Tank

Here is the newest member of our family, our new black lab puppy.  We had a hard time coming up with a name that we all liked.  We decided on "Tank" because he has such big feet and will probably be a big dog.  As you'll see with Megan, he likes to cuddle.  Megan also likes to dress him up by adding a yarn collar.

 

 

Here is Tank playing with Jason and Kora. 

 

Kora was learning how to play noodle fights and of course

wanted to include the new puppy, but I stopped her before

she got him with it.

Easter Egg Hunts

The kids got to do two Easter egg hunts again this year, one at each Grandparents.  This was Kora's first time she really got to look for eggs since last Easter she wasn't walking completely on her own yet.  Kora had a good time and did a good job finding the eggs without a lot of help.  Afterwards, she kept asking if we could go outside again for an egg hunt. 

With cousin Jakob for our first egg hunt.

 

After our second egg hunt.

Mighty Antler Collectors

Over Easter, we went to visit my parents.  Megan, Jason, and Jesse walked around the trees and pastures on their farm looking for deer sheds.  They had good success and found 11 of them, three pairs of matching antlers.  They were pretty proud of themselves.  Jason only stepped on an antler 3 times before he stopped to pick it up. :) 



New hardware

We now have all three children who are getting corrective treatment for something. 

Kora is back to wearing a patch over her right eye for 2-3 hours a day.  She still tends to use her right eye more for looking at things close up, therefore turning her left eye in when looking at something close-up and straight in front of her.  She is doing pretty well wearing the patch this time.  It helps that it fits over her glasses, instead of the adhesive type we used before.  I do catch her looking around the patch if it isn't right up next to her face.  And of course she will take it off on her own at times.  Kora has patches with a butterfly and a lady bug.

 

 Here she is with the butterfly patch doing her favorite thing, dancing.

 

 

Megan and Jason are now going to be regulars to the orthodontist.  On April 2, Megan got braces and Jason got a bottom expander.  They are correcting Megan's lower jaw because it is too far back compared to the top.  She will be getting more hardware attached to the braces in a couple of months.  Jason doesn't have enough space for his teeth to come in straight, so they are expanding his jaws, to allow more room for his teeth.  He's doing the bottom first and then the top.  

 

Here is Megan with her new braces and Jason with his expander, which you can't see very well.  But that is close to as far as he can close his mouth with it in.

 

 

It has been an adjustment so far with them having a difficult time eating.  Megan especially, since she has something on her bottom back molars that keeps her from being able to chew with her back teeth.  Megan has to cut her food smaller than Kora's.  And of course, we've been taking more time to make sure they brush and clean their teeth and hardware well.  Overall, all three of them have been doing well.  I'm thankful that we haven't had anything worse to deal with.  They've generally been pretty healthy kids. 

Dance Recital

Megan was in classical dance again this year, where she has been learning ballet, tap, and jazz.  On Friday, March 14, she had her year-end dance recital.  She was very excited for it and happy that the weather was better this year so both Grandpas and Grandmas could come watch her.  The best part for her was that she got to dance the ballet routine to "Let It Go."  Megan's other favorite part was the Finale, where all the girls got to come out and dance together to "What does the Fox Say."  During the recital, when Kora heard "Let It Go" start playing she got so excited she yelled out "Mama, let it go."      

 

The beginning to Let it Go.

 

The ending to Let it Go.

 

Family workouts

Here is a picture of Jason and Kora working on their push-ups.  They even got cousin Jakob to do a few.

 

Here is Kora working with Dad on her sit-ups.  We never ask her to do push-ups or sit-ups, even though Jesse does sound like the drill instructor.  Kora starts doing them on her own and will ask you to hold her feet and hands so she can do the sit-ups.

 

Winter Silliness

 

Below are some pictures of the kids being silly from the last 1-2 months. 

 

With the weather being so cold and nasty most of the time, we've had to come up with new ideas for entertainment and burning off energy.  All three of them have gotten pretty good at doing push-ups and sit-ups.  Kora gets down and does them right with Megan and Jason.  We like to start training our kids early :) 

 

We went to the move "Frozen" earlier in the year and the kids loved it.  We showed them a video of "Let it Go" on YouTube and now Kora is obsessed with the song.  She's asks to watch it almost everyday.  She will sing it over and over and dance using the hand motions from the movie.  Kora also likes princesses now and wants to wear a long, fluffy dress whenever we turn on the music so she can dance in it.   

 

Jason got his glasses in early January.  He was very excited to get them and was amazed at how much better he could see everything.

 

Our family Christmas Present to the kids was to take Megan and Jason to a Toby Mac (with Mandisa/Matthew West/Brandon Heath/Matt Maher)  Concert and to stay in a hotel to go swimming.  I took Megan and Jason to the concert and Jesse stayed with Kora at the hotel.  We had fun, but Megan and Jason were worn out by the end of the concert.  Here are the three of them in the hotel in the morning.