To the Park...Again

Once again we are enjoying a warm spell and with each one that comes our way I wonder if THIS time, it's here to stay...but I just looked at the forecast and its calling for freezing temperatures as well as a mix of snow and rain on Monday. Today it's calling for a high of 72...words fail me!

Anyway, yesterday the kids got together at the park with some other homeschooling families and played around for a while. As there was no structured game time I just watched the kids play and took pictures then came home when the excitement seemed to be over. As usual, my camera took some great pictures as long as it wasn't too bright, or too dark, or zoomed in to close, or too far away, and as long as the subjects weren't moving, or....well, you get the 'picture'.

King of the hill.... decades come and go and this game still lives on!

Of course there's just the plain old fun of all play ground equipment.

Climbing...swinging...spinning...smiling...posing...digging...hollering...sliding...sitting...more posing...then there's just plain old talking to friends!

The littlest three are still young enough to not find Mom's behaviour odd and crazy when she continually snaps pictures of them and are willing to go along with her silly poses and goofy grins without wondering what their friends will think=)

Yes, Helaine...we had a good time - even if we are a "Homeschool Family" =)

Last night Matthew and I had a 'play date' of our own as we had the Shively family over for supper and enjoyed a fun-filled evening with them. Thanks, Phil and Charlotte for the laughs!

What a good way to spend a Friday....and now for the Saturday chore list - UGH!

My Theory

I'm seriously beginning to wonder about something - let me explain. I have a theory that somewhere in this house the children have secretly installed some sort of warning device. My guess is that it is some kind of silent alarm, like a flashing light or something like that. It is set to go off when I head to the bathroom. Now, outside of the obvious reasons for going to the 'necessary', as a mother of young children I confess I'm often looking for just a short moment of uninterrupted quiet...a little minute alone...a small frame of time to myself. But you see, this does not happen - HARDLY EVER! And that is how I've come to this conclusion...when the bathroom door closes an alarm goes off throughout the house and the kids decide amongst themselves what the next step will be - they have options, they are creative! It might be someone starting a fight and arguing with increasing intensity, or perhaps it is time to fall down and get hurt and cry, then there's the straight forward knock on the door followed by the incessant chanting of "Mommy... Mommy... Mommy..." It never fails. Does anyone out there have any opinions on my theory - or am I alone in my insanity?

PS - I love my children...but I honestly think they are up to something=)

Countdowns....

I'm not a big fan of counting down to things....however, my children are. In reality, probably most children are, not just mine. (I once banned my 16 year old from counting down to her birthday until it was less than 30 days away =) So right now we are counting down to several things. The first one is spring break since it means the kids will have a long weekend and a break from school. The second one is Logan's birthday. On April 18th my baby will turn 7 years old! He's counting down but he's keeping it to himself most of the time=) The next thing is Kendrick's graduation from MCRD which will take place on April 24th - none of our crew will be there for that but we are still excited about that day for him. My parents, Helaine, and Jenna will go to San Diego for the ceremony while our family will climb into the Expedition and begin the 2,400 mile trip back to Maine. That brings me to the next item....On April 28th (Lord willing) we will arrive in Maine to visit our families after having been gone for almost SIX years. That will set into motion several weeks of events that we are REALLY excited about - family reunions are at the top of the list! Then there are the other events like potential trips to the coast, eating lobster, going fishing, hanging out with my cousins, etc.
So, like it or not, we are counting down to lots of things....personally the time seems to crawl by more slowly if I have to acknowledge every day as one more number to cross off, instead of letting it creep by unnoticed=) I try to remain blissfully unaware of how much longer I have to wait for these events and then suddenly look at the calendar and say, "WOW, we leave next week! Time is just flying by!" But then people say things like "42 days left until we're all in Maine" and my perfect plan goes out the window....Thanks, Sheena=) Oh well, it's a silly mind game that rarely works anyway....

Saturdays....Part 2

And here's another Saturday occurrence....too cute!

Saturdays....

