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Our nephew had a birthday today and we forgot to call him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY you big 14 year old boy!
I remember holding you all the time when you were a baby! You had the cutest little walk. I loved your little grin. Craig would flip you upside down and you would laugh like crazy. You always loved to drink our pop too!
One memory I have of you was when you were 1 or 2 and sitting on the floor with you in Nana’s kitchen in her old house lining up a very long line of Mathcbox cars? or dinosaurs maybe? The line was perfectly straight. We couldn’t move them at all. You’d turn your head and I’d switch one to be backwards or crooked and you’d immediately see it and fix it. I thought then that you were amazingly attentive and smart! and you still are.
I honestly can’t believe you are so grown up. A young man now!
Hope your day was great.
We all love you very much!

What an incredible weekend! I had the best time. All these women were sooo much fun. I haven’t laughed like that for a long time. Thank you girls for laughing with me (and at me).
I finished 18 pages!
It was so great to have no responsibilities and just CREATE all day and into the night! I was the last one to go to bed the second night at 3:18 AM.
We each had our own table but all in one room. It was a riot to see how much stuff we all had!
Notice the wonder woman-ish photo of me and my 7 bags for a 2 day trip. There were 8 of us with that much stuff or close. And see the 3 of us trying to lift my bag into the van. . . ha. It was heavy!
I never did get dressed – jammies only! so awesome.
I miscounted before – we left 26 kids behind with daddies (and grandmas helped too).
Thanks Craig for being so willing to let me leave you here alone just so I can have fun with the girls…love you for that.
Do we look like a group of happy mamas or what?!!

Its GREEN DAY at pre-school. She picked this outfit herself . . . so cute.

St. Patrick’s Day always make s me think of my Grandpa Osborne. He and I were pen pals. He sent me a poloroid once of his St. Patrick’s outfit. He had a green 3 piece suit with a green hat to match. I think he is standing next to his 3 wheel bike in the poloroid. He was always doing something funny. OH I wish i knew where that picture was!!! I would post it. If I find it this morning I will.

Craig is home today working on the house. He is so handy. I will show his finished product when it’s finished.

Later today I am off to Oklahoma to a “scrapbook” bed & breakfast for the weekend. I am so thrilled about it! It only sounds fun if you like to scrapbook I am sure. The house is all ours (8 friends and I). Everyone gets their own table & workspace. Then we get to be free of kids and housework for 48 hours to work on what we love! We can sleep when we want and eat when we want! It is going to be so great!

We are leaving behind 22 children with their daddies.

I have to go pack my clothes – 2 pairs of jammies and a toothbrush. I plan on staying in pj’s the whole time because I CAN!

Have a wonderful weekend.

We had TWO surprise visitors yesterday.

Illinois friend Chad Gifford emailed early yesterday morning saying he was in Kansas on business! He was way up in Kansas City but had no afternoon plans so he drove the 3 hours down to see us. He stayed for dinner and we gave him the tour of little Newton. It was so good to see you Chad! Thank you for going so far out of your way to see us. That was really special. Next time you come we will hit the antique stores! I hope your drive back was free of deer this time.
Then at the end of Chad’s visit Todd Davis (my brother-in-law) walks in! He was in Wichita for a few days for work all the way from Texas. We hung out with him for the rest of the evening. Great to see you Todd! I like that we get to see you a little more often thanks to work.
Anybody else want to come see us today?
i hope everyone reading this knows how welcome you are to call or show up anytime you are in the area! Please stop by anytime. It makes for a really fun day. But just be warned it may be a mess if you don’t call first. I am okay with that as long as you are.

Last night was Student-lead parent conferences. The kids take you around their room showing you their work. They love to do it. It is such a cute way to hear how they doing. The teacher is there but just sits at her desk listening to be sure they have the correct information.
Sean’s handwriting has improved incredibly since September. Scott’s showed us his owl “pellet”. yuck. It’s gross to see little mouse bones all glued to paper. Look at that drawing of the white house (blue). Wow!
Then they got to pick some books at the book fair. My rule was “No TV books”. No one likes to read a Sponge Bob Squarepants book! I think I like the book fair as much as the kids do.
The weather here is amazing! I think we’ll have to hit the park again today.

She loves art . . . when she’s in the mood.
Just thought these were sweet.
I love the inner desire you see in children when they MUST draw right then even it means laying on the floor to do it. Some kids never have that need. It’s in you or it’s not.
I love that it’s in her.

Friday night we got a fire going in the pit outside. It wasn’t even cold in the dark. It was loud (like always) because the kids are so excited and hyper but it was nice to be out. We roasted some marshmallows and then threw them at the kids on the trampoline. It’s a game they call “Mallow Toss.” I don’t know if they made it up but they always play it when we have the fire going.
Saturday Sean had his first soccer game of the year. He is head and shoulders taller than anyone on his team. It looks hilarious. He was totally into it though. . . very sweaty and exhausted at the end.
When we got home he saw a new Lego catalog came in the mail. He swiped it and headed off to read it in privacy (no siblings) and enjoy his soccer team snack. He’s just like his mom – sneaking away with a magazine and a snack.
Later in the day Craig took three of them for a bike ride. Talby got to ride the chaser bike! She thought she was SO BIG.
Our Sunday was very relaxed. Craig is in a basketball trance now that will continue through the rest of the NCAA tournament. He was happy with his Jayhawks today!