Snow Much Fun

This winter hasn't given us as much snow as my family would prefer, but it has provided enough on occasion for some entertainment.

 Lance is heading up the sledding party

 I barely caught this separate incident on camera...

 Project snowman demolition quickly followed! They are so proud.

 Ta-Dah.....Look what we did, Caleb exclaimed.

 I simply LOVE this moment...It looks like a warrior call, don't you think?

 I hope your enjoying the hopefully fleeting days of the winter months. Now that March has rolled around we are getting very excited about Spring! 

Family Pictures 2012

Recently, we had the joy of having our family pictures taken by Amber Archer Photography

 This first picture is my favorite family picture....

 Family picture #2.....

  Family Pic #3..not my favorite since the wind was 30mph and my hair is all blown about.

 The kids each got to pick an animal to get their picture taken. Lance and his duck.

 Julia and her precious bunny, Peter.

 Zach and his bunny, Mr. Rumples.

 Caleb started his picture with Jasper, but he didn't really cooperate, so he hopped on the tractor.

This picture is actually my favorite...to my children's disgust...I got a great BIG print made!

 Julia and I struck a pose for the camera....

 I love that little lady!

 All my men.....

 A HUGE THANK YOU to Amber Archer Photography and her hubby Mark for coming to our home and giving us these great pictures to treasure for many years to come.

Our August....Part One

Over a month ago my favorite little people decided that they wanted to sleep under the stars. A regular tent just wasn't going to do it. They wanted to construct their own tent.

A little team work and few tarps equals a tent that makes four children very giddy with excitement.

Let the sleepover begin!

 All ready for her night with the boys.

 Zach thought a few minutes playing his DS before bed was a good idea.

 Caleb was super duper excited that he was going to get to sleep with his best buddy, Jasper!

Lance was ready to be "the boss" in the tent for the night.

Justin & I thought for sure they wouldn't all last the whole night outside all by themselves....but they proved us wrong. (Which is not the first time we've been proven wrong nor will it be the last.)

I'm so glad they enjoy camping out under the stars all by themselves. What great memories they are making together!

A Date Night With Zach

Once a year we try to take each of the kids out on a "Date Night". The other night was Zach's turn to go on a date with me...and boy did we have fun! Our first stop was supper at Bob Evans. While we were eating supper it sounded a little like this:

Me: Let's ask each other a few questions and see if we can get them right. 

Zach: Okay, I'll go first. What's my favorite color?

Me: BLUE!

Zach: Yep....What's my favorite number?

Me: Hmmm..I didn't know you had a favorite number, but I'll go with 7.

Zach: Nope..17. I always take my age and then add 10 and that's my favorite number. Every time I have a birthday, my favorite number changes.

Me: Ohhh nice, good to know. Okay, now it's my turn. If someone asked you what mommy likes to do, what would you say?

Zach: Spend time with her kids and family.

Me: Wow, great answer  Zach, your right about that! What is someone asked you what does your enjoy doing? (I wash fishing for what hobbies I enjoy).

Zach: Cleaning the house....

Me: Trying REALLY HARD not to burst out with loud obnoxious laughter....a few giggles might have slipped out. While I was giggling Zach looked at me confused and with hand gestures an shrugging shoulders says " What you do like cleaning...you always say you  like a tidy house." To which I reply, "Yes, Zach I do enjoy a tidy house (even if it only lasts a meager 5 minutes). I was just wondering what hobbies you think I enjoy...

Zach: Ohh...Quilting and gardening stuff like that

Also during our dinner we had some great discussion about:

 **How things will go when he finds a girl he might  like to marry. He thinks he might meet her in college..dad said that's a great place to meet new people.

**How his dad once told him that when he a  teenager he might not think we are super cool & smart like he does now. Never fear, he thinks dad said this will only last about 4 days....lol!

**He thinks that around 17 is when most people get a job. That gives them enough time to save money to buy a car...which cost around $4000.

I love the memories we make on these date nights! I love the discussion and discovering how my children view life...some times are more educational than others. 

If you haven't taken your child (young or old) on a date night, I would highly recommend it. It can be as frugal or over- the-top as you want it to be. I spent $15 on supper and some tokens to play some fun arcade style games and he said, "Mom, I've had the best night!" It melted my heart and made me even more thankful that I had carved out time to make him feel special. 

