Running Behind

And so I'm behind again on my blog.  It's been a crazy few weeks, but I wanted to get you all caught up on the happenings at the Dinkelberries' home.  A couple of days before Easter our dear, elderly neighbor brought over her specialty cake she made for the kiddos.  It looked amazing and tasted soooo delish!  We are truly blessed to have her across the street.

Sweet Bunny Cake

Unfortunately, our Easter celebration was hampered by James being extremely sick.  He ended up going to Urgent Care on Easter and was diagnosed with pneumonia.  So, he won't be featured in our Easter pics below.

Malachi was out of school for 5 days for the holiday so I wanted to have some fun while he was off.  Good Friday was spent playing games, reflecting on what the day truly meant and also dying some eggs.  (Samara may be a bit confused on the holidays because she insisted on wearing her Santa dress!)

Hard at Work

CHEESE!!!

Silly Face and Bunnies

 That Saturday I treated the kiddos to a trip to the donut shop.  Initially, it was going to be the shop in town, but it was closed so we headed into Wichita.  They had their first experience at Krispy Kreme.  I love me a good donut!

Sunday morning the kiddos and I went up to my aunt, uncle, and cousin's house in KC for an Easter celebration.  My parents along with my sister's family were there.  We had amazing food, awesome company and of course, an egg hunt.  When a kiddo found a "special shiny" egg, they got a big prize bag filled with a puzzle, cool drinking cup, bubbles, coloring book and other cool prizes.  I loved to watch all the kiddos race to snatch up an egg before the next kiddo came along.  It was also so nice to be around family if only for a few hours.

Precious Stella Has Quite the Loot!

Busy Guy

Grammie Helping Out

Malachi is on a Mission

Sweet Cousins

Last Tuesday night was the beginning of preparation for Isaiah to enter Kindergarten. <GASP!>, tear up, and take a deep breath.  I knew that once Malachi started school then the year would go by so quickly and before I was ready, Isaiah would begin his academic journey.  I took Isaiah to Kindergarten Round-up. The teachers took the *almost* students to a classroom for cookies and coloring while the parents received information and necessary paperwork.  It was very low-key, but still it was hard to walk beside this boy who is growing up way more than I would like to admit.  He is no longer a little boy, but a boy. Wow.  When it was over, he came rushing out at me and in the way only Isaiah talks, exclaimed, "It was AWESOME!"  Yeah, he's ready.

Throughout last week I kept a close eye on the weather forecast.  There was a growing possibility for severe tornado weather on Saturday.  Ever since the Joplin tornado hit last year, I have taken these warnings way more seriously.  If I have the time to prepare my family for the worst and don't, then I would feel like I failed them.  So Thursday and Friday I cleared and cleaned out our "safe spot" in the basement.  I brought down a few chairs, had extra blankets, packed a few bags filled with toys, food/drinks, important paperwork, shoes, clothes, phone charger, etc.  Yes, you may shake your head at me, BUT if we were ever in a situation where we needed the above listed, then you would thank me for being a little over the top!  Anyway, on Friday, I went over to our dear elderly neighbor to remind her that if the sirens went off to just come on over and head to the basement.  Since finding out that she and her daughter do not have a basement, we have invited to come over any time the sirens sound.

