Update....

Spring has sprung and we are running like crazy! Horses, softball, soccer and church seem to be keeping us on our toes.

Yesterday I had to take Gracie to Omaha for a couple of doctors appointments. It was a pretty rough day for her. We started the morning at the ENT, she needed to have her ears cleaned out :( I've never had it done, but based on the SCREAMING it didn't seem like a pleasant experience. Then a quick trip to Toys R' Us to use a gift card that was burning a hole in her pocket (she picked Frozen walkie talkies:))....then on to the pediatricians office for her 4 year check-up. Her growth has slowed a touch, she's back on the chart but still in the 94% for both her height and weight. After her check-up she needed to have a blood test and 3 shots....those went over about like you'd expect! She was screaming like a teenager, she sounded possessed, at one point she looked right at the nurse holding her down (it took 3 of us) and yelled "get that stupid cotton ball away from my arm!" I guess I should thank my lucky stars she didn't swear!

Maggie and Jude have been doing lots of riding. Maggie has really improved and they're working together like an old team.

Maggie spent an hour doing multiplication homework today....she's in FIRST grade??? Seems crazy.

We haven't gotten very far on our house plans. Lots of back and forth with the architect. I'm sure this is the part that takes the longest, but some weeks it doesn't feel like we move very far.

Daddy has decided to work on his braiding skills lately, he's starting to get it (as long as Gracie will stand still for an hour :))

Maggie dug out her roller skates at Grandma and Grandpas a couple weeks ago :)

Such a BIG girl! She had some Birthday money she was headed out to spend!

A couple of weeks ago we got to go to The International, a horse jumping competition in Omaha. The girls loved it. Maggie commentated the whole evening for us!

Does popcorn sound good?

 

Everybody getting things ready for Bri's bridal shower. Even Grandpa got roped into helping for a bit!

There is a new colt at the barn, Gracie has to check on him every time we are there.

Our old girl is still limping along. We're still waiting to hear from a specialist but our vet is
very skeptical about surgery. She seems to be doing okay with the pain pills. She doesn't run around much but she doesn't
seem to be uncomfortable. The other day Gracie was headed to the neighbors on her bike and I turned around and Reagan was trying to follow us, she made it almost to the end of the driveway before I noticed her....it was a LONG walk back to the house for her, she didn't move much the rest of the day.

Gracie had her first soccer game of the year last week. She seems to be enjoying it. I think her favorite part
is snack time after the game!

 

Gracie's friend Gracie....they think it's pretty cool to share a name!

 

All smiles before the Ear Doctor came in.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We had a great weekend playing and celebrating in Omaha. Saturday we dyed Easter Eggs and did lots of playing at Mom & Dad's. Grandpa was working on the pool and it sure looked nice, I think Gracie may have jumped in if we'd let her :)

 Sunday morning we went to Church and then came home to see if the Easter Bunny had made a visit.

Sunday afternoon we headed to Aunt Trisha and Uncle Jeff's for the annual Easter Egg Extravaganza. I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should have :( but we had a great time and ate way too much. The girls were soooo dirty by the time we left I wasn't sure I wanted them in my car.

Trivia with Aunt Trisha!

The 7 little hunters!
Alex-7, Oliver- 3, Tucker-1, Elsie-2, Gracie-4, Ellie-4, Maggie-6

It's been gloomy and raining here all week! We're ready for some sunshine and warm weather. We are tired of being stuck inside. Reagan is moving around a little better this week, she's still on lots of pain medicine but she's acting more like herself. She spent yesterday morning at the vet having a workup we're still waiting for the results but are glad she seems to be feeling a little better.

Before Easter....

Our Easter weekend was full of great fun and lots of friends and family. Thursday night Carlisle's had an egg dying party. Thank goodness for art teacher friends.....she had all kinds of fun ways for the kids to color their eggs. They will never be happy with the boring old way again :)

Most of our kids have spring Birthdays, so Jen made them all a cake. We relit the candles and sang several times. 

Unfortunately I was a little late for the party because I was hanging out at the vet with Reagan. She blew out her knee. She was a in a lot of pain and really struggling to get around. With the help of lots of pain medicine and some rest, she seems to be feeling better. She'll have some further tests and then we'll have some decisions to make about fixing. She's no spring chicken but hopefully they determine shes strong enough for whatever repairs she needs.

Friday, the girls and I headed for Omaha, so we could spend the day with Hailie and Connor before they had to go home. The plan was to go to the Children's Museum, but we heard it was a packed house so we came up with plan B....Valentino's and bowling! It was perfect, the kids had lots of time to play and interact and they really enjoyed bowling.

I'll always be grateful for the time we get to spend with all the precious people in our lives. My girls are so blessed to be so loved and to have so many special relationships.

Birthday Weekend.

We had such a fun weekend celebrating Gracie's 4th Birthday. She loved every minute of the celebration and was a little confused about why it wasn't her Birthday anymore when she woke up on Tuesday.

We started the celebrating in Lincoln on Saturday. It was Gramma Lea's Birthday party but she was happy to share the cake and attention with Gracie.

Poor Lauren, she didn't want to have her picture taken and it probably didn't help that Maggie and Gracie
were both laughing hysterically. Maggie is holding Lucy, the youngest Pitlor cousin.

Sunday after church and a little rest, it was time for Gracie's Birthday Party. For a couple of weeks leading up to her Birthday, when I asked her what she wanted all she could come up with was "a party".  All of my cousins happened to be in town on Sunday, so it was a perfect excuse to get together and celebrate. We started the party at the BIG slides downtown and then went to Spaghetti Works for dinner.

The cheering section!

We kind of took over the slides. I labeled all the people in this picture for fun, but it's really hard to see.....several more are missing....Aunt Debbie, Mom, Dennis and all the kids! There was lots of laughter. 

When did they all get big enough to have a kids table??

The balloon lady stopped into the party room and was a hit!

All the cousins with their balloons (except Tucker, he was chasing down the balloon lady to
replace his popped sword!)

We got home pretty late on Sunday night and the partying continued on Monday. She took ice cream to school for her Birthday treats and was excited because they got to sing and eat it outside!

Daddy came to school for lunch. She was SO excited to have him there. He got to sit in a little chair and have his sandwich with all the kids. I'm sure he was a hit!

Elsie sent her flowers for her Birthday. Gracie was really excited about the flowers but she may have been more excited that
the "Flower Bringer Man" had come to the house to deliver them for HER!

Her best friend Lauren called to say Happy Birthday and they chattered on the phone like teenagers :)

Grandma & Pops came to help us celebrate. Gracie requested meatloaf, gravy, mac & cheese, cottage cheese & carrot sticks for dinner and an ice cream cake with Elsa on in for dessert.

 

 

 All in all it was an awesome celebration for a little girl and I think she loved every minute of it!