MEMORIAL WEEKEND!!!!!

Emily arrived on Thursday, Betsey & Micah arrived on Saturday to spend the weekend with us. It IS great to have our children here with us. We missed Luke's family and Erin's family.

Friday, Emily, Elyse & I went to IKEA. We didn't spend much money (a good thing from the husband's point of view), but we had a good time looking. About halfway through the first floor, Elyse was ready to go home. She was a little bored.

At 5:30, we went to Zachary's baseball game. They won! This is a tournament against the adjoining town, Mundelein.

Saturday afternoon we went to another game. Betsey & Micah were on their way - they only missed the first half hour of the game. Zachary pitched the first two innings. He did a great job at first base as well. He got the three batters out at first - one, two, three - the inning was over. It was great to watch. Not thinking, we didn't put on any sunscreen. We came home pretty sunburned. I had an umbrella to prevent me from getting too much sun. The tops of my feet and my shins are pretty burned. Emily got the worst of it. The good part was that Zachary's team won again.

We decided to have our Memorial picnic on Saturday since everyone that was coming was here and they would be leaving on Monday. It was PERFECT weather. It was about 80 degrees, but there was a good wind and we had a picnic shelter to sit under. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, coleslaw, chips, corn on the cob, fresh pineapple, Vernors and Coke. It was very good. The "old" people enjoyed the weather and chilling, the two kids were bored.

Since you who weren't here, you haven't met Zelda. She is a very good puppy. She knows three tricks already. She doesn't walk or run, she prances. Maybe she is part deer. George was very gentle with her. He was a bit jealous though. Every time Zelda was called, George came. It was kind of funny. He wanted to make sure he was petted just the same as her.

George found his favorite part in our house (where the sun was). He didn't like it when I shut the blinds, I was just trying to prevent my carpet from being bleached.


Two puppies getting along:


George was so nice to share his new bed. He didn't even complain.

A better picture of Zelda's face. She loves to curl up anywhere near a human. Usually in your lap. She weighs about 8 pounds. She is so tiny compared to George.

Betsey & Elyse are making dog biscuits right now. George loved them the last time we made them. Hopefully, Zelda will think the same.


Zachary's team had two games scheduled this morning (Sunday). We don't let him play on Sunday when it is church time. If the games were this afternoon, that would have been o.k. We don't know the outcome of the tournament as yet. I guess we will have to wait until the game on Tuesday.

We had a great morning at church. Several people met Emily and were thankful their prayers were answered. Pastor decided NOT to sing his benediction. I told the kids I would have him sing it in the foyer after church. They told me not to, they didn't want a private concert. He would have done it though, he is just that kind of guy.

It was and is a great day! Betsey & Micah will leave tomorrow after lunch. Emily won't leave until Tuesday. Hope your Memorial Weekend was amazing as ours!

Elyse wants to see who knows there history. Can anyone guess who this is?

FIELD TRIPS!!!!!

Today we went to the Graue Mill and Museum. Our library has free tickets, so we didn't have to pay for anything. It was very interesting. Most of the stuff was behind a rail, so we couldn't touch or play with the things. We took pictures of some of the stuff though.

Wouldn't you love a dining room like this? I would...


Our shower in VH is kind of cruddy, but it is much better than this one:
Elyse got to try on some clothes, she loves dress up. She just finished reading "Little House on the Prairie" and this outfit fits right in.

I wonder what kind of bird made this nest?

Spiders are a little big around here - I guess we are farther in the south than we thought.

Zachary liked the arrow heads. Lawson thought they were teeth.

Elyse made us a cherry pie (brown felt over red pom-poms).

After the tour, we wanted to go to Portillo's for expensive and amazing hotdogs. The GPS directed us to 2001 Spring Rd., but Portillo's wasn't there. We ended up in a fancy McD's instead. While eating our lunch, a lady walked by that looked very familiar. Since we were an hour from home, I didn't think I would know her. When she got her food order, she came back by and said, "I thought I recognized that pink shirt." Elyse had on her PCS Cheerleading t-shirt. The lady was Karen Koonce from PCS. Her daughter was a cheerleader with Elyse last year. Small world, huh?

JADEN'S #1 BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Before the birthday party, Zachary had his third baseball game. Here is the mighty batter.

AND, scoring a run. Zachary's team won, 6-2. It was an awesome game.

Next was a four hour drive to Luke's house for Jaden's birthday party.

Jaden turns ONE on the 29th. Today we celebrated his birthday. Zachary, Elyse & I drove the four hours by ourselves, enjoyed the party and drove the four hours home.

Jaden really dug into his cake.

Ava enjoying one of Jaden's presents.

It was good to see the Liabenow family. The kids seemed to have a great time!

PITCHING!!!!!

The greatest pitcher on earth...

First game of the season, the A's win 16-3. Zachary pitched the first two innings (Coach was giving each boy two innings of pitching). Two of the seven innings the A's had to quit - 6 runs in an inning and they move on. If they hadn't, the score would have been 100 - 3.

Zachary's first at bat was a line drive and the guy caught it. Second time up, he walked. Third time up, he hit another line drive, but it went over the second baseman's head and he got on first. Zachary made two of the runs.

I always listen to the spectators opinions of the players (because I don't have a clue what is going on). One guy commented on Zachary's pitching: "Whoa, look how high his leg goes." Another comment: "What a great swing." When Zachary said he was cold, another man said, "Well, there's no meat on those bones, do you want to borrow my sons' coat?" Zachary had a jacket in his duffel bag, but he refuses to wear one during the games - even in the dugout.

Did I mention his high leg?


After the game, we went home to change clothes. We were to meet up with Serena's family to have a picnic and a hike. We stopped at KFC and picked up our "picnic" lunch. The park was too cold to stay too long (we stayed about 1 1/2 hours) then we headed to Serena's house for play time. I drank TWO cups of coffee - you know I am cold when I drink coffee. It was a good day.

Tim went to Karen's wedding in Muskegon. It was good for him to see family and catch up on things. Scott played the pipe organ while Laura accompanied on the piano. Tim LOVED the music.

It was a great day!

THE LATEST PROJECT!!!!!

Luke & Lacey bought Elyse an apron and all kinds of decorating items. Elyse really enjoyed putting it together. The finished project was used many times and got pretty dirty and torn up.

Starting the repairs:

Elyse decided to repair the sewing part. She did a pretty good job.

Now we will have to replace the lettering that has fallen off. I hope we still have the correct letters left over.

If not, it still functions as an apron.

OAKLAND A's!!!!!!

Our handsome baseball player:

First game is this Saturday!

Y'all come!!!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

Mother's Day actually started on Friday, when I received a package from my married girls. There were four blouses in it and they ALL fit (a miracle).

It was a GREAT Mother's Day! Zachary & Elyse made cards for me.

Elyse made a picture. You can't see the outline - it was made out of crushed aluminum foil. Very creative!

Church was awesome. They canceled Children's Church so that the children could sit with their mothers. The sermon was partly for the children anyway. Pastor is going through Ephesians and this week was Chapter 6, "Children, obey your parents."

We had lunch with a friend from church. I picked TGI Fridays. It was VERY good!

My only children left at home!

Thank you to my husband and my six children for making my day amazing!

WE'RE TEACHED AT HOME!!!!!

The teacher asked her class what 2 x 4 equaled.

First child: 359

Second child: Friday

Third child: 8

GREAT, said the teacher to the third child. How did you come up with that?

Third child: Easy, just add 359 to Friday.