Saturday afternoon I spent watching all the tornadoes pop up all around us.  The air was thick with moisture and very ripe for tornadoes.  Late in the afternoon the meteorologist said that we would need to pay close attention to the storm coming out of Oklahoma.  This was going to be our best shot at a tornado coming up in our immediate area.  It took hours, but I watched it slowly make its way to Wichita.  Once the warning was issued for Wichita, I got my running shoes on and grabbed my purse.  We were the next county and the storm was tracking our way.  A little before 11pm the tornado sirens went off.  I went upstairs and grabbed sleeping Samara and rushed her to the basement, under the stairs.  I then woke the boys up.  They were very confused about what I needed them to do. I had earlier warned them about this possibility, but it took a few minutes for them to grasp the seriousness of the situation.  Our neighbor and her daughter came over and we all huddled in the basement.  It was dead silent outside; no wind blowing.  The meteorologist said that it was headed straight for our town.  We knew that it had brought extensive damage to parts of Wichita already and so it was a little frightening to think about it coming down the highway right at us.  All of a sudden, we hear a wall of rain and wind.  I was trying hard to hear that distinct "train sound", but didn't hear it.  A few minutes went by and the meteorologist said the tornado was now north of town.  Praise God we were fine and from what we could tell, our house was fine.  We said goodnight to the neighbors and the rest of the family went to sleep.  There was one more severe storm system headed our way and I watched it approach until it no longer had tornadoes forming from it.  It was close to 2am before I slept; I was exhausted.  We later learned that right before making it to our town, the tornado went back up in the air and didn't make contact with the ground until it was north of town.  We were definitely spared!

Monday night there was a "Go Green" night at the middle school.  Local agencies promoting a "greener" environment had booths and Malachi's Green Club he is involved with after school on Mondays and Tuesdays made a poster for the event.  I went with Malachi to look at the displays, eat a snack and see the handy work of his club.  Here he is with one of the Green Club's sponsors.

Malachi by Green Club's Blue Poster

   Ok, so I think you are now up-to-date on our lives.  Hope you're having a fabulous week!

The Tooth Came Out

So at last we have a toothless little boy.  He was eating his cereal and felt the tooth in his mouth.  He came running all excited and I was pretty excited that I didn't have to pull it ;-)  He even had to make up a song about the day.

Loose Teeth Scare Me

I remember growing up that certain "individuals" in my house were freaked out about loose teeth.  I wasn't one of them.  It didn't phase me to twist the loose tooth until it finally gave up and came out.

Now that Malachi has his first loose tooth I am taking a more distant approach with the situation.  He came running out of Green Club to tell me about discovering his first loose tooth.  This occurred after biting into an apple.  He said that it was the best day ever...well, besides Christmas and his birthday.  I admired the tooth, but certainly didn't want to wiggle it myself.  He could barely contain himself when James walked in the door.  Oh the joys of a loose tooth.

I warned him that once the tooth is out there will be blood, but I know how to get it to stop bleeding so no worries.  He also showed me how he was going to sleep because he would hate to lose it in his sleep and swallow it.  I wonder if he's more excited about the impending hole in his mouth or the money that he will "earn" by the loss of the tooth.

Regardless, I hope that either he pulls it himself or James does the honors because I really want no part in that process besides being an onlooker and his #1 cheerleader.

Meet "My Honey"

Late last week Samara wanted to have a tea party.  She invited a puppy dog my sister gave me when James and I were first married.  I desperately wanted a dog, but we weren't allowed to have pets at our apartment so Sara gave me this dog.  Recently, Samara discovered this puppy in my closet and has been playing with it. 

For the tea party, she wanted the puppy to dress up.  So she put her "Tangled" dress on it and thus started a darling ritual of Samara dressing the dog for the day and also in jammies at night.  Samara has named it "My Honey."  My Honey has traveled with us in the car (I had to buckle her up in the passenger seat).  Samara has "fed", "bathed", and "disciplined" My Honey as well.  She has also said that the dog is her sister. It is incredibly adorable to see her attachment with the puppy grow.  Welcome to the fam!

My Honey and Samara in their Jammies

Both are dressed for the day

New Shoes, Outside Play and a New Recipe

'Tis the season to get the kiddos new shoes for spring/summer.  The boys requested Spiderman flip-flops (yes, I'm pretty sure I have passed on my, um, "love" for these type of shoes).  As previously mentioned, Samara picked out a pair of light pink flip-flops on Saturday.  Last week I ordered her first ever pair of "Jelly" shoes.  It definitely felt like a flasback to the '80's, but it's all good.  The shoes came in today and Samara exclaimed, "Aren't they the prettiest Princess shoes ever?!?"  I'm guessing she likes them; she wore them until bedtime.  Aren't they adorable?

