Family Day

A Picnic Lunch on Saturday... Playing in the river... Can you say, COLD? Brrr! Brrr!...

What's with the faces??....... I think they were shivering

They really do love each other.... well most of the time

Spy Kids...Three

Skipping Rocks... I think Nolan won the game...

Mom won this one( testing the boundaries).... she wasn't very happy with me...

Checking out the fish hatchery... Rainbow Trout anyone?

Kids in a tree... we have a family portrait from 6 years ago in this same tree, Nolan was 6, Garrett was 4, and Nate was almost 2... our family sure has grown since then.
In spite of many chores needing to be accomplished on the homestead, we chose to take a family outing on Saturday. It was so nice to get away and just enjoy our time together. We drove to a nearby State Park and spent the day playing in and around the river. We feasted on sub-sandwiches,chips,fruits and cookies. Brad bought a watermelon for us to share, but much to the kids disappointment it turned out to be a "dud". We will have to try again later on that one! The boys played football until they started hitting everyone around..."not everyone wants to play boys". We thought it time to find our next adventure and took the kids to a wide shallow swimming area in the river. Brad braved the water with the little ones and found the water to be a bit cold. None of the kids seemed to mind at all, and they stayed in for an hour or so just splashing,wading, and exploring. As that adventure concluded, we went exploring the fish hatchery located close to the river. We saw lots of fish in various stages of growth and wondered how many would be caught at this time next year. The big boys were wanting to take a hike up very steep,mountainous terrain. We had made this hike/climb a few years before, and it wasn't terribly difficult; however, we felt it might be a bit harded for the little ones. We were also running out of time. I guess that will be something for us to do on another family adventure. To conclude our fun day, we stopped at a Dairy Queen along the route home and had supper and ice cream treats. We made it home in time for baths and bed. We look forward to another family day real soon.

Birthday Celebration

Leftover wings for Saturday's breakfast...

Happy Birthday dear daddy... his favorite a chocolate pie! We had 2 scheduled ball games for Friday night, and our plan was to celebrate Brad's birthday on Saturday. The rain had other plans for our ball games, and so, we moved the celebration to Friday night(really he got to celebrate most of the weekend). Brad wanted to eat at a chicken wing place he had heard great things about. We took all of the kids and found this place that looked like a "hole in the wall" but was very clean. It turned out to be extremely good food. The owner/cook makes his own sauces and rubs for the wings. He recommended some different kid friendly flavors and most of the kids ate more than their share. We ordered way to many wings...yeah leftovers! Those leftovers would become a breakfast treat on Saturday morning. Back at home, we had a chocolate pie to celebrate... Brad is not a big cake fan. The kids had great fun teasing and razzing their dad on this birthday;however, I promised to be nice because Brad was very kind to me when I turned 40. Happy Birthday, Honey!

Look who's???

Guess who turned 40 on Friday??

Fun Photo Friday

Some fun photos from our week... A Picnic at the park... Mandy ran into some friends from church. The boys met a new friend who joined them in a "sandlot" baseball game. Lunch...Our Garden is growing....tomatoes,peppers,cabbage,carrots,okra, and green beans.

Mandy's cherry tomato plant...

Some fun block creations...

My Animal Wildlife Team...

See what was in the box??....

... and then they found this sweet thing in our yard...he is "teeny-tiny" and think he may have gotten seperated from his momma...we hope that the momma finds him

A nesting dove....on our front porch...

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for...
God's Holy Word....that we have a standard of truth that instructs,guides and leads us through this crazy world and onto the road of salvation and eternal life. ...and that our children seek God and his word (we caught this shot of our eldest son one evening when he quietly went off to his room)

Our large home...
...even with it's "groovy" decor. It provides us with lots of spaces to enjoy. God has so blessed us with this home, and it is our wish that it serve Him... **We can hardly believe we have lived here one year at the end of this month**

Lots of space ...so that my children can do this...

...and this... and many other "kid" things God's beautiful creations... all the many flowers,trees, and "wild" animals(birds,rabbits,squirrels, a groundhog,a coyote, and a fox*we think*) that we have seen around our house. FREEDOM!!!!!

