whew.... yadda yadda yadda, now i'm tired.

ok, let's play catch up for the last month. here we go:

livy is in a dance class at the ymca. she loves running around in leotards are watching herself in the mirror.

 took a trip to the zoo. these guys were in full force; the groundhogs AND the kids.

 love this boy

 here is daddy feeding the kids

 and then the kids feeding the goats

 this was just mean, he worked really hard and never got that food. we finally gave him a handful.

 the weather was beautiful out.

 spring break came and we had our cousins from pocatello come visit. i always forget to take more pictures when they are around. here is what i got on a day we had a sleepover with madison.

 pirate oscar

 maggie wants to be outside with everyone too

 the rest of our spring break included jump time, movies, eating at red robin, ymca swim trip, gem state gymnastics, forts, playing games, sleepovers at grandmas and out in the living room and lots and lots of running around. we had an AWESOME spring break.

 oh, and crafts too.

 livy got some new clothes from her cousin elliot in new hampshire. thanks petersons, livy loves them all. and so does charlie!!!!

oscar got a hematoma. he was leaning up against the screen while the window was open and he fell out backwards and landed on the concrete. i knew something was wrong when he was singing "happy birthday to no one" and his song ended a little early followed by a crash. 

 i had a unicorn and a half naked fairy over for tea one day

 april 4th was "my day" at flying pie pizza. it was for anyone born in april. me & my nephew cj did it together. 

 the kids had a "drugs are ridiculous, dress ridiculous to school" day last week

 daddy falls asleep even when we throw pillows on him

 we went to the ball's house for an easter egg hunt and lunch. oscar loved the bunny

 maggie was confused

 charlie loved the bunny

 ali loved the bunny

 and livy is off on the sidelines covering her eyes asking if we can go home.

they got to go on a tractor ride.

 i don't know why oscar is making this face but i loved it!

 getting ready to hunt some eggs

 it was really windy

 maggie fell asleep, she had so much fun

 we dyed easter eggs

 "O" is for oscar!

 ali did many many hunts for the little kids. they loved it.

 the easter bunny is turing into santa over here. ali left the bunny carrots and a note asking him to fill up our m&m jar i keep in the living room for children who wash their hands after using the bathroom.

 the easter bunny took the kids on an easter egg hunt with riddles around the house and this is where their baskets ended up

 and yes, the note must have worked because he filled up the m&m jar

 maggie is officially a stander and working towards her walking degree

 she is also learning to take messages. i have no idea who she sees all day do this.

 we had an easter egg hunt at grandma & papa head's school

 these are determined kids. they know what is in these eggs.

 oscar found one egg and then started playing. when grandma told him to go find more eggs his response was, "no thanks grandma, you go find them for me." what a stinker.

 this sweet boy again

 "now what am i suppose to do with these?"

 "oh, i get it"

 back home to grandma & papa's house to count up our loot

 we had an easter egg hunt for the adults too but i was involved in it so i didn't get any pictures. there were two $20 eggs and one $10 egg and the others were prizes. ryan got $10, i got $.75, but i got some scentsy bars to go in my warmer. max got $20 and a hula hoop, sam got brownies, chris got $20 and a can of beans and erin got a can of SPAM. watching mom as she was giving her the spam was priceless.  she literally fell onto the grass because she was laughing so hard. it was great. thanks grandma and papa for a wonderful easter.

ali made this for me. i have such a sweet girl who makes me very thoughtful and creative gifts.

 on a more serious note, my brother, todd, was hospitalized for 9 days. he went in on saturday, march 31 for kidney stones. he had been having them all week and just couldn't take the pain anymore. they admitted him because he was taking so long to pass the stones. he finally passed the last one on sunday night but it was too late to discharge him. little did we know that was such a blessing. they discharged him at 9:00 on monday morning and he was waiting for transport to take him to the parking lot. he was going to get on the freeway and go to work. just moments before the nurse came to get him so he could leave he felt dizzy and faint. he laid down on the cold floor to catch his breath. then, his heart stopped.

the nurse found him that way and called a code. they performed cpr. his heart revived after a minute and a half. the nurse told my mom that someone had to have been here with him because his stars were aligned in order for him to be alive today. if it wasn't for those darn kidney stones my brother would have died that day. they found blood clots in his lungs. the nurse said they were traveling from his legs and into is lungs, filling it with blood clots. he was readmitted and taken to the ER again. he was put in ICU for several days. they have him on blood thinners and pain medication because they broke his ribs while saving him. oh, he also had hundreds more kidney stones while in the ICU. seriously, how much more does this guy need?

he was moved to regular patient room on thursday where he rested until easter sunday when he was released. 

life is so fragile and unknown. my brother was given another chance at life. a chance to spend more time with his family and to make the most out of what God gave him. i am so thankful that my brother is safe and still here with us. thank you everyone for your help, thoughts, love and prayers during this difficult time in our life. 

this is us visiting uncle todd. my kids never really knew uncle todd that well before all this happened. in fact, livy and i went to visit todd when he was in for just the kidney stones. the kids colored him pictures and i gave livy hers in the elevator and told her that she could give it to todd herself when we got there. she leaned over to me and whispered, "is that uncle todd?" referring to  a gentleman in the elevator with us. "no, honey. that isn't uncle todd." we visited him every day while he was there, we took him pictures and snacks, we prayed for him in every prayer and we talked about him often. you better believe that my kids know their uncle todd well now.

thanks for suffering through all that with me. i am officially caught up on my blog. oh, and maggie is sick. she has a yucky stomach bug. hope it goes away soon and no one else gets it.

the end!!!!!