The Hills are Alive: April 2007

I had to pry 3 webkinz-happy kids off the computer to finally have a chance to type this. They are timing me, so even though it's been a few months since I've written, I think I need to be quick!

February seems like ions ago but I have to write about my fabulous girls weekend to Chicago. Seven of us met in Fishers to drive up together to the windy city...and it sure lived up to it's name! Even with the cold temperatures, we enjoyed touring the art institute, shopping on the magnificent mile, writing our names on the wall at Gino's pizza (the best pizza ever!), experiencing the musical Wicked (and what an experience it was!), and of course hanging out with some of the best friends a girl could ask for! It came to an end all too soon, but now I can start looking forward to next years trip.

I'm not the only one that got to travel, although Barr's wasn't all for pleasure. He has taken a few business trips out to Washington and Oregon as Scott's is considering purchasing two grass seed companies out there. At the end of one of the trips he was able to drive over to Moscow, Idaho to visit his brother, Trevor, and his family. That was especially nice for him since he hadn't seen his brother in a few years or met their daughter.

We all traveled down to Cincinnati for Easter and to help my dad celebrate his 67th birthday. We loved having 18 cousins together (I hope your home has recovered Mom), and it was so fun to hang out with 3 of my sisters. We were insane to do the Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning with below freezing temperatures, but it's a tradition. Brooke seemed to "get it" a little this year, wanting to drop the eggs in her basket if I handed them to her although with mittens on it wasn't easy. She scored the best finding 4 eggs with dollar bills in them. Although she really could care less about that since she discovered what a jelly bean is. She's really starting to show a preference for things...like jelly beans!

Easter morning brought more excitement than Christmas morning with all the cousins running around trying to find their baskets and then discovering the bunny had left Webkinz (thanks to Grandpa McAllister). I think I wrote earlier how Ben now re-believes in Santa because of our magical elf and now he re-believes in the Easter Bunny since we have been searching for Webkinz almost daily for a month now with no success. I have never seen anything like the Webkinz craze going on. I have tried to look at the positive, like how the kids will play together if they're playing with their webkinz and how the website is teaching them about writing to friends, earning and spending money, and taking care of someone else. It's funny how they won't remember to feed or walk their real dog, but they will spend hours earning enough money to buy their virtual pet a new bathtub for its home!

The first part of spring break we were so glad our good friends from Indiana, the Andersens, came to visit. We had such great weather that the kids spent hours wading in the stream in the backyard, getting stuck in quicksand (so they say), and gathering snails. I had to intervene as they were trying to bring a bucket of over 50 of them into the house. We also had a beautiful day at the zoo although we are realizing that once boys reach the age of 10, they think they are too old to look at animals. They were good sports though after I promised them that Barr would take them to see TMNT after dinner. Barr had to get one more good bike ride into work before the cold weather came, so he was a little late coming home that night to grill for the missionaries. I have purposefully never learned how to work the grill (maybe some of you moms can understand why!) so Margaret came to my rescue by starting the burgers for us.

Barr has been training really hard for a triathlon he will be doing next weekend in Oxford, Ohio. He's been swimming and running early in the morning and biking to work when the weather will allow. He has a buddy at church that has a little too much free time on his hands and is constantly inviting him to train with him and participate in races. They were at the gym until 11:30 last night, but that's not being extreme I guess. I kind of lost it this morning when Barr told me he invited him to do "just a bike race" the weekend after the tri. I should be glad he's addicted to exercise instead of something bad, right?

The kids keep asking if I'm done yet, and you probably are too. I should probably write something quick about each of them though...

Ben turned 10 and got an aquarium. All 6 fish died within the first week. When we took a water sample in, they told us we were over feeding. He really struggled with feeling guilty for killing his fish. We have replaced them a few times now, and got the most recent batch yesterday. We are all really praying these do better! Ben also lost 3 teeth in the last 5 days and he hasn't been in any bar fights. Maybe it's all the Easter candy. The tooth fairy always brings a little gift with a dollar (just a book or toothpaste or something small) but by the 3rd one, I was really wishing he didn't believe anymore.

Brigham also lost a tooth last month, his first one! He was at a camp out with the scouts (the perk of having a dad as the scout master) and I guess from the screaming, the other boys thought he had lost a limb or something. Thankfully he wanted to bring it home to show me so the tooth fairy didn't have to show up at the camp. Then the next night he was really struggling with giving up his tooth or not. He didn't know if a buck was worth giving away his first tooth. So after much tears and anxiety he wrote the tooth fairy a note asking her to let him keep it. Talk about using all the faith his little 6-year-old body could muster that she would be kind, and thankfully she was! After sitting through months of watching Brittany's gymnastics, Brigham decided he wanted to give it a try. He loved his class even though he was the only boy with 4 girls. He also played his first soccer game of the season yesterday in the freezing rain. Gotta love Ohio!

Brittany is loving going to Activity Days now that she's 8, and she was just asked to move up to the next level in gymnastics. I often find her in strange positions in the family room with pillows propped up all over the place practicing her back bends and splits. She's really enjoying it.

I guess that leaves Brooke who is still the heart of our home. She is walking all over the place as long as the terrain is level, so we haven't mastered the grass yet. Her new thing is opening and closing doors. If we need to keep her entertained for a while we just open up all the doors and drawers in the kitchen and let her at it! She will also pull one thing out of the dishwasher and carry it around with her until it drops and then she'll come and get something else. I have to be really quick at both loading and unloading it. The most recent signs she has learned are Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa.

The kids have been patient long enough. Stay tuned for the exciting results of Barr's race.....

Love,
The Hills