The Hero of the Year Award goes to . . .

BRYCE!!! Bryce just completed a full week of watching the kids for me so I could take a girl trip on my own with his sisters and mother. I don't think I ever heard one complaint from him about me going, and actually quite encouraged me to go when the opportunity was presented. I even left him with sweet Annabelle who is still nursing, and has never been away from me longer than a day (I don't think). What a brave man! I had such a wonderful trip (pictures to come), and it was so nice to come home to my beautiful children and husband feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the every-day challenges and joys of being a mom. Thank you so much, Bryce!

And while I'm on the subject, I just wanted to brag about my Mother's Day breakfast in bed that Bryce (and the kids) made for me the day before I left. He made egg, bacon, and ham, english muffin sandwiches with orange juice and freshly picked flowers from the neighbors yard. Then the kids all presented me with their home-made Mother's Day gifts. What an incredible start to a perfect day. Thanks, again, Bryce!

Reader for Life

Annabelle re-discovered her bouncy chair that I had sitting at the top of the stairs waiting to be put up into the attic. She was fascinated with getting in and out, crawling underneath the hanging toys on the seat. I was nervous that she was going to tumble down the stairs by doing this, so I moved the seat downstairs for her climbing pleasure. We were all reading scriptures together, so Annabelle grabbed a Peter Rabbit book and settled in to her comfortable new seat, and would not be removed for at least 10 minutes. For those of you who know anything about 10-month olds, its a minor miracle to see one sitting still anywhere for 1-minute, let alone 10! I just thought it was so cute.

Annabelle is eating what we eat (mostly) now, and is able to feed herself what we give her - which makes it easier on me because I don't have to think of a different meal for her to eat, and I can actually sit down and just eat my own meal without trying to feed her at the same time. But, it does make for a bigger clean-up project when she feeds herself! Here is the classic spaghetti example.

Spring Sports!

The weather has been so nice the past few days that its easy to forget that just this past Monday we had snow flurries! Crazy spring weather! We have been outside a lot the past few days playing lots of corn hole (hand-made by Bryce and our neighbor, Peter), riding bikes, playing in our sandbox, hitting the baseball, kicking the soccer ball and playing at the park. It has been sooo nice! The warm weather is new enough that there is still a cool breeze in the air, and a little too early for allergies and the mosquitoes to be buggin.

Caleb had his first baseball game this weekend! They start the season hitting off of a tee, and then they do coach pitch as the season goes on. He did so great! I was so proud of him! He's got a really good arm and can run really fast. I think he had a really good time!

Lucy is doing soccer for the first time. The first game she sat on the sideline curled up in a ball and wouldn't talk to anyone (sound familiar to dance?), so after a lot of pep talk and serious coaxing (coaxing/threatening - they are about the same thing, right? :), she has successfully played 2 games since then! She is pretty timid with the ball, but she's learning and she's having fun, which means she's a winner! Caleb always checks to make sure she had fun, "cause if you had fun, Lucy, that means you won!"

Hooray for Aunt Kristen!

We are so lucky to have such a close family member living in our same time zone! It feels like we are practically neighbors!!! We loved spending time with Aunt Kristen and her roomie, Jess (who we also LoVe!), at the Washington, DC temple for our cousin's sealing. Kristen and Jess were angels and helped by watching 8 kids while I attended the sealing! They were troopers. Then we had the priveledge of spending Easter with them too! Good, good memories. Annabelle is forever grateful for the toothbrush that she found in Aunt Kristen's bag the night before she left. yum yum.

April 16th Anniversary

For those of you who didn't know, April 16, 2007 was the date of the shooting that took place on Virginia Tech campus where 32 innocent lives were taken. This tragic event is still remembered here at Virginia Tech, allowing us who were here to heal together as a community and as a Blacksburg family. One of the events held on Thursday to honor the victims of that day was a 5K race (3.2 miles in honor of the 32 victims). It was a totally last minute thing, but a friend and I, Seantylle :), decided to run it together. It was so amazing! It was really powerful to see the 32 white balloons lifted into the air minutes before the race began. Then, shortly after, watching the 2500 hokie-colored balloons raised to the air symbolizing our respect for those who have passed, and showing to the world that we are ok and hokies are united! Bryce and the kids were all there dressed in hokie gear to cheer us on! It was a great start to our day. Here's a link to a video that shows highlights from the race (although I doubt you will see any of us in it!)

http://www.weremember.vt.edu/2009-events/video/2009-04-16-run.html

Springtime

Honestly, I just needed to post something. I guess I haven't been taking very many pictures lately. So, here is my cute baby in a spring dress last Sunday. Isn't spring so refreshing! I love it!

Favorite Quotes of the Day

Lucy: "I'm on Daddy's team! (that means I get to tease people)"

Lucy: "James, let's pretend we've never seen each other before." (actually replaying the scene in the Parent trap where the two girls are at the isolation table and not talking to each other)

Mom: "James, quit copying Mommy."
James: (in a high pitched voice) "Quit copying Mommy!"

Lucy: "I can't wait to tell daddy that mommy made a shake and I told her how!"

James: "Mommy, do we live underground?"