Hmmm, me thinks the spiders have begun to build cobwebs. :-P However, we returned from camping only to jump into our birthday season in earnest. Throw in a few house projects and the end of the school year and you have a recipe for a seven month pregnant Mommy who would prefer to sleep over blogging. So, sleep I did. :) Until today. So, enjoy. Be forewarned, it's long ... but hopefully fun. :)
Day 107. Peter enjoyed attending a soccer clinic the day after we returned from camp ... as hard as he plays and rides his bike here at home, I was really pretty surprised by how utterly exhausted he returned from those few hours. :)
Day 108. Party time! :) Matthew and a friend from church share a birthday, so his mom and I joined forces and we did a combined party for all three boys (including Peter). I was up into the wee hours of the morning frosting this fun creation. :) My wonderful hubby stayed up with me and cleaned up my mess. Now that's love. ♥
Day 109. John Deere's color scheme makes it so easy to decorate! :)
The Lord was so good ... we had planned to have the party in a pavilion at a local park and were a bit disappointed when someone else reserved it before us. However, when the day dawned unseasonably cold and drizzly, we were so thankful we hadn't invested money in a pavilion where everyone would have been freezing cold and miserable!
Indoor games for ten munchkins required a bit of creativity, but the task of turning a huge bin of Duplos into a farm scene kept them happily occupied for 20-25 minutes ... and longer had we not chosen to move on to other activities!
We love our Pastor and he loves our kiddos! ♥
Happy Birthday, Matthew, Colton, and Peter! :)
So what did post-party look like at our house?
Daddy relaxing on the couch. Mommy relaxing in her red chair.
And the kiddos occupied with intriguing new gifts. :)
A bit later on, we all had fun playing Peter's new game of Tip-It. :)
Day 110. Celebrating a special Resurrection Sunday! :)
During their visit a few weeks earlier, Grandma and Grandpa blessed us with new outfits for the kiddos. ♥ Love these smiling munchkins!!
And Hannah-bug was even able to capture a picture of Mommy and Daddy. :)
We were so glad that Miss Beth was able to join us after church for dinner and fun! :)
Our 3rd annual egg hunt ... still special and fun. :)
Day 111. One day of breather. Spending a few minutes with Matthew and his Imaginets. Notice the mismatched socks. He
loves wearing mismatched socks.
Day 112. Happy 7th Birthday, Peter! :)
How has this young man grown up so quickly!?!?
Showing off his wheelies on his bike ...
And flying helicopters with Daddy. ♥
His birthday gift this year has sat hidden in Daddy's workshop for over 10 months. I found it at a yard sale last summer ... a brand new K'nex roller coaster for about 15% of retail! Peter was
very excited! :)
Day 113. And well occupied for the next few days. ;) It was over 6' long and 3' tall.
And in other news of note ... here's Mommy & Baby at 26 weeks. :)
Day 114. One side (eh-hem) benefit to a lack of screens on the porch + keeping the door open to enjoy beautiful days ... we get to enjoy our bird friends up close and personal. Sigh. This little fellow hung out in our place for oh ... 30-40 minutes. I love birds. But not panicked birds wildly trying to flee my house. The windows were oh so much bigger and more attractive than the doors that led to freedom ...
Day 115. Masterpiece complete and functioning!
Date night dinner for Mommy and Daddy! :) I'm not sure who's more excited about our new regular, monthly babysitting arrangements with the dear Miss Beth ... us or the kiddos! :)
Day 116. Saturday ... PROJECT day. That porch we tore apart in early April? Still tore apart. And the peeling paint we scraped off? Still scraped off. And the exposed wood? Still exposed ... and not handling the rain very well. So in the interest of preserving the wood, we determined that painting the porch was top priority. We also determined that spray painting it would be the most efficient means of doing so. Since Daddy is the spray painter around here and spray painting requires serious prep work, Mommy took the munchkins ... out.
Since we also had a garden plot as of yet empty of seeds, I decided that our local Feed & Seed store would be a good destination ... And how have I gone so long without learning the delights of a Feed & Seed store??? Seriously. It was a childhood paradise ... baby bunnies, baby chicks, hamsters, pet birds, a giant finger-eating parrot ... ! It was great! We followed our visit there with a trip to a local park and managed to give Daddy about 3 hours of totally uninterrupted prep time. Score for Mommy! :)
So while Daddy painted ... and Peter supervised ;) ... Mommy, Hannah, and Matthew planted a garden. All of it. By ourselves. This Mommy was pretty wore out by the end of the day. But we did it! Go us! :) AND ... Daddy got the porch painted! Woo-hoo!
Day 117. Very thankful for a day of rest after our Saturday workday. And for flowers that bloom with no effort on our part. ♥
Day 118. Definitely enjoying the beautiful spring weather ... and here's Matthew sporting his favorite method of swinging. :)
Along with a smile for Mommy in a more conventional means of swinging. :)
Somewhere I got another wind, and after looking at a forecast of rain for the rest of the week, I decided to take advantage of an absolutely gorgeous day and help out my hubby by painting the floor primer in the porch. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I didn't mention to him that I was planning to do it.
What I did NOT realize was that that meant that the floor had to be laid that day. So after dinner, we started laying the floor tiles ... we had finished 80% of it by 10 pm when I totally crashed. My hubby stayed up to finish the last 20% (i.e. the edges!) and finally crawled into bed around 2 am!!! Thanks, honey! ♥
Day 119. Isn't it beautiful!?!?! :) So very excited!!
