March Madness!

Alice got this pillow case from her Aunt for her birthday, with special crayons that after you are done you iron it to set the coloring in.  We never gave her guidance as to what to color a picture of.  But, how fitting that she drew a picture of our family, especially since at the top it says 'Families are Forever.'  This is the first time she has ever drawn a picture of our whole family.  Looking at it just melts my heart.

March 20th, 2012

It has been 4 years since Ashley passed away.  In some ways it feels like it has been forever, and in other ways it has gone fast all at the same time.  We really miss her and wish she could physically be part of our family, but we know she is with us spiritually.  A lot of  emotions surface more than normally this time of year.

Thanks to so many friends and family who remembered Ashley and thought of us on this day, and did many nice things like this.  Beautiful!

We wrote notes to Ash to take to the cemetery.  This was Alice's.  

I just love how she worded things.

We always pick something fun to do on this day that Ashley would have enjoyed.  We took the kids to see The Lorax, this was super fun, because we have never taken them to a the movie theater.  The loved the movie, but might have loved the popcorn and treats more!

We also visited the cemetery, of course!

Another fun thing we did that weekend was go to Paul's parents place in beautiful Midway.  We enjoyed swimming, golf cart rides, and playing at the park.  It was a quick overnight trip, but totally worth it.

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One project we have been working on is Cole's room.  It has been nice during an emotional month to have a project like this to work on to keep us extra busy.  

We are ready to transition him to his 'big boy' bed, so we wanted to get the painting done. 

Before:

Everything, even the ceiling was beige.

After:

Awesome! Right!  Paul spent all day on a Saturday putting up reverse wall board.  There are a lot of tricky angles in this room.  He probably went up and down the stairs 50 + times to make cuts in the garage!  He did amazing and it looks perfect.  He said this is the hardest project he has done so far.  Then I puttied, sanded, caulked and painted.  Everything except the grey had to be done on a ladder.  Good thing I did it now before my balance was even more off.  I was really careful and had no problems, excepts soar muscles in my neck and shoulders from 3 coats of white paint on the ceiling.

We love it and Cole loves it.  He has spent the last 2 weeks in his new bed and has done great!  He looks so little in it compared to his crib.  But he looks way more comfy, with his soft blankets and comfy new mattress!