will spring ever end???

Ah...what a week...and still a few more crazy days to go, then WSU summer!!!!
Getting home from China was nuts and Dad & I were home way later than we thought and both of us were up and back at our respective jobs bright and early the next morning...and there was no rest for the weary the rest of the week.  I came home to probably the craziest 3 weeks at the vet school which equals lots of long, extra hours but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  There was also that pesky little final paper that I had yet to write for my class this semester.  Thankfully G'ma Carol came to stay again (we gave her a week off, sort of, inbetween) and so I had a chance to lock myself in a windowless room and write my paper, stay late at work to get all that I needed to done and magically find clean laundry, a vaccuumed house...it was a miracle!!
Now school is in its final week and the chaos is in full swing with grades and graduation looming...not my graduation, but my first DVM graduation - I'm in charge so the pressure is on.  Then a weekend break and then my summer grad class.  I REALLY excited about this one though - not only does it mean I will be on track to graduate next spring (despite the fact that WSU is cutting my program), but also because it is in one of my favorite fields --- Pop Culture!!! I'm even helping TA the course!  It's going to be fabulous!
Oh...so what about the rest of the family....right.....
Chuck went on his annual forced-march hike trip with Dustin this year...but they didn't make it past the packer bridge because Chuck came down with a terrible cold and stopped himself before it got to his lungs and he came down with pneumonia and wolf-bait.  They both had a really good time, but as soon as he came home he promptly shared with grace and kellan.
grace is as precocious as ever...the stuff that comes out of her mouth never cease to crack us up or frusterate us to no end.  I don't remember anyone ever warning us that "threes" were essentially bi-polar hi & low's. 
kellan is EVERYWHERE, all the time!! he has mastered crawling, pulling himself up on whatever is nearby and driving grace crazy in anyway possible.  Ahhh, the fun to come! he is also babbling a lot....so much so that Chuck is already convinced that his first word is "uh-oh" since he says it when we tell him no-no or catch him doing what he's not supposed to.  It is pretty funny!!
Now we are all excited for the sun to show itself here on the Palouse and to actually start summer!!!

China Trip - BRIEF

So I need to get to work this morning, but I spent most of the evening last night after class and before Grey's night uploading pictures from the trip...so enjoy those for now - captions and thoughts to come this weekend *hopefully*

Way behind...I know...

So lots has been going on - that's my excuse and reasoning for why I haven't kept up on the blog the way I was previously. 
We've been to the Westside for a weekend at G/G DeMeerleer's, wrapped up swim lessons (with a couple of doozy ear infections to boot...), Kellan started crawling and hasn't looked back since (on to scaling furniture and chasing Apollo), he also cut two little chicklet teeth, Grace turned 3 complete with a princess-party, Chuck has started a few outside yard projects I've been badgering him about for AWHILE, I've been working like a manic to kepp caught up and try to get a little ahead (impossible I think...) before I head to China, celebrated Easter, had a Pampered Chef party..............
Really, we've been living at Mach 10 and are gonna have to crash sometime - maybe in 5-10 years when we don't have to run to keep up with the kiddos and everything else! :-)

So...rather than drawing it out more - and because I know this upload is gonna take awhile - I'll post some pictures, videos and DEFINITELY check the picture and video bars on the right for all the latest and greatest...this is just a quick few that I really loved.

some new pictures - March 2010

A couple weekends ago Auntie Liz, Grammy Barb, the kiddos and I ventured to Spokane and got some new pictures taken.  Here's the results:

Keeping up...

Things have been moving along at warp speed (what's new?!) but last weekend we were able to go over to the Westside and visit Gma/Gpa DeMeerleer for a few days.  We lucked out that our visit overlapped a visit from the Alaska fam...so Grace got LOTS of playtime in with cousins Alexis and Daniel.  Kellan enjoyed watching everything but jsut wasn't able to keep up - yet.  He did manage to make sure he wasn't forgotten in the hustle and bustle of everything else by cutting his first tooth on Saturday and then getting a 24-hour flu bug on Sunday.  The little man was not feeling good.
Then it was back home and two days later Grace spiked a major fever and after a visit to the doctor, had another ear infection (we thought we'd wrapped this up 2 weeks ago, but no...). Chuck and I each took a day home with her and by Friday, she was back to normal...just having to still take "the bad medicine" as she calls it because apparently it doesn't taste good.
Then yesterday, Kellan starting coughing a bit, but nothing alarming...normal daycare cold stuff...or so we thought.  All last night he was wheezing and coughing, so this morning we figured we take him into the doctor just to be safe. Well, as Chuck put it - they were all spooked.  They sent us immediately to Urgent Care to get chest images and to get an infant nebulizer ready to get his airway to open up. Then they slowed down and actually checked him...temperature = normal, blood pressure = normal, oxygen levels = normal, attitude = happy and flirting with the nurses....hmmmmm.....  Then he had a major coughing fit, spit up some phlemg and then stopped wheezing for awhile.  They sent us home with a bunch of antibiotics and mediciations to make sure he doesn't get any additional infections and that it doesn't get into his lungs or become pnemonia...but otherwise said he should be fine in a few days.  Thanks for panicing and inducing parental panic, fear and helplessness!!!  errrgggg.....
Tomorrow I am hosting a Pampered Chef party with a number of family, friends and coworkers, so should be fun!

