Memorial Day weekend

What a busy, fun-filled weekend! We started the weekend off right, with Friday night date night! We met Ricky's parents for dinner at O'Charley's and then walked around the mall for a few minutes. We haven't been able to get together with them in a while, so it was nice to catch up with no kid distractions! Saturday morning, I went back to the strawberry patch with my mom-in-law. She wanted to get some strawberries, and I thought we needed more. I got 11 pounds this time! I guess I work a lot better with no children. They are amazing!

Once I got cleaned up, we headed to the Children's Museum in Indy for the afternoon. Dylan has wanted to see the Lego exhibit since early March, so I thought it was a good time to go. The had a coupon for $15 off, so we ended up getting a year membership! I guess we'll be going a lot in the next year! The kids had so much fun and we didn't even need the stroller! I guess the kids are growing up! We only had a couple of hours, so we hit up the Lego exhibit, the Hot Wheels exhibit, the carousel and the dinosaurs and trains.

I think they all liked the carousel!

Ethan looks so grown up here! I love this shot!

When we were done at the museum, we headed over to Ricky's boss's baptism. It was really neat for the kids to see a baptism and for Ricky's boss to get baptized. After the baptism, we went to my parent's house, since we were in Indy. The kids decided to get in the pool, since it was 90+ degrees outside! Dylan and Lauren were spending the night, so Ricky and I stayed to play a game of Settlers'. We got home around midnight! Fun time! Sunday was nice and relaxing with only Ethan around. He let us sleep in until 9:30 and then took a great nap after church! Ricky's parents came over for a cookout dinner. We played Canasta and Euchre with them. Monday morning, we headed over to Cracker Barrel for brunch. We hadn't been out to breakfast in forever! It was really good and fun to get together with Ricky's parents again! We headed down to my parent's house after brunch. Ricky and the kids went swimming, while I went with my sister to Kohl's for some girl time! 

 

We came back and had dinner and then had to head home early, since Ricky's pump fell out. We weren't prepared for that! The kids all fell asleep on the way home, and Lauren even slept til morning! Ethan and Dylan had a second wind and wanted to stay up for a while. Lauren helped grandma make a fruit pizza. It was yummy! She was so proud!

 

The kids had a great weekend with Grandma and Grandpa! Looking forward to swimming and getting together again soon!

Saying goodbye is hard to do

We had a long, busy week! Monday and Tuesday, I watched both families kids. My friend got a new job, so I have Nathan and Megan again for 2 weeks. I can't do summer care for them, as 7 kids is too many for me! I have to have the flexibility to go somewhere if needed, even though I usually don't! Monday night, we had the missionaries over for dinner. It was really fun to see them again. The kids thought it would be fun to show off for them and were very hyper all night. Kids will be kids!

 Tuesday night, we had Dylan's end of soccer season Pizza Party at the park. It was really fun to see the kids hanging out and not playing soccer. 

 After we got the kids in bed, I headed over to my friend Jayda's house to help her finish packing up. We stayed up until 12:30 talking! They left today, very sad. Wednesday was Dylan's field day at school. I had a friend watch Ethan and Lauren so I could help out! It was so much fun!

Wednesday night was crazy, too. Ricky helped Jayda pack up the moving truck from 6-9 and then when he got home, I headed over to Coldstone for Jayda's goodbye party. We stayed there until 12:30 again talking! (I know, I'm crazy!) 

Lauren must have worn herself out this week, too! This is how she was sleeping in, or should I say beside her bed!

 

Thursday morning I just had Ethan and Lauren, so we hung out at home and tried to catch up on housework. I got a little done and then took a little nap on the couch. It really hit me yesterday that I can't stay up like I used to! Jayda brought her kids over in the afternoon to play once more before they left. We will be staying in touch with them, because they are life-long friends of our family!