After we picked Malachi up from school, we played outside for nearly 2 hours.  The boys took turns riding a bike and a Big Wheel while pretending to be pizza delivery boys.  They were charging $50 for their pizzas.  A little steep on the price, huh?  Samara found a stroller in the garage and initially I thought she would want to push a dolly in it.  Instead, she wanted me to push her.  So for about 45 minutes I pushed her up and down our sidewalk. (it's a good thing we live on the corner so it took a little bit before we turned around to go the other way!).  She must not quite understand that the purpose of playing outside is to RUN off their energy not just sit!

It's always interesting to see what new things they discover.  This afternoon was about how a rock from our patio can make "chalk" on the cement.  They were all fascinated by this and tried multiple rocks to see what color "chalk" it made.  Right before it was time to go inside I was sitting on the back steps.  Malachi came up to me and out of the blue asked, "Do you know what I'm thankful for?"  Intrigued, I replied that I didn't know, but would love to find out.  He said (and in this order), "I'm thankful my DS, family, George, Bob, and our house."  I couldn't help but smile and give him a hug...even if he is getting to the age that he thinks he's too cool for a "mommy hug".

All 3 kiddos climbed up on the ledge and I couldn't help but take a picture.  Then they just HAD to have a silly-face pic!

On Sunday afternoon, I tried a new crock pot recipe.  It's delish and will certainly grace our table in the future.  I found it on the website:  www.crockingirls.com  I served it over rice.

Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons butter

1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix

1 can cream of chicken soup

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Directions:

1. Melt butter in microwave.
2. Add water and packet of Italian dressing to butter and mix well.
3. Place chicken in slow cooker.
4. Pour butter mixture over chicken.
5. Turn pieces over to coat both sides well.
6. Cook on High for 3 hours.
7. In separate bowl, mix cream of chicken soup and cream cheese together.
8. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and cut into bite size pieces.
9. Return chicken to slow cooker and add the cream cheese mixture.
10. Whisk together to blend well.
11. Cover and cook an additional 1/2 hour.

Serve over pasta or hot cooked rice.

Shopping with Samara

I needed to exchange a shirt in Wichita today.  It was Isaiah's turn to go shopping with me, but he decided to stay home and watch James play a computer game and ride bikes in the park.  So Samara eagerly accompanied me.  On the way, she kept talking about the color pink and how "we like pink, but blue is 'dee-gusting'."  Our first stop was at the mall.  She obediently held my hand as we combed through the store to find a shirt that would fit better.  She was constantly pointing out "beautiful" shirts and asking me if we should get it.  I finally found a few to try on and she was more than happy to give me her opinion.  I settled on a blue shirt <gasp>; while at the register, I had to try to explain the concept of an exchange.  She got the jest of it.

Next, we went to Old Navy to look at their flip-flops.  She immediately noticed the chid-size mannequins and begged to give them a hug and shake their hands.  It felt a little weird to pick her up so she could hug them, but it was super sweet, too.  She found a pair of pink flip-flops (no surprise) and I found a pair of gray ones. 

We then stopped at Target.  I needed to grab some beverages/snacks and sunglasses for my impending road-trip (will blog about that soon).  Samara also needed a new swimsuit and sunglasses.  She chose a pink Princess suit that has a tutu attached and a pair of Hello Kitty pink sunglasses.  In the car, she was struggling to stay awake and she just looked darling looking out of her pink shades.

It's so much fun to have a little girl to share the joy of shopping with.  May we have many years of shopping trips =) 

That Didn't Last Long

The boys' careers in karate is over.  After a few sessions, Isaiah said he wanted a break and he would go back when he was a daddy.  We don't want to push them into activities they aren't interested in, but also want them to really think about quitting before they actually quit for good. We said he could take some time off and then see if he wanted to go back. So for the past month he didn't attend and it truly didn't phase him when Malachi left for class.  Then a few weeks ago Malachi mentioned that he would like to try gymnastics.  James took him to look in on a class and Malachi was super excited about it.  Isaiah said he wanted to try it, too.

