The Princess and the Bunnies

As I was trying to pick up the yard a bit so that we could mow our 8' grass, we found baby bunnies! Even though there are more than three, the kids named them Fluffy, Moophie, and Boophie. We have them covered with a wheelbarrow that has been propped up on chairs so that Maddux doesn't get to them. She wouldn't eat them; however, she would play with them until they stop squeaking.

Watching the bunnies.

They gave the bunnies a carrot from the garden in case they got hungry.

Ella got out her princess dress that was given to her for Christmas from Auntie Heidi. She had to wear it to go pick up Brock from preschool so that she could show his teacher her pretty dress. She also had to wear it the next day when we went to the mall with Grammie. She got quite a bit of stares and attention from adoring princess fans.

Going to get Brock from preschool.Riding the carousel at the mall.

We have been practicing with Brock on how to spell his last name, and today he did it...over and over and over and over! The "k" is the tricky part for him, but now he seems to have it down pat. Good job, Brock!

Daddy and Ella at Nebraska Furniture Mart on Saturday. She was so tired. She slept like that for at least 10 minutes.

I went to see The Amalgamators (Lindsey's fiance's band) on Friday night with Lindsey. It was so much fun, and the bands were awesome!
Chad was in a golf tourney today with his dad, and they placed 3rd out of 16 teams. He brought home golf balls for Brock and Ella, a gift card, a post-it dispenser (love it!!), and cookies for B, E, and Mommy!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

There's nothing like being sick on a rainy day. Ella came down with a bad cough, chest congestion, and a runny and stuffy nose. Sophie has a runny nose, too; although, it might be because she is finally trying to get her teeth in. I have the start of a sore throat, and Brock and Daddy seem to be healthy for now.

I had Ella in the bathroom with me this morning to steam, and after telling me that she wanted to take a shower for her free-time, she was in disbelief when I told her she could watch cartoons and rest all day. "I get to watch cartoons ALL DAY? Wow! Thanks, Mama!"

So with Ella resting on the couch, Sophie napping, and Brock at school, I feel beside myself not having children screaming and pulling me in three different directions. Huh, guess I should clean or something.

Rockstar!

Monday was Brock's first day of preschool. They have a new teacher this year, and Brock really thinks she's special. He is such a ladies man!

Definitely her mother's child.

All ready for school!The weather has been absolutely beautiful, and once it gets a little bit cooler, we can finally make chili! You might think it's strange for people to get excited over chili, but it's one of Chad and my favorites! Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum...delicioso!

Sophie said her first sentence! Just kidding, but she has started saying "Mama" now when she wants to be picked up and held. She will crawl around saying it until she is picked up. It's the cutest thing ever!

Brock and Ella have started their own band. Brock plays drums and does lead vocals, and Ella's on the piano. I got it all on video, but it's pretty loud and crazy, so I will spare you your eardrums. Brock sings, "If you want to be a rockstar, then you gotta be like me!" Ella sings, "If you want me to give you a cookie, I will give you a cookie!" It's hilarious!

The hail that was pelting our house...

While Brock was at preschool, Ella made mini strawberry
cupcakes with strawberry frosting and sprinkles.

Pet rocks - Ella and Mommy's rocks

Brock's

What to do?

The weekend started off with a trip to Grammie and Papa's for a "fun day" before Brock heads to school Monday. We made a trip to Blockbuster to get a few movies for the weekend so the kids could have their campout in the living room. They ended up picking out the movie Bolt, and Mommy and Daddy got Taken and Revolutionary Road. The kids LOVED Bolt and will probably watch it a few more times before we have to take it back. Taken was an awesome movie, and Revolutionary Road was not whatI expected. I was looking for a "warm fuzzy" kind of movie, and it was anything but that.

After the kids' fun day at Grammie's on Friday, we took them fishing that night. We raked in the mini-bluegill, and it was lots-o-fun! We did our running around on Saturday, and then the kids had a campout on Saturday in the living room. After supper, it was time for s'mores and then Bolt...again. They ended up falling asleep around 10:00 in thier sleeping bags on the floor.

Today we canned our first batch of stewed tomatoes! It ended up being 12 quarts, and there will be plenty more in the coming weeks. I guess we just have the best tomato plants ever (no hard feelings, Papa!).

The kids dug up their carrots on Thursday, and I was surprised how big they were! We got carried away planting the seeds, so they should have been bigger than they turned out.

Carrots!

Sophie after supper.

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

I can't think of a title right now...

Now that Sophie has mastered crawling, sitting, and standing, she feels the need to keep challenging herself. She has started climbing on things and walking while holding onto the couch. I caught her a few days ago trying to go up the stairs. I think it's time we invested in a stationary baby gate. You would have thought we had a couple of those by now!!

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Ella is starting to figure out how to use the camera. Her and Brock love taking pictures (mostly closeups of people's heads). Every once in a while, they'll get a good picture in there. It's fun to see what they like to take pictures of.
And though it seems as if our kids are never dressed, they are usually always dressed by lunch time. Usually. Typically one with only undies on will manage to slip outside and circle the house during some point in the day.

Camping!

We took Brock and Ella camping this weekend. It was our first camping trip with the kids, and aside from all of the malfunctions when we first arrived, it turned out to be a really fun time! Within 10 minutes of arriving, Brock started taking pictures, and he only got a couple in before the camera died. We didn't bring the charger, so most of the pics are taken from our phones. It was pretty hot out there, but the wind made it tolerable. We didn't go swimming because of the strong wind, and while me and Brock were trying to catch frogs, I noticed how many dead crawdads were at the bottom of the lake. That freaked me out, so I promised to take the kids swimming at Grammie and Papa's when we got back. The kids had a lot of fun with squirt guns, fishing (Brock and Ella caught TONS of bluegill), hiking, jelly beans (thanks, Grammie!), catching frogs, playing catch, skipping rocks, and playing with worms!

Hanging out in the camper

Brock's first fish he caught with no help from Daddy!Ella loved the worms! Chad's first fire! Nice job, Honey!Showing the kids how to use a bottle for a flute.

Fun with bandages!

If Ella does it, Brock has to do it, too!

And we couldn't leave Sophie out...

Horseshoe Shuffle

This weekend was the Prokop's annual horseshoe tournament. Chad's cousin was ever so gracious to babysit while we attended the event. Chad plays in it every year, and this was my first year to actually participate (usually me and the kids just cheer). To everyone's surprise, Lindsey and I did very well. We placed 4th out of 12 teams! We were defeated by Daylon and Jeff twice to send us out of the game, and they then competed with Chad and Jason for the championship. It was a pretty close game, but Chad and Jason walked away with yet another victory.
On Sunday, we took the kids to the Czech parade. Brock looks forward to getting candy every year. It's too bad it was so hot and we couldn't stay out there longer.

For some reason, we thought this float was hilarious.