Josiah's baseball uniform

Aunt Chrissy dropped off Josiah's uniform for him. Even though he still wasn't 100% he was eager to try it on! He is just certain that his cleats make him run faster!

Coming home from Texas

Jeremiah now loves playing on my iPhone....yeah, not sure what I'm going to do about this!

Daddy on his phone...of course!
And Uncle Todd sleeping... that's what he does.
Josiah playing his nintendo. He likes his electronics (if he can't play outside).
One of his many potty stops ;)

He got to talk to Grammy on the phone and he sure was happy!

Bahamas 2011

I surprised Joey by taking us on a cruise to the Bahamas! Grammy and Aunt Shantyl watched the boys so that we could have a special cruise by ourselves. What a great trip!

We did some shopping and sightseeing in Nassau.
Joey checked out the water - it was pretty cold! We were glad we decided to shop instead of do excursions in Nassau.

There's me...
Joey with our room service order! The chocolate ice cream was such a tease! Barely a spoonful. Sure was tasty though.
At Great Stirrup Cay - the ships private island. It was beautiful. We really enjoyed it here. It was by far our favorite day of the trip.
We went parasailing. The guys took us out where they'd seen dolphins and we got to see them. They swam right around the boat. Made the whole experience that much greater!
There's our ship.
We sat by the water for...maybe 5 minutes... then we decided to go snorkeling!


We dressed up the last night and went to the dining room to eat (we ate the buffet the rest of the time). We really enjoyed the shows and the comedian.

On our way out to parasail...
Going up!
Even higher...
Way up there now!
Joey playing in the water.
There's Joey snorkeling. I don't know how he went under water... I'd just suck in water. Blah!
We saw a lot of fish...they were mostly all the same variety though...
There were tons of crabs all over these rocks...

Aunt Shantyl's 26th Birthday

Aunt Shantyl was so excited about her birthday presents!
There's me with my baby sister!
Jeremiah was waving to me! He was pretty happy! Josiah was just ready for cake.
Jeremiah was taking my picture while I took his!
Aunt Shantyl with her "words" birthday cake. Grammy made the cake and I made the game board.

Putting together the composter

Daddy bought me a composter so I could start making compost for my garden. Uncle Todd took it out of the box and started putting it together. Josiah and I put together the rest of it.

Jeremiah was really excited to come down and see a big box to play in!
For some reason he thought he needed to help me...inside the composter!
Then they both decided it was a great place to sit...
I had to call Josiah down to help me, because it was impossible for me to hold the frustrating little triangle bolts and screw it at the same time. Your arms would have to be sooooo long in order to hold them and screw them in at the same time.

I don't know any other 5 year old that can use a drill and help out! What a great helper!!!!

Finally finished!!!!
The boys putting some of scraps in there to get the compost started.

St. Patrick's Day

Today was our big party! What an exciting day. I would say that everyone had a great time.

Makayla gave me the greatest compliment she's ever given me "I bet all kids wish they had a mom like you - you always throw such cool parties, do fun things, and you are pretty" (I'm pretty sure there were a few other compliments in there, but she pretty much made my day - and let me know all my time, energy, effort and money was well worth it).

Josiah's favorite part was hitting the pinata. It was hilarious watching the kids hit it. Miss Sara brought a TON of awesome goodies for it. I was shocked that Jeremiah didn't want to have a million turns - he was content to sit on the rock wall with Karissa eating a sucker (at one point I caught him with 2 - yes eating them both at the same time - he doesn't get them often, and since mommy was busy he totally took advantage of it). Karissa said she was "too shy" to hit the pinata and she just watched everyone. Makayla loaded up on the goodies (what a surprise) and we had to share hers with a few other kiddos...

The kids really enjoyed breaking the treasure rocks. There were lots to go around, so everyone got to break open a few.

The colored rice with buried treasure was a real hit too - surprisingly it was the girls who played in their most. Of course Jeremiah made a huge mess with it.

The kids enjoyed decorating their paper plates, but I don't know if they actually hit the balloons with them or not... it was fun either way.

After the party we got the food put up, and then the kids laid down for a rest (Jeremiah's taking a good nap). I cleaned up the rest of the stuff. Josiah has been begging me for months to let him mop... and for some reason I haven't (probably due to my perfectionism and thinking things have to be done MY way) let him. I decided he could today (since I had just mopped last night) and what do you know, but he actually did a great job.... we might not be able to walk on the floors for awhile... but he thought it was fun!

Hopefully soon I'll be able to post pictures... my computer has a virus or something. Pray that Joey can get rid of the virus and save all of my files and things. I'm kind of scared.

Wednesday - Spring Break

Today was a BUSY day! Each of the kids helped make a dessert for the party.
Karissa - Rainbow Jello
Makayla - Rainbow Pudding
Josiah - shamrock cookies
Jeremiah - rainbow cupcakes

They look delicious!!! I tried a cupcake and it was yummy :)

We also finished up the pinata - and it looks green and I think it looks a little more shamrock-like now.

We set up tables, and cleaned the house.

Daddy was super sweet and made 2 trips to wal mart for me. First for sherbet and chips. Then later for light bulbs (for some reason they keep burning out and we were all out) and some green goodie bags.

