Jayden's t-ball game

Jayden started playing t-ball this year and had her 1st game last week. They didn't have any practices before the game, because they always got cancelled due to snow or rain. :( So, it was a pretty interesting first game. She hit the ball both times very well, but it took her a little while to realize she needed to run to first base after she hit. :) She played short stop when she was in the field, and when the other team hit the ball for the first time, everyone on her team just stood there, because they didn't know what to do. BUT Jayden ran all the way from short stop to almost first base in order to get the ball!! We all couldn't believe how aggressive she was! I guess watching baseball on TV with Daddy has paid off! haha! Here are some pictures and a video of her up to bat.

Corey's Graduation

Corey graduated this past weekend from Grand Canyon University. He has been going to school online for a little over 2 years now and staying home with the kids full-time too. He graduated with his Secondary Education degree in English, so he can teach grades 7-12 in English & Literature. He worked so hard these past few years and graduated Summa Cum Laude! He is so proud of that (especially because he graduated with the same GPA as I did & you all know how competitive we are!!) :) He also just finished his student teaching at North High School. He absolutely loved his class and many of the students enjoyed having him there. He was even nominated for the "Golden Apple Award" (which is a teacher award given locally) by one of his students. I am pretty sure not too many "student teachers" get nominated for this. I am so proud of him.

I surprised him and bought tickets down to Phoenix, AZ, so he could walk in his graduation ceremony. It was a short 2 day trip, but it was definitely worth it. We went and toured the GCU campus and also got to see Chase Field (where the Arizona Diamondbacks play), because that is where the graduation ceremony was held. The kids stayed home with their grandparents, so it was VERY relaxing! It was the first trip Corey and I took since our honeymoon 7 years ago!

Easter

I know these are WAY overdue, but here are some pictures from Easter. We went to "Breakfast with the Easter Bunny" at McDonell high school and the kids got to play games and have an easter egg hunt. They all had a great time and the boys were really good at finding eggs. Peyton always wanted to open and eat the candy right away, instead of finding more eggs, so that definitely slowed down the process! :) When we walked into the school, Peyton went running up to the Easter bunny and gave him a hug and high five! I couldn't believe it! Now only if he would do that for Santa......

On Easter Sunday, the kids woke up and Jayden remembered it was Easter right away, so we had to find the easter eggs and easter baskets that the bunny hid all over the house. They had a lot of fun! Then we went to church and over to my parents house for easter dinner. They had ANOTHER easter egg hunt at my parents house and got even more candy. I think we have enough candy to last us until halloween!!! It ended up being a very nice day out, so we got to spend a lot of time outdoors, which was so nice. Here are some pictures to enjoy!

Playdate

We had another playdate with the Hartman triplets this afternoon, along with my good friend, Kari Stepp's little boys. Kari lives down in North Carolina, so this is the first time we have been able to get all the kids together. Elijah is the same age as the boys (& girls), so it was a lot of fun! It was crazy having 6 two year olds running around (plus Kari has a 9 month old little boy, Xavier, too!) It's amazing how much more rowdy and crazy boys are than girls, but it really showed today! The boys were jumping off the stairs, wrestling with each other and definitely trying to push our buttons....while the girls were watching quietly!!! haha!

Kari and I always joke around that Eli and Peyton should be twins, not Peyton and Landon, because they look SO much alike (red hair, big cheeks and stocky build). And the funny part is that Corey actually wanted to name Landon "Eli" before he was born (after Peyton and Eli Manning).

Here are some pics!

Dress Up Time!

Jayden LOVES to play dress up and have fashion shows for us. Lately the boys have been getting involved and want to dress up too! Here are some pics of all of them dressed up - the boys are going to love these pictures when they are older!! haha!

We are still alive!!!