So tonight was the boys' first class of gymnastics.  I was at a doctor's appointment and had to miss it so I asked them all about it.
               
                  Me:  How was class?
                  Isaiah:  It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!
                  Me:  What was your favorite part?
                  Isaiah:  E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G!!!!
   
And Malachi had identical answers.  I guess for now we have 2 gymnasts; hoping this will last more than a month or two =)

As Sweet As They Come and Ex-Girlfriends

I've had a horrible cough for about a month and a few days ago I spiked a low-grade fever (which I still have).  Because mommies don't get sick days, I've pressed onward even though I don't feel great. After we had a pizza party with root beer and a movie in the living room last night, I just needed to crash on the sofa.  Malachi really showed his sweet, nurturing side to me.  He tucked me in with a blanket and pillow and he came over about every 5-10 minutes to ask if I needed more water or if he could do anything for me.  When it was his bedtime, he brought over my laptop in case I felt like working on it.  He refilled my water because he wouldn't be around to do it anymore; he also said if I needed anything that I just needed to come get him and he would do whatever I needed.  I felt so proud that he would take such good care of his mama. 

While eating breakfast this morning, Isaiah decided to talk about James' ex-girlfriends (which we've never really talked about that with them so I have no idea WHERE it came from).  Anyway, Isaiah has the notion that James "lost" these girls by playing Hide and Seek, but when James met me, he didn't lose me and loved me so we got married.  LOL...oh Isaiah, I love how you think!

Shoe Shopping is Serious Business

A little over a week ago I discovered that Malachi was now in dire need of new shoes.  The sides were pulled away from the frame of the shoe.  Since James had a huge project this past week/weekend and wasn't home much, we had to wait until this morning to go shoe shopping.  Malachi had been super excited about getting new shoes (uh, yeah! you should be!!!) We went to Kohl's to see what bargains we could find.  There were only 1 1/2 aisles of boy's shoes.  We went up and down the aisles over and over.  Nothing really caught his eye except the "Z" shoes which I guess he had his heart set on.

The marketing was great on these shoes because they have superheros on the box and he just thought it was the most awesome thing.  Unfortunately, they didn't have his size and even on sale, it was more than what I wanted to spend on tennis shoes.  Also, Sketchers are not the best for all the running that he does during the day, everyday.  The shoes were super heavy and I knew that he would not be happy with how it would affect chasing the other kids on the playground.

I found what I thought was a great pair of shoes for him.  They were New Balance, great for running, and looked nice.  I told him that I wore New Balance in high school when I ran track and cross-country and I thought they made me a faster runner. He wasn't sold on them.  I found his size and he tried them on.  I asked how they felt.  He said the top of the shoe was good, but uncomfortable (???).  I loosened the laces, but he wasn't convinced.  I showed him that the way the laces were on the new shoes are exactly like the laces in the old shoes.  He then said that they felt fine.  But then he noticed the back of the shoe had a little lope (to help pull the shoe on) and he didn't like the loop.  I showed him that if he pulled his pant leg down then you couldn't see it.  After he came up with a few more reasons why we shouldn't get them and me responding to his negatives with a positive, he said the shoes were ok and we could get them. (at this point we had been there for an hour!)  I could tell that he wasn't really excited about the shoes, but the price was right, they had his size, and I thought they were an excellent choice for his active lifestyle.  I decided to make a deal with him; we would buy these shoes, but would go to Shoe Carnival to see if they had the right size in the Sketchers.  He agreed and we shook hands on it.

At Shoe Carnival, they had a bigger selection of possible shoes for him, but didn't have his size in a lot of the shoes he was attracted to.  Also, the prices were higher than what we found at Kohl's.  They, too, didn't have the right size in the "Z" shoes and I had him try on another pair of Sketchers so he could see how the "Z" shoes would feel and tried to explain to him that it would weigh him down.  After half an hour there, we reluctantly left the shoe store empty-handed.  I could tell he was sad about not coming away with the shoes he really wanted, but I really thought that he would learn to love the New Balance.

