An evening of fishing and skipping rocks

We headed to a nearby lake tonight for some relaxing family time. It took a while to get everyone settled, and there were lots of tangled lines to help with, but we had a blast! I was the stickler and made the kids wear safety goggles after a fishing scare a few weeks ago, but they didn't complain and had so much fun!



Levi looks so tall in this picture! He's starting to remind me of his daddy every day lately, and I love it! He's got this fishing thing down--a great caster, doesn't need much help at all, and could do it for hours without getting tired.

After the fishing, we moved on to skipping rocks. Rob's giving it his all...
...and this is how into it Sarah got! Cracked me up--she'd barely plop the rocks in...she was much more interested in picking flowers and finding treasures!
The boys looking for the perfect rock-skipping rock...
I love this picture! Jason pretty much lives in this sweatshirt, or "hoodshirt", as he calls it, and these cowboy boots are his recent favorites. He told me he loves them because they're "black and brown"...is that special??? They're usually on the wrong feet--he hardly ever wears socks because I'm never caught up on the wash, so his poor feet get blistered, but he doesn't mind! He is just so gung-ho about life! The only thing missing is his favorite lime green t-shirt cape that he wears constantly...pretty much adore this kiddo!
See the 3 splashes from skipping that rock? The highest number for the night was maybe 7 or 8--Robbie was sooo good at it!
Gorgeous, relaxing night!

Neighborhood Easter fun

I absolutely love where we live! Here's a picture our of silly neighborhood kiddos and their lovely hats...just moments before they were turned loose for the annual egg hunt.
...and they're off!
Loving these action shots--you wouldn't believe how fast Levi was running! The child does NOTHING halfheartedly! And TWO baskets??? Who is this kid's mother and shouldn't she teach him some manners?!? :)
The look of sheer delight!

And to finish off a wonderful morning...egg dying. I got away with not doing any in our home this year, but I think we all missed it--we'll have to make sure we include that next year.
I realized once we got there that none of my kids had gotten their hair combed that morning! We're just not always the together-kind of family! Yikes...



Two of Levi's close friends and neighbors. He is sooo blessed to have several great boys who live within seconds of his house. I'm feeling very thankful as I look though these pictures. I didn't have my camera out to capture some other wonderful moments on Easter weekend...walking through the stations of the cross with our kids and closest family friends, a delicious meal with a house full of guests, an incredibly special Easter service at our church... Very, very thankful!

House For Sale!

So...our house is officially on the market. Kinda scary...I love our home and am a little sad, but we're hoping to sell it and build again in our same neighborhood to get our mortgage down a little. ANYWAY...just wanted to let me dear readers know just in case you hear of anyone looking for a home in a great neighborhood in the world's most amazing town! We have a website with pictures and details, but I'm not comfortable linking my personal blog with the house one...if you want more details, leave me a comment and we'll talk!

Family Get-Away

I was alone with the 3 kids for the first half of Spring Break while Robbie took students to a retreat in Colorado--and we survived! And even had lots of fun! After Rob got home, we decided to take the kids on an overnight trip to Salina. We met up with Rob's parents and his sister's family for a little mini-vacation-it was a blast and we totally wore the kids out! The hotel we stayed at was not fancy at all--actually pretty run down, but it only cost us 50 dollars a room, and the greatest perk was the big waterslide--the kids played on this thing for HOURS and never got tired of it. It was the perfect size pool, and we were some of the only ones there, so the grown ups got to relax in the hot tub and watch the kids play in the pool. Might just become an annual thing!The cousins enjoyed playing games in the lobby. Our kids play so great with their cousins--they're inseparable, and I love it!
Sarah was having fun taking pics with Grace. This was the best shot she got.
Don't Robbie and his dad look thrilled to be on vacation?!? I laughed when I saw this picture--they look so bored! This was while we were waiting 1 1/2 hrs to be seated for dinner! !
The kids enjoying themselves at a fun burger and shake joint.

We spent an afternoon at the zoo (wildlife park, I think it's actually called). It was a little chilly, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Doesn't Levi look so grown up in this picture with his cousin Hope? And ORNERY--that kid is always up to something!

We couldn't believe how this huge rhino could climb! What a riot! He looked like he could climb right out of there!

The kids found a tunnel that led to this observation box--they were giggling like crazy, with their heads popping up and down for our entertainment!
Priceless...

This never gets old...

...and it never fails to melt my heart. Sure love these four!

"Talking teror"

Today Jason and I decided to tackle the boys' room--this is a job that we really have to do while Levi's at school. He's good at "picking up" his room most days, but he never really tackles his "collections". This kid has more collections than you can imagine--piles of old Valentines, piles of dum dum wrappers, piles of cards, piles of legos, piles of papers, and papers, and papers, torn out pictures from magazines, ... and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS A TREASURE TO HIM!! We actually play a game regularly at our home called, "trash or treasure?" I show him different things and have him tell me if they're worth collecting. Sounds mean, but the kid would have his treasures up to the ceiling if I didn't go in and clean it out every once in a while...and always while he's at school. I did find some real treasures, though, as I was cleaning stuff out from under his bed. This picture and what he wrote made me smile...
I love Levi's drawings and his creativity...and some day--many, many years from now, I'll miss his collections!

Our week...

This past week has been LONG! Poor Levi is on day 9 of having a pretty high fever and feeling miserable--I've never had a kid with a fever for that long, and I'm so sad for the poor guy. They didn't test him for influenza but assume that's what he's had--then he got a secondary infection (bronchitis) on top of that, so hopefully with the antibiotics in his system, he'll start feeling better soon! Jason got it next, but seems to be on the tail end of it already, after just a few days, and now Sarah's home sick with it. I'm kicking myself for not getting them flu shots, but just never got around to it.

I always thought I had way too many medicine dispensers/syringes, but I'm seriously going through each of these and needing more each day!
Oh...and the paint--I decided it'd be a good week to repaint the bathroom, and touch up all the nicks on our walls...at least I can say SOMETHING got done this week!
Next week we get to have 3 sweet nieces stay with us as their parents are going on a trip to Mexico. Can't wait--hope we're all healthy by then! (Also--Mom starts chemo next Friday, the 11th--please be praying for her body to be able to handle the chemo--it's some very potent stuff that they're giving her, and she seems to be so sensitive to any meds. She's finally starting to feel a little better after surgery, and I hate to think of her being miserable again!)