Disney Vacation 2009

We got home a week ago from Disney World. I think I've finally recovered. Laundry is caught up, groceries have been procured and the floor is littered with toys again. Yes, it's good to be home!

The kids had a great time meeting all the characters and taking in as many shows and rides as we could fit in six days. We probably did a little too much. Note to self: When taking five (and in the future, six) small children to Disney World, don't stay at the park for more than four hours at a time...NO EXCEPTIONS. Mark would surely add, don't take wife while pregnant.

Madelyn did the autograph thing this visit. All the girls are so enchanted by the princesses.
Seth and Eeyore shared a moment during dinner at the Crystal Palace. The boys were not in the least bit frightened of the characters. Yeah!
Mark was invited to be a character during Belle's Storytime at the Magic Kingdom. He was the BEAST. He did a great job...more smiley than menacing. The kids got a kick out of dad being on stage, although Catherine announced later that she was 'embarrassed'. We did take a few breaks. This was the kids' favorite. Seth especially loved his 'pop' and guarded it very closely for the remainder of the day.
The tea cups were dizzying. I have a video I'll try to post later.Our official vacation family photo...
Disney is, as always, magical. The experiences they create can turn any frown upside down.

Shock and Awe

SHOCK

Mark got a late Valentine's Day gift this year. He had to unscramble the following conversation heart message...

He was shocked and speechless...

AWE

Then we both got really excited. This baby is a true testament to God's amazing power and grace. We got to see our little person for the first time in March. The baby waved for me.
We had another appointment this past Monday. Baby is doing well.

We are finally ready to share with the world that we are expecting Baby #6 in October.

Arizona Easter

This weekend we took our first road trip since moving back to Albuquerque. We headed west to Arizona to visit Mark's brother and his family. Their friends planned a picnic potluck at a nearby park complete with an Easter egg hunt. Thanks to my sister-in-law Heather and my nephew Oliver for preparing 160 eggs (100 more than they had to) so that we could play too. :)

We had a great time hanging out with cousins and catching up with each other.

Eggsellent Easter preparation

We've learned over the last two years that when a child enters school her world suddenly changes into a perpetual countdown to the next holiday. Perhaps this would have happened before school but I'm not much of a holiday person. I go crazy over birthdays but can barely muster the energy to put a Christmas wreath on the door. Fortunately, the kids have grandparents, great-grandparents and aunts who keep the holiday ball rolling in our house.

After using a ream of paper to make Easter drawings, comparing loot from school Easter parties, and counting the days until Easter for the last two weeks, we finally got to the real work of Easter: egg dyeing. This year Grandma and Grandpa sent us a kit. It was full of stickers and glitter pens and all things fun for dyeing Easter eggs. They were our project yesterday.
Of course, they all loved it. And I even got to play too! I was responsible for the boys' eggs since Mark was at work and the boys were napping.Today was sugar cookie day. We made Easter cookies to take along with us to Arizona tomorrow. We are going to have some cousin fun, if only for 24 hours. Happy Easter to all and from me, good night!

I believe in fairies...

Being the mommy of three little girls means that there is a lot of talk of princesses and fairies in my house. There are dresses, necklaces and never ending 'let's pretend' games. I've been dreaming of a few fairy friends I'd like to meet this week. First, I'd like to invite the 'baseboard fairy' over for tea. I've noticed that all of the sand swirling around outside our house has become an unwelcome spring guest. There is a lovely layer of dust and fuzz on the baseboards that I'm just not excited about cleaning. After the 'baseboard fairy' works her magic, I'd like to see about wishing up the 'light fixture fairy', the 'potty fairy', the 'closet fairy', the 'laundry fairy', and the 'extra hour fairy'. Until they appear, I suppose I should strap on my wings and get to work.

Construction crew

We (actually, Mark) have been diligently working to make our backyard an amazing play space for our five little ones. While others traveled far and wide during Spring Break, we settled in to watch our bike track be formed and poured.Really, all of this backyard work is just an excuse to get really cool trucks and construction equipment on our property so our boys can inspect them up close.
They were very attentive to the business of pouring concrete.
While the concrete set, we had 15 cubic yards of compost delivered to prepare our garden for planting and our planters for something yet to be determined.
Finally, on Sunday the track was ready for its first event. The kids love it! We love that we're one step closer to fulfilling our vision of kiddie utopia.