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!

Happy Easter!

For our family, Easter is a much anticipated day on the Christian calendar.  After contemplating the death of Christ and the weight of our sin that He bore on His own shoulders, Easter is a morning of triumph and joy!
This year, we decided we would forgo a couple of Easter traditions in favor of a more relaxed, Christ-focused celebration.  The kids did not get new clothes (with the exception of hats for the girls and a pair of white shoes for Allison since she didn't have any), and they did not receive Easter baskets from us.  Instead, they chose favorite clothing from their closets, and we gave them each a token gift that we knew they would appreciate.  The boys each received a pack of baseballs (I think they are the sole providers of them at school), and the girls each received a flower to plant and care for.  We had a full and productive day on Saturday, and felt relaxed and stress-free as we went to bed.  We attribute that to bypassing the commercialization of the day, and may do it again next year.  :)
The boys like to escape when the camera comes out, so I didn't get any pics of them.  The girls were happy to pose for a couple...mostly happy, anyway.  You'll notice that Allison's mood changes slightly as the photo session continues:

Best friends

Lovely locks

Pretty little pumpkin

Little Miss Green Thumb

No more pictures!

Just a lil' smile

"Glorious Morning!  Jesus is risen!"

Showering Harmony...

It's almost impossible for Greg and I to believe, but our "little" niece (who served as our flower girl almost 14 years ago), is getting married next month!  We are excited to welcome her fiance', Chris, to our family.  It seems like he's already part of us because they have been dating for a few years, and we've been able to celebrate several holidays together.  We are thankful that God brought Harmony and Chris together, and are excited to help them begin their lives as a married couple!
On April 16th, I hosted a family bridal shower for Harmony.  It was so good to see many of our aunts and some cousins again, and to be able to meet Chris's family.  Here are a few photos of the day:

The happy bride

Greg's cousin, Pam, works at a bakery, and their shop did the cake.
 It was beautiful!  I think they used it in their demo book.

Kristen, Kaitlynn, and Allison with their creation

Gaylene, Harmony, Amanda, Tina

The food was great!  My wonderful extended family usually
brings a dish to family showers, and they were happy to
participate in this one, as well.  That greatly lightened
my load!  We had shredded ck. sandwiches, pasta salad,
fresh fruit trays, fresh veggies, and fruit salad, along with
a terrific "Taste of Home" punch that Alberta put together.
 Chris's mom, Kim, allowed us to use her daycare center.
 It was perfect!

Another creation  :)

Aunt Marlene and Alberta - Aunt Sarah was to the right, but I think
 she was in the middle of a blink when the photo was captured.  Aunt Joyce
was able to make it, too.

Really great (and useful) gifts!

Lovin' her cake!

Amanda getting into the game

One of the younger party guests - Chris's sweet little niece

Chris's grandma playing the purse dig

Sisters

And that was the really great part of the trip...but there was a "not so great part", as well.  We had debated whether to take our 5th wheel up with us (260 miles) and leave it at Greg's parents until the wedding, which is in late May.  After calculating fuel costs, hotel rooms, and overall comfort and accessibility for visiting, it seemed like it would be worthwhile to go ahead and haul it up.   So...we left our home at about 5 o'clock that Friday evening, hoping to make it to Cedar Springs by no later than 10.  It is normally a 4 hour trip, but we knew that it would take a little more time to pull.
Starting out, things were great.  Greg had done a little work to the truck, and he and the boys were thinking that it was pulling a little better than last year.  This was my first time to actually ride with them, since I usually follow along in the van (a more fuel-efficient and comfortable vehicle for riding around while camping, etc).
We stopped just north of Findlay to pick up a bite to eat and grab some fuel.  About Bowling Green (just a few minutes north), so popping noises started to be heard, and as we continued, it became worse. 
Thankfully we were able to get to an Advanced Auto store, and the employees stayed with us until almost an hour after closing, trying to help diagnose/fix the problem. 

Daddy's helpers

See if you can tell what is going on here :)

It became worse instead of better, so we called our 'emergency hotline' - my dad.  :)  We had a couple of options, but decided that they would bring his truck up to us, and we would switch off.  He has a 5th wheel as well, so it worked out well (besides the embarrassment of having to 'borrow' a vehicle - grrrr.)  We were able to continue on from there, and arrived in Cedar at 3:30 in the morning.  I sat in the truck with Kaitlynn asleep on my lap and Allison in the car seat while Greg unhooked and set up the camper.  By the time we were able to go in, it was 4 a.m., and we were starting to see double.  Fortunately, the shower was set late, at 2 that afternoon, so we were able to rest up for a few hours before the party!  We are thankful, though, for a safe trip.  Long, but safe.