Back to Swim Team...

The YMCA swim team finally had a swim team spot open up so Ruby could rejoin. She was really nervous for her first meet, but she did a great job! She swam a few relays, which is always hard because the YMCA isn't a selective team, and some of the people who were swimming on her team looked like they were drowning on their legs...but she held her own and she isn't ever focused on her finishing place anyway. She swam the butterfly, breast stroke and crawl stroke individually and I'm not sure if she placed in any of them, she got 3 4th places though!

Here she is approaching the platform in lane one...

On your marks, get set...

Go!!

Oma was able to come watch.

Alice swam in the free pool during the meet to keep herself entertained. She was proud of her sis.

Lucy and Puffy...

We got two more chickens. Have I mentioned that Chris is mildly obsessed with chickens? It has been a really fun hobby for him, and he is very knowledgeable about all things chicken related! :) He decided we should get two more chicks as long as we already have the set up and such. Made sense to me, and it is so fun to have little ones again! We got an Americana, which is Lucy, and is Chris' chicken. We also got a Brahma, I named her Puffy (with some input from the girls, such a cheesy name).

Meet Lucy. Lucy will lay "easter eggs" or green and blue eggs! That's kind of neat!

Meet Puffy. She will be a really large, quiet, nice chicken with all white feathers. The cool thing about her is that she has feathered legs and feet, it kind of looks like a Clydesdale horse.

Betsey loves the little chicks. She carries them around in one hand all over the yard, she snuggles them against her face...she's really comfortable handling them and does a good, gentle job for the most part.

Spring Break in Sunriver...

We were so lucky to be invited by Sommer to her family's new house in Sunriver, OR for spring break. They have owned it since early fall and they have revamped the whole thing and turned it into quite the popular vacation rental property. We were lucky it wasn't spoken for for the time we went, because we got to go down and enjoy ourselves for four nights!

The kids enjoyed the hot tub, which was very shallow for an adult and has since been replaced...so it is good for adults now. :) 

In my pregnant state, I didn't join them on bike rides, but Sommer took the kids out for a ride a couple of times. 

We went to the little shopping area in the resort and the kids got ice cream and bought a souvenir or two.

Eden was very attentive to Betsey during the trip, it was cute. Betsey loved it!

The kids all together in front of the house...

Betsey, Alice, Kesley, Ruby, Eden, Talmage and Wyatt...

I wish I had pics of the kids in the house, especially in the large bunkroom...or even swimming at SHARC. We went there twice and had a nice time swimming. I didn't take enough pics! 

Sommer and I had a great time talking while the kids played games and such up in the big loft/bunk room. I got some crocheting and sewing done for the baby, we both read an addictive book or two...it was also General Conference weekend so we watched both Sunday sessions. I learned from this trip that Sommer and I are totally compatible travel companions. We enjoyed relaxing, the kids got along I think fairly perfectly and it was just a really nice trip. 

Betsey Wants to Marry...

So last night, Betsey told me that she wants to marry Oma. Didn't surprise me a bit. She said, "Cuz Oma's really nice (weewy nith)."

Just now, she randomly said, "Mom, who am I going to marry?"
"Who do you want to marry?"
"Oma. Where is my marry dress?"
"We'll have to buy you one."
"I think I want to marry daddy now because he's a pretty boy."
"Yes he is."
"But he doesn't have any hair."

Hahahahahahahaha! I could (and thankfully do) talk to her all day long. She is such a hoot right now! She never stops talking and she just says such cute things!

April Fools?

Chris has always and still does live to tease. It's not one of my favorite qualities to be honest, because I usually feel like I am having my emotions manipulated senselessly for his entertainment, which I don't appreciate. At least he has Ruby and Alice now to share the teasing focus, and they are more willing to roll with it than I am, so they are more often the targets by now.

 Anyway, on April Fools, we were sitting around the table just me and the girls talking about something we could do to fool Chris, when he got home. He said he had a big surprise for the girls and to meet him in the backyard. I even told the girls it was probably a joke, but somehow all reason flew out of my mind when he entered the backyard with a cardboard box in his arms.

He said, "This is going to make you girls really happy and mom really mad." Then he said, slowly opening the box, "This showed up at our door at work today and I spent the day with it and fell in love and had to bring it home."

Enter a cute kitten.

Pretty much my kids' dream second only to the presentation of a horse. They were thrilled. Ruby even cried tears of joy. Honestly, she did. They were so, so, so happy.

Chris had planned to stretch out the happiness but when he saw the tears, he thought better of it and said, "Those tears of joy are about to turn into real tears when I tell you April Fools." Wretched!

 I was hook, line and sinker sitting there this whole time thinking about how dead he was. I don't ever want another cat, ever...EVER. I wasn't about to be the bad guy though, the damage was done. I was envisioning going to a car dealership the next day and buying a new car without consulting Chris. I thought, "this is a huge game changer!" I was stunned. Honestly. I just kept thinking about the baby coming and litter boxes and how many family members and friends are allergic to cats, etc. I was so not on board. It was awful.

More awful was the revelation that Chris has no boundaries when it comes to teasing. I NEVER thought it was a joke, because it wasn't even a little bit funny! It was downright nasty and the girls were horrified when he told them the truth. Usually they are quick forgivers, but in this case, he was like, "I'll take you to B&R for ice cream to make it up to you." They were like, "I'll stay home." I told them, "Stay home and have the ice cream from our freezer, so you don't have to go anywhere with him!" We were all on the same anti-dad's-joke team for sure!