St. Louis Art Museum

A few weeks ago Steven, Peyton and I went along with Preston's class to the St. Louis Art Museum.  His class is studying Monet and water colors so a trip to the museum was an excellent idea by his wonderful teacher, Miss Nancy.  Here are a few photos I took from our visit.  

 The kids loved the exhibit and have asked to go back a few times.   I think its time to start exploring! 

Bday party

I have been so impressed lately with the Birthday Parties Preston has been invited to.  His first big party was at a music studio.  The kids were able to play big drums, keyboards, etc... and even make their own music and take home a CD. Incredible.  Yesterday's party was at All American Gymnastics and Preston had a BLAST.  Oh yes, Peyton had a blast as well.  Both kids could not contain their excitement.  Here they all are all lined up and ready to go.

The kids learned the importance of warming up before you play.
Peyton has no fear when it comes to climbing.  She always wants to keep up with her big brother.

What kid doesn't like the pit :) 

Here we have Preston hanging from the high bar above the pit. He did great - look at that strength.
Guess who wanted to join in on the fun?  Peyton!  The teacher was quite impressed with how brave she was for a little girl.  I think we have a future gymnast and Mommy is so proud!
The Birthday party!
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Preston

Preston has been sick the past few days.  Poor guy.  It all started on Wednesday when I got a call from the nurse at his school.  Yup, my kid got sick in the middle of class.  Thankfully he doesn't seem to worried even though I was so worried the poor kid would be shamed for the rest of the year.  Apparently, however, he is the third one in his class to get sick in the past week.  Something is going around that school and its time to bust out the bleach.  Since he has been home we have been doing a whole lot of nothing outside of resting, watching videos and reading books.  Here is the classic picture of our sick boy.  He is snoozing on my bed with Mr. Frog.
Another picture of Preston snoozing on my bed with his frog.  Im glad he is getting a lot of extra sleep.
Here is the boy watching a Thomas video. Froggy is doing a great job keeping him company.
We are all hoping and praying for a quick recovery and that mommy and Peyton are spared.
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The Past Week

Things have been fairly busy around the Dalbey house the past week.  I'm so sorry I have not been updating my blog on a regular basis.  I am going to do my best to keep up with this and my other tech items.  Here is a brief update from the past week.
First, it was SO nice last week that we grabbed our swimsuits and headed out to the backyard for some outdoor fun.  Both kids loved being outside!  They also loved getting out the kiddie pool and slide.  I see many 'pool' days in our future.

Peyton was also super content to sit and hang out.  She loves looking at the flowers and searching for bugs with her big brother.  Oh yes, notice that crazy hair.  She still won't let me pull it up/back with a clip/bow/hair tie/etc...  Maybe someday.

I was super busy on Saturday photographing my FIRST wedding!  It went very well and I can't wait to finish editing all these images and posting them for my friends and family to see. I am so proud of my work and how much I have grown in the past year. I pray this photography dream continues to grow and that I have the patience and endurance to improve my skills each day.  Here is a preview photo from the wedding day - what a beautiful couple.
Big event in the Dalbey family this week: Daddy left for Spain on Sunday afternoon.  He is traveling with MTW (Mission to the World) to work with high school students and their parents in a youth ministry and counseling context.  He will be gone for 10 days total.  While we miss him greatly we are hanging in there and trying to make the most of each day at home.  Here are a couple pictures while we were out to lunch on Sunday afternoon before we took Steven to the airport.

Finally, spring continues to make all things look new here in St. Louis.  I am really enjoying the wonderful colors and flowers in bloom.  Here are my tulips!

Here are the kids playing in the back yard yesterday afternoon.

Oh yes, a nice little Robin bird made her nest outside the kids room and is about to be the mother of 4.  We are keeping any eye on these little ones.  The kids can't wait to see the babies :)
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Flowers

I am so thankful for another BEAUTIFUL weekend here in St. Louis. I am also very thankful for the plentiful amount of family time we were able to have the past couple days.  We spent most of our time outside playing, digging in the dirt, going to the park and planting flowers.  Here are a couple picture of  the color around my yard.  I planted some pansies and impatients yesterday afternoon while also enjoying my bright yellow forsythia and soft red tulips that are in bloom.
I also headed out to the Sunset Hills Earth Day celebration and picked up a few more items for my garden (all for free).  This lovely flower is now on my back porch along with some dill growing in a pot in kitchen and an aloe plant.  I love color and the garden.

