The Cathcarts

Our fun weekend started off on Friday night when we had our neighbors Dave, Chanda, and Maddie over for pizza.  They are a lot of fun and are always more than willing to watch Jaxson for us when we need them.  We knew Chanda before she moved in two doors down from us because she also works at the hospital as a physical therapist.  Dave and Brad get along great because Dave is a writer for ESPN, so they always have plenty of sports to talk about.  I think Jaxson was a little confused when they came over and we didn’t leave because that’s usually what happens when they show up at our house.  He had a lot of fun playing and coloring with Maddie.  On Saturday, I got up and headed for work.  I had a steady busy weekend.  On Sunday, I worked on Brad’s floor for my first eight hours.  Since it was my turn to float, I really like to go there because I know all of the girls that Brad works with.  Then I had to return to my floor for the last four hours.  It was a good weekend and it went fast, which is the best part about it.  While I was at work, the boys were in Gowrie spending time with the rest of the Cathcarts.  Their long time family friends, Jim and Carol Wiley, came over on Saturday to see the boys.  Jim and Carol were neighbors to the Cathcarts when they lived on the farm and they also babysat the boys when they were young and ornery.  They went to church on Sunday and I guess Jaxson got a lot of compliments on his singing during church.  He likes to praise God.  From the pictures, it looks like they had a great time.

Chanda and Dave

"I’m not going to let you guys take a nap until you read these books to me."

Jaxson is listening while Carol reads

Jim Wiley

"Giddyup Uncle Andy!"

Jaxson had a package from the mailman waiting for him when he got up from his nap yesterday.  He opened it up and found some very yummy chocolate chip cookies homemade by Grandpa Winter with a very cute note attached to it.  So I called my dad lastnight to thank him for the nice treat and Brenda, his wife, told me that when dad was making them, he had to sit right in front of the stove to watch them bake to make sure that Jaxson’s cookies didn’t burn.  How cute is that?  Thanks Grandpa!

"Yum, these are good"

Brandy, Jack, Jaxson and I all headed to Backyard Adventures this morning to let the boys run around and play and hopefully wear themselves out. I’m glad to say that it worked.  

We wish all of you a very Happy Easter!  Our Easter morning started off cold once again and even with some flurries.   My mom and Mike, the Main gang, and us all went to church this morning at Lutheran Church of Hope.  We were so excited to see the new sanctuary, unfortunately getting to church 15 minutes early still wasn’t early enough to get one of the 1700 seats.  We ended up in the gym (overflow area) watching the service.  It actually wasn’t that bad, but it probably would have been much better in the sanctuary.  Oh well, I was getting kind of upset while we were waiting in line to get into the sanctuary because I was hot with my coat on, holding a squirmy toddler, and anxiously searching for eight seats, but then I thought to myself, "This is wonderful!  All of these people are here "fighting" to get a seat to praise God."  How wonderful is that?  Pastor Mike delivered another powerful sermon.  We laughed, we cried, and we came out of there feeling renewed.   After church, the Mains and us enjoyed a nice brunch at Perkins.  Brad and I have spent the afternoon trying to put some kind of order back into our garage and basement, but we’re afraid this won’t get completely done until our basement is all done in a few months.  Grandpa Cathcart is here now playing with the "Reverend Jaxson," as he calls him, and I think they are having quite a good time because it is very noisy and the house is shaking. . . literally.  I’m sure none of that has anything to do with the candy high that he is on right now from all of his Easter baskets. 

"Hey Jaxson, do you care if Grandpa eats your Twinkies?"

Snack time

My nephew, Kade, spent the day with us while his dad was down at my neighbor’s house doing some work.  We had a very fun day with Kade.  It was nice to have him here so that he could help me entertain Jaxson throughout the day.  We went to the park a couple times, made brownies, and he got to throw the football around with Brad. 

Our first trip to the park.

They are both looking at a truck going by behind me.

The chef, Kade, did a very good job on the brownies.  They are yummy!

We’re going to the park again.

He’s more like his father everyday.

Well, the birds are chirping, the kids are outside playing, and the snow is almost all gone.  YEAH!  Jaxson and I have been enjoying a lot of time outside playing and getting reacquainted with our neighbors after being cooped up all winter long.  Anya came over yesterday while her Mommy was at the dentist.  Jaxson and her had a great time playing together.  We are looking forward to Easter.   This will be the first Easter that I’ve had off from work in a long time.  We are going to go to our church for morning service.  They usually have Easter service downtown at Vets, but this year they are having it in the new sanctuary that holds around 1700 people and has movie theater type seats with cup holders.  I’m sure it will be powerful.

A sidenote on the grapenut bread:  bake it in a loaf pan and eat it fresh out of the oven, microwaved, or toasted.

Two knuckleheads

My mom came down on Tuesday afternoon and spent the night.  We had a lot of fun with her here.  We did some shopping out at Jordan Creek for some spring clothes and then we came home and ate grilled burgers and chicken breasts for supper.  Brad was so excited to get back to grilling.  It was wonderful!  My mom brought a recipe for grapenut bread with her that she has made several times already and the family has just loved it.  We made two loaves of it and it was fabulous!  Brad told me lastnight that it was almost gone and that I need to make more, so I made two more loaves this morning.  Jaxson even liked it, which doesn’t surprise me that much because he loves pretty much any bread.  It is very easy.  Here’s the recipe.

Mix together in a large bowl: 1/2 cup grapenut cereal, 1 cup buttermilk, 1 cup sugar, and 1 egg. 

Then mix together in another bowl: 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Then mix this into the large bowl.

You can also add 1 tsp vanilla and/or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon if you want to.  I’ve put cinnamon in the bread that I’ve made and it’s great. 

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Praise the Lord for nice weather!  It has been beautiful outside, so we’ve been spending most of our mornings and afternoons playing outside.  Jaxson loves to get all of his toys out of the garage and take them up and down the sidewalk.  He still loves his Tonka truck and pushes it all over the neighborhood.  With everything melting, it is a little bit messy out, but I’m not going to complain.  This past winter has really made me appreciate the nice weather.  We still have a little snow on the ground, but that will probably be gone by the end of the week.  Here’s some pics from outside today.

"This is hard pushing my truck up this snowy mountain."

"Mommy, we should shovel this sawdust."

We had a pretty uneventful weekend once again.  I had a good weekend at work.  I had the same four patients all weekend, which is unusual because I normally send a few home and get a few more.  The hospital was crazy full this weekend and it wasn’t looking to be getting any better when I left last night.  There were probably less than 10 beds available when I left, so that makes for a crazy Monday when you have a million people coming in to have surgery.  I’m glad I’m not there today and I’m sure I will hear all about it from Brad tonight.  The boys had a good weekend at home.  On Saturday, they went up to Ankeny to Tanya and Heath’s to help Kade celebrate his 9th birthday.  I’m looking forward to this week, since it’s supposed to be in the 40’s and 50’s.  Hopefully we can get out and enjoy the weather. Jaxson has his follow-up appointment tomorrow to check on his ear since it ruptured.  He’s also supposed to get the MMR and chicken pox vaccine tomorrow, which we’re not looking forward to at all. 

Jaxson’s morning ritual. . . he gets his night time blanket, climbs up in the glider, and looks at all of his books.

He likes to do this while I get ready in the morning.

"Come on Dad; I dare you to get up and fight me again!"

"Do you see these muscles?"

"OOOHH, you got me!"

"Come on Dad, we have to do our push ups before bed"

Tired boys