April so far...

 Michael and the kids had fun playing in the sleeping bag one afternoon.  Michael was trying to figure out how to stay really warm in it when he goes camping!

 Briggs and I were able to watch baby Bennett one morning.  Briggs loves babies and shared his toys very well!  He loved Bennett's little bumbo seat!  He was stuck!

 Briggs had the stomach bug reeeeallly bad!  It was a solid eleven hours of misery! Thankfully, no one else got it!!  Whew!  Michael was going to go turkey hunting in Oklahoma and the kids and I were going to go spend time with friends in Edmond, Oklahoma but the timing of the bug prevented that from happening!  At this point in my mothering career, these kinds of things are typical and not nearly as disappointing as they were in my first year or two!

 Piper was invited to a kindergarten birthday party at the skating rink!  She was scared to death and may have shed a few tears but after 1.5 hours of watching the other kids, she got out there and loved it.  There is definitely room for improvement on her form!  Ha!

 Briggs was enamored by this Chinese finger trap!

 The Roush girls sent a special birthday delivery to Piper.  The frozen CD and nail polish!  Chandra was in town right after Briggs was sick so we met for lunch!  She and Evelyn were supposed to stay at our house but I did not want to risk them getting ill!

 Michael's 36th birthday was last week!  We didn't get to see him because he had a convention to attend but this was the Happy Birthday text message picture he received that day!  We love him!!

 Piper just learned out to blow a balloon up!

 Daddy is silly!

 And so is this little boy!!

Easter Festivities!

Since we attended church on Saturday for Easter, Sunday was very relaxing!  We had Grandpa & Grandma over for breakfast.  And the rest of the day was spent enjoying family time together.  I dyed eggs with the kids outside.  They both loved it!

 Later in the afternoon, we attended our annual neighborhood egg hunt hosted by the garden club.  It is a little chaotic.  They said "Ready, Set, Go!" and the hunt was over in less than a minute!  Michael stayed with Piper at her age division and I stayed with Briggs.  Piper was nervous and Briggs must have been too because he crossed the start lined and basically dropped his bucket and walked away!  I helped him acquire six eggs maybe!

 The Thursday before Easter, Briggs' school had a little egg hunt and party.  Briggs did not want to hold his basket at first but finally got into the hunting!

 Someone set their baby in their car seat off the the side and Briggs found the baby and started trying to entertain her!  You can kind of see his mischievous smile in this photo.

 And lastly, Grammy & Papa John came for a visit this past week and brought the kids some Easter goodies including bunny ears!!

Happy Easter!

I know one picture would have sufficed but their faces are so different in each picture that I couldn't choose just one!  When Briggs walked into the room where Piper was getting ready he gasped and said, "Piper you look like a princess!"  He was in awe of her appearance.  It was so cute!  Piper replied, "Uhhhh, welll I'm not a princess."  She didn't think it was sweet or cute!  We attended church on Saturday night for Easter this year!  On the way there the hymn "Because He Lives" came to mind.  The chorus is as follows:

"Because He lives I can face tomorrow.  Because He lives all fear is gone!  Because I know He holds the future!  And life is worth the living, just because He lives!"  

That is such a great reminder because sometimes I forget! He died on the cross for my sin and rose again!  I can face anything because Jesus lives!  Oh how I desire for my children to know this truth and understand it!

He is Risen Indeed! 

Week In Review

The Spring 2014 Kindergarten Campout was last weekend.  The dads and daughters went to Tyler State Park to camp.  They hiked, fished at the Athens fishery, and had a great time it sounds like!  Michael even drove into Tyler to see our old house!

While Michael and Piper were away, me and Briggs were buddies the entire weekend.  I only took one picture of him at the park. He's laughing hard in this picture because he kept pretending he was shooting me with his gun and I'd fall over and he cracked up every.single.time!  We had an easy and fun weekend!

 Every Wednesday from 2:45-4:15, a group ten  2, 3, 4, and 5 year olds come play at our house while their moms are helping with Beach Club after school.  I have a high school senior helper too!  Beach Club is a bible study that is nationwide but just started this semester at our school.  We do crafts, eat snacks, play with toys, go outside, and sometimes watch a movie.  It's been a little bit of work to do this each week but it has been fun and I'm glad I have done it!  Plus, Piper gets to be a part of the club at school since I volunteer. Beach Club is for 3-6 grade unless your parent helps. This week I had planned on playing in our backyard the entire time but after thirty minutes it began to rain on us so we went inside.  I didn't have a craft planned and the kids were very bummed to not do a craft this week.   We have three more meetings before it's over for the year!  

 And here's Briggs and his best buddy, Asher.  They played with playdough for at least 30 minutes and I've never heard them be so quiet in my life!!