We got home and I told James about the drama surrounding these shoes.  He was able to talk up the new shoes and showed Malachi that on the shoe it said it's for running.  James suggested that Malachi run inside the house to see how much faster he could run with them.  Malachi did and after a few laps decided that he wanted to run with them outside.  Of course we weren't going to say no so he ran all around the sidewalk for quite some time.  When he came back inside, he told me that he wasn't happy about the shoes at first, but now he likes them.  Whew!

Now comes the question:  If a 6 year old is so dramatic about tennis shoes at this age, what in the world is he going to be like when he's older?!?   And if Malachi is like this, what is Samara going to be like?  I don't want to begin to think about that!  

New Spring Look

Samara's all ready for spring.  She put this outfit together all by herself (I mean are you at all surprised?!?)  The outfit consists of a "Bam-Bam and Pebbles shirt, pink shorts, Princess Jammie shirt, and, of course, her Jayhawk slipper boots.  And nothing pulls it all together better than a Santa hat.  Flaunt that look Miss Samara!

Valentine's Celebrations and a Sick Girlie

Tuesday was Valentine's Day.  Our family was blessed with multiple days to celebrate this "lovey-dovey" day.  Late last week James' mom mailed homemade, heart-shaped sugar cookies along with a Valentine's card for each of us.  Malachi was super excited to be able to actually read the card himself and we all enjoyed the yummy treat.  Friday afternoon Malachi got out of school early and I had us packed up to head to KC for a quick visit so the kiddos could meet their new cousin, Sylvia. And of course, visit the rest of the family.  Right when we got into town, we headed to Nebraska Furniture Mart because my mom was working then.  She proudly introduced us to her co-workers and then treated the kiddos to See's Candy where they each picked out some gourmet suckers for V-day.  I was pretty happy they didn't go nuts inside the store =)

We then made our way to my sister's house.  Malachi was anxious to be able to hold the new baby; he simply adores babies.  He was playing "peek-a-boo" and trying to talk "baby talk" to her.  Then the time came that he was seated on the couch with pillows under his arm and precious Sylvia was placed in his arms.  His smile was priceless (I was too busy making sure I was right there to grab her if needed so I didn't get a pic =( )  The cousins enjoyed playing together and then we went to spend the night at my parents' house.  Early Saturday afternoon we met up with one of my cousins and her boys to have a play date at McDonald's.  It was so nice to catch up a bit while the kiddos ran around.  Afterward, we headed back home.

Monday night Malachi finished up all of his Valentine cards for his classmates.  He wrote all of their names and signed his name to each.  Fortunately, I had him start on this project a few days before because the task of writing so much might have been a little daunting for the guy. 

Valentine's Day ended up being quite busy, but fun.  After dropping Malachi off at school, Isaiah, Samara and I went to MOPS where the mommies decorated sugar cookies for their families and made little coupon books.  It was wonderful to relax and chit-chat with other gals.  The kiddos made heart Valentine's so they were quite thrilled to show me.  For lunch, I made heart-shaped PB&J and then for snack we had some Valentine cookies along with a juice box (a treat at our house!) Since Malachi insists on James and I taking turns going to his special school functions, it was James' turn to go to the Valentine's party.  The class ate cupcakes and passed out their Valentine gifts/cards.  A girl's grandma made such a special gift for all of the kids.  It was a "Tooth-fairy pillow".  It was a blue heart pillow and in the middle was a smaller heart pocket with red trim around it that will hold the tooth. Malachi insists on keeping it by his real pillow for when the anticipated day comes when he loses his first tooth.  When I asked how his party was, the first thing he said was, "I didn't eat a lot of candy."  LOL...that was going to be my second question!  Instead, he brought home a gallon jug full of candy.  Maybe that will last until Halloween ;-)  Our dear elderly neighbor across the street brought over a Valentine's goodie bag that also included treats for George.  We are very well stocked on sweets! 

