fun friday, 4.5.13...

(yes I will post about our trip soon!  But being that Friday is coming up soon again I thought I would keep up with these so I don't get behind for them as well =)

Well, being that we just spent a whole week going out to eat and staying in hotels and swimming and doing all SORTS of fun things, we told the kids that "fun friday" deserved a spring break too.  Which they envisioned another day of crazy fun and were rather disappointed when we told them that meant we were just going to do normal things (which we needed to after the trip - hello, laundry?!  grocery shopping?!).  They did find their own fun in playing in their own spaces and toys we hadn't seen in a week.  And I did bring them over to our friend A's in the afternoon so the big girls could play a bit (they miss out if I stop by during the school day) and when I came home these were sitting on the table:

 S had done the Costco shopping and thought the momma could use a "fun friday" treat especially since outside it still looks like this:

Love him.  And it was a really good day doing get back to normal things and NOT eating out (seriously the best tacos ever!).  Maybe a little more fun for the momma and dadda than the kids, but that's so ok...

fun friday, 3.29.13...

Good Friday.  Important Friday.  But being it was the first day of spring break and we left on our first big family vacation anywhere besides Edgerton/Willmar in 3 years it was a little hard to focus on the Good Friday aspect of the day.  We made sure that we talked with the kids about it and read the story out of the Bible, but most of the day was spent trying to get out the door and on the road for us, with of couse all the fun that road-tips entail:

 Stops for ice cream!  And of course at Culver's in Wisconsin.  This stop was made extra special and fun and photo worthy because G earned going out to ice cream for passing her Mad Minute level at school.  She had been struggling for most of the year with it and was getting close and the incentive for ice cream pushed her to work hard and pass!!!  So proud of her and we of course enjoyed the ice cream right along with her.

Books on CD!  These seriously get us through a lot of time in the van.  We don't listen to them at home very much so it is a special treat.  Here we were listening to Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina (which happens to have a mini opera along with the read aloud which we are still singing in our heads...), and the kids were trying to balance "caps."

H had to get in on it too. =)

Taking photos with giant statue of Bessie the Cow in Janesville, WI!  What could be more fun than that!!  Can you tell that we were trying to keep the kids excited about sitting for hours on end in the van and not ask how much longer any more times?!!! 

Playing iPad in the hotel bed while dadda and momma set everything else up!  (they did ask if they could all sleep in the same bed. =)  Ahhhhhhh, made it through the first leg of the trip.  And it was a very smooth trip to the Chicago suburbs - we were blessed that the kids traveled so well and that we were able to have a good night of rest (even in a hotel!  oddly enough sometimes our crew sleeps better when we are all in one room together...) before heading for Michigan the next day.

fun (fine arts) friday, 3.22.13...

fine art of baking...

and packaging for GEMS bake sale...

and eating the leftovers!

cousin fine art show

fine art of peeling potatoes and cooking supper with Boppa and Aahma R

and finally fine arts night at school!  W performed the poem Spaghetti, by Shel Silverstein...

and G performed the poem One Inch Tall, by Shel Silverstein.

they did fabulous as well as ALL of their classmates, and this is one place where ribbons for everyone were definitely deserved for all the hard work they put into it.

the whole family had fun and it was extra special that Boppa and Aahma R could join us too!

happy birthday cousin E!...

We are sad that the miles are too many between us to go and celebrate E's 2nd birthday with her in person, but we had fun celebrating iPad style:

we sang Happy Birthday, E blew out 2 candles, and we shared cupcakes and party hats (thanks to E having leftover cupcakes from her party, and us having leftover cupcakes and party hats from a school birthday party I helped plan)...

and E totally tried to share her cupcake with H, who really wanted it!  Happy 2nd Birthday E!  We love you!

fun friday, 3.15.13...

After a busy week of a lot of activities and a fun Aahma and Papa B mid-week-visit (turkey convention!), and after a week of DST-induced sleepiness and crabbiness, the only thing to do for this fun friday is climb into jammies, grab your favorite blanket and fuzzy friend, and settle in for a Wild Kratts marathon (thanks for the new discs, Uncle J!!!)...

pi day, 3.14.1...

We talked a little about what pi was and how it is important to circles, and then we celebrated pi day (3.14) the tasty way...

by making...

pi-napple pizza pi's for an afterschool snack...

cheeseburger pi (on the right) for supper...

and of course apple pi for dessert!

(and we only broke 1 glass, set off the fire alarm once, ate supper at 7:45 due to some pi issues, and had to eat the apple pi for breakfast the next morning)

Happy Pi Day!!!

snowman update...

not even the umbrella could save it from the rain that fell yesterday. so goes the life of a snowman in March...bring on spring! 

fun friday, 3.8.13...

The kids had Friday off of school for a teacher in-service day, so there was loads of time for "fun."

Part 1:  the snowman (brought to you by a 2 hour nap by H, a great baby monitor that reached outside so Momma could play too, great snowman making weather, and the neighbor dog Kacie - she usually barks at our snowmen since she protects our yard and kids like her own, so today we invited her out to help)

Part 2:  "sledding" (brought to you by the gentle sloping "hill" between our house and the neighbors and H continuing his nap - OH did they have fun...)

Part 3: fixing the snowman (the temps continued to rise, so G kept piecing the snowman back together so that H and later Dadda could see it just perfect...we finally decided to take a photo quick before it melted away!)

 Part 4:  the nature center (brought to you by tea for Momma, snacks and water bottles for all, and a nice quiet drive to one of our favorite nature centers with a new building to explore...and a nice man who insisted on taking a photo of me with my beautiful children)

(they are pretty beautiful...=)

come thou fount of every blessing...

 "Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing"
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon it
Mount of Thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I've come
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be
Let thy goodness, like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

 

This is my favorite hymn and there is so much about our faith packed in these words put to such beautiful music. But as we sang this in church this morning, I was overwhelmed with the many blessings we have received, especially recently, and how utterly undeserving we are of them. How great a God we have and how thankful we are for His constant love and help. May this song live in our hearts always!

fun friday, 3.1.13...

"wedding" turned dance jam crazy run around session...

PIZZA! (enjoyed before photos could be taken)...

kids wound down the evening watching beloved Wild Kratts...

while adults enjoyed conversation, blondies, and one very adorable sleeping baby (not H, by the way)...