Kids on the move...

So i was going to upload a bunch of new videos, but it was taking WAY too long...so instead i loaded them on YouTube. You can find them on the video bar on the right...

In the meantime, here's some new pictures!

Kellan is easing into "real foods" - as much as rice cereal & mushy sweet potatoes count!

Grace & Apollo - for some reason she REALLY wanted her picture with him...

way behind....

I know, I know...I'm way behind! After christmas and new year's I jumped into my new job and more classes toward my Masters (next spring I'll be done)...and haven't slowed down yet. Unfortunate consequence - I haven't taken the time to download pictures and update things! So...today I made it a priority.

So what's new for us - Grace is in swim lessons, Kellan is nearly crawling. Chuck got to go to Vegas for the furniture market and...I'm going to China in a couple months for Sam's wedding!

In the meantime, we got some new cupboards hung in the kitchen, got a Wii, and have been enjoying more Cougar basketball.

In mid-January we we happy to have Auntie Liz & Uncle Dustin move back to the Palouse and they weren't even unpacked before the babysitting requests started. Grace loves getting to go over there and hang out "in her room" (aka. Liz's walk-in closet) and watch the Minnesota Cuke show. About a week after Liz & Dustin got here...Sam moved over to China. It was especially sad for me, since at the time I didn't believe I was going to be able to go over and see him and be there for his wedding. But a few days after I left I had a great conversation with my boss, and as long as I bust my butt and have work all ready to go ahead (which is why I feel like I'm burning the candle on both ends...a bad plan, I know...) then he would be okay with me going to Sam's wedding. The trickiness is that his wedding falls a just about, well yes, my busiest time of the year in my new position. Hence the paranoia by my boss. But I'm working to make it all work. Thankfully Chuck has been very supportive since he knows how much this means to me.

Otherwise...we have just been going on as normal. I'll let pictures tell the rest! :-)

The fallout...

Well Christmas has officially come and gone and the two giant boxes - filled with other boxes, plastic casing & shredded wrapping - are the evidence that Grace & Kellan were on the "NICE" list, Santa got the letter that Grace wrote at daycare and that our two little kiddos are very loved by their family - mommy, daddy, auntie/uncles, grand & great-grandparents and some very special friends who we lump into the family category!

Surprise, surprise Grace made out with the most loot...and when asked she will tell you that she got her bouncy ball, duckie and of course...she got her guitar!!!! She also has a "computer" that she got that she can type on while mommy is "doing homework" on my laptop (like right now!). She also got some great clothes - dress-up and regular - a new dolly, Barbie Jeep, Polly Pockets...the list goes on...

Kellan got a few things too - some rattles, clothes and a couple books, but most of us figured that this year...well, he won't be missing much!

On Christmas Eve Grace & I made special cookies cookies for Santa...Grace did a fabulous job decorating but it was hard because she wanted to lick the spoon after every cookie! :-) After we finally coaxed her to bed (she thought maybe if she stayed up as long as possible she might see Santa) then we had to stay up trying to frantically wrap the presents that we had procrastinated on.

Both kiddos were up by 530am so it was a very short night, but worth it in the end! They both had a great Christmas, we had a simple ham dinner with the grandparents & Uncle Sam and then to bed early...phew!

I got a special present...not for Christmas, but something I've been waiting on for almost 2 years...my extra kitchen cabinets!! Gma/Gpa DeMeerleer got here today and are going to help us get them hung so I will have them before the new year....YEAH!!

Hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and we wish you love, peace and happiness!

the snow is here...and Christmas will be soon too!

Well, the procrastination that Christmas is coming is officially over. We got our tree (a blue spruce which discourages both small children and small dogs from messing with it) and a week after putting it up, actually got decorations on it. A few days later I got the decorations up and that has helping get us all in the spirit of the season. I think the lack of sleep has kept either Chuck or myself from having enough energy to really get going this year!

Chuck also got most of the outside lights up (enough to appease the neighbors & Christmas-light committee!) and Colton is once again transformed into a Christmas light/decoration mecca complete with color coded streets, Candy Cane Lane, a lighted nativity in the park, and a few other lighted scenes around town (okay the 12 streets that make up our little farming town).

I also managed to get Christmas cards in the mail and presents hidden away for the big day, so for me the big deadlines have been met!

Grace has been getting very excited for Santa's visit this year...she REALLY gets it! She even got to write a letter to Santa at daycare and was VERY thorough! She told Santa what she wanted and then explained to him how to find our house:

"...there is a Huge Gray pickup out front and we have a new deck in the back. My little dog Apollo might be out barking, but don't be afraid. He won't bite, just lick."

Kellan is still too little, but does love looking at the lights on the Christmas tree.

I have started my new job within the CVM and it is definitely keeping me on my toes with so much new stuff to learn, but is rewarding everytime the students stop by since I work directly with them now (no more travel!). Chuck is plugging away at the furniture store - they have been getting ready for Christmas sales and snow-clearing.

Speaking of which...last night we got about 5-6 inches, so yes, winter is here on the Palouse! And since Liz & Dustin are visiting, they are getting to see what they were both missing and moving back to! :-)

Here's a couple pictures, more to come soon!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Pilgrim's & Indian's Day!