Let's Dance

Our little ballerina...she was in her "element"... loving to perform

Their dance was to the song "Zip a dee doo dah", and the girls even had to march onto stage on cue... Mia was just having fun

Daddy gave the girls roses after their performance...

Our "Prima" ballerina... just lovely... Her ballet was to the song "Castle on the Clouds" from Les Miserable

Tap class presented Mandy with the most challenges. She has been worried for the last week that she would forget or mess up on the steps... it was a bit difficult for all the girls on rehearsal night; however, Mandy put in a near perfect performance on recital night.

The big day(days) arrived for the girls. It was their Dance Recital, the culmination of an entire year of practice and hard work. The girls and I went to their Dress Rehersal on Thursday. Dress Rehersal can sometimes be aggravating and a bit boring as it drags on and on for almost 5 hours during the evening prior to Recital. We actually enjoyed the evening, and we were able to turn it into a girls night out. Mia danced first in the "pre-show" and then we had a couple of hours before Mandy had to be back for her dance, so the girls and I went out to dinner. It was a special time that we could talk and share stories, and Momma even got a special glimpse of what was on the girls hearts and what their special dreams are for the future.

On Friday, we had fun visiting with my mom(Nana) and my Aunt (who made a special trip up to see the girls dance) before getting the girls "dressed up" for the show. We were in for a treat as the whole recital turned out beautifully. The director (Mandy's teacher) and the co-director(Mia's teacher) worked hard to produce a wonderful show. You could tell that many hours had been devoted to the performances and many more hours to teaching a love of dance to many young people in our community. Our girls danced their hearts out, and we were amazed to see all the progress they have made over the past year. We look forward to next years dance classes. Mandy has been invited to dance in the junior dance competition team. It is quite an honor, and we are praying about accepting the invitation. It requires some travel, a bit more expense, and a lot more time. Mandy's teacher says that she has "dancing in her bones", and after seeing her ballet performance, I so believe it! Mandy asked me which routine I liked better...I couldn't choose... her ballet "rehersal" performance was so beautiful that it made me cry, and her tap performance on recital night made me cry. ...I'm such a softie

Enjoy the pics....

A Whole Bunch of Nothing

Levi's Trains...using his gift card,he selected another piece to add to his set. Sporting his new haircut...Doesn't he look adorable?

Mandy used her gift card to add a baby carrier to her doll collection...Garrett's new haircut...as handsome as ever! Can you see his "pesky" little sister in the background?... She can be very "ornery" at times.

Nate's new haircut... He looks so cute with his haircut short,but he doesn't like to have his picture taken.

Nolan doesn't like being in pictures that much either...but he was actually sitting still when we snapped this pic.

Our Memorial Day weekend was filled with a whole bunch of nothing...or maybe something?. We had a great Friday evening at the ball park. Nate's team was playing, and the kiddos did so well. Everyone was paying attention, playing hard and doing their very best. Nate was so excited because he actually hit the ball and made it around the bases. They won the game and wow,what a happy bunch of boys! We are so thrilled to see the progress they are making as a team. Saturday was devoted to some yard work,baseball practice for the big boys, and then a trip into town. Three of the four boys got haircuts, and we had a fun time shopping at the toy store. Mandy and Levi both had gift cards to spend and found just the right toy. The kids wanted to have some chicken wings, and daddy treated them to dinner at the wing place in town. It was yummy, and there was a toss up as to who ate the most. Sunday was church day and we spent the day just hanging out as a family. It was promotion Sunday for the younger kids, and Mandy was so excited to be moving with lots of her friends to the Pre teen room(3rd-6th grade). After lunch and naps, we took the kids to a local park where they played and played. We came home for an indoor picnic and watermelon, a favorite at our house. Monday was devoted to more yard work(for daddy and the boys). Mom spent the day sorting through closets,organizing Spring clothes, and straightening the house a bit. We had the privilege of attending a birthday party for one of the players on N&G's baseball team. His mom and dad are so sweet. We enjoyed hamburgers,hot dogs and even some Philippino food...and of course birthday cake...boy oh boy, was there ever a ton of yummy food! We were treated like royalty and the kiddos were beyond spoiled before we left. We returned home in the evening to finish up as many of the yard task and household task that we could before time for bed. Wow,maybe it wasn't a whole lot of nothing after all!