All In Good Fun

 

Don’t know about the weather in your neck of the woods, but we experienced some heavy thunderstorms today.  If you have kids, you know that they can only be bound by the walls of your home for so long!!!  Especially when large puddles begin to form before their very eyes, they’re just way to tempting.  For my boys this was definitely the case.  Our side ditches filled rather quickly with water.  They were supposed to be riding their bikes in the driveway during a brief break from the rain.  I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow they ended up riding their bikes IN the flooded sideditches!  What’s that saying…”boys will be boys”?  Well my girls were quick to join in and I was quick to grab my camera before the next downpour began.

Miraculously I managed to get the majority of my plants into my garden before the first downpour…here’s my garden now…

Garden plot #1…flooded in ONLY the places where there are no plants!  Praise the Lord.

Garden plot #2…well this one resembles more of a small pond.  We did plant about 6 rows of corn but no plants.  The weather forecast shows BEAUTIFUL weather for the weekend so it all should dry up nicely.  Oh, and those pics of my kids swimming in the side ditch, did I mention the high for today???  61 degrees…not exactly swimming weather.

A visit East

 

Picturesque landscapes like these abound in the neighborhood where my parents live.  I did not grow up here, but this is where my parents now make their home.  Joe, myself, and the kids headed out “east” to spend the Mother’s Day weekend with them, and a beautiful weekend it was.

Thank you Aunt Sarah (my sis) for endless playtime on Friday!  Let’s see…we played kickball, baseball, tennis, fiddlesticks (mini-lacrosse), lots of rollerblading, and of course enjoyed the playground!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swings, slides, fields of green grass, 75 degrees and sunny…can’t beat it!!!!!

We were thankful also for the opportunity to see my newest niece, baby Paige, along with my brother and my sister-in-law…a nice treat.

Baby Paige…

Enjoying the sounds of my brothers’ guitar as we sat outside just enjoying the day.

Ahhhh, and Mother’s Day.  Just like I wanted…pictures taken with my kids.  My husband is a very good photographer:) 

And of course, the couple responsible for it all…my mom and dad.  Thanks for having us, it was a real treat.

An Afternoon at The Cove

 

This past weekend found us busily working around our yard to do the yearly yard cleanup.  We had an enormous amount of mulch brought in, that we moved one wheelbarrow at a time, to all of the flower beds that needed mulching.  That and the digging up of several flowerbeds took most of the day for Holland and I while Joe and Sydney worked hard to get the pond and stream up to working order.  It was a very successful day of work, but we all longed for our day of rest!

If you know our family at all, you know that it is a rare site (this is the first time ever) to find us at a baseball game.  Die hard football fans, yes, baseball fans, not so much.  Well, after church on Sunday we thought it would be a fun outing for the family to go to the local minor league baseball game.  So we headed off, for the first time in our 14 years in South Bend, to watch the South Bend Silverhawks play at The Cove.  It was a fun time, as you can see it was by no means a “packed house” but we were seated directly behind home plate, and fully enjoyed ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for the opening pitch…had a lot of teaching to do.  We realized how much our lack of affection for baseball showed in our children’s lack of knowledge of the sport! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swoop, the team mascot.

A little cotton candy:)

The game was a little slow for London.  Thank you Sydney for keeping her entertained!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the game was over the kids were all allowed to come down onto the field and run the bases.  London got passed by most of the kids, but she did make it all the way around!

Way to go Little girl!  We had a great time relaxing as a family.  Who knows, maybe we’ll do that again.

Resurrection Sunday

 

Well, spring has sprung as we can see evidenced in all of the growth and newness around us!  I don’t know about you but our Holy Week was a busy one.  We hosted a Passover Meal in our home with close friends and family which took a lot of prep work.  It turned out to be a VERY special occasion and a big shout out to Sydney and Holland for all of their hard work setting tables, ironing tablecloths, baking desserts, cutting fruit, peeling potatoes, and anything else I needed to make it all happen.  Due to the business of the whole week and evening, I have no pictures to prove that the event even took place!  But I assure you it did, I have my exhaustion the following day to prove it:)  In all seriousness, it was a special night shared with very special people.  What a great reminder of the price paid for our sins and the wonderful life to be found in knowing Jesus Christ.

