The Big Day

The day started early with hair appointments for all the ladies, followed by make-up, pictures, eating and then the big ceremony! I won't mention that someone forgot to take her brother's ring to the stage, uhem, and then her sister bailed her out and handed her the ring during the ceremony. (thanks for covering my rear, Kara!) Other than that little glitch, the day was beautiful! The weather was perfect, the couple was lovely, the kids were well-behaved, and the laughter was plenty. What more could you ask for?! It made me get a little sentimental and feel a little sappy that Gabe and I are coming up on 8 years of marriage. Wow, I can't believe it and yet, since we started dating nearly 13 years ago, it is hard to remember our lives not together. I sure do love him more each year and am so thankful for our life together. ( A big thanks to Nana and Papa for helping out with the kids Friday night and Saturday morning too so that we could take part in all of the pre-wedding festivities while the kids got to have a fun time too!)

Seriously Crazy.

For some unknown reason, Hadley learned how to cross her eyes. It's a little creepy. She does it at the most opportune moments, just to get a laugh. What a goof! I tried and tried to catch the best picture, but couldn't get it to snap at the best moment, so here's a close shot...

Celebrating 5 years!

We spent most of the day celebrating Drake today. This week has been super busy with VBX every night at church, getting ready for Uncle Eric and Sarah's wedding this weekend and Aunt Kara, Zane and Annabeth have been here all week. The kids have been having a good time playing together with less arguments than in the past. By golly, I think they're growing up! So, today started off with Grammy making Drake his favorite breakfast- Cherry Cheese Ring. Followed by lots of playing outside. After lunch, he had time for a short rest before the birthday guests started arriving. From 1-3, we had a slightly chaotic birthday party including some time on the slip-n-slide, trampoline jumping, pinanta breaking, cupcake eating, water balloon tossing and of course present opening. I think Drake really enjoyed having a day all his own with lots of friends and fun. Of course, the night capped off with VBX, where all 450+ kids sang Happy Birthday! I can't believe my little guy is FIVE already. Seems not so long ago we were spending evenings bouncing him to keep him from wailing. Several times today Gabe and I said, five sounds so much older than four! Four seems like still just in the late toddler stage. Five is school-age. Wow!

Project Time

Aunt Kara, Zane and Annabeth are here all week visiting as we await the upcoming wedding of Uncle Eric and Sarah. Kara brought a fun project for the kids to do. First, they picked some pine cones from the back yard, slathered them in peanut butter and the rolled them in bird seed. Once they were done, they each wanted to hang their own on the tree. I think the birds were very happy with their project today.

Talker

Driving home from Lincoln today, this is what I hear:

(Drake's heavy breathing as he falls asleep as soon as we're on the interstate)
Hadley: Mommy, want popcorn?
Me: Sure.
Hadley: Okay, catch.(throwing motion to the front seat)
Me. Thanks
Hadley: More popcorn?
Me: No thanks.
Hadley: Okay, feed cows popcorn. (throwing motion out the window)
Hadley: constant talking and talking talking....(to the cows, about the popcorn, stirring the popcorn, etc, etc...)
Hadley: MOMMY, HEAR ME??
Me: Yes, I hear you.
Hadley: More, talking, talking, talking...
Hadley: MOMMY, HEAR ME??
Me: Yes, Hadley, I can hear you.
Hadley: More popcorn?
Me: Sure, I'll take more popcorn. Can I have a latte too?
Hadley: No, no latte. More popcorn.
I think this conversation repeated itself about 20 times over the 45 minute drive...
(Meanwhile Drake sleeps like a rock the whole trip home while jabbermouth talked the WHOLE way home, and not just talked, but had to make sure I was listening to everything she was saying.)

Happy Birthday America

What an unusually cool 4th of July- and rainy! We did manage to make it to a parade between bouts of rain where the kids, of course, loved watching for all the people throwing out candy and trinkets that get thrown away when you get home. After the parade we had a potluck cookout with some friends and then headed home for some sparklers between sprinkles. We decided to skip out on fireworks this year since it was on a Saturday night and late night + church the next morning don't make for a friendly combination for the kids.

Happy Birthday soon-to-be Aunt Sarah!

We celebrated with buy one, get one free concrete mixers at Culver's, yum!

Out at the Ranch

We have some friends of friends who own a really cool place just outside of town. It is called Refuge Ranch. They have a really neat ministry. Well, on an unusually cool day for July, we headed out to the ranch with several other moms and kids to visit and let the kids have a ranch experience. The kids all got to feed the goats, pig, sheep and donkey while the grown-ups got to just visit. Then, they each got a chance to ride one small horse and one big horse. Drake loved it and his face just lit up when he got on to ride. Hadley, who seems to be much more timid around animals, surprised me and also loved it. She rode the small horse first and then also wanted a turn on the big horse. They had a great time and can't wait to go back again!

Sorry about the bumpiness of the video at the end- I was holding Hadley while taping and she was trying to get down!

That's a Wrap

Drake played in his last baseball game for this season this week. It was quite a season! Watching a bunch of 4-5-6 year olds try to learn to play the game is quite entertaining. I will say, this last game did show a BIG improvement from the first game (when the kids mostly just played in the dirt). Tonight most of them seemed to be following the game and learning the plays. Drake's hitting ability has definitely grown this season. Here's a clip from tonight's game.

Hadley doesn't really show much interest in baseball and most of her time at the games was spent doing other things, like blowing dandelions, playing with make-up, coloring or being silly with Papa.