Spring Break Happenings 2014

We stayed around Kansas City and enjoyed a relaxing yet exciting Spring Break!

Are those words opposites? Can something be relaxing and exciting? Because those are the words that come to mind! 

Here are the highlights. 

We gained a niece on March 20 when Matt's sister, Christy, and her husband, Mitch, welcomed their first daughter. Welcome to the world, Keeley Wynne Birt!

Reese LOVED "holding" her. She's quite maternal it seems.

I was so glad our Spring Break aligned with the NAIA National Tournament and although that meant that Matt was downtown with the team for our break it was fun to go to the games and not have to worry about being out too late and such. 

It was fun to have so much family and friends at the games. Especially grandmas willing to be a jungle gym. 

MNU peaked at just the right time! Making it to the Elite 8...

And ultimately to the Final Four! 

Always want to win one more, but it was an exciting way to finish the season for sure.

Got some Peggy-time too, which is always a treat. I love this pic of them.

Went to Crown Center and Fritz's...along with the rest of the world! It was busy!!

Did some baking.

Went to the Rainbow Show room to play and Cade decided 3 minutes on the trampoline was worth the wait.

Reese wasn't sure about the huge playsets.

Got to take in a new park with Maddox and Jamie.

Coloring? Serious journaling about life reflections?

Tried several new smoothie recipes.

And went to Super Hero Day at the zoo with the cousins!

What a fabulous way to spend a week! Just a little taste of the fun to come this summer, I'm sure.

Sunny Days of being National Tourney Bound

I said we wouldn't be going outside until the temperature went up about 50 degrees from what it was last week, and lo and behold, we had a 60 degree swing from one week to the next. 

Crazy Kansas weather. 

We've happily added a walk to the mailbox and playing outside as part of our evening routine.  We even got to fly the kite a bit over the weekend.  We very, very carefully flew the new kite from Aunt Beth.  Last year at about this time, we had our kite for probably 2 days before it ended up in the neighbor's tree.  The remnants of said kite seemed to taunt us as we flew the new kite. 
 

 

 

Let's just say that Matt is much better at supervising the kite flying than I am.



We live at the back of the cul-de-sac, aka, where all the snow gets pushed by the snow plows.  I'm pretty sure the kids would love to have this snow pile to play in all spring and summer.  I'm counting the days until it's gone!





Hmm, I guess snow, socks, and sandals don't mix.






Reesie's first time sporting jeans.  So cute!





Almost gone.  Good ridden, snow pile!  Please go!!



Reesie has turned into quite the little cheerleader this season and loves watching the cheerleaders and doing whatever they do.





Other favorite pastimes during the games...eating fruit snacks.

 

The conference tournament championship game was a very exciting win!  The kids loved getting to run across the floor to Matt when it was over.  I'm pretty sure they think all the clapping and cheering is for them. 

 

Random speech from conference commissioner, presentation of t-shirts, etc.

 

Reesie darted across the floor no less than 3 times until I finally got her corralled. 

Conference tourney champs!  National Tourney bound!  Congrats, Pioneers!!

 

 

And...time to go home.

 

The Pioneers are rolling and we're excited to cheer them on next week in the National Tournament!  Great weather, Spring break approaching, and post-season basketball make for a monumental week!

 

Gymnastics, Family Fun, and C-c-cold!!!

 

With this cold winter dragging on, we're looking for ways to get out of the house and burn off a little steam.  Enter...gymnastics! 

The sitter's kids take gymnastics and have talked about it enough to peak Cade's interest.  (Who was less than enthused with his last round of gymnastics a year and a half ago, you may or may not remember).

So we returned to KGDC (since that's where Cade took his first class) for Reesie to be in the Parent/Tot class and Cade to be a Mighty Munchkin.  They were stoked!



I had been prepping Cade for days about the importance of listening to his teacher, doing what they told him to do, and waiting his turn.  These are typically NOT our strengths. 

 

I'm happy to report that Cade did awesome!  He took the class very seriously and was VERY well-behaved.  He did just what the teacher said to do and worked hard to accomplish each move just as she instructed.  #ProudMom

 

Jumping into the pit was a highlight for Cade, the red blur.

 

Both kids enjoyed their classes and are looking forward to attending their next class.  Hoping we can keep the enthusiasm going the whole quarter! 

 

It's safe to say their favorite part is getting the stamps at the end.  Well-played, Gymnastics Teacher, well-played.

 

(Fun fact: the black spot on Cade's toenail is from when he dropped his electric toothbrush on his toe.  The toothbrush did not survive this incident.)

 

Other news from the week, I enjoyed getting to celebrate Baby Birt who should be arriving very shortly!  Christy's friends put on a very cute shower.

I'm predicting that she'll be here in less than 18 days.  I'm feeling pretty good about my March 17th prediction, even though I'm not really known for winning any of the Keeley Lotteries in the past.

 

Dr. Birt will approve of this gift from Aunt Beth.

 

The beautiful Keeley Girls, with the surprise guest of honor, Beth!

It was so special to have Beth here to visit that we gathered at Erin and Cindy's house and didn't leave for over 24 hours.  We settled in and waited for the weather to hit.  The weather was a little anti-climactic, but we enjoyed our time together very much!  Running after the kids, playing games, and just lounging around.  Ingredients for a wonderful weekend!

 

 

We got what we'd hoped for despite the lack of snow...a day off of school.  But the cold did wreak havoc with our home...official diagnosis TBD.  The plumber comes tomorrow afternoon.  All I know is the water wasn't draining from the kitchen sink...and yet there was leakage in the basement.  Not cool.  We are such novices at home ownership.  

 

Take my advice.  Never look behind your oven.  Ever.

And, another milestone of the week...our car hit 77,777 miles.  Luckily Beth was there to record it for me. 

 

 

You know how you usually notice something like this like 4 miles before it happens and you think, oh, wow, I want to see it roll over to____, but then the next time you look it's 2 miles past the milestone...no, just me?  I'm the only dorky one like this out there? 

What a fabulous week it was.  A much anticipated week, with Beth's visit.  We miss you already!!!