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately - it's been over 2 months!! It has been crazy & hectic these last few months, having the stomach flu go through our house first and then strep throat/bronchitis after that! I was the only one who didn't get either of them - I think God was watching over me, so I could take care of everyone else in the house! :) We are all finally healthy again and the kids are so happy and energetic! With it finally being warmer outside, we can get out of the house and go for walks and play outside in the driveway. We still have a lot of snow covering our lawn (since our yard is in the shade), but hopefully that will be gone soon. Here are a few pictures of the kids (and my nieces) that Auntie Kristen took this past weekend while we were at my parents house for a fish fry. I promise to upload some more pics soon. Especially some really cute ones of the boys playing with Jayden's dress up clothes! :)

One last thing.....This morning on the way to school, Jayden asked me, "Mommy, did God make Big Time Rush?" (Big Time Rush is her favorite show and boy band on Nickelodeon). I say "Yes, God made everyone, Jayden". Then she asks, "Did God make all the people on Disney channel too?" haha! So cute!

Landon


Jayden


Peyton


Here is my niece, Natalie:


And here is my niece, Addison:

Fun with markers

This is what Daddy found after going downstairs to do laundry for a few minutes.....I guess Jayden was tired of coloring on paper!! haha!

Our Little Devils

We have recently found out that 2 year old twin boys are actually little devils!!! They collaborate together and try to see how far they can push mommy or daddy before getting in trouble. It's a lot different than just one 2 year old, because they feed off each other and are in competition with each other on who can push our buttons the most!! Our peaceful, easy bedtime routine (which has ALWAYS been easy) has turned into a NIGHTMARE!! Now, they keep getting out of their beds and taking all their pillows, blankets, bed sheets and stuffed animals down on the floor behind their bedroom door and then lay down there and kick the back of the door - because it makes noise. No matter how many times we go in there and put them back into their beds and tell them to stay in their beds, they keep doing it! They also like to keep turning their bedroom lights on, open the door and come out of their room! This has turned into 2 hours of battling with them and then really, tired boys the following day. We have now put duck tape on their light switch, so they can't turn it on and put a child doorknob lock on the inside of their door, so they can't open the door anymore. We have officially locked them inside their room!! Once we did this, they are now usually asleep within 30 minutes of going to bed - but they still end of sleeping on the floor behind their door! We don't care where they sleep, as long as they GO to sleep at a decent time.

Besides bedtime, these two little devils find many other ways to push our buttons, but that will have to wait until another day. Here are some pictures of our "little devils." :)

Playdate with the Hartman Triplets

Well, we had another playdate with the Hartman triplets (Aliya, Briella, Ciara) during the week after Christmas. This is the first time the boys weren't scared when we got to their house and just took off and started playing! What a nice change! :) I think they are starting to remember the girls and their house, so it's not so scary anymore. The kids were all so good and played together well. This time I brought Jayden with too and she loved playing with all the new toys! She was showing the girls how to play with their new dress-up clothes, which was so cute! One of the girls was a little under the weather (Briella), so she ended up going and taking a nap while we were there (poor girl!) Hopefully everyone is feeling better now! Here is a new picture of the 5 crazy 2 year olds!!

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with both of our families. It started with Christmas Eve at my parents house, with Liz, Jesse, Natalie, Addison, Kristen, Andy and my parents. Santa even came to my parents house and brought each of the kids a present! All 3 of our kids actually gave Santa a hug (which is a surprise, considering the last time they saw Santa - see my earlier post). And of course, before Santa left, Jayden, Natalie, and Papa had to do ring-around-the-rosie with Santa (which is a tradition Jayden started when she was 2 years old!)

Then on Christmas Day, we had all of Corey's family over to our house - Luke, Jared, Shawn, Lori, Ashlyn, Derek, Brandon, Shawn Jr., Grandma Riedel, Scott and Lorraine. We had the heat on in our garage, so the kids (and Jared, Luke, Corey) could play Playstation games and Singstar (a singing competition). It was nice, because then the rest of us could watch movies or play with the little kids and didn't have to hear the horrible singing going on outside (haha!) :)

The night ended with Uncle Luke and Uncle Jared spending the night, since Luke was only in town for a few days before flying back home to Virginia. But at about 9:00pm, Jayden woke up puking!! :( Her stomach just couldn't handle all the sweets, etc. from the holiday. Poor girl! This has happened a few times before, so we are now aware that she has a sensitive stomach to junk food.

Here are some pictures from Christmas - Enjoy!!