Let's Dance!

Mackenzie performed well at her 1st dance recital. You could tell the stage lights were too bright for her sensitive eyes. We enjoyed watching her and she was thrilled to earn his first trophy! It was a great chance for her to show her family what she has learned in tap & ballet lessons this year. We love you Mackenzie!

Memorial Day Weekend

Cousins: Left Back: Caroline, Kate, Mia
Right Back: Mackenzie, Kalea

Taking a swim: Scott, Eric, Mackenzie climging into water, & Caroline

Daddy-Daughter time on Hyco Lake

Kalea (5), Mackenzie (5), Caroline (7) LOVE to tube!

Eric & Mackenzie: she enjoys helping daddy drive the boat.

We had a great time at the lake this weekend. Two of my brothers (Cletus & Christian) and their families were able to join us at the lake this weekend. The kids enjoyed playing on the water with their cousins. It was fun to watch my brothers acting like kids again on the tube. We all had a great time... a much needed break!

Strawberry Season

Family fun at the strawberry patch! Scott is eager to make homemade jam and freeze some sliced strawberries for smoothies while Mackenzie is looking forward to dipping strawberries in chocolate. She's been talking about that all week. What a hoot! The strawberries at Smith's Nursery are beautiful this year and their blueberries will be ready next week. Can't wait! We love to freeze them and grab a handful for a healthy snack or throw some into our pancake batter before pouring onto the skillet. Good times!

Happy Helper

I've been so busy that it's hard to keep days and weeks straight to say the least. So, I'm finally home for the first block of time this week and there is much to do before my 18 month old nephew joins us for 5 days. I asked Mackenzie to come help me do some chores as fast as we can. She went and got her new Barbie Walkie-Talkies that she bought with a Target giftcard she received for her b-day saying, "Just tell me what you want me to do using this." So, we've been having the best time doing chores together. I love a happy helper! So, if your kids aren't helping out, try to make it fun... pull out the walkie talkies and start giving orders. I'm having her report when she's done with a particular chore, etc. It's quite effective. Why didn't I think of that?

The JOYS of Motherhood

The roses the kids gave me the other year on Mother's Day were in full bloom on Mother's Day this year. It was a beautiful day! I didn't have time to fix my hair or eat breakfast that morning, as I was busy flattening Mackenzie's hair and curling Caroline's hair because the children were singing Mother's Day songs at church that day and I wanted them to look as special as they are to me. I stay SO busy tending to my family and feel it a blessing that I am living the life I always wanted. Before having children, it is impossible to understand the sacrifices one makes as a parent and the challenges parenthood presents. However, we learn so much in the process that we could not have learned any other way. As we serve others, we learn to love them. This is so true, inside and outside of families. I am grateful for the opportunities I have to serve. It brings me my greatest joys. May we all cherish those around us as each living being is a child of God. Whenever I feel overwhelmed with tasks at hand or conflicts between my children, I know where to look for peace. I step outside my personal situation and look for someone to reach out to and serve. By being selfless, we're able to appreciate the good things in our own lives instead of focusing on things that aren't ideal or things that are out of our control. We each have much to be grateful for. Count your blessings!

The Birthday Girl: look who's 5!

Mackenzie has been looking forward to being the birthday girl for some time.

She started celebrating the day before by opening a card she received in the mail.

She started asking to open presents before breakfast. I was able to put that off a bit

by reminding her that we needed to make her birthday pancakes. Singing and blowing out a candle over breakfast is a tradition around here. It only increased her desire to open a b-day present, so I let her open a present on the porch while Scott & Caroline waited for the bus. I had asked Eric not to call before 8:30am to ensure I got the older ones off to school on time, but he had a meeting during that time, so he couldn't call until mid-morning. When he called, Mackenzie said, "Daddy FINALLY called me!" She was getting lots of phone calls, but was holding out to hear from her daddy. We had a busy morning picking up food for the Father/Son campout and pizza & a movie for her b-day playdate with her cousins Kalea. She had a GREAT time playing with her cousins. They dressed up to watch Thumbelina and enjoying putting sprinkles on pink & purple cupcake brownies after lunch. It really made Mackenzie's day to get to play with her cousins. Once they left, it was off to Aunt Camillia's college graduation. We were able to celebrate as a family the following evening. Mackenzie fell in love with the yellow 5 candle at Walmart, so that was the inspiration for the yellow tulip on her cake. Notice the picture of Mackenzie's dessert platter at her b-day celebration: cupcake, cake, vanilla icecream with sprinkles and homemade oreo icecream. She was in HOG heaven! Thanks to all who helped make her day special. She's been spending her Target gift cards and "green tickets" this week. I finally figured out what she meant by green tickets... dollar bills! She's so funny and enjoys being a big girl by stuffing her wallet with cash and handing it over when she makes a purchase. Being 5 is everything she had hoped for. She didn't have to get shots at her 5 year check-up, so that was another wish come true. Life if good for Mackenzie. We're so blessed to have her sweet smile and innocent comments to brighten our days.

Smothered in LOVE

Our children make us so happy when they play well together. This is one of their latest results of team effort: they gathered their stuffed animals, covered each other up one at a time, then asked Eric & I to cover them all up. It was past bedtime, but they were having so much fun we had to give in. This is why we love having down time as a family... it's when memories are created. We feel so blessed to have healthy, happy children. All our hard work seems worthwhile during these happy moments.

GEICO

So... I was travelling the beltline the other Saturday to pick Caroline up from a friend's b-day party. Mackenzie was with me in the car, when we saw GEICO being written in the sky. It was a beautiful day and Mackenzie was fascinated. Later, when downloading pictures to the computer, I saw this picture. Come to find out, Eric and Scott were doing yardwork and saw the same advertisement, which amazed Scott so much that he had to take a picture of it. It just reminded me that even when we're separated, we're closer than we know. I often wonder about the Second Coming of our Savior and where we will be as individuals. I hope that we'll be together as a family, playing a game of kickball or blowing bubbles, but those times are fewer and farther between as the kids grow and get involved in activities outside the home. This little picture helped me understand that no matter where we are, we are closer to each other than we may feel at the present time and that we will be reunited and have an opportunity to discuss the marvels before us.

Service Day

The children helped spread mulch at Aversboro Elementary school, then spent the rest of the day assisting in the assembly of a greenhouse for the kindergarten classes. Eric headed up the mulch project and worked the backhoe and dumptruck, so he delegated the greenhouse project to my dad. When my dad read the instructions, he asked Scott to be his chief assistant saying, "It's a big LEGO project." The weather was perfect for a tedious task and we were in good company. There are so many opportunities to serve and I hope our children are always willing to devote their time and efforts to serve others.

DanceFest

Timber Drive has an annual DanceFest where the kids learn 2 dances in PE and all students in each grade performs outside for their classmates and parents every spring. It's a tradition that is fun for the kids and entertaining for the parents. Eric & I are already excited for next year's performance because we'll have 3 performers.