Me and Jayda

They got to enjoy dinner with us one last time. Last night after about a half an hour of being in bed, Dylan came to the top of the stairs almost in tears. I asked him what was wrong. He said that he is sad that Rhyli is moving. He sure is going to miss her, just like the rest of us!

Today was Dylan's last day of school. He is officially a 1st Grader now! One last picture of Dylan, Nolan, and Nathan.

Dylan and Mrs.Salmon

Tonight is date night, Yeah! It will be a nice ending to a busy, but fun-filled week!

Strawberry Patch

On Saturday, we had a busy morning. We started off by going to the local Strawberry Patch and picking strawberries.

 

 Ethan was eating them as fast as we were picking them, while Dylan and Lauren enjoyed helping us pick them. 

 

We only got 8 pounds, so I think I may have to go back! They are so much better than the store bought ones! 

 

 

Once we finished picking strawberries, we headed to our friend's little girl's birthday party. We couldn't stay too long because it was Dylan's last soccer game, but it was fun to get together. Dylan didn't get to play much at his last game, but I don't think he minded with it being so hot outside. We were all really hot and just sitting on the sidelines! I'm glad that Dylan will be able to keep up with the new soccer skills as he is going to do another session this summer. After the game, we headed home for lunch and relaxation. I needed some sugar to make jelly, so Dylan and Lauren helped me go to the store to get the ingredients. I made 2 batches of canned strawberry-raspberry jam and it is soooo good! I love it so much more than the freezer jam. Hopefully it will last us until next year when we can go back to get more strawberries! While I was making the jam, Ricky took the kids in the back yard with their squirt guns. Dylan has been asking to play with them forever!  They had a blast and Ricky broke out the hose on the trampoline for them. It was a great Saturday spent with my family!

Dylan's graduation

 Today, Dylan officially graduated from Kindergarten. They had a few cute little songs they all sang and then they spelled out Kindergarten with things that they learned this year. I can't believe that this school year is almost over! It went by way too fast. I am very proud of Dylan and all that he has learned this year! Thanks to his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Salmon, for doing a wonderful job of teaching Dylan so much this past year! I am one proud mom!

 Miss Capps, the student teacher came back to see all the kids. She was great, too!

My little soccer star

Dylan has been doing great in soccer this year. Before the first practice, he told me that he didn't want to play soccer, he wanted to play baseball. (I'm guessing it's because he spent the week with his cousins who all play baseball!) I told him that we already signed up for soccer this year, so we need to give it a try. During the first practice, he came running over to me to get a drink of water and said that he really doesn't like soccer. I think it was because they were warming up and running back and forth on the field. I told him to get back out there. After practice was over, he decided that he really does like it! Silly boy! 

Dylan has been doing great and it's so fun to see how much they pick up in such a short time frame! Ricky has enjoyed playing in the backyard with him and working on some skills. His favorite position is defense, but he does play all of them. He scored his first goal on May 5th! We were so proud of him! They don't officially keep score at this age level, but he sure was excited to score a goal! The games are so fun to watch because the kids are still learning. Some of the kids just play in the dirt, while others take the ball the wrong direction!  It's so much fun to see Dylan learning so much about soccer, Ricky's favorite sport!

 

 Ethan finds some entertainment on the sidelines with grandpa!

 

 We had a busy weekend! Ricky took Friday off and we landscaped the side of the house. It was a work in progress, and needed some repairs. It took about 4 hours, but we got it done! Ethan was great for us and took a 4 hour nap! It looks great and it's so nice to have the side done! Saturday, Dylan had a soccer game and then my mom helped us plant a garden. I have wanted to start one for the past 4 years, and just haven't gotten around to it. It was so nice to have her help, as I am still new to this. Dylan and Lauren had a blast helping us play in the dirt! What a wonderful day!

 

 We planted some onions, cilantro, green beans, watermelon, strawberries, carrots, cucumber, zucchini, tomato, and peppers. Hopefully we will get something out of our hard work!

