April Showers Bring...

Mother's Day...Mommy's Birthday...National Teacher's Week!  Wow...what a cool month!  :)  The first weekend of May began with the kids spending Friday evening with one of their favorite sitters while mom and dad enjoyed a date.  We have told ourselves that "alone" time has to be more of a priortity, but reality controls us at this point, and those times are fairly few and far between. 

Since time was limited, we spent the evening in Findlay, and enjoyed some shopping and a late dinner at Outback.  It is our favorite steakhouse within a 45 minute drive, and Findlay has some different shopping options, so it was a fun night.  In all honesty, we could probably sit in the van in our own garage, and as long as it was quiet and we could have a conversation, it would be a great date!  :)

On Saturday, we celebrated my 35th birthday with my family.  Greg grilled a mean pile of chicken, the kids had a grand time playing together (when they weren't fighting...lol), and we had a really nice evening together.

Sunday, of course, was Mother's Day, and my family spoiled me!  Ryan had spent some time on a special woodworking project, and when he brought it out, a few tears were shed.  It is definitely a precious treasure that I will never let go of!


Beautiful cherry shelf from my oldest boy

 My kids knew I had been wanting a ball glove, so they found me one trimmed in pink.

From Evan, Kait, and Alli

Mother's Day 2011 was wonderful!

Catching Up!

Our family enjoyed a few days together during this year's spring break. We attended IHC, and then stayed an extra night for another visit to the Creation Museum. It was a rare and beautiful spring day (at least for this spring!) and we had a lot of fun.
Just before leaving Cincinnati, our transmission seemed to lose a gear. It actually happened as we were turning onto Young St. after climbing Dorchester. We had that sickening $1200 feeling in the pit of the stomach, after wondering for some time about how long our transmission would last.
We drove back home at 45 mph. Talk about getting weird looks on I-75!
It ended up that the transmission was ok, and we only needed to have a part replaced. :)
Here are a few pics from the week. We weren't too camera happy..

Alli and Aubrey entertaining each other at IHC

Daddy's Girl

The Gang

Ryan had fun manning the camera...lots of dinosaur pics!

Kait loves animals

Mommy has been given lots of fresh bouquets this spring! 

A Mother's Love

There's no power like it on this earth

No treasure equal to its worth

The gift of a mother's love.

~Brickman~

To our wonderful moms, Ruth and Alberta.  Thank you for everything.  We rise and call you blessed!