Most of the chore list is done, the kids have all gone outside to play, I just got to chat with my best friend, my first attempt at a making homemade laundry soap is underway, the sun is shining.... What can I say, it's Saturday and I'm at relaxing at home=)

Sweet Thing

Last night was a big night for the kids at AWANA - it was the Awana Store when they are able to redeem the "money" they've earned over the last several weeks. As the kids will miss the final one (due to our trip to Maine), they were really excited about this one. Logan had "$110" to use at the store. Here's where the story gets good - he used $75 to buy his sister a fuzzy, purple teddy bear. Needless to say when he gave it to her when they got home she fell in love with it immediately. What a boy! I was SOOO proud. He saw that and couldn't refuse getting it for her, knowing she would love it. I foresee a knight-in-shinging-armor in the making=) He had no problem unselfishly getting something for his sister...posing for a 'thank-you kiss' was a completely different story!

Zach

Isaiah 43:10-21

10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.
12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God.
13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it?
14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.
15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.
16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters;
17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow.
18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field shall honor me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise.

Zach wanted me to post the above passage which he read and enjoyed this morning. He also wanted this picture of himself as "Zach from Orange County Choppers" =)

Fun just drove away

Early this morning Helaine and Phil hopped in his car and drove away - beginning the 16 hour trek back to Northland. Of course, then Phil has to turn around and make another trip back to his house in MN, which is another 4 - 5 hours or so....Pray for good weather!
I have to say again what a HUGE treat it was to have them here. I haven't been surprised like that in a long time, if ever, and it was definitely a good surprise. The last few days of the visit I didn't keep up with the blog and the basic reason for that was it came down to a choice...sleep or blog - and you can tell what won=)
Thursday night was where I left off and honestly - the less said about our girls night out the better. Let's just say it's comforting to know some secrets will go with us to our graves=) The tell-tale pictures have already been deleted and as Jenna so eloquently put it: "Well, at least the pictures are forever lost and left only in the etches of our minds to slowly fade with time!!!...now the rest of the night...that's another story!" Let me just say I haven't laughed like that in years! And I think we will leave it at that....
Friday we had a regular day just here at the house doing school work with the kids, pretending to catch up on housework and other things while Helaine and Phil spent the day together with his parents. The DeMarte's will only be here another few weeks before they head back to MN in anticipation of soon going back to Fiji.
Saturday we planned a morning trip to the park but it was soooo freezing cold we didn't even take pictures - our hands were too cold to come out of our pockets. We hung out at the library for a while and then came home - that evening I made homemade pizza (two veggie, two regular) and we filled our table again with our family and Chad, Helaine, Phil, and Jenna. We finished off the evening with a movie and went to bed late...as usual.
Sunday afternoon Phil and his parents came over for lunch, as well as Jenna, and we had a nice visit with them then lazed (is that a word?) and napped the rest of the afternoon. Last night I had Helaine to myself for the last little bit of her visit and it was fun again to get to have a sister around and enjoy some 'girl' time.
I think that pretty much sums up the last couple of days - so now we are looking forward to our trip to Maine when this same group of people will be together again BUT THIS TIME so will the rest of the family that we missed more than ever this past week.

"Can't wait to see you Dad and Mom, Lincoln, Sheena, Layla, and Elijah, Chad, Helaine and Phil, Kendrick and Jenna!!!"

A trip to Rankin' Ridge

Yesterday when the temperature gauge read 65* we packed up a lunch and headed to Rankin Ridge for a picnic and an afternoon hike. We've done this often as a family so it was fun to do it today and enjoy some of our spring weather with Helaine and Phil....but we really missed Daddy!

We ate our lunch as the buffalo looked on and then we started up the hill. The kids all really enjoy the chance to get outside.

