Father's Day

The kids usually make something for Dan on Father's Day but I've had these squirt guns for awhile now and keep forgetting to give them to him for his birthday.  So, they became our Father's Day present.  They had a lot of fun running around the back yard squirting each other...Dan included.

Habitat Wall Build

We took the kids to Our Redeemer Church for a Habitat for Humanity wall build.  They had fun hammering away at the nails and helping out.  What a great opportunity to serve together as a family.

Friday Fun (5/30/14)

Easter duckies for one of our last Friday fun days of the year.

Easter

Sylvia and Eric woke up early Easter morning so we sat on the deck and watched the sunrise.  We talked about the first Easter morning and then came in to warm up.  Before church at Parkview, the kids enjoyed receiving a few gifts in their Easter baskets.

We headed over the Nana and Papa's and took a ramble in the backyard before hunting for eggs and eating lunch.  The weather was beautiful.

We dyed a few eggs in the afternoon and played in the backyard.

Grandma and Grandpa had us over for an egg hunt where we invited our neighbors who have a kindergartner in Sylvia's class.  The kids made resurrection rolls with me where you dip a marshmallow in butter and then sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar before wrapping it up in a crescent roll.  While cooking, the marshmallow melts and the roll is empty which reminds us of the empty tomb.

Great Nana came over to watch the kids hunt eggs.

The weather was still nice when we got home so the kids headed outdoors to play with a few new water toys.

Friday Fun (4/18)

We picked up some free "birthday" cupcakes (using Sylvia's HyVee coupon that we misplaced back in November).  Both boys fell asleep on the way to HyVee so my big girl went into the store all on her own to pick out cupcakes and "buy" them.  She was very brave and proud, knowing that if she hadn't gone in we wouldn't have had cupcakes (I wasn't about to wake sleeping boys).  We enjoyed the cupcakes at church before heading in to watch a Veggie Tales movie.

Friday Fun (3/28/2014)

Yummy chocolate chip cookies on a Friday after school.

Indianapolis Trips

I believe it is mostly family who follow our blog at this point, so I won't apologize for the number of pictures.  Dan and I had been wanting to take the kids to Indianapolis for quite some time and Sylvia was even asking us when we'd go.  Granny has come to visit us many times recently so we hadn't made the trip there in quite some time.  We knew that Granny wasn't feeling well, so we planned a trip in January.  The kids enjoyed watching movies in the car.

We played and explored at Granny's house while we were in Indianapolis.  Riding the elevator chair was by far the favorite thing to but other top runners were looking at the snow globes, carousel and other decorations, watching TV, jumping around and playing harmonicas in the basement, and playing outside in the snow.

We toured a bit of the city, spent an afternoon at the children's museum and took the kids to the circle monument.  Sylvia and daddy climbed the stairs to the top while the boys and I rode the elevator.  We also visited Granny in the nursing home and later at the hospital.  We read books, sang songs and Sylvia stopped us at the gift shop before leaving so she could buy Granny a balloon.  Before leaving, the kids all gave Granny hugs and kisses and she once again told Dan to take care of all of us.

Granny's health didn't improve and we returned to Indianapolis at the end of February to celebrate her life.  Although it was a difficult time, it was wonderful to see family.  Sylvia wanted to share during the service that Granny loved watermelon and gave good hugs.  Dan also shared when he took Sylvia up.  He talked about how he'll always remember how in love Granny and Granddaddy were and that she didn't have a critical bone in her.  We love her and miss her very much.

Before leaving town, we took the kids to The Indianapolis Museum of Art.  The fountain was on despite the cold.  We checked out an art bag which included drawing paper and crayons as well as some shape blocks.  Sylvia studied a picture of a horse and made a drawing of it.  We also played in the interactive kids room.  On our way home, the kids shared a red slushy during a gas station stop.  It was a bit of a race to see who could get the most before it was empty.

Friday Fun (2/21/2014)

lots of fruit and cookies...like The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Valentine's Day

Sylvia and Eric spent the first two weeks of February working hard on their Valentines.  They were so proud to pass them out to friends at school.

You're out of this world.

I'm glad we're in the same school.

Sibling pictures are hit and miss at our place and our Valentine's Day picture was a miss (at least if everyone looking at the camera at the same time is what you're going for).  The boys swapped shirts from what they wore last year, and I put Eric in the 24 month one because I didn't think I could get Drake into (and out of) it.  The kids enjoyed getting Valentine's Day cards from Grandma and Grandpa and special balloons from Nana and Papa.

Friday Fun

cupcakes and twisty straws

Friday Fun

Donut Holes!!!  

We had a couple of friends over for respite care.  Looks like their toes and fingers made it in the picture :)

Friday Fun

We made snowman shaped rice crispy treats with glaze.  The kids got to use edible paint to decorate their snowmen before eating them.

Christmas Day at home

We spent Christmas Day at home as a family.  With no afternoon plans, the kids had time to play with their gifts at home.  We spent the month of December preparing for Christmas by reading Bible stories, doing fun winter and Christmas activities and blessing our neighbors and friends with gifts and goodies.

Dan assembling the kid's play school bus on Christmas Eve.

Opening stockings before a yummy breakfast of french toast.

Sylvia worked hard with daddy's help to make this rocket ship for me.

Dan was a bit surprised by his gift from me.

I had a local artist add a monster to this Goodwill find.

Drake got a Little People Circus from Mommy and Daddy.

Sylvia's gift was a doll house.

The kids enjoying their new bus while Daddy hangs up his new artwork.

We also payed for some animals through World Vision for all of the kids and they got to open cards with pictures of the animals to remind them of their gift.

Eric got a box of Legos and Dan bought me a Kindle which I am very excited about.  The grandparents joined us for dinner and took a look at the kids' gifts.  What a blessing to celebrate the birth of our Savior and the gift he gave us on the day of his birth.