Sunday, June 12, 2011

Project 365-Week 24

First full week of summer vacation down and things are going well! Here is a peek at the week.

Sunday

After church the kids wanted to cool off.



This is the best $60.00 we have spent! It is a little small for the boys but just right until the girls get swimming savvy, plus everyone can cool off!

Monday

Speaking of swimming, today all 4 kids started swimming lessons at the high school.



Here they are before getting in for testing. Who looks most enthusiastic?

Tuesday

Like every family we spend a lot of time driving here and there. Can I tell you how much it blesses my heart when my kids ask to listen to this?



Can I tell you how much more it blesses me to hear them singing praise and truth?

Wednesday

Took Ethan and Ella to Prairie Camp this morning. They went with our church and will be picked up tomorrow evening.



All packed up and ready to go! I think there is a stowaway in the backseat!

Thursday

Picked Ella and Ethan up from camp this evening. They had a fantastic time!! Afterwards we were eating dinner and Kyla picked up her fork and knife and did this.



She's moving them and saying, "forks and knives, forks and knives". It is the punchline to a joke and when she does it, it is hilarious!!

Friday

After work I went straight to the ballpark for games. All 3 older kids were playing. Ella has really been struggling and wanted to quit. Between sock and shoe issues, the heat, etc...well, let's just say there has been drama. Look what I saw to my great surprise and delight.



She was playing and had a great time! Oh thank you for small miracles!!

Saturday

No picture today. Had to work all day and then went to the store after work. Got home after 11:00.

I hope you have had a great week!!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Project 365-Week 23

Finally a few moments to sit down and get last week "recorded".

Sunday

After work went to Carrie's for dessert and play time for kids and talk time for adults. Here are Carrie, Jill and me.



I love these two so much! They are great friends, listeners and both have huge servant hearts!

Monday

Happy Memorial Day! No picture today as I had to work all day. Afterwards met the rest of the family at Grammie and Grandpa's for some brats (to eat, NOT my kids!).

Tuesday

Today was a fun and busy day. Kyla started camp at pre-school for the rest of week, it was the last day of school for the older 3 and I took Ella for a special treat.



Ella in a special chair for her special treat. Any guesses what the treat was?



A pedicure!! She LOVED it. She kept saying, "This feels so good!!" She might be hooked. :)

Picked Kyla up and came home to get ready for our last day pictures.



Here are Ethan and Ella after getting off the bus. Ethan finished 2nd grade and Ella finished Kindergarten.



Here is Bryce. He finished 6th grade.
I am so thankful for the great and growing year that they all had!!

Wednesday

Remember Carrie and Jill that you saw Sunday? Remember I said they had servant hearts? Here is an example. They descended upon my house today to help me with this.



And this..



And this..



That would all be clean laundry. It is the hardest thing for me to keep up on with working. With 6 people (who change frequently) it piles up quickly. They came and we folded it all!! Thank you sweet friends!!!

Thursday

Today was a long awaited day! The girls got haircuts!! Our stylist has been out on maternity leave since February and we are just getting in. Oi!!

Here is Kyla before....



And after...



Super cute and sassy...just like her!!

Here is Ella before....



And after....



So pretty! They both love their new cuts!

Friday

Today was the last day of camp at the pre-school. They do a little program for the parents. Here are Kyla and Ella afterwards.



Saturday

Ethan had a game this morning and can I just say how miserably hot it was? I was supposed to go straight from the ballpark to work, but I had to stop at home and change because I was dripping with sweat! YUCK!!!
Anyway, here is Ethan on base.



He is really improving this year in both his fielding and hitting. Keep up the good work Ethan!!

Hope you have had a great week!!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Project 365-Week 22

This was the last full week of school and I think the kids are ready! Here is a look at the week here.

Sunday

Had to work all day, no picture.

Monday

Today was Kyla's last day of pre-school. The year ends with a picnic and at the picnic the teachers are presented with their year end gift. This year they received this...



The front item is a flower box with their name and then all of the students put their thumbprints all over the box. Behind that is a footstool made by Kevin's dad to go with the Adirondack chairs they were given last year. The other gift was a spa day which will happen on Wednesday. These ladies deserve every bit of it and more!!