Yesterday it was obvious that Samara was not her usual bubbly self.  She kept the same PJ's on all day (yes, no dresses were worn).  All day she lounged around and didn't talk much.  She had some diarrhea and complained her tummy hurt.  Late in the afternoon, I let her soak in the tub (she normally takes showers now) and then I painted her nails.  Afterward, she wanted to watch a movie in my bed so we cuddled and around 5:30pm she fell asleep (you know she's sick then!)  I tried to wake her to eat, but she couldn't stay awake.  Finally at 7:30 she came downstairs and wanted to eat some cereal.  I let her stay up a little later than normal since she took such a late nap. Fortunately, she slept really well last night.

Today, she has already changed out of her PJ's into the Mr. Incredible's suit and is playing with her dollies so she must be on the mend.  YAY!!!

Snow Fun

Overnight we received our first substantial amount of snow.  When Samara came down the stairs this morning, she beamed and said, "It's my birthday!" (because everything revolves around you when you're 3 years old)  We waited until James came home for lunch to venture out to play.  There were snow balls thrown at each other and George.  As I'm typing, George has crashed beside me.  Poor tired pooch.

RUN, Samara!!!

Being a Target Doesn't Phase George

He Got Me!

Poor George (again)

"This is Frosty the Snowman"

Duck Isaiah!

Pretty Ballerina

We May Never Have a Child-Free Home

It's adorable.  Instead of Isaiah saying, "when I grow up" or "when I'm an adult", he says, "when I'm a daddy."  He's talked about how when he marries, he will still call me a lot.  But a few days ago, he started saying that he isn't going to get married.  He is just going to live with us forever so he wouldn't have to call us.  I'll have to remind him of this when he thinks we are the worst parents ever and can't wait to move out ;-)

Samara's Birthday List

The month of January is jam-packed full of birthdays including the boys' and mine.  Since Samara doesn't want to be left out, she has started telling us what she wants for her birthday (it isn't until Sept!)  She doesn't want much except:

  " Mr. Incredibles Daddy
    Mr. Incredibles Mommy
    Mr. Incredibles Boy
    Mr. Incredibles Girl
    Mr. Incredibles boots
    Mr. Incredibles mask
    Sleeping 'Booty' (Beauty) dress
    Sleeping 'Booty' shoes
    Sleeping 'Booty' cape
    Pocahontas dress
    John Smith (from Pocahontas)"

I have a feeling this list is just going to get longer and longer and . . .

Randomness

She picked out her outfit to wear to pick Malachi up from school.  Yes, she did get out of the car like this!

Her throne....chill-laxin'

Happy Groundhog Day

I think our Groundhog is way cuter than the one that makes national news.

Way to End January

60+ degrees on January 31st?  I'll take it.  This afternoon Isaiah, Samara, George and I enjoyed some much needed time at the park.

WEE!!!

Look! No Hands!

Quite the Climber

George Ran So Much He Finally Laid Down to Rest

They Gathered Firewood for a Camp Fire

All 3 of them played the "game" in the video for 30 minutes.

Hope your weather was as fabulous as ours!

"You Are My Honey"

Since the beginning of our relationship, James and I call each other "Honey". It has trickled down to us calling the kiddos "Honey" from time to time, too.  Samara has caught onto this word and has adapted her own version of it.  She will tell me (or James or the boys) that "You are my honey."  Or if she sees a mom with her daughter she will say "That's her honey."  Love it. 

Junk Food Saturday

Normally I try to have the family eat healthy.  I mean not ultra-super-extreme healthy, but I try to keep excess sugar and fat out of our every day diet.  Well, today is the exception.  I had some leftover Velveeta cheese so I bought a can of Rotel and a bag of tortilla chips.  For lunch, we'll dine on cheese dip. After lunch, Malachi and I are going to make chocolate chip cookies.  I don't think I'll restrict their cookie consumption as much as I normally do.  Just for today ;-)  And then for dinner, I have homemade, turkey sloppy joe's in the crock pot.  This isn't quite so unhealthy, but I think I'll serve tater tots as a side.  Enjoy it kiddos because as you know days like today doesn't come very often!