VBS/Day Camp

Our second camp was Vacation Bible School (grades pre-K to 2) & Day Camp (grades 3-6). I taught the 2nd graders this year (my first teaching experience with Day Camp). I had 15 kids who were all very well behaved and were honestly a real pleasure to have all week. Zach was even in my class, but he didn't seem to mind his mama was teaching. Here are a few pictures that sum up our week.

The theme was Incrediworld Amazement Park.....

 In VBS & Day Camp the focus was on the 6 days of creation

 Here is Zach with some sort of furry creature on his shoulder, compliments of craft time

 Caleb is practicing his singing...he's the goof in the yellow tank

 Zach showcasing yet another craft project....these little inventions were so cool!

 Julia is practicing for the program (she in all the way on the right in the 2nd row)

  Here Caleb is showing how well our week went at CAMP #2!

Lance was there all week as well. He got to hang out in the "teen room" for his class time. Our paths just didn't cross all week which equals no pictures of him.

In Honor of My Hubby!

This past month we got to celebrate Daddy Day! One of my favorite things about my husband is what a great daddy he is to our  kiddos. Justin & the boys got to start off the special day with a Father/Son  Breakfast. Before they headed off to get their belly full I snapped a few pictures.

 

 

 Julia and I waited snapped a couple pics while we waited for the boys to come back home.

 Daddy and his favorite little gal....

 The kids insisted that we get a picture as well....I LOVE THIS MAN!

He makes us laugh, he makes us think, he works hard, he is a great example (even if he's a little ornery sometimes), he's spontaneous, he's prayerful, he's reliable, he's trusting, he's compassionate, he's devoted to his family, and so much more. WE LOVE YOU!

THREE Camps in THREE WEEKS!

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made our schedule out for the month of June....really I'm sure I wasn't thinking at all! The end result of that brain lapse was THREE different camps, one following the others for THREE weeks in a row. Whew! I am glad to report we did survive without any major meltdowns..but this mama does NOT plan to repeat such a crazy schedule anytime soon.

Twas' the night before all the camp schedules would begin and this is how my boys felt:

 This is Lance's second year to church camp, although last year he went to another nearby camp.

 This was Caleb's first year to go to camp...a whole week away....I think he's excited!

The camp the boys went to came highly recommended, and they had an absolute blast! We were able to send them e-mails that got delivered to their cabins each day. It was fun to let them know what we were doing and that we were praying for them while they were away.

 Here we are at "drop-off" day...they were both in Cabin 4, but on opposite sides of the Cabin.

 Here is where they had Camp fire time at night.

This is one of the many beautiful views they got to enjoy all week.  They got to take a boat across the lake to enjoy some hiking on the other side in the woods. HOW FUN!

 After a whole week without each other......I think Zach was glad to have his roommate back!

The boys had such a great time they were ready to sign up for next year before we left. I am so thankful for such wonderful ministries that help my boys grow in their faith, and enjoy some "boy time" with others their age. Other Camp posts coming soon...........

Julia's FIRST QUILT & Her FIFTH B-DAY!

On Monday, Julia celebrated her 5th Birthday.....I can't believe my little baby girl is FIVE already!

 She loves to kick back with a good book, loves the outdoors,  and help mommy in the garden.

 He loves to create things: We bought her a little bead kit on clearance the other day and she went to town. She made a couple of bracelets, and a necklace...she was in a creativity zone!

 She made one bracelet with her name on it, one that said "CAT" and her necklace was "Hello Kitty".

 Julia shares her birthday week with two other members of our family. We enjoyed some strawberry angel food cake

 Though there may be a large range in ages...we all have fun celebrating together.

Julia, Grandpa Cormany, Aunt Janelle

 Speaking of being creative, Julia designed her first quilt this past winter! She picked out the print fabric and I had a package of pastel fabric squares. She laid out the whole design all by herself. Then she would with sit on my lap, then put her hands on top of my hands and help me sew it together. If she wasn't sewing with me she was handing me the next row of squares to sew together. She is very proud of her first quilt....not to mention her mommy is so happy to have her enjoy quilting!

 After making the top, we sent if off to our long arm quilter. She used to this rainbow like design to help soften all the squares. She also used lime green thread to quilt it (I would have never thought of using that color, but I love it! So i decided to bind it with lime green fabric I already had on hand.

 I really love this bright, but not overwhelmingly bright fabric Julia picked out.

 On her special "party day" she wanted chocolate cake, chocolate icing with sprinkles on top, served chocolate ice cream!

 Guess how thrilled she was when she got pink glitter fingernail polish? Yep, she is girly!

 Dont' let all the girly-ness fool you, she loves to be dirty and exploring with her brothers!