Mother's day was great, too! Ricky and the kids made me breakfast in bed! Yum! Church was great, and then we went to Ricky's parent's house for dinner. After dinner, we enjoyed the beautiful day by going for a walk to see the cows. Ethan was so excited and got a little too close to the electric fence. Luckily, it didn't shock him too bad! I don't know if he will ever learn! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

Lauren's first Dance Recital

Now that I'm finally done catching up on the cruise, I can try to keep up with my busy life! Last weekend was so busy! Ricky was starring in the youth fundraiser at the church as Dr. Evil from Austin Powers on Friday and Saturday night. The show featured Heroes vs. Villains in a fun game of Family Feud. I had to help him get his bald head attached, which took about an hour on Friday. The other families in our date night had spouses in the show, so two women watched kids on Friday night, while the other two women watched on Saturday night. Friday night, I watched kids and the show didn't get over until about 9! It was so much fun catching up with my friend while the kids played! 

 

Saturday morning started early for us as Ricky and Lauren had a dress rehearsal at 8am for their dance recital later in the day. Don't know why they chose to have the youngest class be there the earliest, but oh well! When they got home, we headed over to the church to clean it. The kids were a big help at the beginning, but started to get tired of it after about an hour. Luckily Ricky has Bubble Guppies for Ethan on his phone. It kept him still so we could clean! It only took about 2 hours, but I needed to get home and take a shower for the baby shower for a friend from church.

 I had to leave early to meet my parents at our house and get over to Loeb Playhouse for Lauren's Dance Recital. I was so excited for her! I almost started to tear up! I can't believe how much she has grown up! Her dance was a daddy-daughter dance and it was soo cute! They both did an amazing job. 

 

My little dance star!

 

Ricky had to leave the recital early to get over to the church for another show. My parents and I took the kids over to the sitter so we could enjoy the show in peace. Everyone did a great job in the show, especially my Dr. Evil!

 

 My parents stayed and played a game of Settlers before heading home. Fun, but very busy day! Sunday started off good, but didn't end so well. I ended up getting sick, while our home teachers were here. Then slept almost the entire afternoon. Ricky was so nice to take Monday off work to help with the kids while I recovered. I think I just had a bad cold with congestion that made me sick. Dylan stayed home on Monday because he was coughing really bad, too. I hope this sickness is all gone from our house! 

I got a glimpse of what most of our summer days will be like yesterday...

They LOVED playing outside and even eating outside! Much less mess for me to clean up! I love my kiddos!

On-board Serenade of the Seas (March 30)

The last day of our vacation was spent on the cruise ship returning to San Juan. We spent the day relaxing on the ship, and it was a great ending to a wonderful vacation. We all met for breakfast, where they had the chocolate theme. My dad and Ricky loved it! 

 

After we were stuffed from breakfast, we went to change into our swimsuits and head to the pool. When we met my mom, she was frantic. Her diamond from her wedding ring had fallen out! We started re-tracing the steps of the morning and after about an hour, she found it in her pants pocket. That was a huge relief! Ricky decided to stay in the room and read his comics, so I headed to the pool with my parents. My dad and I found some chairs at the back of the ship, where it was quiet and peaceful! How relaxing!

We decided to look at the schedule for the day to make sure we weren't missing something fun, and the ice sculpture demonstration was starting soon. We thought that sounded fun, so we got Ricky and headed over to the pool deck. He was amazing and made this swan in about 20 minutes!

After lunch, we found a table and played Settlers with my parents. I don't even remember how many games we played, but it was so fun to play with the wind blowing by and the peaceful sounds of the ocean in the background.

The evening was spent at dinner and then the last show of the week! Everyone was beat from all of the sun, so we went to bed early. (We also knew we had a really long day of traveling the next day!) It was one of the best vacations of my life! I had an amazing time and can't wait to go on another cruise! I think next time, I will spend one day just relaxing on the beach. Other than that it was AWESOME!