Walking and Sickness (May)

We went walking in a garden nearby where there were so many different kinds of flowers.  These bleeding heart flowers are so beautiful. I love that they are symbolic of pain in life but that it can still be beautiful.

Sure love Spencer.

Hailey has started taking a lot of panoramic pictures and they turn out great!

William has taken on the family trait of reading in the car.  It's like looking at Spencer four years ago.

I decided to be fun one day and I beat Mario Brothers. Yay for warping.

I love when Iowa starts planting in the Spring. It gives me so much hope after a long winter.

Yes, that's a bird in our bathroom.  We had some kids over one day and the door was left open. Next thing I know, they said a bird was in the house. I couldn't find it so I assumed it had flown out.  William and I had to run errands and when we got back, the bird was still there!  It was flying all over the house and leaving feathers everywhere.  It got trapped in the bathroom and I had to sneak in there to take the screen off the window so it could get out.  Then I sanitized everything. But it was sure funny after!

We set up a local soccer group for kids who wanted to practice.  They all learned some new skills and had a great time.

William and I planted all these flower seeds one day.  We're trying to fill in blank spots in our gardens. They are starting to grow!

We planted these alliums last Fall.  We call them the Dr. Seuss flower. They have come up nicely and now we need to plant a bunch more!

William and I discovered the self timer on my phone and took some pictures one day while reading.  This is pretty typical around here. I like that we got a real shot of us together.

Spencer's class was reading Charlotte's Web. They got to watch the movie and Spencer made all these words from the book while he watched. They are now hung up in his room. I love his artistic mind.

The boys went on the Fathers and Sons campout, so we went to a birthday party at our friend's house.  Then we came home and had treats and watched Cupcake Wars.  We all slept in my bed.  It was so fun. Brooke said it was the best night of her life.

This is when I realized that the giant bottle of bubbles had gotten spilled onto the carpet.

The boys had a great time at the campout.  They snuggled together to keep warm. It was 32 degrees!  And loved trying out our new tent, built for 11 people!  Everyone was very tired and grumpy the next day but it was all worth it.

I like this shot of William. I don't know who took it.

Hailey went to a cute birthday party where they went to lunch at an antique shop and adopted stuffed animals.  Her friend planned the whole thing and I just love the creativity of girls!

Guinea pig fun

We went on a pretty great walk one Sunday.  It ended up being about 2.5 miles and 2 hours or so.  What a fun adventure!  We saw some animals and birds and an old hunting lookout.  It's becoming a Sunday tradition, when it's not raining!

Two of a kind

I was just saying that all the kids needed was a snack halfway and they would be just fine. And we came around the corner to see them eating a snack. ha, do I know or what?!

Iowa does not have a shortage of beautiful views!

Spencer, the solitary man.  

Cool fort!

Hailey and I both climbed up this tree as far as we could. She was a lot better at it than I was. 

Sprinklers in Tom's yard!

Blake on the trampoline, which doesn't happen very often.  I think he was trying to break it because it's so ugly and he wants a new one. I am holding out for another year!

Animals in the grass

Hailey and her hair

Blake replaced some lighting in our house.  Man, it looks so much better!

Spencer's award from the Pinewood Derby.  He taped it to his wall in pride.

It was crazy hair day at school.  We remembered last minute, so I'm pretty proud with how it turned out.  Spencer was pretty proud that kids said he looked like Darth Mal.

Brooke never lets me do anything to her hair.  It was fun to have crazy braids and she kept them in all day.  Then took them out when she got home.

William always runs after I do. He's getting pretty good. Now to get him to up the mileage. ha

Brooke was cooking with me one night and had to have a shot by the still life.

Our latest adventure has been climbing on the roof and hanging out up there.  One of the summer's goals is to have dinner up there.

Brooke has been asking me to take a picture of her while she's sleeping. Not sure why the shoe is there.

One day, Spencer, Brooke and William woke up with coughs and colds.  It was a day of books and hanging out.  Finally I gave up and we watched a movie.

Brooke's drink holder while she was sick.

Spencer while he was sick.  You know what they say when men are sick......