Harrison's party

For Harry's birthday this year, we decided to play laser tag and have a cookout with family & friends.

It happened to be my actual birthday, when we had his party! It was a busy day, and if im being honest it wasn't super relaxing but i had so much fun celebrating Harry and being celebrated, too!

Of course, my husband didnt go easy on me in laser tag, even though it was my birthday! ha!

We had a large group and we had so much fun! lots of laughs were had. Evie even wore her vest the whole time and had fun running around chasing everyone too!

 

 

After that we headed back to our house for a cookout and cake of course! I spent my birthday morning crafting this john deere pull apart cupcake cake for Harry. It wasn't perfect but he loved it so thats all that matters! 

Harry turns FIVE!

Harry,
We couldn't be more proud of the dude you are becoming! You have the most tender heart and spirit and you love with all you have. Yet, you are our rough and tumble, dirt loving, hard worker guy. You are all boy, and still your brothers biggest fan. You love to help your sister, too, its been fun to watch your relationship with her grow and change!
You are growing more independent and confident, too and we are looking forward to you heading to Kindergarten next year to see how you continue to grow and mature! We love you so much, buddy!

Last week our middle baby turned a whole hand // FIVE! It is incredibly crazy how fast the time flies, and how much hes grown up in just five short years!

We had a busy week, the week of. One of our first stops was to get a new bike as this was what you wanted for your birthday!
 
On your actual birthday you were special helper in class!

after school, you picked to go to Joe 2 Go for lunch to enjoy your favorite bagel and smoothie!

We spent a relaxing afternoon at home and you even got to open a present from friends! It was a homemade wallet with some money and gift cards in it, so cool!

It was supposed to be Mothers night at school, but you opted to skip to hang home as a family instead. In the middle of dinner, we heard the ice cream truck, so of course we stopped it and had a mid dinner treat! ;)

It was a fun day celebrating YOU and all that you mean to our family! We sure love you, sweet boy!

schoenborn wedding

Our "Tebin and Tasey" got married the end of April, and they asked all three kids to be a part of their special day!
The day before the wedding Evie and I got to spend some time with the girls getting our nails pretty for the big occasion. A little dip in some warm water and she was satisfied with a "pedi"!
 
She sat amazingly still and got her nails painted! She had so much fun showing them off after, too!

 
Friday night we had rehearsal, which was quite something, and then we had dinner after. Evie had three attempts down the aisle at rehearsal, the first one she walked down slowly with a finger up her nose and didn't drop a petal one. The second attempt, she dropped a couple petals right away and then put her finger back up her nose. The third attempt, she tossed the whole basket and RAN! Needless to say, we were all a bit anxious to see what the real day would go like!

We spent a relaxing morning at home before we headed to the church for pictures. Bentley greeted Casey at the door and announced that she was the most beautiful lady he had ever seen. (cue the tears!) Evie was attached to her "Tebin" pretty much all day!

 
Getting ready for their big duties! I have the best looking family, ever! ;)

the whole wedding party

The boys took a quick liking to Ms. Kendall and they had fun playing in the church together. Bentley said he "cant wait to be in high school, too!" (spoiler alert: she's only 12! LOL)

 
Some pics in the front of the church before the ceremony started!

 

Ready to go! They sure love their Casey!

The boys did great, they smiled and came down the aisle so well!
Evie made it down, too, sans a finger in the nose. She made a quick pit stop to see Gramma in the back, but she did end up coming the rest of the way!

Being introduced at the reception

After some chicken strips, fries and dancing, the kids headed home to have a sleepover at Gramma and Grampa's house. Evie loved dancing, and everyone was jealous of her footie jammies!

 
Nearly seven years ago we called a girl to come babysit our 9 month old son. Little did we know she would become an integral part of our family, as would her boyfriend!

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Schoenborn!
We love you guys and we pray years of health and happiness over your marriage!!
Thanks for allowing us to be a part of your special day! <3

Easter 2017

The kids spent an afternoon at Gramma's so we started our Easter fun at her neighborhood egg hunt!

Evie actually had fun picking up eggs this year, and opening them to see what was inside.

Sunday after church we went back to Gramma's for lunch and another egg hunt. Each kid had certain colored eggs to find

proud of her candy!

After the egg hunt she gave all the kids baskets filled with treats and toys, but the baskets were actually bags for their tablets they got for Christmas! 

 

We are in the "mine do it" phase, so Evie ditched her dress shortly after lunch for her life jacket and goggles. While her dress was cuter, we just can't win all the battles, so we pick and choose!

We are also having more fun each year discussing the Easter story with the kids. I totally forgot to get my resurrection eggs out this year, but we did have some great conversations regarding Jesus's death, burial and resurrection!

We serve a Risen Saviour - He's in this world TODAY! Praise God!

spring break 2017

We stayed home this year for spring break, but it was probably one of our best spring breaks, ever. We started the first weekend off by going to Rebounderz with some friends. The boys LOVED it, and cant wait to go back.

 

We celebrated Wesleigh's birthday at the hotel with some dinner and swimming and Evelyn finally got to get her hands on her new buddy Crew. She was just too excited!

The kids had a fun day Monday climbing Mt. Pisgah with Auntie Sarah and friends, before they headed up north with Nana and Papa.

Brandon and i enjoyed a couple kidless days and nights together, before I headed up Wednesday. What a refreshing time with my husband, but man I sure missed my babies.

Our days up north were spent riding on quads, in the ranger and working with Papa at the campground...and clearly not getting to bed early enough. ;)

 

Evie has to ride the "big" quads, too, but the rides are even better with her best Papa.

Ready to head to the track! (dont worry, Evie rode with Dad)

Heading home after a fun day of riding...time to pack up and head back to reality.

We found our time together to be so refreshing, for all of us and we can't wait to get back up north again soon! On Monday on the way to school, Harrison prayed "Dear God, please help me skip school soon so I can go back up north because everything up north is way better than here!"

Hard to dispute that one, Bud!

march recap

March seemed to go pretty fast for us, but we stayed busy! The boys helped Noah celebrate another birthday with some bowling and arcade games!

I was able to spend an afternoon celebrating my dear friend Haleigh and her babe! I just love these women so much and thank God we get to do life together!!

We entered the "mine do it" stage, if you cant tell by her outfit!

Shortly after returning home from our trip, all 3 kids came down with influenza. High fevers, body aches...the whole bit. The boys were out of school for a whole week, but we sure enjoyed snuggling together, especially since I had just been gone.

Towards the end of starting to feel better, we took advantage of a nice sunny day and hit the park. The fresh air felt so good!

 

We spent a saturday with Casey doing wedding stuff, and had our first Chick-Fil-A experience. The food and service was amazing and we got to meet the Cow...what you cant see here is evelyn so terrified she is shaking!

We spent most of the rest of our week nights and weekends like this - just relaxing! 

The end of the month brought the start of spring break, so the boys got their toys ready for our big trip up north!