Lucky number seven

Last Saturday it was sunny and beautiful and we took advantage of the day, so did the boys. We worked in the yard and ended up having seven boys over to play. Lots of basketball and airsoft wars and running and laughing (some burping and farting at the dinner table too-boys!)







The next three pics are of Grant and his good buddy Owen. Owen is the third in his family too, loves baseball and all sports and is in Grant's class at school. He is too cute, I want to keep him. Oh and he has a little speech thing going on with his R's.








Gotta love 6 year old boys.

'Spring' break

Even though it feels like winter break, I'm trying to bring some spring into our lives.



Jack's giant bean sprout from school and some pansies greet me every morning on my kitchen table.


Some leftover tulips from a pancake breakfast at church last weekend. We served around 300 people a free pancake breakfast last Saturday. I was the nervous co-chair :-( I had some experienced ladies with me all the way, thank heavens!





Spring cleaning of the playroom prompted some painting and sewing :-). I painted over some things like the banner over the stage and all the coloring on the walls and I painted the train table with chalkboard paint so the boys can draw whatever they need for their playscapes. I made that little red pillow and recovered the window seat with red ticking fabric (love them both). The fabric is really for me ;-) We also put up a basket ball hoop and we still need to clean out some more toys. I'm hoping this will spur some more playtime up there. If I suggest getting rid of some toys, the boys seem to remember how much they 'love' them and start playing with them again.



I was sewing up these three little bunnies for some Easter gifts last night at 11:00 pm and Matt looked at me like I was crazy, but I really love making stuff, it makes me feel good whether its at 9 am or 11 pm. I can't explain it, it's just what makes me happy.

Anyway, day three of spring break and we are hanging in there. The boys have had lots of play dates and have braved the cold weather for basketball and airsoft wars outside and honestly not much fighting has taken place...I'm almost afraid to write that.

On a side note, Matt started a new job Monday in Grove City. It is so weird not to have him around, the little boys ask 100 times a day where he is. Matt has worked out of our home since they were born. I miss him but I know he will be great at what he does and he'll enjoy forming new relationships with his colleagues.

Spring break-day one

Sledding anyone?

Thursday

Jack had hat day at school today. He wore a thrifted gem :-)






And my favorite afternoon event, a little snuggle time with a worn out kindergartener.

Lovenotes

Grant and I went to the grocery store yesterday morning and this is the note he wrote me on the back of my shopping list while I was checking out :-)


Sweet baby boy!

Pancakes and presents

Just made these cinnamon roll pancakes found on recipegirl.com. I made a big batch to freeze for easy breakfasts on school days. I have a feeling three boys will be very happy :-)

I also made a couple little crafty things for my mom's birthday. I made these hand warmers filled with rice.





20-30 seconds in the microwave and you get thirty minutes of heat on your hands. I made a pocket Kleenex holder too. I've really wanted to try this out and it was so easy and practical too, right up my alley.


And while I was busy sewing away, I thought, why not whip up a couple cute blankets for two baby girls. (Suzanne, if you're reading, the pink one will be on its way soon with a little treat for the bigs).





I love making stuff, not sure why but it is just what I need to do sometimes.

Mom

Happy birthday Mom. I'm so thankful for you and thankful that I am lucky enough to have you as my mom!

Tree climbing weather

If you look very carefully, you can see a boy climbing a tree over by the white car. That's Jack and that blue sky is just wonderful!

Morning serenade

When Jack woke up this morning and asked why the birds were outside his window, I serenaded him with Karen Carpentar's Close to you. You know, 'why do birds suddenly appear, every time you are near.....'. Go take a listen on youtube, don't worry it's Karen singing, not me ;-)
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=6inwzOooXRU

Snow day

Wearing pajamas inside out the night of an expected snow storm is a good way to ensure school will be cancelled the next morning. So thanks to Jack and Grant's efforts, we have a snow day today :-) Can you tell they are a little excited?!











I've deemed it sweatpants only day (only I jazzed mine up with some rainbow socks).


I must go get out the snow suits and shovels, have a great day.

7th grade

Here is Dylan's basketball picture. We are too cheap to purchase the photographers copy for $25 so we photo the photo ;-)



Sorry to brag, but look at the cutie in the front row, maybe the only cutie in the whole picture ;-) Sorry that was mean, they are all cute in their own way ;-)
Oh, seventh grade. Oh it's a terribly awkward time, isn't it! I was a mess in seventh grade, dorky hair split right down the middle with barrettes, long skinny arms, retainer, purple sweaters, jean skirts with keds tennis shoes and white bobby socks, and my red head phones tuned to Michael Jackson and Billy Joel. I thought I was cool. No, actually I don't think I thought I was cool but I must have thought I was sorta cool. Anyway, I survived and so will this group of boys (God willing).

Weekend wrap-up

Saturday, Grant and Jack wrapped up their basketball seasons with trophies.















After Jack's game, his friend's family picked him up and whisked him away to a weekend at an indoor water park up north. He is having a blast! Hopefully his parents are too, Jack grew their family to four boys for the weekend ;-)

Dylan finally scored during his team's win and he will start tournaments next Saturday. I believe his team finished second so far.

Sunday we want to Dick's sporting goods and bought Matt some baseball pants (hee hee). He's the assistant 7th grade baseball coach and the rules say he has to be in uniform as well. Grant and Dylan begged and pleaded for every million dollar piece of equipment while in the store to no avail. Dylan did, however, score a really cool pair of batting gloves at Play It Again Sports.

Next up on Sunday was grocery shopping. Dylan had to prepare a three course meal for his family for an assignment in Family and Consumer Science so we thought we would tackle this project on a lazy Sunday. He had to take pictures of all the ingredients and the prices so he could come up with a total cost for his meal. He picked homemade beer bread for the appetizer, Parmesan chicken with pasta for the main dish and apple pie with crumble topping for dessert. He made everything from scratch (except for the tomato sauce oh and the pie crust) and was in the kitchen for 2 1/2 hours and said his feet were killing him ;-) The meal was delicious! I'll have to post the picture later.

We ended the weekend watching The Bible on the history channel. It was awesome. Dylan and Grant were totally engaged the whole time (Jack was still swimming with friends) and were retelling the stories before they happened (so smart) like Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt and the seven plagues and Moses' exit from Egypt! Grant even went upstairs and got his Lego Bible to follow along with the stories. It is a ten part series I think, I highly recommend it.

Matt was busy running around in between all the events mentioned above, I seriously can't keep up with him.

Oh, one more thing. Many of you know our neighbor Doc, his wife Priscilla had a heart attack Saturday morning. We aren't sure about any details but please pray for a full recovery for her and strength for her family.

Have a great Monday!

Dinner

OK, so lately I've had a little obsession with Ree Drummond, aka the Pioneer Woman. Her recipes are just the best. I've tried her lasagna, chicken and noodles, pork chops with pineapple and fried rice, chicken Alfredo, strawberry granola bars, beef and noodles, beef stew, fruit pizza, etc.....and they are all delicious. Her orange breakfast rolls may be on the docket for this weekend. Her blog is so fun to read, she's funny and down to earth and she makes real meals that my family really enjoys eating. In fact, it has been heard more than once around here lately at the dinner table, "best meal ever" and "this is awesome". Words every hard working mom loves to hear.
Try it out, you just might find something for dinner tonight.
P.S. She also wrote the cutest book about her Bassett hound, Charlie, and yes, I've read that too (I'm a stalker like that).