Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Mother's Day at the Waterfall



For Mother’s Day, I requested a trip to Chase County.

I just love that place!

It was rainy and cold when we got out of church, but we decided that, at the very least, it would be a nice drive.

We also decided to take Magdalen along.  We didn’t think we could handle both dogs, and, since Maggie’s the one who really needs to lose weight, she lucked out and got to come!

It rained the whole way up there, but just as we came up on the entrance it stopped and the sun came out!  Perfect timing!

The waterfall is always the highlight of the lake.


It’s so peaceful and secluded, and so fun to explore!

The boys were suppose to bring an extra change of clothes and shoes for the trip.  Henry did not.  What he did bring, though, was a bucket with a string tied to it so that he could attempt to catch some fish.  



I should have known his “fishing” would turn out bad.

Just before we were leaving he fell into a big watery mudhole and lost his flipflops. 


He dug around and found one, but the other one seemed to have been eaten by the mud.  He was kind of upset about the whole thing, but it really was kind of comical.

After about 10-15 minutes of digging he gave up and headed back to the car shoelesss.

It was a long trek back to the car, with patches of rocks along the way.  He survived it, though!  

Once we got Henry cleaned up and pieced together an outfit for him (Luke’s shorts and jacket along my flipflops), we headed down to the lake for a picnic. 

  
It was lovely!

We ate our food and then the boys played by the lake for a bit and then headed home.

Even the drive there and back is beautiful! 

I love going through all those tiny old towns! 

I could not have asked for a better Mother’s Day—mud and all!

I feel really blessed to be raising those three crazy boys! 

I absolutely adore them!


(I adore Henry, too.  He was just stuck in the mud when I handed the camera over to Ben!)

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Hand-Me Downs


We've done some passing down of electronics at our house.

It's a sign that they are all growing up.

Luke decided that he wanted to buy an ipod touch--pricey.

He wanted one so that he could listen to music and play games on it.  I also think the cool factor played a part in it.

At the same time, Josh Oliver decided that he wanted to buy a 3D DS--also pricey.

He's not the best saver, but he had birthday money burning a hole in his pocket.  

Luke offered to sell his DS to Ollie in order to fund his ipod purchase.

Strangely, I was really sad that realize that Luke didn't care about his DS anymore.  It doesn't seem like that long ago that he was desperately saving up to buy it.  

It took a bit of convincing--I don't know why because he was getting a really good deal--but finally Josh bought the DS and all the games for $100.  

It was a steal!  

And, he was super happy about how much he got!

Next it was time to tackle Luke's ipod.

The thought of him spending so much money on something like that made me cringe.

I suggested that he ask Ben if he could buy his old phone from him.  It could do everything he wanted but was even cooler because it was a phone!

Ben sold it to him for a mere $50!  (a little expensive, but it was a fair price in the bigger picture of things.)

It was really a win-win all the way around.  

Both boys got what they wanted, I didn't have any more electronics come into the house, and we ended up with some bonus money in our activities fund! 

Another First Communion


Henry made his First Communion two weeks ago.

It was a big day!

He got to read one of the petitions during Mass.  

He was excited, and he did great!

(Luke got to read one at his First Communion, too.  Lucky boys!)

I didn't realize how big his suit was on him until I started looking through my pictures.  

It really bothers me.

He deserved a well fitting suit.

He ripped it off just as soon as he could, so I guess it doesn't really matter anyway.

He still looked handsome!


I am so unbelievably proud of him!

He is becoming such a great Catholic!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Add Another Candle!


Ben's birthday is tomorrow!

Cinco De Mayo!!

We surprised him with a cake tonight--courtesy of Gigi and the boys--as soon as he walked in the door from work.

Who doesn't want to start their birthday celebration early?

The real reason was because he'll be gone all day tomorrow--his work hours stink--and I didn't think we could have looked at that delicious cake a day longer without digging in!!

Happy Birthday, Ben!!!!

We love ya like crazy!!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

May Day


Yesterday was May Day.

It was the first year that we didn't deliver any treats.

I just didn't have it in me to get things ready, plus the boys had tumbling class, so it would have been hard to squeeze any deliveries in.

I'm kind of sad about it.

We'll do better next year!

Much to our delight, when we got home from the Y, we found a May Day on our doorstep!!

It was from our favorite girl Jennifer--along with Todd and Tucker!!  We love them, tooIt'!!

Usually we get flower cookies!  Yum!  

This year she got even fancier with 3D flower cupcakes!  They tasted even better than the looked--the moistest, airiest cupcakes I think I've ever eaten!!!

She even made us a super fancy card!  Henry was especially impressed by her artistic talent and the amount of time she must have spent on it!

I love May Day!!!!