Happy Birthday, Josh!

Last week Wednesday was Josh's 32nd birthday, so this is a little late. But I thought it was better late than never! We celebrated by going to Idaho Falls and getting some shopping done and going out to dinner at Josh's restaurant of choice.... Panda Express. (Seriously?!) Yes. He wanted to go there more than any other place. Nothing apparently says Happy Birthday like fast-food Chinese.

Anyways, then we came back and picked up our kids from Josh's mom. They had gone to a science fair in Ashton, which they LOVED. They talked about things from it for the next few days. Even last night before bed, Gabe says to me, "Would a spider web in your door make you happy?" and I was like, "No I would probably get a broom and get rid of it." And he said, "No, they said that's good at the science fair because it will keep all the other bugs out of your house." I was like, "Oh... okay."

Caleb is excited now because his birthday is next. We started with Gabe's in March and we said then it's dad's, then yours, then mine (or possibly the baby's I guess even before mine if it's a few weeks early!) We already had to get Caleb a new bike recently because the one yellow Tonka one that I bought back in probably... 2009 from a garage sale in Wisconsin for $10 (that Gabe went through training wheels and learned to ride 2 wheels on, then got passed to Caleb for the past year or so...) finally bit the big one. One of the tires got so wore out that it has a hole in it and a new tire would probably cost more than the bike itself.. plus it was getting too small. So! Josh and I debated and I was like, "Well.. technically the practical thing to do would be to buy Gabe a new one because he could probably use the next size up (he got a new one for his bday last year but it still is in good shape) and then just give Caleb Gab'es hand-me-down again." But then we thought that would be really mean because Caleb really deserved one and never gets anything new. So we went ahead and bought him the exact bike he wanted (because he saw our neighbor boy just got it) and he was pretty excited about it. When we brought it home he wanted to knock on everyone's door in our neighborhood that had a small child and show them his new bike. The thing that makes him the most excited about it is that on the handle bars it has this motorcycle type revver thing that makes him feel super-fast. :)

So, the other big news is that we got our backyard in! It has been a pile of mud and snow all winter. I asked Josh what he wanted for his birthday and he said, "Grass." (Again.... nothing says Birthday like grass.) So, we ordered the sod and even a few trees and now the playhouse is practically done except for a few pieces of trim inside and my flower boxes, the the yard is looking pretty good. Josh even got a BBQ grill from me and my mom for his birthday. I will have to definitely post some pictures when I get another second.

But I wanted to post the top five reasons that Josh is the best husband in the world in honor of his birthday. :) (In ascending order of importance)

5) He has ability to fix anything in or around the house. And if he doesn't currently possess the ability, he watches a video on YouTube and figures it out. My friend was over the other day looking at the playhouse and said, "How much did this cost you to buy???" and I said, "Most of it was made from scrap they had in the dumpsters from building the houses around our neighborhood." And she said, "And Josh just like... put this together... from his head???" and I said, "Yup." She replied, "What a stud!" I know.

4) He can lift anything in our house when we are moving or rearranging furniture. I couldn't live with a skinny girly man for a husband. :)

3) He works at a job and supports our family - very important. Even though now he is telling me he is applying for a K-9 position at the department which brings the potential of dog #2 for our family.... more to come on that later.

2) He helps with the kids more than a lot of other dads I know, and he actually seems to enjoy it most of the time too. He doesn't ever refer to it as, "Babysitting the kids," which I have heard other dads say.

1) He loves me! Which pretty much makes him a very smart person as well. :) Happy Birthday Josh!

Family Visit and Easter

It's been a busy past 2 weeks! My mom and my niece, Jasmine had planned to come visit for the past few months, but at the last minute, my sister, Rachel, came too. They were here from Thursday, March 29th to the following Monday, so not too long. But it was still fun. Then my brother and his family also drove down from Montana and spent Saturday night here and left Sunday. We did some shopping, ate some Cocoa Bean cupcakes, played outside with the kids, and had an Easter Egg hunt. The weather could have been a little better. It was pretty cloudy and windy most of the time. At least they didn't have snow! That came about three days after they left! Luckily it melted within a day but that is why you see snow on the ground at the church Easter egg hunt!

The next week was Easter and Gabe was off of school from Thursday to the following Tuesday. The weather this past week has been beautiful! It was in the 70s for a few days in a row, starting on Easter Sunday. But of course now today it is windy and cold again. :( Please can it just be Summer!?

For Easter, the kids seriously had like, 4 or 5 Easter egg hunts. One was at church, one with their visiting cousins, then one with their Idaho cousin's at Josh's parents' house, then TWO with the neighborhood kids. It was kind of funny. There were some kids that didn't come out in time so we quick set it back up and did another one. We are pretty sick of Easter egg hunts now! Or at least I am! Then the bunny came on Easter morning of course. He did a little scavenger hunt with clues saying, "First I needed to use your bathroom..." where they'd go and find a handful of jelly beans and another clue like, "Then I decided to go check out your toy trains...." etc. There were about five stops before they found their baskets in the coat closet at the end. It was funny. Their baskets contained some healthier options like mini-muffins and juice boxes, partly because they had already gotten tons of candy from Easter egg hunts and partly because when I went to Walmart the day before the candy isle was seriously picked over! They also got some kites, some bubbles, and other little toys.

So then after all the Easter stuff ended and I got my house back in order from the visiors, it's been time for some Spring cleaning and organization. I have been trying to piece together things for the little girl's nursery. I ordered my crib online and found a changing table that was EXACTLY what I was looking for on craigslist for $40. Score! I was so happy. I already had the bedding from when I was pregnant with Caleb and bought it - hoping for a girl. I guess you could say I am pretty excited! I also have been doing some little girl clothes shopping. :) I even bought this soooo cute swimsuit from Target that she will probably wear twice before it is too small but I couldn't stop myself.

We are also getting our backyard ready for sod. Josh said yesterday (as I was talking about how he should build a toybox) "I have so many projects started right now I don't even know which one to finish..." It is true. I keep him busy. :) He is trying to finish the playhouse still - it just needs trim basically. Then he's been raking out the backyard and leveling it out, checking the sprinklers to make sure they work, getting some paver stones in place for a sandbox, pouring extra concrete for a dog kennel to be in the backyard.... just getting everything mapped out before the final step... grass! I am so excited to have grass and not little puppy paw mud prints on my kitchen floor every day.

So, this is a long post! As you can tell, we keep busy! Here's some pictures!