Breakfast in Bed

We have been working really hard to get our pool up and running which has not been an easy task. So last night I decided to get into our yucky, green pool to try to find the vacuum. I walked around the pool for 20 minutes while the kids watched (Jonathan was at church). Kirsten was really concerned the whole time that something bad was going to happen and finally said, "don't you think you should get out now?" so I was walking to the edge to get out when I tripped over the vacuum! We were very excited. Kirsten said, "don't get out of bed tomorrow I have a surprise for you."
She rushed to take a shower and get dressed this morning and then asked me what I wanted to eat for breakfast. I told her I felt like cereal today. I could hear her working really hard in the kitchen sweetly telling her brothers that she was getting them breakfast. She brought me her little play food tray with a bowl of cereal, a folded napkin, and a glass of milk. She was so happy with herself and my heart is so full just thinking about my little sweetheart's face this morning.

Kansas City

We went to Kansas City a long time ago...I am so behind on blogging. Anyway, we went to Kansas City a few weeks ago mainly for the Temple open house. We decided to stay for a few nights and see more of the sights. 

The morning before we were planning on leaving, Kirsten had her annual Land Run and she did not want to miss it. So we dressed her up in her pioneer outfit and sent her to school. She had a really good time with her little "family" finding their land underneath the slide.

 We had to go straight to the Temple, which was not the best idea. The kids were not too happy to have to sit and watch a movie after sitting in the car for a few hours. The kids enjoyed the Temple. Kirsten and Colton were both in awe of the chandeliers. Colton kept (very loudly) saying "oooh sparkly".

 The next day we headed over to the mall and saw the fountains.
 

 We wanted to go to Legoland but it didn't open for a couple more weeks so we went to the aquarium, which was crazy packed. Kirsten loved looking for these questions that she had to answer to get a prize at the end. Colton loved looking at the fish.
 
 
 
 
 After that we went to the mall to go to Fritz's. We saw this Lego man on the way
  

My parents told me about this restaurant after they went a year ago and we have been excited to go ever since. It's a total train themed restaurant. The food is even delivered by trains. Needless to say, Colton was in heaven. The rest of the kids loved it too.

 

 

 They had this exhibit in the mall with all these fun activities like swinging like a monkey, jumping like a kangaroo, sitting in a huge nest...the kids loved it. They could've played in there all day.
 

We found a park that afternoon and played.

Jonathan wanted to go to a Royal's baseball game while we were there. After some convincing, Kirsten decided she wanted to go too. So her and Jonathan got some tickets and went to the game that night. Kirsten cheered for the Blue Jay's and despite what this picture says had a lot of fun. Since she's the Cardinal's at her school she decided she liked the Blue Jay's. Jonathan said she cheered for them even amid all the Royal's fans. The boys and I stayed at the hotel that night and relaxed.

 
 
The next morning was Sunday so we found a ward close to our hotel and went to church. Our hotel was close to downtown so we went to the downtown ward. It was a really neat ward and we met some really great people. After Church we went to Independence. The visitor's center has changed a lot since I was there. We watched a really neat video presentation on families, which most of us really enjoyed. They had little rooms set up to look like a house and Max tried desperately to get into them. Going places with an 18 month old is fun:) They had this little play area set up for kids to act like pioneers. All of the kids had so much fun pretending to be pioneers. Well, Kirsten pretended and Colton played with the well the whole time. Max just loved running around and checking everything out. We went to Liberty Jail after that. The boys and I checked out the jail and then left because they were a little distracting. Kirsten and Jonathan really enjoyed it.
 
 

That night we went to this Dinosaur Cafe. They were all a little crabby at this point and didn't appreciate the big, cool, real looking dinosaurs.
  
We also went to the Crayola cafe at some point. Here's Kirsten enjoying her dirt and worms.

The next day we swam all morning at the hotel. And then had to check out one of the famous BBQ places. So we went with Oklahoma Joe's. It was this little place inside of a gas station and the line was all the way out the door. We took our food to the park to eat before heading back home. We ate one of the most delicious things I think I've ever eaten. And I guess there's one here now!

 Then we headed back home. We had such a great time. Kirsten kept saying the few days after that she wished she lived in a hotel. I would tell her that sometimes I do too.

Our sweet little Kirsten had a birthday last month too. She was supposed to have a birthday party the Saturday before. But because of the rain we had to postpone it. So we let her open her present from Grandma and Papa early. She got this awesome school. It took Jonathan about 2 hours to set up, but it was worth it.

                                         (She changed into her pajamas after gymnastics.)

The pictures of what we did during the day were lost with my broken phone...So I"ll just have to describe. We got up and took Colton to school and then went to the store to pick out cupcakes for her class. We also got doughnuts and ate them together. She got to go to school a little late. They celebrated in her class that afternoon with her cupcakes. I had to pick her up from school for  tumbling. She got to skip gymnastics and come home to her birthday dinner. Her choice was waffles. So we put a candle in her waffle and sang happy birthday. She opened presents from Grammy...Barbie stuff. Which she is always excited about! So, overall it was a pretty good day.

Kirsten is such a sweet girl. There's this quote I've seen that says "Angels are often disguised as daughters" and that is truly how I feel about her. When life gets crazy with the boys it's so nice to have this sweet little girl to talk to and do girly things with. I love that she loves to do crafts and make cupcakes. She is very helpful with the boys. If I need something she will get it for me. The other day the garbage was full. so I told her just to set her trash on the table and I'd get it when I had the chance to take the trash out. Kirsten then tells me not to look and she proceeds to take the garbage out. She is so helpful. She is very kind and always worries about people or animals that may be hurt. We are so blessed to have this sweet little girl in our family.

Colton's Birthday

 Colton turned 4 on April 12th! He had a great time opening his presents. He got Thomas stuff from Grammy.

 The kids helped me decorate this cake. Including Colton. He knew just where to put the funnel.

 Singing happy birthday!

 Blowing out the candles.

 He got a wooden train set from Grandma and Papa.

 Daddy set it all up for him. He had tons of fun with the bridge, which he calls the "shake shake bridge". He had fun until Max came in and destroyed it. Colton is very patient with his brother and usually just thinks it's funny when Max destroys things.

 Colton is such a sweet little kid. He always wants to cuddle with mommy. He'll go upstairs and get his blanket and pillow and bring it to me to snuggle with. He is so happy and fun and is progressing so much. He has started a new therapy called Floortime Therapy and his therapist thinks the only thing really holding him back is his language. She is so impressed with him and says he's the kind of kid she loves to work with. He rarely gets upset and usually does what he's told. He loves to wrestle with daddy. Colton will laugh and laugh and laugh while they play. His thing lately is saying "tickle my toes" and then when we do he juts cracks up. Such a happy, fun little boy!