Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from the RouseHouse!
We had a great day celebrating with Grammy and Boppa and Aunt Laura.
We missed the rest of our family, and can't wait to see you all very soon!

The annual, and always interesting, Easter family portrait!



(Princess) Grammy, Boppa and the girls

(Ella was in a candy-coma, I believe!)


Oh, those girls!



Beautiful, and surprisingly peaceful, baby Avery



The big girls and Jack



One more egg hunt for good measure!






Avery, and Jack, digging into their loot!

I hope this Easter was a peaceful and joyful one for all of you.

My prayers are with those families who are struggling this year.

I pray for peace, understanding, healing and faith.

I pray for my brother and his wife as they get ready to have their

first baby girl.

I thank God, with humility and profound gratitude, for the health

of my children today. I thank God for my family, my friends, and

all the blessings that have come our way this year.

I ask that God continue to remind me to slow down and enjoy the

life he has been given me.

Amen

Easter Eggstravaganza!

Every year, the RouseHouse hosts our annual Easter Eggstravaganza!
We love celebrating God's love with our friends, and Easter is the perfect time to do it!

This year Ella helped me by decorating all of the cupcakes. She did a great job!



One of our favorite games is the Easter basket egg toss. (Just think Bozo the clown)
The kids loving getting to pick a prize from each basket, can't get enough pencils and erasers! : )

The best part, at least for all those moms who don't want to deal with egg dye at home, Easter Egg Decorating!

This year we opted to move the egg dyeing to the garage and it was a huge hit!

Egg decorating is serious business.....

Avery colored eggs for the first time this year. She tackled it with great enthusiasm, as she does everything else!

Decorating with friends is always the best!

Finally, the egg hunt! The "dads" hid over 200 eggs this year!

The kids found all but 1, not bad odds.

Great friends, great Easter, great times!

I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my life!

I love having the opportunity to spend time with them, both new and old.

To share the blessings of our lives together.

Thank you for loving me, loving my kids, and continuing to create

traditions together!

God bless and Happy Easter!

Minneapolis Marathon Weekend

Claire was lucky enough to qualify for Regionals in swimming this year. The meet was at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, so we decided to have a marathon weekend of fun!

We packed a lot of fun in a small amount of time, but no one seemed to mind!

We spent two days at the Mall of America. One whole afternoon just on the rides!

Avery loved the Merry Go Round. She also liked making sure we were following "map".

The great thing about Avery, even at an amusement park, she can make her own fun!

The big girls loved the log ride. Lucky Mom and Dad each got to ride it several times!

Our next stop was the Aquarium. The RouseHouse loves a good Aquarium.

Ella, my beautiful treasure!

Of course, we couldn't go to the MOA without a trip, a very long trip, to the American Girl Store.

First a little dinner with our dolls, then a lot of shopping! Avery even got in on the shopping fun this year!

Finally, the swim meet. The two day event was a great learning experience for us all. It was a bit overwhelming, but by the end of the second day, we felt pretty good.

Claire did great! She led off her relay team to a 12th place finish, good enough for her first Regionals ribbon!

She also competed in an individual event, and while nervous, still managed to keep her qualifying time!

Best part, she did it! She worked hard, trained hard, and learned a lot! Way to go Claire!

The other best part, our team won! Walnut Creek Dolphins took 1st again this year! What a privilege to be a part of such a great, and winning team!

Claire and her relay team.

Avery passed the time with a little Diego on the Ipod.

Finally, the water park. Between the swim meet, the Aquarium, the Mall of America and the AG store, we found some time to relax at the waterpark in our hotel. All three of my little fish really enjoyed it.

A great weekend was had by all! Now I need a vacation! : )

Happy Birthday Baby!

2 1/2 years ago the RouseHouse was good. Mommy and Daddy were happy. We had two beautiful, sweet and smart girls. We enjoyed going out to eat and sitting at any table or booth. We enjoyed picking up our friends and all riding together, comfortably, in our minivan. We enjoyed going for walks, and when our 2 little girls got tired, we'd each carry one. Ahh, yes, life was good at the Rousehouse. But, there was something missing. Something was not quite right. It seemed almost too quiet, too peaceful, too well organized. Then we discovered what we were missing.... Our baby Avery!

Yes, now when we dine out, it's a large table please. When we carpool, it's a little squished. When we go for walks, we're out numbered. But, we are even happier! We are even more blessed. We are never bored!

We love you baby Avery. Happy 1/2 birthday!

I guess I should be glad she's only lost a tooth......

Avery wanted some meat and cheese today for her afternoon snack. I cut some up for her and me, then headed upstairs to collect laundry from the girls' rooms.

Here is what I found when I came back downstairs.

Oh, that Avery!

(PS. I did make sure she didn't cut herself while I grabbed my phone, that was sitting right there on the counter!)

Wow! What a day!

When it comes to motherhood, some days are harder than others.

Today was just one of those days.

This afternoon, after a long and fun time at the St. Patty Parade, Avery decided to climb out of her crib, all by herself! One minute she's in bed, the next minute she's in the kitchen saying, "it's morning time Mommy! I get up now!"

I was completely shocked. I didn't hear a sound. I have never had a kid climb out of her crib before and I'm not all that thrilled to have one now. Looks like we'll be shopping for big girl bedroom furniture this weekend! (a small tear rolls down my face as I post this. I am not ready for my last baby to grow up so quickly. How do I make time slow down?)

So, since she was up, I decided to take her to the park for our first "spring" outing. We arrived at the park. She took her first step onto the playset, then missed the second step. Fell down, smacked her mouth and chipped her front tooth! The chunk of tooth was stuck to her top lip! It was awful, for me! Avery cried for a few minutes then ran off to continue playing. I, on the other hand, had a harder time pulling it together.

I was devastated that this happened to her. For one thing, I've been through this before. Claire chipped the exact same tooth when she was a toddler and eventually had to have it pulled and the permanent tooth is having trouble finding it's way home as a result. Claire is 8 1/2 years old and still without that front tooth!

The other reason I'm so upset; I loved that kids big, toothy grin! It was one of my favorite things about my baby. She has the best belly laugh and toothy grin of anyone I know.

As quickly as Avery is growing, I was hoping to hold on to that smile for as long as possible.

Now, as the evening has rolled on, and Avery has managed to play and eat pizza, I realize that she is going to be fine and she still has the best little smile around, even if it is a little lopsided!

Snow and snuggles

It's been a long, cold, snowy winter in Iowa! With the snow finally starting to melt, I thought I'd celebrate my favorite snowy moments.......



It takes team work to move all this snow. Ella took it upon herself one day after school to clear away the latest batch. Thanks Ella!



Nothing like the pride of a
hard day's work!


"It was this high!" That's what we'll all be telling our grandkids about the winter of '09-'10!



Nothing left to do now but snuggle
up together and stay warm.

Congrats to all my Iowa friends for surviving this winter.
To all my friends and family out west; you don't know what your missing!