The kids are at different stages of 'camera faces' - Alana is cute....Logan is a crazy poser....Zachery makes weird faces....Monica is sweet....And Jesse is usually a rascal!He and Alana did really well on the climb up. Alana went the whole way herself and I carried Jesse, but for only a little bit.Markie enjoyed herself and earned a gold star for her shockingly good behaviour=) On a sad note - George was left at home...his hips couldn't have handled it but he was pretty sad.I can't say enough how beautiful this spot is! If you could see this picture in it's full size you can see the moon at the top of the stairs.Monica and I fell a bit behind the others since we were helping Jesse and Alana - but we enjoyed taking our time and making frequent 'photo' stops=)Yes, this is what you think it it - but there is a story behind the picture - Jesse went running up to this pile and picked one up and said "Grapes!" He loves grapes so I quickly told him "No, it's poop!" to which he responded, "It's poop? No, it's rocks" then started chucking them down the hillside=)

And finally we reached the top!

The boys didn't need to stop and rest so they went around exploring while the rest of us sat and talked before we began the trip back down.Most of the way down Alana got to ride - Thanks, Phil!All in all it was a good time and we are so enjoying having Auntie Helaine around as well as Phil. From the views at the top, to all the breathtaking scenery on the way, even the buffalo who came and licked off the back of our vehicle while we parked on the side of the road to watch the herd - we had a great day!

And tonight - it's girls night out - Yeah!

Afternoon Outing & Date Night

Last night right after supper Helaine, Phil, Matthew and I headed to Rapid City on a double date - Helaine gets the credit for coming up with a GREAT idea! We went to see a hockey game! Monica and Zach held down the fort, quite well I might add, and we enjoyed an evening out. We decided we were "good luck" for the team since they won in a shut-out 6-0. Anybody remember what THAT means? =) Yes, the picture is just of Helaine and I but the one of Matthew and I came out really blurry so just imagine Matthew on the other side of me and Phil on the other side of Helaine.

Earlier in the day, right after lunch, Helaine and Phil took all the kids outside and went for a walk around Buffalo Gap. Jesse and I stayed here so he could nap and we had a pretty good time - but since their pictures were more exciting I thought I'd share some of what Monica captured on film!

And my personal favorite=)
Things have been happening so quickly that my blog is running behind - so tomorrow I will post about today=)

Spring #5

This state is sooo weird, and a bit frustrating, as far as the weather goes. Last week it snowed 3 days straight and now the weather has warmed up into the 50's so the snow is melting and turning our yard (and town) into a mud hole...again. This usually continues to happen over and over again into April or May. AHHH! I have 5 kids and 2 dogs - need I say more!!

But despite that aggravation it is nice for the kids to have days where they can run around outside and play in the warm weather. They come in completely covered in mud but yesterday it was especially fun since Aunt Helaine and Phil, as well as Chad, were outside playing with them.

Some people played basketball...

Others their own special form of the game...

While others dug holes in the driveway with bicycle seats....everyone does that right?

Jesse woke up during that time and came out with his blanket.... Soon after that he got some shoes on and was happy to play with whatever kind of ball he could get his hands on.After the 'basketball' game we headed over to the tire swing. It's one of the kids favorite things!

An attempt was made to put two kids on at a time but that didn't work too well for very long

So Alana got to swing alone...while Jesse went back to his favorite toy!Logan also tried out the tire swing and showed us some of his signature moves - this is one he calls "Marshmallow on a Stick"!The kids just had fun running around outside and finding stuff to do so that they could show off to Chad, Helaine, and Phil.The "Star Wars ninja" pose....?Monica likes finding the stars in the middle of the cottonwood branches that cover our yard.We are thoroughly enjoying Auntie Helaine's visit so far. Last night Jenna came over as well and we stayed up too late watching a movie and eating ice cream. Stay tune to find out about tonight's plan....I'll just say it involves a double date=)

Brown Sugar

I only stepped out of the room for just a second.... It didn't take him long to find the brown sugar I left on the counter!

SURPRISE!!

Last night, while I was in the middle of one of my least favorite household duties (making beds) I got a HUGE surprise. Unbeknownst to me my sister, along with Phil, had planned a trip to South Dakota to spend a week here with us. Matthew knew about it but I was completely unaware! It was sooooo much fun to see her come running down the stairs - there was some screaming and loooots of hugging and now we have a whole week of fun to look forward to! This week is going to be completely different than what I was thinking....I'm so excited!

Thank you Helaine!

Pictures to come later=)