Lacey's Visit

Lacey came up on Tuesday for Matthew's birthday and was able to stay until Friday. It was so much fun having her here. We didn't really do anything too exciting, mostly I just took her around with me while I ran kids to school & preschool, and did all the regular daily activities but we did have a lot of fun together.

(First few pictures taken by Caleb & Matthew)

I think the funniest memory was on Wednesday. That afternoon, we had a little time before we had to pick up Jacob from school, so we took the other three kids with us to JoAnn's to get some paper. That was pretty much the biggest mistake ever. I guess I thought with two adults, the kids would be better- but there's just something about being in a craft store that really brings out the wild side in them. Emily was in a stroller & started to get fussy (naptime) so Lacey took her out and held her. Caleb decided he wanted to push the stroller, so I let him with very specific instructions on how he needed to act. I had Matthew in a cart with me. We literally were only there for 20 minutes, but it was just 20 minutes too long. Emily was a little fussy with Lacey, Matthew decided that he no longer wanted to sit in the cart & started whining that he wanted to get out- it just got louder and louder. Meanwhile, Caleb forgot my 'stay by me & walk slowly' instructions and was now doing loops around the isles with the empty stroller at a pretty decent speed. Of course I was already trying to keep Matthew quiet while I grabbed the last needed item, and didn't want to yell out to Caleb to stop running- I guess partially I was hoping Lacey would catch him or that people would just think he belonged to someone else. Finally I see Caleb race by one more time and I just know something bad is going to happen. Right after he passes the end of the isle and disappears out of sight, I hear a crash. Classic Caleb. Two ladies that were also in the isle look over, then back at me with that 'look'. "Is that one yours?" I begrudgingly admit that he is and walk over to where Caleb is with Matthew still hollering in his cart. Fortunately- and I said MANY prayers of thanks for this- Caleb happened to loose control of the stroller and crash at the storage container/tupperware display. I was thanking my lucky stars it wasn't one of the displays of breakable items that were all throughout the store. Of course, the store manager also happened to be in the general area and he came walking over when he heard the crash. I was feeling dumb enough, I sure didn't need a lecture from him. He came over and helped me put everything back up and asked, "Does this one being to you? Or do you not want to claim him today?" The latter was sounding like a pretty good option, but everything turned out fine. :) At that point, I cut the trip short, and had Lacey take Caleb & Emily out to the car while I checked out with the things I had and then we all made it to Jacob's school where we got to play at the park for a while. It was just another reminder why I don't take my kids to craft stores with me!

Lacey and i made another trip to JoAnn's quickly one morning without the kids and were able to finish up getting the things we needed. We were able to have some fun movie nights together, and spent lots of time playing with the kids. I loved being able to enjoy late night talks, and visiting together while we cooked and cleaned, and just spent time together.
One night we were able to go watch Kourtnee play her last volleyball game. It was fun to watch her- she really did great. The boys sure thought it was exciting to watch. I think they especially loved it because Kaden took them out and got them a treat. Lacey and I enjoyed visiting with Tami & Kyle and Kenlee too. I forgot how much fun it is to watch the high school sports.



It was a little sad when Friday came and it was finally time for Lacey to head home, but we were just glad she would take the time to make the trip up and spend time with us. I loved that we have 5 bedrooms so Lacey was even able to have her own room- definitely a step up from when she visited us in Philadelphia and had to sleep on the couch. The boys loved playing with her, and Caleb told me that he wants an iTouch for Christmas after playing games on Lacey's - nice try Caleb! I also love that Emily and Lacey have such a sweet relationship, Lacey was there the day Emily was born and I think they'll always have a sweet relationship. I'm so grateful for sisters, and so grateful for Lacey- she is such an amazing girl and we all just love her.