Slime!

Today we made slime. It was a very simple, fun project. The boys were really excited about it, and got a lot of enjoyment from the finished product.

Here's Logan dumping the glue into a bowl.

I've said it before, but there's my Cole-Boy; never a serious expression on that cute face!
Trevor is pouring the glue into the borax.

Logan was so careful and didn't spill a drop!

Here's what it started out like.

And finally the boys got to play! It may have taken us 5 minutes to make slime.

Trevor's getting the most enjoyment out of his slime!

Brooke

For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of our little princess.

(Mother's Day)

This pretty dress and hat were from Aunt Cindy. I just love how cute Brooke makes that outfit! :)

My Graduate

A couple of weeks ago Cole and I finished up his kindergarten work for the school year. I was so excited and texted a bunch of you that we had finished. What an accomplishment!

Last night we made it official. Cole graduated from kindergarten in a nice little service at our church. I am so proud of him, and I am also happy with myself for being able to successfully teach him to read. It has been a rewarding year.

Dad called him up to get his diploma.

Here he is, checking out his framed dimploma.

There were other awards handed out to the rest of the school children in our church. There were awards for the most Paces completed, highest grade point average, and Bible memory. Trevor picked up a couple of awards last night.

Of course you can't have a graduation without going to celebrate! We went to Ritchey's dairy here in town for some ice cream. Cole was very excited about that. This morning he was hoping to be able to go to school with Trevor and Dad! He wasn't too excited that he'd have to play all summer long before school starts. He's one happy first grader!

And Brooke was one happy baby, helping Cole celebrate!

Tent Revival

Monday afternoon we travelled to Butler, PA to attend a tent revival. One of our former pastors, Brother Jack Schaap was preaching and the Committed Quartet was singing. We had an uneventful trip there, as you can see in these photos.

We got there a bit early and David went to save us some seats. We left to grab a quick bite to eat. On our way back to the tent our van started acting up. We were getting quite worried, and hoped she was gonna be okay.

After the service we were able to get a family photo with Brother Schaap. He shook our hands, hugged David, and signed the kids' Bibles. It was nice to see him and talk to him again. He said we have a beautiful family, and I heartily agree with him! :)

Now the bad news! We were going to leave and the van decided she didn't want to go anywhere. It seemed to us like a transmission problem. The people at this church were so gracious to us. One couple offered for us to stay in their home. Another family gave us some cash. The pastor let us push our van out of the way and then put our family up at a local hotel. The church paid for the hotel for us. It looked like we weren't going to be going anywhere that night. We were stuck!

One of the good things about this trip is that we got to see my brother-in-law and his wife Amber. They drove from Cleveland to hear the preaching and to see us as well. Uncle John bent over to pick something up off the floor of our hotel, and Cole jumped right on his back!

I love this one of Brooke. She was tired, but that little grin was so cute!

Here are the brothers with our clan. I looked at that picture and thought to myself, "That's a lot of kids!" Then I looked at the photo again and realized that all of those kids were mine! I am blessed.

Brooke got to be with Aunt Amber also. We were able to talk to them, eat with them and spend some time together before they headed back home for the night.

The next morning my husband was on the phone making calls. Our insurance company towed the van for us to a mechanic shop. The dreaded diagnosis came: transmission! David called our pastor and he and his wife brought the church van to come and pick us up. Praise the Lord that was another uneventful ride home!

Friday or Saturday David will head back to Butler to tow our van home. He'll get to test out his truck to see how much power it really has! Even though we thought we would go on a quick trip, the Lord had other ideas. I'm still not sure why God allowed our van to break down, but as I look back, I can see His protection on our family while we were away from home. We could've broken down in the mountains coming home. We wouldn't have had any friends or family to help us there. We would've been really stranded then. As it worked out, we slept in our church clothes in a hotel that we didn't have to pay for. That's not SO terrible. The kids thought it was a great adventure, and God knew just how to take care of us.

God is good, all the time!

Rhodies

Around here rhododendrons are quite popular. We went on a road trip Monday and I could not believe how big the rhodies were on that side of the state! This one especially caught our eye. It's almost as big as the house, and it does cover one whole side of the home! It was amazing! I had to take these photos for my mom. I knew she'd be impressed.

It was Logan's birthday May 17. He turned 4. For a couple of weeks he had been asking me when it would finally be his birthday. One day he said, "Mom? When am I gonna be 4? I Just. Can't. Wait!" Too funny!

In the morning Logan got to open two presents before Dad left for school. I picked good ones that would keep him busy during the day.

After school Dad and Trevor came home and he got to finish opening gifts. I think his big brothers were just as excited as Logan was. They couldn't wait for him to get to open his presents.

We just stayed at home that evening and played games and watched Tom & Jerry. Later on we had cake and ice cream. (Always my favorite part of any birthday!)

Isn't the cake cute? I made it myself. I was quite happy with the way it turned out, and Logan was thrilled to have a football cake.

Popcorn

This hail was bouncing around our yard like kernels of corn being popped. It was so much fun to watch.

Hail!

Friday afternoon we had a big hail storm. It was amazing! I shouted for the boys to come and see. We couldn't believe how big those pieces of hail were. It was pretty exciting for us. I don't believe I've ever seen hail that big before. We sat on the porch and watched, thankful to be under cover!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's day to you! Even if you're not a mom, you still have a reason to celebrate. In His own wisdom, God gave each of us a mother. Have you hugged your mom today?

I admit that at this time of year I always get a little bit sad. For most of my married life I have lived far away from my mom. Each year our churches would have Mother-Daughter banquets, and I would be depressed. I couldn't bring my mom to our banquet; she lived a couple of thousand miles away! I would go alone.

When we did live near my mom for three years, we made it a point to go to her house for the Mother's day weekend. I am so glad that we took advantage of the nearness and did that each year. Even though Mom didn't make it to our banquet this year, I am thankful that Mom was able to spend some time with us last month. I love you, Mom!
Last year I was again far away from my mom during this time of year, and sure enough. . . our church was hosting a banquet for mothers and daughters. A friend of mine invited me to join her at the banquet as her sister. She even bought my ticket for me. It was nice to go, but I still missed my own mom.

I started thinking ahead to the years when I would soon be able to bring my own daughter to a banquet like this. Brooke was on the way, but she was still in my tummy. Technically I "brought" Brooke to the banquet last year, but I didn't have the fun of choosing what she would wear or holding her!

This year another sweet lady in our church invited me to be her guest at the banquet. Her own daughter and granddaughters could not come and she wanted me to be her daughter. I was honored. Nancy loves my little Brooke and she and I have become good friends.

At our banquets each person has their name drawn from a basket. The ladies could choose a centerpiece or knick-knack to take home, and the girls were able to choose a doll. It was so fun hearing them call my own daughter's name! I went to the table with Brooke and we chose the smallest porcelain doll for Brooke. Isn't it pretty? You should have seen Brooke smile when we walked away from that table. It was almost as if she knew that pretty doll was just for her.

I hope you enjoy your weekend. Don't forget to spend some time to honor your mom!

Little Rascals

Here are the boys, playing in the alfalfa.

Brooke wasn't too keen on this idea. Dad plopped her in there with the boys, but she didn't like it too much.