April 2012

April 1- church, stayed home w/ kinsey who didn't feel good, lazy day, attempted braden's lego chocolates, kiddos spent the day outside soaking up sunshine, awana, subway for dinner then brian took kiddos to the park for playtime until dark.

April 2- piano, kinsey's school, easter egg hunt at the nursing home, cfa with everyone for lunch, school, kiddos spent the evening playing outside, cailey got a stomach ache and was out for the evening:(, read tons of books:)!

April 3- school with kinsey, review with braden since cailey was sick, played a fun game of catch with ephram, went on a very short walk and played outside with kinsey and ephram, read a cute story in AWESOME cursive handwriting written by braden, went to mcalisters and to see October Baby with leslie for a much needed girls night out, and came home to the biggest girl still awake/feeling better/and had a nice talk with her.

April 4- cailey caught up on some school since she was sick, school with kinsey, ephram painted both watercolor and regular, three youngest did an Easter craft and painted, helped cailey pack for her overnight with AHG to Blue Jay Point, dropped off Cailey, got lost, played more with the youngest three, and LOVED to hear kinsey say (as it was pouring outside and I was worried about cailey getting wet), "don't worry mommy. i'm sure she's in her cabbage (cabin) now:)" and i did NOT correct her:).

April 5- GI doc, dropped braden off at reece's for the day, played with kinsey and ephram, polished toenails for all the females in the house:), picked up cailey girl from Blue Jay point, listened to all the fun things she did, listened to all the fun braden had at Reece's, unpacked cailey...then we all packed for MD.

April 6- Happy Birthday to my Braden boy!, school with kinsey, lots of games and playing together, Cailey was sick, lots of singing to him, crafts with the youngest three all afternoon with some games thrown in, made resurrection rolls together and LOVED to see their amazement, and drove to MD.

April 7- helped mom make pancakes, kiddos played with cousins all morning, hung out with matt and leigh until lunch, went as a fam to an Easter egg hunt, tons of games played/inflatables jumped on/pizza eaten, eggs gotten, lots of outside play in the GORGEOUS sunshine, played games with Kinsey, mom played games with ephram and braden, and hung out with mom at night filling Easter eggs and baskets.

April 8- Easter Day!!, kiddos hunted for and found their baskets, watched them hunt for eggs hidden by poppy, hung out together all day, lots of outside time, brian played a hot/cold game with them in the yard, helped dad with his boxes/etsy, ate a yummy dinner prepared by mom, and traveled home.

April 9- school, gymnastics, writing class, played outside with ephram, kiddos played outside, NICE day, played games with ephram and cailey, made a dessert with cailey, braden got to play tennis with scouts while brian was on the playground with the others.

April 10- school, kiddos got play time and finished their work early:)! YAY!, played games with ephram, cailey got sick at the end of the day again:(, finally found a new great recipe on pinterest that everyone loved (crockpot chicken cordon bleu), made cherry salad and roasted sweet potatoes with kinsey's help, lots of playing outside, did chalk with ephram, packed for laura's, and found out that she's too sick for us to come:(.

April 11- didn't get to go to Laura's b/c she was sick:(, school, took Cailey to the dr., got her a milkshake from cfa for her throat:), TONS of free time for the kiddos, too many movies for cailey, lots of playing together, legos, hung out with braden, played games, lots of outside time in the COOL weather, and enjoyed being together.

April 12- went to the Corbett's for the day where the kiddos played outside the whole time with tadpoles, chickens, went fishing, found toads and frogs, snacked a lot:), and just got to be kids while Laura and I got to catch up, played outside w/ the kiddos, jumped on the trampoline together, did some review, then cailey started getting chills and was sick again:(.

April 13- watched alex, cailey was sick all day and watched 8 Little House on the Prairie episodes!, baked/decorated/party prepped lego things ALL day long when I wasn't helping Cailey, Kinsey went on a field trip with AHG and to soccer practice, loved how well kinsey and ephram played together 'away' from cailey, and sent them with brian to the playground for a while.

