Spring Break Fun

The school in town is on Spring Break.  I know this will

mean even more next year when Sam is home from school

I look forward to it, and try to spend a day with my school

kiddos if I can.  Tuesday we chose...

Gattitown again

Cousins smiles

Roller Coasters LOL

PhotoBooth Silly

Merry-Go-Round Memories

Sisters FOREVER

(we did some shopping after Gattitown -

we found some supercool glitter heels

we all tried them on.  Blake asked Morgan to help her

Morgan says, this is just the way it will be on your wedding day

LOL, so true!)

Brothers Trouble...

365. Week 12

W12. D1 -First picked flower of the season for mama

deserved it's own special vase, don't you think?

W12.D2 - Sweet memory at Grandpa greats...

Went to return the yard roller to the farm,

 the boys and I went inside to return egg cartons

(yep, our eggs come straight from gpa's farm chickens)

and he was watching Dukes of Hazard reruns.

He was happy to see the boys and wanted them to watch the Dukes with him.

We watched a few scenes with him as he laughed out loud at the show.

Now, if you know Gpa - he is a very quiet man.

It is a memory I will never forget.  It made Joe laugh too!

W12.D3 - Midwest sunset on the way to Discovery Club/Small Group

W12. D4 - Task charts full for week one.

Success! McDonalds gift cards...

W12.D5 - Homemade Pizza and Rook at Gma and Gpa's house

W12.D6  - Egg and Spoon Races

W12.D7 - end of Day at ER with DH...

swollen cheek blood cultures, pain meds, IV antibiotics

cat scans...not sure of diagnosis

sinus or abcess tooth?  We see oral surgeon tomorrow.

more D7 - awoke to snow, church with boys, taught youth sunday school

Too Cool

Tackle Box Tales

Don't feed the ducks!

We headed to the park Saturday for some family time and fresh air.

We made a quick stop at the store since

mama forget to bring the stale bread from home,

well just have to eat that and give the duck the fresh bread...ha!

But then we found a nice surprise.

Or not so nice....

don't feed the ducks!

What?  I mean we have been feeding the ducks since

I was little and things seem fine...

we took some time to read the bulletin

and brought our bread home!

I laughed out loud when I realized that Sam is almost as long as this slide!

But I still think Joe looks wee little on this big slide.

My mamabear heart did a skip a beat as I watched him

climb to the top and sighed a deep breath when

he safely reached the bottom.

The park was a little mushy in places because it is so wet

It was warm and once the sun went down

we finished with a stroll and headed out!

365. Week 11

 W11. D1 - The boys are proud of our piggy bank for World Missionary Press

They provide bible tracts in many languages to spread the word of God

across His nations!

W11.D2 - Apparently the memo read for today read...

Rainbow Wear....

W11.D3 - Had a yummy dinner tonight with these kiddos.

Lots of laughs and prayers of thanks for their mama's successful heart procedure.

W11.D4- Spring is nearly here...gorgeous outside day!

W11. D5 - Oh the imaginations of boys'

Sam aka Tiger in a cage...

and i thought it was just the back of a chair, ha!

W11.D6 - Mama worked in the morning and DH grilled chicken

for the Haiti benefit while boys played with Aunt Polly

then it was too the park for the entire family.

W11. D7- Basking in the incredible NCAA BU basketball victory!!

Your Pot of Gold...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

IT WAS BEAUTIFUL TODAY!

and we went outside to enjoy it...

we played sidewalk chalk

and

i had a vision of a beautiful rainbow with a pot of gold at the end

And then I had help from Sam who thought the rocks

should go at the start of the rainbow

and Joe who thought that red rocks would be perfect

{why so many colored rocks you ask...well

from all my spray paint projects that occur

in the gravel driveway}

and then Mr. Mala Cat joined the fun

And there you have it

Hope you Found your POT of GOLD

this St. Patrick's Day!

Reward Charts

Making new reward charts was two fold for us...

you see

I had one of those "failure as a mom" moments.

Sam came to me Sunday in tears b/c he didn't get a gift card.

Broken heart (and it was my fault).

When I got the the bottom of it...

the bible verses that had been sent home to us

were to be learned and recited at the end of the quarter

to earn a McD card.  I didn't know....uugh.

So once we got the details we have a plan for next time!

But in the mean time, that is 3 months away...

and it wouldn't be right just to give him one for nothing.

And then Joe joined the bandwagon, too, where was his 'fist car?'

And who doesn't need a good way to corral the kids during

our get ready/go to bed routine...

So came a first draft (easily altered) of our reward chart.

and after our 1st successful week, we could reward them with a gift card...

I made them each a chart, printed out with their name on the bottom

(to help them recoginze their printed name)

and they got to choose their stickers from our stash

We simply clipped the stickers behind each chart

And up on the fridge they went.

I laughed out loud when Sam came out from quiet time

and told me he had made his bed...

that was a first!

King Candy

We are game crazy right now.

Every Monday night {unless it's haircut night}, we play games.

And then sometimes we play games on mama's day off.

And after talking with Grandma, they play at her house too.

And the other night when we went to my uncle's house - my aunts

loved telling me about playing crazy 8 with the boys.

I love that they LOVE games and cards.

It is good for them, and I know this summer there will be less of it

and more physical activity - yeah!

Our favorites right now are: Candyland, Sorry! and Sorry! Sliders, Yatzee (kids) ,Uno, Cootie, Hi Ho Cheerio!, Fishing game, Crazy 8, Memory, Pirannah.

But this day it was Candyland.

We all lined up at the beginning and somehow that stinker Sam

always draw's the orange card, that's his goal.

The orange card let's you slide to the next level.

And I wish I could say that playing games together always leads to

high fives...

But somewhere between gumdrop pass and the lollipop

Joey Jukers was tired of Sam winning and was showing that

it was almost naptime.

And then Sam finally made it and gave us a wave from

The Candy Castle

And he became King Candy.

{once again}...next time buddy, I'm gonna get you!