Mother's Day

I thank Mack and Scott for making me feel special and appreciated on Mother's Day.  We went out for breakfast and then picked up some flowers and the boys helped me fill my flower pots at home.

Mack gave me my stepping stone.  I can't wait to find a special place for it.

I truly love being a mom.  I am blessed to be the mom of an amazing boy who I treasure with all of my heart.

Mushrooms

Mushroom hunting is one of my all time favorite activities.  I have amazing memories from my childhood and the fun adventures our family had with aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  We could have had our own Extreme Mushrooming reality show.

We have enjoyed mushroom hunting on two different occasions this year.  We went on Mother's Day at Mom & Dad's.

The other time we went with George, Ike, and Drew.

T-Ball

You know summer is close when T-ball season gets underway.  We have had 2 out of 4 practices so far.  The others were rained out... tis the season. Mack loves playing and always works hard.  We love  watching and cheering him on!

Go MACK!

the garden...

I love gardening!  I enjoy the smell of the soil and the peacefulness. Mack and I finished planting 2 more garden boxes on Saturday.  Then we cheered with joy as the rain came right after we finished.  We always discuss how happy the seeds, plants, and worms are when it rains.  I tell Mack that I imagine the worms are doing a happy boogie, shaking their tail-feathers.  Mack then tells me that worms don't have feathers...they can only shake their tails...touché.  This our little joke.  lol

Spring is here!

I am so thankful for the arrival of spring!  I love the excitement and refreshment that spring brings with it.  We are enjoying warmth, sunshine, rain, and fast growing grass.  Last weekend Mack and I made a Mother's Day stepping stone.  What a fun project.  Though Mack told me to try to forget what it looks like because I can't have it until Mother's Day.

gardening

Let our gardening adventures begin.  Last year my dad helped us fence in our backyard and we sectioned off an area for my "garden".  He built these amazing garden boxes for me as well.  Well, we are officially getting started this year.  Mack and I worked in the garden last weekend.  We dug, raked, and planted 2 boxes.  I truly have no idea what I am doing - so this first year shall be an experiment.  We are attempting to grow a little of everything.  If our excitement counts for anything we should be very successful. Wish us luck.

 

Mack helped seed the yard.
He is really helpful these days.

We finished up right as the rain began. Of course, Mack had to play in the rain for a bit.

Random...

Tonight I made chicken and steak fajitas.  I modified Mack's meal and pulled his meat out before I added all the seasoning and peppers. (Note: We eat a lot of chicken and steak at our house - just not usually together.)

Check out this dinner table talk:

Mack:  "Mom this black chicken tastes awful."

Me:  "Honey, that's not black chicken - it's steak."

Mack:  "Oh, ok. Where's the steak juice?" (sauce)

End of story:  clean plate!

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My FAVORITE tv series: Justified

Scott and I both love this show.  We watch it on Amazon Prime.  We have watched the first four seasons and now are waiting for season 5.  I highly recommend it.

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Friday is our annual first grade field trip to the St. Louis Zoo.  I don't know who is more excited...me or my students!  Can't wait!

Easter

We spent Easter weekend at the lake.
We shopped, dined, played, hiked, & relaxed.

Mack was concerned about the bunny finding us there... he had nothing to worry about. :)

 

We also enjoyed meeting with family at the Bloomfield city park Sunday afternoon.  It was great to see everyone. :)

March

In March we enjoyed a beautiful weekend at the lake.  We went to a St. Patrick's Day parade and just enjoyed our weekend away together.

Presidents Day

Today is Presidents Day and we have no school in honor of this holiday.  Hmmm... the concept of no school has become VERY interesting.  When we moved back to the midwest three years ago we looked forward to the opportunity of some winter snow days that would allow us to stay home from school.  Our first year here we had no snow days.  Last year we had a few.  This year...whew, we have had a lot!!  We love each and every one of them!  It is unexpected, quality time that we get to spend together and we love it!

Here is our most recent weather summary:
-about a week ago we experienced extreme cold temperatures of -10 degrees which felt like -25 with wind chill.  Friday (Valentine's Day) school was cancelled and we got about 6 inches of snow.  Saturday we got about 3 more inches.  No precipitation Sunday.  Ice/sleet this morning and now it is snowing and we could get 2-4 more inches this afternoon.  Wow...it seems never-ending.  Our temps are supposed to rise into the 40s for the rest of the week - which will result in a slushy, sloppy mess.

I am finally catching up on pictures and blogging.  In order to get the blog updated successfully and pain free for my readers I have created many photo collages that help to shorten my posts.

Christmas 2013 trip

We drove cross-country for Christmas to visit friends in Las Vegas and family in Reno, NV.  We love to travel!  I know this sounds crazy to many people, but we especially love to (over) pack the car and drive to our destinations.  We have always enjoyed driving long distances - it is such a fun adventure. We find that once we cover some miles it is so awesome to detach from everything else and just enjoy one another!

We loved seeing the mountains when we got to Colorado.  However, driving through the Rockies at rush hour was not so amazing.  Scott has told this story a million times...Most flat interstates have a 75mph speed limit.  Well so does I-70 through the Rockies with a 7% down grade.  Hmmm...all of the locals drive this with no problem (in their audi, volvo, subaru, etc).  It was a harrowing experience for Scott (in our ford expedition filled to the max with family and luggage).  Still a fun and memorable part of our journey.  We also really enjoyed scenic Utah.  Absolutely breathtaking!

Our trip consisted of lots of singing, ispy games, Starbucks, jokes, reading, movies, & some napping.

Las Vegas

We spent two nights in Vegas with some amazing friends!  This was such a quick visit.  We are so grateful to friends who hosted us and organized get-togethers for us.

We stayed with our friends the McGills the first night we were there.  The kids enjoyed playing and having a sleep over.  They hosted a lunch gathering with friends from Snyder where I taught when we lived in Las Vegas.  We saw many dear friends and I even got to see two previous students!

Next up we went to the Huggins' residence for an evening of fun with long time friends.  Scott was roommates with these guys and we miss spending time with them.  We really enjoyed seeing everyone and their families.  Mack enjoyed time with the big boys - it was nice enough for them to camp outside in December!  (We did move the kids inside later in the night.)  Such a great visit!

We were able to attend service at the Champion Center before we left town.  It was awesome to see our "old" church family.  We stopped and had lunch with Scott's coaching friend and his family and then began our drive to Reno.  What a full and busy visit we had in such a short time.  We are so thankful to see these dear friends!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for everyone's hospitality and generosity!  We love you guys!

Christmas in Reno

We were all glad to get to Reno.  This was the part of our trip where we would get to slow down and relax and enjoy time with family.

Mack was SO excited to go to Grandma Laura and Loren's house!  Just getting there was so exciting for him!

We had so many great experiences while we were there and created so many wonderful memories.

Christmas Eve included a visit to Santa, last minute shopping, wrapping, and waiting.

Christmas Day was a blast of course!
We opened gifts in the morning...

...and then enjoyed a large family dinner in the afternoon.  Mack enjoyed time with his aunts and cousins!

snowboarding

Scott and I were able to go snowboarding at Heavenly Resort in Lake Tahoe.  This was such a great day for both of us.  We had a fun, silly, and much needed day together...it was absolutely HEAVENLY!

more fun in Reno

We enjoyed nice weather that allowed us to play outside.  We enjoyed going out to eat and playing at Chuck E. Cheese's.  Moon ended up with a sore paw so we spent some time at the local vet as well.

poor Moon...

family fun @ Chuck E. Cheese's...