April 14- kinsey and cailey's soccer games, swimming lessons for kinsey and braden, caught up with kelly during swimming, prepped things for the party with braden and kinsey:), kiddos helped clean up the house, cailey and brian ran errands together, kinsey went out to dinner and to a sleepover with caroline, cailey went to a sleepover at the Morgan's, had braden's super fun lego party with his buds, and LOVED watching how all the boys included ephram in everything.

April 15- woke up early to the sound of little boys' voices, made lego bananas and waffles, kids played outside on the trampoline, church, lunch out with the klick's and papa's, walked around the mall with the fam, cleaned the house together, brought the morgan's some goodies with braden, got the kids a big ice cream surprise from dairy queen, cailey played in the sprinkler at the morgan's, was SO happy to have my girls back home, early choir, awana, choir (with some playground time at bayleaf in between), and went to Journey for the connect party with the williams.

April 16- piano lessons, school, cleaned under girls MESSY beds, gymnastics for kinsey and braden while i stayed home and played with carter and ephram, lots of coloring and manipulatives, played outside with ephram, writing class for cailey, and late bedtimes.

April 17- school, cleaned girls MESSY closet, games with ephram, went on a bike ride, did a coupon run to HT, cleaned the garage, played piano with kinsey, brian did History with big kids, and enjoyed a cool evening after a hot day.

April 18- great school day...early finish, story time w/ manipulatives with kiddos, no nap for e, kids spent the afternoon outside PLAYING/looking for bugs/riding bikes/doing chalk/bubbles, etc, played games, had a nerf war and dance to star wars and William Tell Overture, and kiddos voted on (and watched) Star Wars for a family movie night.

April 19- another great school day, tons of playing outside and playing games together, cleaned, read lots to ephram, baked with braden, had the morgan's over for dinner, lots of laughing/shooting/talking/kiddos playing/stair races, and had so much fun we planned it again in two nights!

April 20- watched alex, field day, klick's over for lunch and play, caroline stayed for a playdate, caught up with cheryl, took braden to braeden's party, ran errands, went to kelly's shower, brian took kiddos to soccer practice and to see papa's new puppy, came home late to make pudding and bake a cake:).

April 21- picked strawberries, cailey's soccer game, swimming lessons, lunch out with kelly, washed/cut tons of berries, baked, made kabobs with kinsey and braden, kiddos played outside, had a SUPER fun night of laughing and cards with the morgan's while the kiddos played outside in the dark/games/etc.

April 22- day of rest:), games, church, choir, awana, making grand prix cars with brian, ephram got some great mommy and daddy play time while the other kiddos were at choir, and rested:).

April 23- piano, cold/rainy day, school, gymnastics, took cailey to writing class and hung out at McD's with the boys during it, made a cake with braden, kinsey had a playdate with caroline for the day, found out james d was missing:(, very burdened to pray, went to CFA for customer appreciation dinner, went to scout cake bake and the kiddos played tons of games, prayed for james, packed for china grove.

April 24- woke up with a sick ephram so brian decided to work from home and stay with him, went to laura's, James was found, almost ran over a coyote, kiddos played all day while i caught up with laura, lots of outside play in the COOL air, watched downton abby with laura, and did lots of laughing!

April 25- said goodbye to welch's, picked ephram up from brian's work, school, lazy playful afternoon, went to small group for the first time where the kids had a BLAST playing and we met some new friends, and had a BIG thunderstorm at night so woke up with the oldest and the youngest in the bed.

April 26- school, baked, cleaned, played, snuggled, listened to cailey practice Beauty and the Beast on piano for over an hour hoping to master the first two pages, played math games with kinsey, read a ton to ephram, picked up some new books for the kiddos, and they did History with Brian.

**want to remember how encouraging ephram is daily telling me, "Mommy you are the goodest cook ever" or "Mommy you are so pretty" or "Mommy you are my BEST friend!" and always saying, "I need a mommy hug!"

He also said, "Mommy, I know how to snuggle.  First you do nosies, then you do kissies, then you do BIG squeezies and hugs."**

April 27- school, karen and her kiddos came over for a quick play date before they had to fly out, ran errands, AHG, bought things from Storybook Safari which is closed now:(, went to soccer practice with the kiddos, playground time, brian and braden went to the CFA campout, went to CFA for ice cream for the other kiddos and said hello to the big boys, other three helped me bake strawberry bread until really late, and had a blast hanging out together.