Tuesday

The 3 younger kids had to go the dentist today for their cleanings. Ethan ended up needing 2 small fillings. (he is the first one to have any) Bless his heart, he was so brave and did just fine. Here he is all numb afterwards.



I had pulled him out of school for the appointment and because of the fillings he was gone much longer and missed lunch. You know you can't eat very well when you are numb, but he tried. Funny thing was, I got him a vanilla milkshake and when I looked over at him it was pouring out of his mouth and down his chin and he had no idea because he couldn't feel it. That is what I should have taken a picture of!!

Wednesday

Today was the special spa day for the teachers. I was able to do some special arranging and was able to include Ann and myself in the day as well. (I could not have done half the things I did at the school without Ann's help!) A limo came to pick us up.



We were then taken to the spa for 3 hours of relaxing and pampering. It was wonderful and very fun!

Thursday

This morning this is the view I got to look at.



So peaceful. Any ideas where this might be?

Maybe now?



That was my view while I was at the dentist.

Friday

Today Kyla accomplished something and has been doing it non stop. She calls it a flip over.



You or I would probably call it a somersault. She LOVES doing them!!

Saturday

I was off today!! Took Bryce to get new tennis shoes this morning. He is a size 11 1/2 double E. May I remind you he is 11!! After that we had baseball games. Started raining towards the end of Bryce's and Ella's was rained out. Since we got out of the ballpark early we decided to have some family fun. What could we do on a rainy evening?



How about drive go carts?



The girls drove on the junior track and the boys drove on the adult track. They were going much faster and all of my pictures of them are blurry! We also played miniature golf in black light.



That is the course. Very thankful to spend some time together doing something fun! Thanks to the teachers at Salem who gave us this gift certificate!!

Hope you have had a fabulous week and are enjoying some great time with your family and friends!!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Project 365-Week 21

What a busy and great week here! A graduation, a relaxing treat, an anniversary. Well, take a look.

Sunday

Came home tonight to this beautiful sight.



Simply breath taking!!

Monday

When I picked Kyla up at school today, they had a special souvenir from a special community helper.




Tuesday

After work I drove straight to the ball field to catch Bryce and Ella's games. Bryce pitched again and is doing a great job!



A little more power behind those throws and he is going to be hard to hit off of!!

Wednesday

Got off work in time to pick up someone from school today. Little did I know that I was going to run into law enforcement.



I would take a ticket from this officer any day!

Thursday

Off today...off today!! Can you tell I am excited? Had to run Kevin his lunch and on the way home we saw these in the road.



Yes, those would be 3 large turkeys! We have wild ones all around this area. Those 3 came at the van and were very vocal!

Kyla and I did something special today. I had a gift card and the ladies were kind enough to treat Kyla too!



Can you tell what we are doing?



Maybe now?

Hooray for a pedicure! Here are the finished tootsies.



Friday

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary. My sweet hubby brought me these lovely flowers.



Tonight was a very special evening. Kyla had pre-school graduation. I wasn't too emotional because she will be attending Pre-K at the school next year.



Could she be any cuter?

Saturday

Someone had my camera. Can you guess who?



I hope you have had a fantastic week!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Project 365-Week 20

This week was interesting as 3 of the 4 kids were sick at some point. Thankful the rest of us didn't get it and that we still managed to have a good week!

Sunday

Happy Mother's Day!! SO nice to be able to go to church with my family today! After church we went to brunch at Granite City. Very yummy, plus I didn't have to make it! :)
Here is one of the very special things I received for Mother's Day.



Kyla made this beautiful wreath at school. Those hand prints were from the painting project I helped with a few weeks ago. What a special treasure!!

Monday

Ella stayed home from school today not feeling well and then I got a call from the middle school that Bryce was ill.



You know she doesn't feel good if she is sleeping in the middle of the day!!
After Kevin got home from work, I headed in to work. When I got there I was surprised with some Mother's Day goodies from a couple of very special co-workers.



Aren't they gorgeous? Thank you Karissa and Robbie for treating me so very kindly!!

Tuesday

Tummy bug still hanging around and Bryce and Ella stayed home from school again. When Kevin got home he took a walk in the woods. Wonder what he could be looking for?