I had high hopes of teaching the kids to sew this week. We only managed to get 3 goodie bags sewn! So I decided it would be easier and faster (and I wouldn't have to stay up till 3am sewing) if Daddy would just bring some home. I sure appreciated him picking them up. There were a few other small things I had wanted to do for the party - just minor, but I let it go... and didn't worry about them.

Makayla finally realized all the time and work that goes into putting together a party.

Tuesday - Spring Break

Today I woke up early to remind the manager about saving coffee ground for our craft project - and then I went back to sleep. My allergies have been bothering me, but 2 nights of benadryl and good sleep has sure helped!

Josiah and I played more Skip Bo Jr.

We went and picked up our Coffee Grounds - a whole bunch too!!

We had lunch and then the 3 older kids and I made treasure Rocks - which was super fun. This was Josiah's favorite project of the week.

Homemade Rocks Recipe
(From Skip to My Lou)
Mix up:
• 1 cup used coffee grounds
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1/4 cup sand
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup water
• Mix together dry ingredients, and then slowly add enough of the water to make a stiff dough---you might not need all off the water, so add slowly.
• Knead the mixture on a floured surface until fairly smooth.
• Break the dough into desired sizes. Hide your trinkets (super balls, small plastic toys, etc.) or money in the center of each ball of dough.
• Bake at 150F degrees for 2 hours (I turned them over half way through) and then air dry 2-3 days (or longer). If you make smaller rocks I would dry one hour in the oven and then air dry 2 days or more. The size of rock and the amount of humidity in your home will affect the drying time. They will look and feel like rocks when dry.

When Jeremiah got up from his nap we made some - Josiah offered to help him - he pretty much took over ;)

We also made some tissue paper pompoms and hung streamers. Definitely made the dining room more festive.

After dinner we all headed over to Aunt Chrissy's house for hair cuts. The kids really enjoyed playing with their cousins. Then we visited Granny (the kids had suckers), and then we visited Nana (who gave them cheeto puffs and cookies). They were quite happy. Picked up coffee grounds from them and then it was time to come home and get showered and ready for bed. A long day. Lots of fun though.

Monday - Spring Break

Today was a fun and busy day! Josiah and I had yet another Skip Bo Jr. tournament.

We started our pinata. The kids did an amazing job working on it. (pics to come).

We started some of our decorations - we made tissue paper pom poms. They turned out so cute (I think I'll make some more tomorrow). We have them hanging in the dining room.

Had Makayla's favorite dinner - buritoes and some fruit salad.

Josiah had Tae Kwon Do - he stayed for the 2nd class since he will miss another class. He was definitely worn out afterwards. I had 1 1/2 hours to be alone - which is RARE. Went to Wal Mart and looked around. Picked up Jeremiah his own mitt and bat. He was really excited when I brought it home for him.

When we got home Daddy had a fire and we all had s'mores. Yummy :)

Lots more fun coming up tomorrow.

Sunday

We started the morning by going to the donut shop. Uncle Todd took the boys and I since Daddy had my van (picking up Makayla and Karissa). They both picked chocolate donuts with sprinkles and they were very excited about their donuts!

We came home and the girls were home! Told them all about our exciting plans for the week and they are excited.

Makayla, Karissa, Josiah and I played Skip Bo Jr. Taught Karissa how to play and she caught on and even won the first game.

Then we went to Kohls, and the Dollar Tree. Had a yummy dinner out with the whole family (including Uncle Todd!) and then we ran to Wal Mart - I was able to find a few things that I couldn't find at any of the other stores.

Came home and painted Karissa's nails. Played an intense game of Upwords with Makayla (Uncle Todd later joined her team and was really impressed with her skills). The kids decided they were hungry...very hungry.... they had quite a number of snacks.

The kiddos were definitely happy and wound up today. It was a really good day!

Saturday Before Spring Break

What a busy day!!!!

Daddy dropped Josiah off at Baseball Camp (The high school boys baseball team ran a camp as a fundraiser). Uncle Aaron stayed there with him and his cousins. When we came back to pick him up, he was sitting on one of the high school boys shoulders showing off his muscles, with his baseball cap on sideways, with the biggest grin - for the group photo! He said he had so much fun and wants to go back again.

While Josiah was at camp I took Jeremiah to Lowes to build a little basketball goal.

After camp we took Josiah to get fitted for his uniform. He is going to look sooooo cute!!!

Then we went to the sports store to get him some cleats, socks, and athletic shorts (they didn't have any baseball pants small enough). He was so proud of his new stuff!!!

We had a quick lunch of McD in the van, and then it was time for t-ball practice. Josiah was so excited to try out his new cleats - he ran as fast as he could and he fell going up the hill. I know it's terrible, but I laughed so hard!!! It was hilarious. He was a little upset, but he brushed off and tried it again. He wants to wear them all the time now. We played catch for awhile and when practice started I left him with Aunt Chrissy so Jeremiah could get home for a little nap. Josiah did awesome at practice and is one of the best hitters!

We picked up dinner and met Daddy at work for a little picnic. Then it was baths, cuddles, and of course Thomas the train.

Playing t-ball with mommy