April 28- heard about the campout from braden, spent 3 hours watching soccer games starting at 8am, braden and kinsey had swimming lessons, got dinner going, kiddos played all afternoon and ephram helped me cook, morgan's came over for another fun night of dinner and cards:)!

April 29- church, picnic with the fam on the front lawn, played outside with the kiddos, lazy day, kids played outside all day, watched their grand prix at awana, took ephram to winston's and hung out while the boys played and big kids were at choir.

April 30- school, met molly and kelly at the Y to walk, klick's came over for lunch then gymnastics, kinsey went home with caroline for a playdate, boys played at McD's while i took cailey to writing, listened to lots of beauty and the beast on the piano, no scouts, pizza night:), and brian did a great History lesson

**want to remember how ephram always says, "you are my BEST friend Mommy" or "you are my best mommy"...always encouraging!

just cuz'

One Sunday after church we went out to the mall to eat with friends then did a little shopping together. On the way out DQ was having a BOGO sale on yummy sundaes and each of the kids picked one out. They were BEYOND thrilled and wanted me to take a picture of their blue mouths:). I love these sweet kiddos and doing things just cuz'....that excite them so!

another floor sleeper

All of our Asian children have gone through phases of sleeping on the floor either in their rooms or in the hall outside our door. When we just had Braden and he did it ALL the time I would always wonder if it was because he slept on the floor as a baby...then Kinsey did it too. Well Ephram has now joined his siblings and we've found him on the floor several times, using his dog as a pillow. I'm not sure if he wants to be closer to me (as this was right outside my door) or if it's just more comfortable to him but he was so precious I just had to document that indeed ALL of my Asians have gone through this phase. (One that Cailey never did...)

Family Fun Night!

Since my computer and blog are freaking out not posting or randomly shutting down my longer blogs about field day, strawberry picking, and other fun things we've been up to will have to wait. Thankfully I can still do shorter posts with only a few pictures like this one...nothing fancy but definitely a glimpse into our nightly routine and lives. This was just an ordinary night where we had no place to go and nothing to do...which meant perfection. After playing outside as a family (and eating dinner, of course) we had a nerf gun war then settled in for a game night...turned movie night. The kids picked Star Wars (Episode I) and loved every second of it...as did their daddy:). Love my family and the precious time we get to spend together. I know that all too soon the clock will strike midnight and cherish our family nights of everyone WANTING to be together.

My guys

Love these guys!!

South Korea Project

Cailey had her first "project" outside of homeschooling for the writing class she's been taking this year. They had to choose a country, research it, and write a 5 paragraph paper on it including certain facts. Afterwards they had to make a project board and present it for their class.

I definitely talked her in to researching South Korea because I thought it would be great for her and all of the other kiddos to learn more about the country where 3/4 of them were born. Turns out Cailey was fascinated by a lot of the customs...and was teaching her siblings about them in a funny way. As in, "Kinsey and Braden..."Did YOU know you'd be eating ROTTEN CABBAGE aka kimchi up to three times a day?" I could go on and on...she loved this project!

I also wanted her to pick Korea because we have lots of fun things that she was able to put on her poster and show the other kids...including the hanbok she wore. She wrote down key points on note cards and did a great job on her presentation (which we were able to go watch:).



Cailey and Emilee go to class together every week. So proud of you, my Cailey girl!

After her presentation I told her that I was so proud of her and that I NEVER could have done that as a kid. She is so great about getting up in front of people without being nervous and just shines in the spotlight! Great job, lovey!

This is her paper:

     The republic of Korea, commonly known as South Korea, has a population of 48,757,657.  South Korea is a peninsula slightly larger than Indiana and it's only border is North Korea. It has four seasons, spring and fall are the shortest. Summer is hot and humid with a monsoon season from id July to mid August where it receives half of it's annual ralinfall. Winter is cold and has a lot os snow which is similar to Connecticut.
   
