walking queen

little jaders is turning into quite the walker! she waddles around more and more now. whats funny is that she holds her belly when she walks. i don't know if she thinks she's holding herself up or what, but it's cute. of course as soon as she's up and walking, here comes her brothers....poor thing. but she's getting much more aggressive with them and will squeal and swat at them to keep them out of her face.
zander got his test results back from the allergy specialist. so he's technically not allergic to anything. he just has dermographism which means he has a hightened level of histamine in him naturally and thats' going to make him more susceptible to contact allergies. grass, weeds, etc on his skin. also because of the rain this year we have tons and tons of pollen and that will irritate his nose too. not that he's allergic, but its like sticking your face in pepper. you react with sniffling and sneezing, but your not allergic. soo....thats that. but he's got claritin to help now too.
ronan keeps running around the house yelling 'happy mother's day!' i love it., he gives the best hugs and squeezes. he's also really becoming a fabulous cook. he helped me make bisquits for our strawberry shortcake. (oma style!!!) he just loves putting the ingredients in and mixing stuff. it has created a peaceful bond with us and something he's proud of doing alone with mama.
as for me, because i posted that things were going so good last week, i had a tough couple of days. isn't that the way of it? so i was pretty pooped this weekend, but have had a good beginning of the week. which means i'm sure that tomorrow will be crappy. i've also been asked to co-lead a bible study at the group i've been attending for the last two years. i'm excited about it, but also terrified....big commitment, and no more slacking on my lessons! it was definitely a God thing and his voice was louder than my own doubts. so come to cabc next year and join the WOW bible study and be in my group!!!!
anyways, i'm also working my butt off for my garage sale on saturday. PLEASE COME IF YOU"RE IN THE AREA! (7-1 pm) i have kicked my own butt cleaning out every nook and cranny in this house! poor ben had to clean his closet out tonight and it nearly killed him. the dust was brutal!!!! he can't even breathe now from it. i guess that's what you get for not cleaning out your closet in FIVE years! but we'll leave that one alone. i love him so much for even doing it! basically i told him if he didn't, then i got to pocket the ENTIRE profit for the garage sale! :) so motivating....

KINDERGARTEN TIME!!!

zander is officially registered for kindergarten!!!!! we are absolutely amazed that he got our first choice of elementaries! i prayed and prayed and prayed that God would put zander where he wanted him and he completely did. the more i find out about the school the more i see God's hand in it! so today i raced around and around and around with two of my three kids and finally got all the paperwork in for zander to be ready to go. so september 7th, here we come!!!!
btw...for you californians, he's going to Benchley-Weinberger Elementary.

God is bigger than me...

So my husband's new work schedule consists of him leaving at 7:30 am and returning at 7:15 pm. its a big adjustment in our household because ben is super hands on in the household. he used to get up with the boys at 7:00 and sit with them till 8 (while i slept of course) and cuddle and love on them. now...he gets in the shower at 7 and i am forced to wake my sorry butt up and go get the boys milk and cuddle them or get them ready for preschool, bible study, or whatever it is that week. but mornings i can try to do...evenings were haunting me...i am used to ben coming home at 6:20 and sitting down and eating together as a family. we talk and eat and catch up on the day. but now he walks in at 7:15 and plays with the kids (forgoing eating cause he'd rather see them for 45 minutes before they go to bed.) then its off to bed for them. and that's it. he sees the kids for about 45 minutes a DAY!...it's sad....but here's the awesome thing. my silver lining....it's me...(isn't it always about me! :) ) and it's God....i am usually frantic and crazy on days when ben came home at 6:20 to eat. i was done and living for the minute ben walked thru the door. but now, there are so many people praying for our home during this transition that it's been calm. that's against my very nature! i am not calm...but the nights have been calm. am i tired? heck yea! am i ready for ben to come home? oh yes....but yet, its calm and happy and doable. and i really thought it wasn't going to be doable. it shows me just how amazing God is. why is it that i am always surprised when God answers prayers.?! he is so faithful and truly is the peace that transcends all understanding in our home!

