What day is it?

It is about that time of the week when I start getting lost in all of the chaos and have no idea what is coming up next.  The kids have a crazy tee-ball schedule and Kyle is still only semi-retired from track, so every evening we are busy with something.  Isabella has been begging daily to begin dance lessons, but I can't bear to add one more thing to the schedule.  It will have to wait till summer.

This weekend was busy too.  Friday...i can't remember.  Saturday morning I went running with my running buddies, then Kyle mowed grass at church, then I had a friend's baby shower, then we went to church, and then to a friend's daughter's 1st communion party.  It was all a lot of fun but the kids were worn out!  Sunday was the Germantown parade and Zachary first t-ball game, which started 40 minutes late, so we were up there forever!

Did I ever write a post about our spring break activities?  I don't think I did.  I'll just include pictures to catch you up.

This week Vincent has began attempting to pull up...mostly unsuccessfully.  He also said his first words..."Ma Ma, Ma Ma."  I'm not sure if it's aimed at me, but it counts because I said so!  I also decided I would begin making my own baby food, somewhat for fun, also for cost, and because a friend convinced me it was healthier.  I don't know that it makes a difference in the long run, but I'm trying it.  My first attempt was again unsuccessful.  The carrots were a little too chunky and at first Vincent gagged and then he puked them all up.  So my next batch was pureed much smoother and I think they will go down better.  We'll try them tomorrow.

School is going well.  Classes are full and kids are failing.  They just all stared at me blankly today when I announced they were not getting something for nothing and most of them wouldn't pass if they didn't get their stuff together.  I had another student shot and killed this week.  It's the second student I have lost and there is no way to describe how it feels when you open up the paper and read that news.  It's just a sick feeling.

Anyway, enough of the grim.  I have been working on my photography skills and I'm proud of lots of the pictures I've been taking.  I hope you enjoy reading about our family!

My favorite photos:

Spring Break:

The Zoo, enjoying a picnic lunch

Dino's at the Zoo

Zoo playground!  Vincent's first time in a swing!

Zachary with his favorite animal..the ostrich!

Bowling with Syd and a overcast day!

Vincent's first hike with Dad at Bernheim Forest.

A treacherous stream crossing!

Vincent's first ice cream cone!

Enjoying Louisville's best pizza..Papalinos..after Bernheim.

Germantown Parade

Rewind

Spring break started off with a bang with Easter festivities, but I guess I need to rewind about a week before that since I've been a little slow with the updates.  I've been back to work for two weeks now.  It has mostly been hard adjusting to the struggles of very little time in the evening to get everything done.  I've been skipping out of work as quickly as I can and I usually can pick up Vincent before 3.  I've also been accomplishing a lot at school, instead of wasting away my planning period, so I haven't had to bring home any school work!  That is one of the great benefits of teaching at an alternative school with 1/2 the number of students as a regular teacher.  I have 1/2 the number of papers to grade!  So my transition back to work went very smoothly.  Although Vincent still is refusing the bottle, he has done well.  Miss Aquilla says he doesn't fuss over it, he just chews on it.  She says he treats the bottle like he should a teething ring.  But he is eating baby food very well and doesn't appear to be wasting away, so I guess he's fine.

Zachary had a fun school project called the "wearable planet".  He got to dress as Mars, complete with two moons made of half Easter eggs.  It worked out well, because we actually found out that Mar's moons are not round, but more oval shaped.  He enjoyed that activity a lot and came home full of fun planet facts.

Vincent is officially a sitter-upper.  He sits up very well now, which makes it easier to put him down with toys and let him play on his own.  He is very content with that most of the time.

Saturday was the first day of spring break.  In the morning, Kyle took Zach and Isa to get haircuts, while I took my friend Jen's children to the papa john 10 miler to watch her finish.   It was nice and sunny when I picked up Jen's girls to go to the race.  I had Vincent with me and intended on putting him in his baby carrier.  But when we got there it started pouring, so I had to leave him in the car seat (which weighs about 40 lbs!) and attempt to run into the stadium to get out of the rain.  When we finally got to the endzone, where the runners finish, I unsuccessfully attempted to avoid a whas 11 camera crew that we had to walk in front of.  The reporter grabbed us and Chloe, Abby, Vincent and I got a short interview about the run.  We met Kyle and the kids at the SSM Easter Egg hunt.  Zachary came running out to us shouting "We saw you on the news!".  It was so funny, they had seen the coverage at the barber shop.

The SSM Easter egg hunt was fun!  Isabella didn't find as many eggs as she liked but they got to pet a real bunny.  On easter they got nice baskets full of toy treats and candy, then we went to Pop's house for Easter lunch and egg hunting. We finished the day with Isabella's prize from her chores drawing...popcorn and a movie...so we rented the Princess and the Frog.   Zachary's prize was Saturday's dinner..which he got to choose, so instead of jambalaya (which we had originally planned) he picked hot dog for him and baked potato for Isabella.  He knows how to please!

On Monday we went to the Indiana Yochums and had lunch with a really cute Easter basket Cake that Great Grandma had made.  The kids gave us adorable hand painted easter presents.

The rest of the week we have lots planned, so I'll try to update at the end of the week!




More Easter Pictures:

 Easter at Church

 Easter Facepainting

Zachary decorating eggs

                                                                                Toby with an Easter basket stuck on his head!