.reasons to smile.: cousin sleep-over and lots of random stuff

Okay... where to start! I think I'll start with the VERY fun cousin sleep-over last night.

Cousin Sleep-over
Mike is out of town this weekend, so I invited my sister and her kids over for the night. It was a great time! My mom also stopped over for awhile and delivered a home-made pizza for me and Sheri... our favorite! Thanks so much mom!!!! We ate most of it last night after the kids were all in bed and then finished it today for lunch. Lucky for us, the kids aren't crazy about it because there's summer sausage on it. : )

I love my sister so much. We had fun watching the kids and chatting. I'm so excited for her third to arrive NEXT MONTH! So very exciting!!! I kept her up until 12:30am... she was a trooper. Once the kids are in bed I have a hard time wanting to go to sleep. The quiet is so... well, enjoyable. : )

[this was taken this morning when the girls were still sleeping... cute]

[Kate was the first up (very unusual) and she woke Eli up. So, we hung out in Eli's room until the others woke up. They look pretty tired here!!]

It was so nice out today!!! I'd consider today a perfect day weather-wise. A few sprinkles, but that was okay... made me get some picking up done inside. The Walleye Run is next weekend and Rachel and Abby will have to run a mile. It's about a mile down our road and back to our house, so we thought we'd let the girls get a feel for what a mile is and practice pacing themselves. The boys also ran... and I ended up running in my flip flops, too for a bit to keep up. Sheri kept Maggie company further behind. That Maggie is really out of shape... we almost had to carry her back. Okay, not really, but she is definitely the slowest out of everyone.

The kids did great running! Walked a few times, but then got right back to it. I think they're ready. I think Eli might run the mile, too. He doesn't have to yet with his age, but I think he's ready. He just doesn't get tired at all. I feel like he could just run forever.

[the kids running...]

[and, the motivation... push-ups!]

[and, well, Kate gets a popsicle, too]

[they both wore their school t-shirts today : )]

[Rachel and Abby on the newest fun toy in the backyard... the hammock. It's actually really old - just realized we have a place to hang it. Yeah, not sure much relaxing will happen there. Mostly something different for the kids to play on. ; )]

[the boys in the sandbox]

[Kate carrying her rock in a bucket. turned black and white mostly because her outfit really doesn't match at all!!]

[the band-aid is still hanging on!]

[one tired girl]

[one of my favorites I think...]

[before I cut her bangs...]

[and after ~ she can see again!]

Sheri and the kids stuck around today until early afternoon. The kids had a great time and Sheri and I got to talk more and just enjoy this BEAUTIFUL day. It was a very nice time.

After they left I gave most of the kids bathes and then we headed to the store. The kids had some money from Easter, so I let them pick something out. They were very excited to play with their new things. When we got home we ate supper. We decided it was nice out, so we'd eat outside. The neighbors were having people over, so I told the kids before we even went outside... please, be good and don't argue or fight. Please talk nice.

Well, after we were done eating I was inside picking up supper and all of a sudden I hear the kids arguing. Eli has Rachel's new toy and isn't giving it back to her. Before I can get out there... I hear them arguing more and then they actually started tackling each other. And, it wasn't on the side of the yard opposite where our neighbors were having people over... it was right there. I was so embarrassed. I had the kids come by me right away, took their new toys and sent them to their rooms... for the rest of the night. I felt terrible, but was so embarrassed and thought it was the only way they were going to realize how upset I really was. We'll see how they do tomorrow. I explained to them exactly why they were there. Rachel didn't think it was fair because Eli wasn't giving her her toy. But, I explained that she should have simply told me and she should not have been yelling at him and eventually tackling him for her toy. She was pretty upset.

Being a parent is so hard sometimes. As hard as I wanted them to be able to play outside more on this beautiful evening I had to stick to my guns and not give in. I even thought about having a fire with Rachel and Eli after Kate was in bed, but guess that wasn't happening. I'm still embarrassed and just disappointed. Oh well... they are just kids. But, hoping this helps teach them a lesson and make them realize that I am the boss ~ at least when dad's not home. [haha, Mike, you're supposed to laugh here]

So, it's been a very quiet evening, which has been nice. Just doing my blog and listening to some Phillip Phillips... can't wait for his first album.

Here is a video I got of Kate this evening. It just cracks me up, so had to share.

So, that was all from the last couple days. Now I'm going to back track a bit to catch up on some other random things I wanted to be sure to remember...

Eli and Kate had fun holding Nate the other day. They had a blast... it was pretty cute.

[I can tell Eli is so excited for Nate to be able to play catch... it's so cute to watch Eli look at Nate ~ true love]

[big sister with Nate. yes, that's Eli on the right edge of the picture... just to ensure Kate didn't drop Nate!]

[Kate had some cheerios in the car on our way to the store... yikes.]

[and, this is what a not-hungry Kate does during lunch]

So, I was digging through some of my old things in the basement the other day looking for pictures from grade school and came across this treasure. It's my 5th grade basketball t-shirt!! Yes, it's from 1988-1989 ~ crazy!! It fits Rachel, so she wore it to school last week. She thought it was so cool... and I thought it was pretty special myself.

And, yes I did say it was my 5th grade t-shirt. Rachel isn't that big, I wasn't that small... the t-shirt was just very tight on me! I totally remember having to stretch it out as much as possible before each game... too funny!! I'm sure my fellow Rosenow Super Swisher teammates remember the same thing.