We had the pleasure of having old friends spend the night and it was really great to catch up…once again, no pictures to prove it.  We have promised to not wait so long to see one another again, so I assure you the next time will come with pictures!!!

Resurrection Sunday was then spent as a family, just the 7 of us.  It was a nice quiet day of Easter egg hunting, roller blading, sitting outside, good food, relaxing, and celebrating our risen Savior. 

This time I grabbed my camera as I sat in the driveway or the backyard just watching my family enjoy the day.  Enjoy watching them with me…

A basket of eggs.

Sorting and counting eggs…btw, Woodroe (the pup) is afraid of Butterscotch (our barn cat).

Blowing bubbles, sent from Mamaw.

Boys will be boys.

Trying out the new rollerblades.

Roller skating in her Easter dress:)

Enjoying the fact that he can ride without training wheels!  Yippee!  I feel like I JUST taught Sydney to ride without them, where has the time gone?

Posing after a nice walk, wore him out enough to sit down!

A nice day no doubt.

A Little Piece of History

 

We had the pleasure of having my dad in town for a visit this past week.  Just after the kids and I picked him up from the airport we headed straight to Grand Rapids, Michigan to visit Grandma, his mother, my grandmother.  If you know my dad at all, you know that you don’t just go and visit someone…no, he always seems to have something up his sleeve.  Well this time he had a plan to pick up Grandma and head to Morley, Michigan (don’t bother looking for it on a map, I don’t think you’ll find it) to see the home his grandfather grew up in along with several gravesites from the Blossom side of the family.

So on we traveled after picking up Grandma.  We arrived in Morley only to find, well, not much of anything.  We did find a pizza place (good thing, we were hungry) and stopped in for a bite to eat.  I had a call to make so I told my dad to take everyone in and get a seat and I’d be in in a minute.  When I walked in I see my kids and Grandma sitting at some tables while my dad is bent over a table going over a map, dated 1900, with the owner of the restaurant.  They were trying to find, based on this antiquated map, where his relatives homes’ were presently located.  This may seem fine to some but imagine yourself with your 5 children who haven’t eaten any lunch, have just been in the car for 2 1/2 hours, and it’s creeping on 2 o’clock in the afternoon.  No, I was not amused.  But I must say my children were oh so patient…they must be catching on to my father’s ways. My dad was a good sport and let all the kids try on his glasses…anything to pass the time:)

Eventually we ate and were off on our way to find the house you see at the top of this post.  Owned many, many years ago by Chauncey Blossom.  Where Seth Blossom (my father’s grandfather) grew up.  As you can see, not much has changed in the 100 plus years of this homes’ existence, but it is still standing.

 

Barn #1.

Barn #2.

My dad and my boys in the front yard of his grandfather’s home.

My dad and my kids in the front yard sitting on what my kids called “petrified wood”, I think it was a large rock, although judging by the age of the home, it was possible.

Off we headed to see the Morley Cemetery.  This actually turned out to be very interesting for my kids, and me. 

This picture is funny because my dad discovered a child in the Blossom family, that died young, that he was unaware of.  So he gets down on his knees to read the old deteriorating tombstone.  Harrison wasted no time and hopped right on his back.  My dad wasn’t amused.

Just after taking this picture, I backed up and fell (literally to the ground) over a grave labeled “MOTHER”…another family member of course.  My kids were concerned for my well-being, my father was still reading the headstone.

Ah, we found the “Blossom” section.  There are quite a few members of the family buried in this little cemetery. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking pictures to pass the time while my dad looked for some other relatives.

Well, we finally made it back to Grandma’s place in time for some pictures outside before she had to get to dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s always good to see Grandma, and always great to see my dad, or as the kids know him, Pops.  We had a very nice time walking down memory lane with him.  These times don’t happen often, it all took place in a days’ time…I’m thankful that we were able to go along for the ride, and experience a little piece of our history.