Harris House

My mom came to visit again this month while James travelled.  Drew and Ellie greeted her at the door, and I don’t think they moved from this spot for about 45 minutes.

Last time Mom was here, it was raining the whole time, so it was a nice change to have beautiful spring weather.  We went to dinner, shopped a little, and had ice cream cones.  Ellie is a natural, and ate her cone down to the last bite. Drew had a little trouble, but slowly figured it out and enjoyed the treat.

  We decided to be productive this time since last time we just ate and shopped, so we tackled a project. We turned our front guest room into a new play room/guest room.  Mom is great at these types of projects and loves to be spontaneous, so it was her inspiration and motivation that made this happen. Thanks Mom!  I am really good at thinking about these kind of ideas and then never actually getting around to it.  Here are some pictures of the new room and another ice cream treat…. ha!

Still love Sam's and their double carts!

This is our guest room(aka Mom's room) minus bedding.

In progress....

The (mostly) finished product!

They love it!

Mmmmmm.....

Had to post this....Drew's poop face.

Any mom can tell you that motherhood is all about doing things for your child when you don’t want to or don’t feel like it.  Of course, some days you are just oozing with love for your precious off spring, and it is a joy to serve them.  But let’s face, there are lots of moments where you’re just doing what ya gotta do.

  This week I made a major sacrifice for the joy of my kids.  We were out running errands, and they had been doing so well as we strolled peacefully (thanks to piles of Goldfish) through TJ Maxx and other stores that I decided it was time.  I introduced them to the world of Pet Smart. 

 Drew and Ellie were mesmerized by the bright fishies and chirping birdies.  Meanwhile, I was trying not to gag from the horrible smell and keeping one eye out for weird flying animals or gross little furry things that may attack me or cross my paths.  They loved it- especially petting a lady’s nice puppies on our way out.(gross…. I resisted the urge to use Wet Ones on their hands immediately)

 My poor kids will (probably) never get to experience the joy of pets beyond a fish, so they’ll have to learn to love the pet store.

Checking out the bright orange fish- and knocking signs off the shelves.

We spent 10 days in Omaha visiting my family and celebrating Easter.  We had a great time playing and hanging with all the Janzens.  One highlight was our visit  to the Omaha Children’s Museum- I think James had just as much fun as all four kids!  Drew and Ellie “participated” in their first Easter egg hunt.  They loved playing at Grandma’s house with Addi. By the end of the week the three of them were getting along and teaching each other all kinds of new skills and tricks. We loved having dinner at Becky and Mia’s house and spending time with friends and extended family.  I took millions of pictures- right James?- so here are just a few.

Here are some pictures from the last week in our lives.  We threw Drew and Ellie into the “snow” for about 5 minutes on Saturday  just to say we did. Drew loved it and did not want to be done.   Then, of course, it was beautiful and warm a few days later.

We have missed James this whole week and are excited that he’ll be home in about 2 hours! Yea!