Boot Camp

Kaleb decided he wanted an army party for his birthday this year (can you believe he's nine already) and it turned out great! At first I wasn't sure what to do for it but then decided to go with boot camp. We started out with push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks and jogging in place. From there we went to army man crawl races across the front yard. Can I tell you how out of shape the children today are?! They had to do three times across the grass to finish the race and three of the six kids quit mid grass and wouldn't move any more. This of course is not to mention that most of them could not manage to even get one sit up done. Thankfully my children were not among the casualties of a little exercise, but still... pathetic! They are supposed to be full of endless energy. Anyway, enough of that. We then did paratrooper training. The kids had to drop their parachute guys out of the upstairs window and try to land it in the hula hoop below. Needless to say, most of the paratroopers died an untimely death among the rocks and trees below! Last but not least we made marshmallow shooters for our marshmallow war. You make them out of PVC pipe and essentially, they are just a blow gun for marshmallows. Easy but a lot of fun for the kids. So, after cake & ice cream and pinata time, we had our marshmallow war. It was fun and painless, the perfect thing for kids!! It was a great success! (disclaimer: make at shoot marshmallow blow guns at your own risk. If you do so in doors your walls will get sticky!)

Lak Farm Park

While Larry is busy working Saturdays, I have to find ways to entertain everyone. We went out to Lake Farm Park one Saturday and let the kids play. They had a lot of fun and love to see all the animals. They all got to feed apples to the miniature horses and thought that was pretty neat, and there was a turkey running around that they got to pet and they thought that was cool too! I think the best part of the trip was Asher and the sheep. He thought they were quite amazing and was laughing as they kept sniffing his hands and legs. There were a few that were pretty noisy because it was about dinner time and they were bawling for their supper, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of them, but all in all he was quite impressed!

Shaker Lakes Nature Center

Kaleb had another field trip to Shaker Lakes Nature Center, and Rhyan, Asher and I joined them. It was fun, and Rhyan thought it was great helping to take pictures of everything she saw. She wanted the picture she took of Asher & I on here, so the one you see with me in it is Rhyan's artistic ability! Rhyan also really liked the big hollow log she got to climb inside...

Summer Fun

We have this great park by our house that has all these houses for the kids to play in. It is like a small town, and they have a jail and beauty shop, a gym and bank and other stuff. There are the bouncy cars to drive, a boat and a train, and of course all the normal park stuff. It is a really cool park! Rhyan and Asher had a lot of fun... the older kids were at school but I'm sure we'll make it there again this summer. This last picture on here is Rhyan after one of our daily outings. She apparently was all worn out and just couldn't make it any further!! (for those of you who have seen our yard in the past, this grass she's on is the new grass in the back yard!! I'll have to get some pictures on of our newly landscaped back yard for everyone to see.)

Mother's Day

My kids got up and helped to make me breakfast for mother's day and it was great. I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and they made me a great dinner that night. I love my kids so much and cannot believe how blessed I am to have them in my life. I am so grateful for them, for all that they add to my life and how often they make me laugh!

Fancy Nancy at the Children's Museum

The Children's Museum had a Fancy Nancy girls night out that Mayson and I went to that was a lot of fun. We got to make homemade lipgloss, decorate cupcakes, we painted a ceramic flower platter, read Fancy Nancy books and got to dance! It was a lot of fun and it was great to just have a girls night out with Mayson. She is so cute!

Kaleb's Recorder Concert

At Oxford the kids learn to play the recorder when they start third grade, and then have a concert in the spring. It was great. Kaleb practiced and worked hard. He actually sounds pretty good. There was only one song where it truly was just noise...

Rushleigh Picnic

Every year in the spring we have a picnic with all the Rushleigh families to say goodbye to the ones who are graduating and leaving. It's always a lot of fun, and though Larry was at work and couldn't join us, the rest of us had a lot of fun and will miss the Johnsons, the Rhodes and the Francis's when they leave. Good luck to you guys!!

Kaleb Earns his Wolf

We got to go to pack meeting and watch Kaleb get his Wolf badge. He worked hard and was very excited about it. I am now the proud owner of Bobcat and a Wolf pin.

Rhyan's Baby Brother

Rhyan goes around telling everyone that Asher is her baby brother, and that he is her best friend (one of many of her best friends) She loves having a little brother to play with.

Dora Live

While Becky was still in town, we had tickets to take Mayson & Rhyan to see Dora live. Rhyan was of course ecstatic about getting to see Dora, and kept saying "this is where Melmo lives!" (we went to see Elmo Live at the same place) Everyone had a lot of fun and Rhyan thoroughly enjoyed herself!

Mayson's Fancy Nancy Party

Mayson recently celebrated her sixth birthday and wanted a Fancy Nancy birthday party this year. So, we had to fancy up the house and have a very girly party!! We got all dressed up and decorated the dining room. The girls had to practice walking with a book on their head, had to strike fancy poses, learned to drink with their pinky finger out, and made beautiful hair bows to wear. Becky was in town and got to get a little bit of girly time in while away from her four boys. Everyone looked so cute and had a lot of fun.




We found out that though they look sweet and girly, they've got a tad bit of aggression in them when the pinata came out! Her big request for her birthday this year was a Biscuit my Lovin' Pup. They are ridiculously expensive, so I told her that if I could find one for a reasonable price we'd see. Well, thanks to eBay she got her Biscuit dog and was very excited about it!!

What happens when Kaleb does his hair...

This was not a good hair day for Kaleb... and is exactly why I comb his hair for him!

Art Museum

Mayson's class took a fieldtrip to the Cleveland art museum and I took the kids and joined them. It was fun, but not the best place for a two year old.

Mayson's Haircut

Mayson has decided she is a big girl & she wanted short hair. After much discussion we settled on a mid-length short hair cut & went to Julie to have her work her magic. It is definitely shorter than it was. I can't believe how grown up she looks! She is such a pretty little girl.

Easter

We had a good Easter this year.... had Easter baskets, went to church, you know, the usual stuff. The girls looked gorgeous in their new Easter dresses and Kaleb looked pretty handsome with his new Easter tie. We had the Hatch's over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt and everyone had fun. Lots of food and goodies, what else can you ask for!

Oxford Dances

The kid's school has a mother/son dance and a father/daughter dance for the kids. Kaleb and I went and had so much fun together. Larry took Mayson to the other, and she cam home beaming with flowers that dad had bought her. I think both were a great success!! It's fun to have one on one time with the kids where you don't have to worry about other things and can just have fun.