15 Years

Life’s been pretty hectic lately, but I was very thankful for the opportunity to “get away” with my wonderful husband of 15 years, yep that’s right, 15!!!!  It just so happens that it fell right at the time of the Indiana Homeschool Convention in Indianapolis, perfect timing for a few nights alone:)
We headed downtown Thursday morning, checked into our hotel, and took off for a walk at White River State Park.  There we rented a surrey bike and took a 4 mile bike ride along the canal downtown.  It was wonderful!


The seemingly “little” pregnant lady at the bottom is me:)  We stopped at a couple of points of interest on our walk from bike riding to dinner.

We ate dinner at Ruth Chris’s Steak House.  We took a picture of the menu in part because the prices were ridiculous and because I doubt we will ever return.  They were kind enough to “give” us chocolate covered strawberries to complement our meal in honor of our anniversary.  The steaks, mind you, were $45 (NO SIDES INCLUDED), nothing in life is “free”.

You can’t be in Indy without seeing Lucas Oil, right?  We walked right by it each morning on our way to the convention.

I was very proud of my kids as once again they entered into the IAHE art contest.  This is Jackson’s shield which won him 1st place!  Way to go buddy!  He was so excited.  Btw, the BIG circle on the top left represents me, I’m hoping that’s because I’m pregnant.

This is Sydney’s “Copy the Illustrator” project where she copied Beatrix Potter.  I believe this is the Tailor of Gloucester. 

Lastly is Holland’s “Copy the Illustrator” project where she drew Benjamin Bunny, also from a Beatrix Potter book.
It’s always fun to see all of the art projects at convention.  We had a great weekend renewing our minds!  We loaded up on much needed curriculum and some great books for summer reading (and school year reading too of course)!  The kids were quite excited and Holland has already posted her “Summer Reading List” on the fridge.  I’ll keep you posted:)

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.