Get your rain boots on!

Hello, again!

Mack takin' a spin on the merry go round

I hardly feel like we earned it, but spring has arrived in Colorado ( Not to say that winter won't show it's face again. It's been known to snow here into early June). Mack and I celebrated the first warm day with a trip to the park.

Happy Hansford week!

All smiles, even Buddy!

The Hansford crew pulled in from Arizona a bit late as they had to wait for the storm that was centered on us to pass through. It worked out well, though, since we could reschedule Mack's birthday party so that they could be here to celebrate. It's always so much fun to sit back and watch as the kids get to know each other again  .  Mack was so excited to hang out with her cousins! I could barely tear her away from play time unless she was hungry!

Taylor Bug has been waiting a long time
to get her arms around this boy

So hard to believe they'll be ten in a few months! Despite that fact,
sometimes I can close my eyes and still see them as little toddlers, dressed in their
princess dresses

Sweet moment

Mason hangin with Auntie Nikki while we waited for lunch

Work out with Mack

Mackenzie has been occasionally working out with me over the last few weeks. She's picked up some really great moves!

Stargazers

Mike got Mackenzie a telescope for her birthday. It'd been in it's box in Mack's closet until the last two nights because of cloudy skies. But now that we are having a healthy dose of spring here, they've been out scopin' out the skies!

Read to go!

Mike using his laser pointer to show Mack
the Big Dipper

They found Jupiter AND four of it's moons

Catching up

Remember the mini-castrophes I  alluded to before?  Well, they got even worse when Mason shared his tummy bug with me and I to Mackenzie. This was not the best timing since Mike was already feeling really sore after his procedure. So you can imagine how much worse it all got when , on top of all that, our dishwasher began leaking! We knew that the people who'd put in the hardwood flooring had floored in the dishwasher so we knew exactly what this meant. My sister happened to be in town with her family so there was a full weeks worth of plans already made. Mike began tearing out the flooring ( Thankfully he was feeling much less sore and I had a few percocet left over after my c-section.) When all was said and done, Super Hubby had fixed the dishwasher and completely replaced the flooring in the kitchen in just over 24 hours . He'd have had it done that day except that the subfloor needed to dry. I can't say it enough...this man is just too good to be true!  10.5 years later, I'm still pinching myself.




With the ever curious Mason on the loose, Mike asked if I could take the kids to my moms. Off we went while Mike worked magic in the kitchen .

Nap on the go! THIS may have made the
whole ordeal worth it.

Lucky day! Papa brought home this years chicks
while we were there to give daddy space to work with out helpers.

Mason is not chick friendly. He had to watch from afar.

Mack and Mason watching the guys across the street play basketball

Happy 5th Birday, MC!!

Birthday recap in pictures!( I apologize in advance for the way this post will show up. Blogger doesn't like so many pictures in one post)

We celebrated Mack's birthday with her classmates
early because, lucky for us, Mack had her actual day off.
I picked chocolate cupcakes for Mack and her for her
teacher who is pregnant and craving chocolate.

Presents trickled in over the week and Mack
was so excited for each and every one!

With Mack's new reading skills, I thought having a scavenger hunt
would be a great way to start off her day. Each clue was taped to a
small present all leading up to her real present.

Mike and I worked side by side after the kids were in bed.
He assemebled the bike while I wrote the clues that would lead Mack
to it.

Just as we finished the balloon wall, Mack emerged to go potty.
It's always interesting to see how she will react. She doesn't really like surprises
but sometimes she is happy about them. This time she wasn't so excited.
" I just need to pee!" She said in her groggy morning voice. From here, we started our hunt!

A short snippet from the hunt

Surprise! Her brand new Cars bike!

Her goodies! Complete with sugary cereal just for her special day

Despite her cool reaction to the balloon wall, later it was all she could talk about.
Mack, Mason and Ellie had fun with the balloons for days after. She took a bath
like this before Grams came over to stay with Mason while we took Mack for a day in Denver.

Mack wasn't feeling her best on her birthday. We later learned she was
in the early stages of a tummy bug . She snoozed on the way to Denver.

We wanted to take Mack to The Old Spaghetti Restaurant
for her day. That restaurant was closed for a remodel. Imagine the luck
when we found old faithful! Unfortunately, it's a happenin' place for
downtown workers and the place was packed. We took the shuttle
to the Cheesecake Factory where Mack ordered...mac and cheese :)

Little girl , big city

Next was a trip to the three story
bookstore housed in an really neat old building.
We spend a few hours at The Tattered Cover
where Mack  picked out a few books but looked at nearly every single
book and we read a couple, too.

Our last stop was to the family doctor where Mike
had had his vasectomy. They only do them on Thursdays
and this was the only  day that worked with his
schedule. He was a real trooper but just couldn't go anymore .

To end the night, we had pizza and cupcakes
with Grams, Mason and the cousins.

A snow storm covered the state and forced us to cancel Mack's birthday party.
She took the news like such a champ telling me that she'd already had
so much fun and she was glad she at least got to have cupcakes with her cousins.
It sort of worked out because my sister and her family were due to arrive from Arizona on
Sunday evening so there were 20 family members on hand for dinner at Gram's house . Here she is opening presents
, laying on the blanket my mom made for her.

Mack had her 5 year well child exam and a well child she is!
Still in the upper 80's for her height , she's definitely got height on her side.
All her busyness has her down a few percentiles but she's just perfect as she is!
44.75 inches tall
43 pounds
We were advised again to be ready to work hard to keep Mack
challenged at school but Karen gave us the ultimate compliment
when she said that we are her model family!