Goo Gone

I have recently discovered a new favorite product that has made my life much easier- Goo Gone Spray Gel. My mom has used Goo Gone or similar products for years to clean up gummy, sticky messes; I found this "new" spray gel in the cleaning aisle several weeks ago and one of the uses on the label was as a prewash. I had a pile of kids clothes that had grease spots on them- you know the little ones you get when your kiddo drops food on his shirt and the mess comes out but the grease stays? I sprayed the Goo Gone on, threw it in the washer with the rest of the laundry and the clothes came out like new. I now keep a bottle by the washer and spray down most of the kids shirts, and even a few of mine! It has been a life saver. Tonight, I was searching for anything to take the permanent marker off the computer desk (Jackson would rather color on the desk than the paper!) and sprayed some gel on the table and it immediately came off when I wiped it. It was amazing. For even better results, use the Goo Gone with the Magic Erasers. They are amazing, too.

Maybe I am just easily amazed?!

Engaged!

We had some exciting news over the weekend- my sister Alison got engaged! She had the best Easter basket ever! M&M's and some bling!! Adam knows the way to Alison's heart!! Adam is from Atchison, KS and is a huge K-State fan! I know that will turn some of you away from him very quickly, but he really is a great guy! Don't they look cute together! They are planning a May 2008 wedding. My dad is not sure he wants to live in "wedding world" for the next year! I tried to get a nice, cute picture of my kids dressed in their Easter attire. What was I thinking? This is reality, this is what my boys look like most of the time. Tootsie drool coming out of the mouth while wrestling each other on the ground. Smiling family pictures are cherished these days!
The boys looked so cute in their matching outfits and grandpa matched too! At least grandpa smiled for the picture!
Here are Dawson and Jackson at our Easter egg hunt at my Mom and Dad's house. They had fun but it was so cold! I think last year I wore a tank top for the egg hunt. I guess this time of year is so unpredictable.

Another exciting thing happened on Easter- Jackson collected all of his pacifiers and left them in his Easter basket for the Easter bunny. The next morning when he woke up the Easter bunny had taken his pacifiers but left him some candy. He has done great and has only asked about his pacifer a few times. Last night he crawled behind our end table and I heard him say, "Ohh! I've been wooking por dis!" I looked at him and he had his pacifier in his mouth. He was so excited. I let him enjoy for a few minutes and then took it out of his mouth and he never asked about it. I'm sure we will find more scattered throughout the house, but so far he's doing great!

Easter Eggs!

Dawson and I had fun coloring Easter eggs on Thursday. Jackson was not at all interested, which I was thankful for later. He came over and tried to pick up one of the plastic straws from the dye kit and splatter blue dye all over the table and himself. He has a nice blue patch in his hair that is finally coming out after three washes! I made deviled eggs with the hard-boiled eggs that were cracked. I hate eggs so I never make them- this was their first taste of "doubled eggs" and they both ate them! Dawson even went back for seconds. They must take after their dad in that way!
Dawson is showing off his "earth" egg. He shows it to everyone that enters our house and seems very proud of it. We were not trying to make the earth, but it ended up looking better than we could have done if we tried!
At breakfast this morning I offered to make scrambled eggs and Dawson asked if we could have "Easter eggs"! We made green eggs for St. Patty's Day so I guess he thought it was appropriate that we color the eggs for Easter too!
This morning our church sponsored an "Easter Egg Drop" where they dropped eggs out of an airplane into a field. The kids enjoyed it even though it was freezing outside! Sorry no pictures to share, I forgot the camera! It was a great time of fun and fellowship!

Sioux Falls trip

We went to Sioux Falls, SD last weekend to visit the Kouril side of family. It was cold in SD- we woke up to snow flakes on Sun. morning and came home to 80 degree weather on Monday. I think the weather followed us home! It was probably the worse car trip we have had so far. Jackson was searching for any way possible to irritate Dawson. We finally moved Jackson to the backseat of the van- it was a great choice! I don't think we will be taking any long car-trip vacations this summer! We did have a great visit with friends and family, though. The boys were so excited to see cousin Ella (their only cousin!). She is now 3 months old and is adorable. Dawson was very gentle with her and it was cute to hear his "baby talk" conversation with her.
Jackson liked Ella but I'm not sure Ella liked Jackson. He discovered that she had long hair that he could pull! We transferred her to Jackson's lap after she fell asleep and he let her sleep on his chest for quite awhile. Those eyes don't look too innocent, though!
We got together with friends on Sunday night. We got to see Steve, Rhonda, Hunter and Parker Wilson and Jaime Bader and her baby Regan. Jackson and Hunter are 3 weeks apart and are just about the same size. I thought this picture was cute with their matching blonde hair!
Dawson always has a goofy face for the camera! He had fun playing with Uncle Eric. He also had fun playing with the huge storage container of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that Grandma Audrey found that used to be Adam and Aron's. I think Adam and Aron also enjoyed playing with them! (Shh! Don't tell them I told you!)
Ella is already copying Jackson! Oh-no, watch out Eric and Sadie!!