Morels. This is all he found up, but he marked the spot with some sticks in hopes that he will find more.

Wednesday

It has gotten warm here and the kids think it is the middle of the summer. They asked if they could put their suits on and play. Here is what I found.



You might be a redneck if your kids swim in a bucket!! :)

Ice cream is always a good treat when it's hot and someone got their first taste of it.



Spoiled!!

Thursday

Stayed home today from work due to a stubborn tummy bug that just won't leave the house! By dinner time everyone seemed to be doing better and eating more than they had in days, so progress!
Bryce also had his final choir concert this evening.



Can you spot him?

Friday

Today I made dinner for one of the teachers from the pre-school that had surgery. For dessert I made two pies. I needed help crushing the vanilla wafers for the peach crumb topped pie.



Jumping on them will surely crush them, right? If not, it sure was fun to watch her!

Saturday

When I got home from work tonight my body hurt. Felt like I had been working out for hours. So, had to resort to this.



Bad picture, but it's ibuprofen. Anyone who knows me, knows I don't take things unless it is bad. Hopefully some rest will help. I'll have to try to fit that in.

Hope you have had a fantastic week and that you are healthy at your house!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Project 365-Week 19

Another week over and we're in May....how is this happening? This past school year is a blur with all of the crazy schedule changes that happened here, but this week some important milestones happened. Here's a look.

Sunday

Had to work all day. No picture today.

Monday

Today was our last teacher luncheon at the pre-school. We did an old fashioned board walk theme with a great picnic spread, waffle cones, salt water taffy, cotton candy. You get the idea. The best part was this...



I obtained vintage swimsuits for them to wear!! They were great sports and actually looked quite nice in their suits! Oh how I love those ladies!!

Tuesday

After Kyla and I dropped Ella off to school today we came home to clean in the living room for a while. Kyla helped pick things up and move furniture so we could do a thorough sweeping. She even wanted to sweep!



She was so cute sweeping and I know that her willingness to help won't always be there, so I was happy for her enthusiasm today. As a side note, with working so much things at home have been neglected. Can I tell you the great joy I had in cleaning today? I know, weird!

Wednesday

Houston, we have a bike rider!!



Ethan decided he wanted to learn to ride a bike. So I went outside and helped him and he picked it up super quickly! He is so proud of himself and I am so proud of him too! And so thankful I got to be a part of it!!

Only a couple of falls, but even those were deemed ok.



Thumbs up and ready to go again!

Thursday

Tonight was Ella's first softball game. I was off work all day today and was so excited to take her. (Kevin had to work in the concession stand for Ethan's team)



She is trying, but hitting that machine pitched ball is going to have a learning curve to it!

One of her biggest fans was there as well. And of course I had to snap a picture of her with evidence of a concession stand treat.



Those Blue Raspberry Ring Pops will get you every time!

Friday

Today was Ella's Kindergarten graduation. (school isn't over until May 31, but you do it when you can)
The students did a cute little reading using the letters to Kindergarten and sang some songs. Then there was the ever important presentation of the certificate!



Here she is with her certificate!!

With Mrs. Curry, her teacher.



Ella I am so very proud of you!! You have grown so much this year and are a wonderful and smart young lady!

Friday

Today before I had to go to work, Kristine came over with her new dog, Angus. What a sweet boy and Reese was excited to meet a new friend!




Saturday

Worked this morning and got off in time to get up for Bryce's game. Guess who was pitching?



He did a great job! I can not even begin to express how thankful I was to be there. To watch my son strike batters out and then run off the field with a smile on his face and pumping his fist because he was happy. Priceless!!

Later tonight we went to Rocco's for dinner. The teachers at the pre-school had given our family a gift certificate at Christmas and we finally made it there! Delicious!



It's a great family owned place with fabulous Italian food and pizza! We really enjoyed it!! Thank you Salem friends!

On the way home Kevin spotted this in the sky.



This rainbow was so wide and you could see the whole color spectrum! What a fabulous way to finish the day!!

My heart needed this week so badly! I pray that your week has made you more aware of those you love and the things that matter most to you too.