Freezer stocking time.

Kara and I cooked for several hours today and completed 28 meals! She is taking 14 home and I get to keep 14. This was our first time cooking like this and it was a lot of fun. It will be so great to have meals on hand ready to cook for those busy evenings or just a day when I don't feel like cooking. We made 2 pork chop meals, 1 chicken meal and 4 beef meals. One thing we did learn is that the meals are a lot heavier on meat that we normally cook, so next time we can scale down the meat and save even more money.

Steal of Deal!

Kara and I ran to a few garage sales today and found this AMAZING deal! Now that Drake is doing a great job riding with no training wheels and his legs are getting too long for his little bike, I had been wanting to get him a bigger bike. I told a friend of mine what I had been looking for since I knew she was also an avid garage sale-er. We actually met at one garage sale and she said she would let me know if she found a bike. Well, a few minutes later, I got THE call. She was just down the road from the sale we were at and had found a bike for FIVE DOLLARS!! It's in great shape and the perfect size. Drake has been having a blast riding it and he has only a few more scrapes and scratches. The bike riding season has just begun so I'm sure there are lots more ouchies to come! (I'm having a hard time uploading a picture, so that will have to come later!)

Boy Bonding Time

Saturday the boys headed out for a little bonding time. This was Drake's first time fishing. He had a good time even though he didn't catch anything. They got to fish with the fishing pro, Bart who caught lots of fish. They're hoping to head out on the boat the next time, when the boys have proper life jackets to wear.

It's a beautiful thing.

Due to some fabulous friends giving us the beautiful piece of equipment, we have a new addition to our family. It is something that has already proved to be HOURS of fun, entertainment and exercise! We got it set up on Thursday afternoon and it has been (nearly) all fun since then. The kids have had a blast and we have too! Kara, Bart and the kids got in Thursday night and Friday morning that was one of the first things the kids asked to do.

Another week down...

Well, I'm glad this week is over. It was a rough one around here. Drake had a tough week but today seemed much better, so hopefully whatever phase we were going through this week has passed. To highlight a few positives from the week...

Here is Hadley learning to "drive" while we were watching Drake's baseball practice from the warmth of the van.




Here is Drake riding with NO training wheels!! Weeks ago, Drake decided he wanted the training wheels off of his bike, however was very frustrated that he couldn't just get on and ride it. So, most practice sessions didn't last long because he couldn't understand why he couldn't just do it. His bike has been sitting, un-ridden for the last couple of weeks because he didn't want to try since he didn't know how. Well, Friday morning he told me that he had a dream that he could ride his bike without training wheels, so he wanted to go try it again. I said he could practice in the driveway. I was standing inside the house watching out the front door and to my amazement, he did it! So then, of course, Gabe and I both ran outside to see how he just figured it out on his own. Apparently it just clicked! He got to the point after an hour or so that he can ride down the driveway, and down the sidewalk about two houses down without stopping. He is so proud of himself! I'm hoping tonight he dreams about how he will never throw a fit again, and maybe just maybe it will come true too! :)

Happy Easter!

Since Gabe had a very early morning at the church this morning, we waited until after church to take part in Easter festivities at our house. As soon as Gabe got home, Grammy, Uncle Chad, Uncle Eric, Sarah, the kids and I had the food ready and were ready to eat. So, after devouring some scrumptious food, we headed outside for a quick egg hunt. Hadley got to find the purple and pink eggs and Drake found the green and blue eggs. One special egg held a special treat- the one with the red hershey kiss would win a special prize. Drake won the special prize and he was OH SOO excited! He has been begging for a new scooter for weeks, probably months. He decided he had outgrown his toddler three wheeled scooter and was ready for a big-kid two wheeled scooter. Here is his face when he realized what the special prize was:
This was followed by lots of jumping up and down and squealing lots of words we couldn't understand! They also each got a bag with some goodies in it and of course some candy. Right now they are all laying down- either napping or in a sugar-induced coma, not sure which. Here is our new family, with the scooter now being a part of it.

And it begins...

Drake had a big week this week, he started his first ever baseball league. Thursday night we met the team, ordered shirts, and heard the rules and today was his first practice. He did really well-listened to the coach, did what he was asked and ran like the wind. (He's the one with the navy blue hood on.)

I know our life is about to get much busier than it has been over the last 8 months. The move last August really allowed us to slow down our pace of life and it has been GREAT. (Although, there are still lots of Mattoon people I dearly miss!) I don't know that I would ever want to go back to the pace of life we once tried to keep up with before. I have learned to enjoy the little things much more since slowing down. And while baseball does put more dates on our calendar, I'm hoping it will be a great learning experience for Drake and make some great memories.

Celebrating

We spent some time with friends tonight and let the kids start celebrating Easter a little early. After pizza all around, the kids made Resurrection Rolls and while I think they did understand the concept, after they came out of the oven, they said "Jesus melted". Hope they don't tell their teacher that on Sunday morning at church!

After the roll making, the kids also decorated eggs. All in all, it was a great night- our kids got to have a great night having fun with their friends and Gabe and I got to have fun hanging out with our friends!

Artists

Today, we took full advantage of Gabe's day off! We started off the morning with a late breakfast at the ever-classy Denny's (per Drake's request for the alien pancakes!). Then, we made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up a few supplies for our next project of the day. After that, we headed home to start an art project. The kids suited up while Gabe and I got the supplies ready. Since we had recently painted our living room, we wanted to have the kids help with the new decor. So, here are a few shots of their progress and then the finished project. (We did steal some of the ideas for the art project from an episode of this show. :)