Father's Day

We spent Father's Day with my parents in Ft. Thomas. We were exhausted from our jam-packed weekend, but we had a great time. On Sat. morning we went to the natural history museum in Cincinnati, this is a great museum if anyone is ever there visiting. Our 4 year old did not feel very good, so it was a little much for him, but everyone else loved it. A quote from Noah, "Mommy, there were too many bones."

After lunch and a quick nap, we went to the pool, a great way to spend a hot afternoon.

Sunday after church we headed to a great lunch and then to a local firehouse. One of my dad's best friends is a Fire Chief at a local firestation. He graciously let us bring the kids to check out the trucks and other equipment along with the station. Thank you Chuck!!! He even let the kids pull the cord for the air horn on the ladder truck, it scared them all, but they quickly recovered.

This week has been full of Vacation Bible School. We have had a great time on the Boomerang Express, but it has been tiring since the kids have not been in bed before 9:30 each night. I even branched out of my comfort zone this year and helped teach the 1st graders (I'm more comfortable with the littler kids) It has been a great week. How was your week?

Dinner?

I took this video on Tuesday night at dinner. At first Riley was pretending to be asleep, but it quickly turned into the real thing. Enjoy, we did!!!!!!

Pictures

Here are a few random pictures of the kids.

Teaching Me

You know those moments when somebody says something that makes you stop and think? I had one of those last week. We were playing with sidewalk chalk outside and having a great time. The kids were having a great time drawing things only their own imagination could recognize. Noah came to me and asked me to draw a heart for him, "his heart". I readily complied and drew his heart, when I was finished Noah promptly asked me to draw God. Not understanding what we was asking I sat there for a moment before asking him what he meant.

His answer, "Mommy, I need you to draw God in my heart because that is where He lives." His simple request left me speechless and gave me a lot of think about. You see, when Noah asked me to draw his heart I had been doodling hearts on the sidewalk; empty hearts and yet my 4-year-old immediately wanted his heart filled, not with other drawings, not with his name, but with God.

I'm no artist and wasn't sure at first how to fulfill his request so we settle on me writing GOD inside his heart.

Company Girl Coffee 5/29

Good morning everyone. Come on in and grab something to drink and eat, you're welcome to anything you can find.

It has been another busy week here, although more relaxed than last week. We have continued with swimming lessons for the kids and a couple of mornings spent in the pool. Since school is out we have also enjoyed sleeping in a couple of days, although sleeping in around here means 7 am. (such is life with 3 preschoolers).

Last weekend my church hosted a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. This is the 6th year for this event and it has become a huge ministry in our community. Along with the tournament we have an area, called the Family Fun Zone, filled with inflatable bounce houses (we called them Moonwalks growing up), a climbing wall, snacks, and other activities for the kids. Due to severe storms this year the Family Fun Zone was rescheduled for this past Wed. night. We had a great time and had a special treat this year with the Predators (Nashville's hockey team) came out for the event. I'll admit I'm not much of a hockey fan, but it was fun for the kids to get to play hockey with Coach Trotz, Forward Vernon Fiddler, and the assistant coach.

My crew with some of the Predators


This is one of my middle child on the climbing wall. For those who don't know us, he is 3 and yes I'm frightened of what our future holds.






I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It's supposed to be nice here this weekend, YEAH!!!!!
Our first weekend without rain in months (hopefully)

Strawberries

Did you know that May is the time to pick strawberries? At least it is in TN. We love fresh fruit, the kids would rather eat fruit than anything else you could offer them. At our house fruit is considered desert, because it can not be put out as an option with a meal or they will not eat anything else on their plates.

Jared's cousin has a big strawberry patch and since the kids love strawberries so much we decided to go pick some strawberries. While Jared and I picked most of the berries, the kids enjoyed eating the berries as we went. By the time we were finished we had 25 quarts of strawberries. Ever wonder what that many berries looks like......



and this picture is missing half of a 5 gallon bucket full and the 6 quarts we had already frozen. With the remaining we made several pints and half-pints of jam and preserves. We also kept a couple of quarts to eat fresh over a couple of days. It was a great experience and we know have enough jam to last us most of the rest of the year.

Now we are waiting on our peaches to be ready and then we will start the whole process over.

Busy month and Company Girl Coffee

Hey everyone. It has been a very busy month at our house and while I'm happy that summer is here, I'm even happier that we are going to get a break from our hectic schedule.

The boys are officially out of "school" for the summer. Yesterday was their last day of preschool and they are ready for the summer, especially going to the swimming pool, playing at the park, and returning to the zoo. (we boycott the zoo during the months of April and May due to so many field-trips you can't see the animals for all of the thousands of kids)

Everyone is currently taking swimming lessons and they are loving it. Riley was so upset about not being old enough to take lessons with the boys that I was able to get her a few private lessons (there are perks to working at the Y). She loves being in the swimming pool and thinks she is one of the big kids. She is doing a really good job and shows no fear (I think we are in trouble)

Here is a picture of her swimming....




and a picture of the boys....