i've lost my way to my blog

i'm slowing i know...life seems to be taking over. and by the time night rolls around i begin to roll around. :) plus all of last week was me trying to remember how to be a parent again now that my inlaws were gone. so here's some updates from last week.
ronan started his 'intro to sports' class thru la mesa rec. i thought it was a non parent involvement class but when i got there apparently parents were helping a lot. dang it...i don't do involvement...especially with my fifty pound baby girl toting around. not easy! but ronan became a shy little boy and kept playing with his mouth with his head down. that is, until we actually started playing baseball! he smashed the ball off the tee and had fun running around the bases. he caught pop flys and grounded balls like an alligator. it was cute to watch, but again, jade + hip = extreme pain. he loved it and was so excited to tell anyone who would listen about it. it was a fun time together and i enjoyed watching him play. he's definitely my sports child.
jade started walking thursday night. of course the one night that ben wasn't home... she kept standing up by herself with nothing to hold on to and then all of a sudden off she went! she was sooo proud of herself! she's still hesitant but i see her taking steps by herself all the time now. we also took her to the doctor on friday and she will be having tubes put in her ear on may 11. she has just had way too many ear infections and rounds of antibiotics. so hopefully this will help. but she's still a happy well adjusted little girl and full of it!
zander is learning and learning and learning. i cannot keep up with his questions but i am sooo grateful for google! he loves bugs and animals and anything science related. we have been watching the series LIFE on the discovery channel and its amazing! i highly recommend it for anyone who has science kids! i love to watch his mind at work. my mom took him on friday while i was at the doctor to get bugs for her garden. they got lady bugs, praying mantises, and red earth worms. there were 1500 lady bugs in the container that they bought! the boys then got to release them into geegee's garden and some in our garden. of course ronan stepped on quite a few. but zander thought it was amazing. also, zander is froggy of the week this week at school which means it's all about him this week. all of us (except jade) helped make a poster about zander and his favorite things. it was a lot of fun and zander is sooo giddy about getting to share tomorrow. he also gets to bring whatever book or toys he wants during the week. my lovely science boy is bringing his 'sea life encyclopedia' book for sharing time. :) and his mellinium falcon toy. hahaha...
funny thing zander said the other day: 'dad's getting old, he's almost a grandpa'.

Strawberry Picking in Carlsbad!

today was a gorgeous day and we decided to go pick strawberries in carlsbad. the strawberries were huge and yummy and fabulous. the boys loved picking with oma and opa and jade LOVED eating them. i think the girl downed 5 strawberries in about 45 minutes. she was hilarious. ronan had a problem with taking one bite and then chucking the strawberry. and mama does NOT like wasting! zander loved playing in the muddy puddles with his boots. all in all, beautiful wonderful day!

these are the mutated strawberries next to normal size ones. :)

the flower fields next to the strawberry patch

Easter Pics

Easter Dinner at our house! by my mom is their friend galeyna. it was also her birthday!
Reading to Zander from his easter book
Jade and Grace Tepfer at church! Cuties!

Oma and Opa and the grandkids!

The family and the leaning tower of 'Rissa!

Cutie Kids!

My handsome boys!

Coloring Easter eggs with Oma and opa!

my inlaws are here!

woo hoo! the got here on friday and man have the kids been spoiled! non stop entertainment for them all! jade warmed up to them very quickly too. she follows opa around asking to be picked up and held. i think ronan and zander are going to wear oma down till she can't move for months. it's only been two days...poor woman. they made bird houses, colored eggs, played baseball, chased eachother around the yard, read books, played with cars, played doggies, and the best part....the boys spent the night at their hotel. and woke up.....at....5:30 am.....5:30 am......they have never woken up that early before....oma and opa took them on a nature walk, went to mcdonalds, took baths, and were still to my house by 9. poor people...they are dedicated! slightly crazy, but wow...
tomorrow's easter and we've got big festivities planned at our house. i'm very excited because for the first time i'm having my parents and ben's parents in the same house together for a real holiday feast! courtesy of marie callendars. :)
happy easter everyone!