Stepping back into my teacher role, I signed Peter up for a free trial of Reading Eggs. He has loved it. :) And it actually seems to have helped him with reading. :) That's a win-win in my book! :)
Day 120. The rain that was forecast didn't arrive ... so it's back outside we go! :)
Big brother helping little brother get started on his bike sans training wheels! Ummm. Mommy was really not ready for him to drop the training the wheels. Just sayin'.
Examining the mechanical workings of the bike ...
Love, love, love this picture! SO classic Matthew ... big smile, John Deere shirt, band-aid on elbow, Toby in background ... and now without training wheels. BUT ... how'd four become so big???
Day 121. Ahhh. The first corn of the season ...
♥
Day 122. Hannah-bug turned a school "advertising flier" assignment into a "Family Game Night Palooza." :) So much fun!
She had everything set up for a very special family night. ♥
Day 123. Uh-oh. :( We were thankful though that it was a tree and not the road at which he stopped.
Day 124. Children's Choir ...
Snuggles with Daddy :) The crew seems to be filling up more and more of the couch these days ...
Day 125. Hannah's piano recital! :) What a blessing it has been to see her progress in such a short period of time! We are so thankful for the gifts the Lord has given her and the excellent teacher He has provided.
Day 126. More beautiful weather and fun at the park! :)
Day 127. When Daddy gave a rather less than subtle hint that he thought it was time for the "fall" wreath to be put away, Mommy decided to visit her favorite decorating blog for ideas on a new spring wreath ... $10 and some fun creating time later ... ta-da!
Other signs of spring ... blue miniature irises
and a cardinal!!!
Day 128. Hip-hip-hooray! The last day of school finally arrived ... here's the "nice" picture of my crew ...
And here's how they really felt ... :-D
The sprinkler seemed an appropriate celebratory activity ...
Day 129. The next morning though we were back to numbers again with a rousing game of Monopoly Jr. :)
Random side note to anyone who has ever played a game with kids involving dice ... save yourself significant frustration on so many levels and put the dice in a clean peanut butter jar. No. more. flying. dice. It. is. a. wonderful. thing.
We had an amazing night of wonderful fellowship with friends from church ... so thankful for those who welcome our munchkins along with their Mommy and Daddy into their hearts and lives. ♥
Day 130. Well, 11th anniversaries may come and go, but radiators will not last forever. Some things need to be fixed regardless of the date on the calendar. Thanks, honey! ♥ I love you. ♥
Day 131. Mommy and her FOUR munchkins! ♥
My crew had
great fun leading Mommy into the school room for her special Mother's Day surprise ...
♥
The notebook? Has a special note from each of my kiddos ... and will be added to in upcoming years.
L.O.V.E. it!!!
Day 132. Happy 9th Birthday, Hannah!! The boys had the "official" party this year ... but a special day with your best friend is pretty close to a party anyway. :)
Time for presents ...
And a young lady who was VERY excited to learn that she was going to be allowed to get her ears pierced a year sooner than expected!! ♥
The girls enjoyed diving into the realms of rubber band bracelets. :)
It was a definitely a progressive birthday celebration including a visit with another very special friend just before dinner ...
Culminating with dinner and a custom cupcake horse designed by Mommy's amazing friend Sarah! ♥
Day 133. Breathe.
Day 134. Mommy's birthday ...
Day 135. Rubber band bracelets under mass production!
Day 136. Date night again! And this month included shopping for a replacement for our faithful labor saver who had begun to leak and whose motor sounded like a cross between a jet engine and an ancient lawnmower. So thankful for friends who jumped in on Facebook to provide some navigational help in the world of dishwashers.
Day 137. Wouldn't you want to install a new dishwasher on your birthday? Thanks again, honey. ♥ It's been quite the month. :) And happy birthday!
It was also appointment day for the princess ...
Followed by our annual Red Robin birthday dinner as the culmination of our "birthday season"! :)
Day 138. Yep, Toby. You and Mommy. Resting. It's a good thing.
Day 139. and 140. and 141. and 142, etc. Mommy got sick. As in Daddy staying home to take care of Mommy and kids sick. And then she ever so very slowly crawled back into the land of the living. I took ONE picture this week. From my chair. (I am
so thankful that chair.)
However, at some point in the last month, we finished painting the shoe shelves in the porch and installed them. I'm really not sure when. I didn't take a picture of it when it happened, but I took it today, so here it be. :)
Considering that the disaster which was our shoe organization was what prompted our porch renovations, it's very encouraging to see how well our shoe shelves are working. :) Also, we're open to suggestions about how to creatively cover the holes in the brick left by long-since-removed vent pipes ...
Our coat rack ...
And while not very exciting, this ceiling required some pretty intense labor, so here it is in it's beautiful white glory! :)
Day 144. Yesterday while Daddy took our crew to a picnic, Mommy worked on finishing up the paperwork aspects of our school year and preparing for the upcoming one. Have you ever tried fitting a representative sample of a year's worth of an elementary student's work in a 1-inch binder? It's a good challenge. And one which Mommy conquered! :) So proud of my rising 4th and 2nd graders!
Day 145. Hannah-bug enjoyed Sunday afternoon at Faith-Ann's and the boys enjoyed Daddy's challenge of building squirrel-proof bird feeders ...
Matthew's K'nex feeder involved something with a sword and a loud bang ...
Peter's is "very slippery."
And thus I close my very long post.
For those made it this far ... thank you for joining us! ♥