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A walk

Last week I took the kids for a walk around the Lake at Logan Collage.  It was a great day and the kids loved exploring.  They even brought some old bread to feed the ducks...bummer the ducks didn't seem interested.  I also took some time to take these pictures with my phone because I was scouting out photo shoot locations.  I think this one is going to be good.  Here are a few photos of the kids on our walk.
Preston holding the bread and walking over the bridge.
There off!  

This is a beautiful lake.  

I just love this path. I was reminded of the time when my siblings and I would walk along this path years ago...fun memories.  

Preston was finally worn out and wanted to head back to Grandad's house.  

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This weeks top photos

It has been another full week for the Dalbey family.  Steven worked a lot this week which meant that I had quite a bit of time with the kids.  Thankfully, the weather has been really nice and we have had plenty of activities to keep us busy.
First, sometimes you just need a donut.  This picture was taken on Tuesday.  My kids love donuts (just look at that picture) and especially the ones with sprinkles.  I think I need to learn how to make awesome donuts at home.
Peyton has been enrolled in a breathing/asthma study at St.  Louis Children's Hospital.  We have had some problems with her breathing in the past and our pediatrician recommended this to us.  Our first appointment was yesterday morning.  After a long hour of questions they gave Peyton the chance to pick out a toy from a bin.  She went straight for the Pony.    I don't think I know a little girl who doesn't like horses.
Spring is HERE!  I am VERY excited about being outside more often and how beautiful everything looks.  Just look at these trees.  I am going to 'try' and take some photos of the family this weekend outside.  Lets see how that goes.
Another update on Peyton:  She continues to sleep well at night in her bed but will only take a nap in 'mommy's bed'.  I don't really mind because when she naps I usually go downstairs to play with Preston.  Here is a picture I captured of her yesterday afternoon when I went in to check on her.
Finally, my tulips are about to bloom.  Preston helped me plant these last fall and we are SO excited to see them growing so well.  I can't wait to see them all in bloom.  I'll post a picture when that happens.

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Bye bye bushes

Steven and I have lived in our house for 8 years.  First, that is a crazy amount of time to live in the SAME place.  Second, owning a house can be more crazy and overwhelming than you think.  Finally, getting around to needed home improvement projects can take time...even 8 years.  These 'lovely' bushes are an example of a home project that needed to be addressed a long time ago.  Then there is life, children, work, and money.  Thankfully, mother nature (aka, the sun) took care of these bushes last summer significantly killing them.  They needed to go and today was the day to remove them.  Here is a 'before' picture as we began our work.  You may think they are alive because they look green in the front.  Trust me, they were completely dead on top and losing their needles very quickly.

The first bush was easy to remove as I did it myself!

Here are the bushes as they continue to be removed.   

                                       

Here is my strong husband taking these bad boys out of the ground.  Go Steven!

Here is the final view.  Now all we need are some bushes/flowers/etc... 

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Easter Weekend

This past weekend was filled with wonderful time with family.  First,we headed out to our backyard to do a little 'spring cleaning' on Saturday.  We fertilized the grass, cut the grass, pulled weeds, cleaned up the deck and cleared our yard of any trash/junk.  I can't wait to play more in our backyard this spring and summer
On Saturday evening we headed over to Papa's house for some dinner to celebrate Easter.  Preston  happily set the table...with a dinosaur at each place setting.  I found this to be very educational.

Sunday was Easter and we first celebrated by going to church to worship.  After Church we headed over to Grandma & Granddad's house for lunch and an Easter Egg hunt.  Here are the kids with their cousin, Alice, waiting by the front door.  They were so excited to find the eggs.

Here are the kids on the hunt.  It didn't last long but it was a lot of fun watching the kids find all the eggs.

Here are the kids going through their loot.  Notice that Peyton is happily going through her candy while Preston is just being silly.  Also notice hos Preston's basket is FULL if not overflowing with eggs.

A nice family photos for Easter.  Thank you, I phone, for this decent picture.

On Saturday afternoon we headed down the street to an open field to fly a kite as a family.  The wind was PERFECT.  Our kite soared into the air and Preston loved watching it fly.

Finally, some lovely tulips for Spring.  I am so happy Spring is here.  No more cold weather.  Now, we just need the trees to bloom...hopefully by the end of the week.

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