The Crowning

Brady Boy and Connor

Faith and Elli

Way to go Elli!!

Carrying the crown

Elli asked Faith to carry her crown for her Honor Star Crowning. Faith was so excited she could barely eat her supper. Not that I'm a proud mommy or anything, but I think she did a wonderful job!
If you don't know what Stars are or what a crowning is, it is not some strange ritual... Stars is kind of like Christian Girl Scouts and the crowning is for when the girls earn a ton of badges and also have to pass a test on scripture memorization and other things regarding the Bible and Christian living. We are so proud of Elli for her accomplishment!!
Also, Connor earned all the possible badges for his class with the Royal Rangers. Good job Connor!! They both put a ton of work and effort into earning these honors. I could go on and on about their accomplishments...Not just Elli and Connor, all of our nieces and nephews. I must say, we have been blessed with some very talented nieces and nephews from both of our siblings! I cannot think of a single child that does not have amazing gifts from God!
Speaking of other nieces and nephews...Happy Birthday Brendan and Robbie!!!!! I will have to get pictures of them in their birthday gifts from us. Too funny! And, we are going to see Mercedes, Regan, and Shaelyn over the weekend. So, I will have to bring back pictures from that trip as well.
Have a great weekend if I don't post before then!! :)
HUGS!

School's Out for Summer!!!!

I can't even believe that the school year is over already!! I am off until our "tentative" return date of September 2nd! :) I'm going to do my best not to get overwhelmed with a "to-do" list and enjoy my children. Also, with the prices of gas, STAY HOME!!
It was my cousin's wedding tonight. We had a great time. The wedding was very nice. Short, but the message from the pastor was great. It was about commitment and that the only way that a marriage can make it and make it well is by keeping God as the focus. I'm going to try posting a video for the first time. Faith was having a great time dancing and I wish I would have got more of Brady's "moves" on video. But, if this works, you will get a small taste of the hilarity of his dancing. He has more rhythm than his dad and me combined!

Not even two more weeks!

The circus was fun, Grammy, but I think the
cotton candy was a close second!

Our friend Aaron...giggling like crazy!

Mom, are you sure it is spring?

Sissy sure thinks it's spring!

She's so good at those funny faces!

Some for you and some for me!

Swingin' in her jammies!

Happy Mother's Day to those of you I did not call...which is most of you! :(
Only 3 more days of class and 6 more days in the office and I am officially on summer break! It doesn't even seem possible that the school year is already over. I am so excited to be home with the kids!!! :)
Mother's Day was nice. We celebrated with Nathan's mom and Grandma on Saturday night. We had everyone over and Nate's parents were nice enough to furnish the majority of the food (never expected, but always appreciated!). We grilled out and had a salad and corn on the cob and a few other things. Sunday afternoon was with my mom at my sister's house. The food was wonderful! She made a homemade potato soup, salad, and a pasta salad...YUMMY!! I made the homemade rolls...which is funny, because they were my sister's recipe! He,he!
I thought I would be ambitious tonight and I am now paying for it.... My poor dog loves to run, so for about a 1/4 of my walk (including half of my hill - even the steep part), I ran. Well, my knees are already aching... Yes, I am a baby! :) The good news is, it actually felt pretty good to run and the walk was wonderful...no one whining about it being too long or too fast...You know?

Spring...really....

Brendan's Masterpiece

Ann Coulter...almost as controversial as Miley Cyrus...he,he

Goofy pizza we had for dinner a couple weeks ago

Lots of lovin!

I should be posting pictures of the kids playing outside. We have FINALLY had a break in the weather and the snow is almost completely gone. There are just a few spots that were super deep from the plowing that still remain.

Three more weeks of work for me! I am excited and nervous all at the same time. The only thing I'm worried about is filing for unemployment. Yikes! Just praying that it all works out. Otherwise, I'm going to be donating a lot more than plasma this summer... Just kidding! :)

By the way, CONGRATS HEIDI!!!! She is officially done with her schooling for her LPN. Now on to boards and then a job! Wooo Hooo! I wish I had a picture to post, but I failed to bring my camera to her pinning ceremony. She was the "serious" speaker for the event and did an AMAZING job!

Also, WAY TO GO to my nieces and nephews. Connor and Elli just finished up an amazing season of basketball...Go Team!!! :) And, Brendan, Marijke, and Robbie and had a piano recital. And, even though I missed watching my amazing kids, their parents said they did just as fabulous as any aunt would expect!