the clark's: April 2012

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

DEEP THOUGHTS by Max

{It's bedtime and Kevin is reading to Max in his room}
Kevin: {toot}
Max: "Hey Dad, what's that gas smell?"

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Sunday, April 22, 2012

As parents, it's not easy watching your kids make stupid decisions. When the inevitable occurs, we then must decide on a suitable punishment or find a way to send a powerful message that will motivate them to not make the same stupid mistakes over and over and over again.

Easter Weekend in Concordia

We were thrilled to find out that Adrienne would be joining us on our weekend trip to Concordia to spend the holiday with family. The weekend was tons of fun for the kids with one holiday activity after another. THEN Sunday morning arrived. Everyone was running around crazy, getting cleaned up and putting on their Sunday best for Easter mass that morning. Everyone began to gather in the living room as it was almost time to head to church. Dresses, ties, slacks...everyone looked great! Then Adrienne walked out of the bedroom in her flow-y white t-shirt with a HUGE owl on the front and faded, worn, SHORT, jean shorts. We were 3 hours from home, of course, so we headed to church with Adrienne, the owl, and the SHORT shorts. Before we left, Kev said, "Wait, I need a picture of this so we can all remember what Adrienne chose to wear for church on Easter Sunday."

Fast forward 2 weeks to the day of Adrienne's cheer banquet. Kevin and I spent the day working around the house and in the yard. One hour until banquet time, Adrienne approaches Kev and I while we are in the front yard elbow-deep in mud planting. In her mastered valley girl voice she says, "Um, you guys know this thing is like kinda dressy, right?" (as she stands there in her (again) SHORT pink pencil skirt and hoodie) [TWO fashion lessons in one shot for me! Hoodies go with pencil skirts AND they are dressy...who knew?!?!]

{Sometimes, getting your point across and teaching a lesson is as simple as just waiting for the right opportunity to present itself}

We finished up the last of our planting and hit the showers. I tried to make myself look "dressy" and presentable, then headed downstairs to wait for Kev who was taking a ridiculously long time to get ready. Finally, he made his entrance...

...crisp white collared shirt, black slacks, and shiny black shoes! Now that's what I call dressy! Just look at the relief (sometimes mistaken for fear or terror) on Adrienne's face. What a lucky girl to have a dad who really gets dress codes and fashion!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

7th Grade Cheer Banquet

Adrienne won the "Survivor Award" thanks to a broken wrist, sprained ankle, and foot surgery all in the same year.

The Paddy'O

Enjoying the beautiful spring weather on our favorite restaurant patio, Paddy O'Quigley's.

Time for New PJ's?

Picked these out all by herself.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Tears of a Clown

Someone took it upon herself to do a self-makeover. Apparently, she thought this would make me proud of her. The thought of getting a one-way ticket to thinking time obviously hadn't occurred to her... needless to say, she took this one pretty hard.

Kindergarten Round-up

...is FINALLY here!

Max met his Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Erickson, and saw his classroom. This may be the longest summer ever!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Swim Lessons are Back

This year we learned that there is nothing natural about Kendall in the water...

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

One Strange Dog

Anyone know another dog who lets a 3-year-old do this?

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

A Lullaby for Kendall

This is from October '11 (forgot to pull it off my phone). For about a week, Max would take Kendall up to her room at nap time and sing this song that he wrote just for her.