     Most Koreans live in high rise apartment buildings with two or three bedrooms. Eighty-two percent of the people live in cities, Seoul being the largest. In just one generation South Korea went from poverty to prosperity, with most families being part of the middle class. Most Koreans wear modern western style clothes. They only wear traditional colorful hanboks on holidays or special occasions.

     South Koreans eat three meals a day, using metal chopsticks and spoons to eat with.  They pass food and pour drinks with right hand only (which is hard for people who are left handed!)  Korean food is usually spicy with rice and kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage) being eaten at every meal. 

April Crafts

Cailey taught Ephram how to do crayon resist with his name

I save up toilet paper rolls and saw this cute idea to make flower Easter eggs...these
three are the main craft lovers in the family and LOVED this idea!

Braden and Kinsey made these GORGEOUS crosses using watercolors and special crayons. We all loved how they turned out and looked like light was shining around them.

There was lots of free painting and chalk (as usual) and the youngest two
did resurrection sticker scenes.

China Grove trip!

Laura was SO sick when we were originally supposed to go see them so we waited a couple weeks and tried again. Unfortunately Ephram got sick the night before and we were going to have to cancel but Brian offered to work from home so we could still go and we were all BEYOND thankful!! The weather was perfect for playing outside and that's what they spent the day doing while Laura and I caught up:).

LOVE these kiddos!! Just wish the 8th one was there:(.

awana theme nights...and grand prix

sports night...they came up with their own outfits

as usual:)

pajama night! poor cailey felt terrible and ended up not being
able to go but she wanted a picture of her outfit too:)

many layered night! they were talking about Joseph and his
colorful coat...braden put on the most and looked very silly:)!

Crazy hat night: Cailey worked on her hat for DAYS before and was very excited about it. She helped ephram make one and Kinsey worked hard making hers too. Braden decided on a crazy wig because he ran out of time. Both Cailey and Kinsey won for their groups!

This was the night of the Awana Grand Prix...something that they didn't have at PBC awana. They kids had a blast making their cars and watching them race against the other ones. None of ours won overall for speed but they all still had a great time!!

They've also done inside out night....and a few others but I didn't take pics of those. They have loved Awana at Mt. Vernon which is coming to a close soon. Both the girls earned American Girl Doll's for all their hard work and Braden earned an IPOD and a LEGO gift card.

"those kids"

When our kids were younger Kelly and I were both always frustrated when older kids would be on the playground equipment or in the play place clearly meant for toddlers. As we were eating lunch at the mall we turned and saw that we now had "those kids". Thankfully mine are short enough to still play at CFA and other places but this was a little much:)! Hilarious!

Friday after field day

The Klick's came over and we traded kiddos for playdates after field day. Caroline stayed with me and Braden went home with them. We all had a great time playing outside..then Cheryl came to hang out before picking up Ashton too.

Love seeing these three boys together:)!

Cailey asked Cheryl to play soccer and she joined right in and did awesome!

Look who has been trying out the roller blades! She's great at it, too:)!

Braden's birthday date

Braden wanted to eat Chinese food from the mall for his date so we went out while the Morgan's watched the others and loved spending time with our guy! He also wanted to go to the bookstore and choose some new books to read. Afterwards (after debating for a while between cinnabon, ice cream, etc.) he decided he wanted chocolates for dessert from the Rocky Mountain Candy Store. He's always been my chocolate loving boy!! We had a GREAT time focusing on only him and just talking...and not rushing. We love you SO much, Braden!!

Field day

We had PERFECT weather for field day this year. I was helping out with the older girls so I was able to run around and take pictures between writing down times and scores. There was hula hopping, long jump, sponge/water relay, 50 yd dash, softball throw, three legged race, jump roping, bean bag toss, and balloon pop relay.

The little boys spent their time blowing bubbles, playing a few 'yard' games, and playing on the playground. I was able to catch a quick picture of Ephram, Carter, and Alex without them seeing me:).





long jump and Cailey with some of the girls in her group: Jinah, Ashley, and Kiley

Caroline was with the younger kids but was so excited to be able to be with kinsey's group next year...except they'll be in Texas:(.

Afterwards the Klick's came over for lunch, playdates, and lots of fun:)!