intermediate school playground

this morning we made the trip over to madelyn's school to spend some time on the playground. it works out pretty well to play for a bit before it gets hot and on our way to run errands. all four of the kids were super excited to get a chance to play at madelyn's school. and she loved showing them all of her favorite ways to play there.

they all loved pretending to be monkeys too. love.

elementary school playground

the kids love going to their school's playgrounds in the summer. but we haven't done it at all! today's stop before errands was mason's (and soon to be maddux') school.

the only down-side was that manning found a bee by trapping it in the back of his shirt! yikes! i was praying that he wasn't allergic. his reaction was a little extreme but i think it is because madelyn is terrified of bees and was with him. she is actually the reason it went inside his shirt. she lifted the shirt away from him instead of just brushing the bee away. oh well. we now don't have to fear allergies.

it did hurt him quite a bit. thankfully, we had just left the house and my water bottle was still very cold to hold to his back for relief.

and then he was ready to play again!

"hey, this is my boat. you guys can have that one," says manning from the larger playset.

he was definitely himself again. love.

a beautiful morning for baseball

we were all pretty tired after our super late night at movie in the park yesterday, but it was game time. thankfully, both boys had an early game so we would be done before it got too warm.

my view of both fields. the white dot in the middle is manning throwing a fit and refusing to move. so i left him there to work it out.

while manning was throwing his fit (for at least 20 minutes at this point), i started chatting with a friend whose son was being distracted by maddux to apologize. in that 30 seconds someone finally noticed manning crying and started a panic that he was lost. manning shuts down completely when a stranger speaks to him. matt was standing in the field and noticed before i did and claimed him. so i felt really great about that. sigh. not that i felt that i was being a bad mom, doing the right thing can be really difficult, but because the person who found him (and does not have children) thought i was being a bad mom. i too am guilty of judging parenting calls before actually being a parent. God teaches humility in parenting, right?

and the games went on. maddux was dragging as you can see from this less than urgent stroll to first base.

maddux team finished up with their last devotion of the season. this league gives awards to the kids who memorize all of their Bible verses for the season instead of the ones with the best record. love.

rainy game night

i took no pictures of mason's game, but maddux looked pretty cute in the tree. and then the kids were super excited about the rainbow when we got home. love.

messier is always better

the kids just love to make chalk 'paint' - i think they just enjoy the mess. love.

spring is in the air

the simple joy of shorts and running in the yard with a kite. love.

snow day

we were gifted the perfect snow day today! all of the snow fell last night, was enough to cancel school and it was going to be warm enough to play outside all day. look at all of that lovely, wet, sticking snow! 

we ate a leisurely breakfast and suited up to check out how much snow we actually had gotten last night. (poor daddy discovered that the snow blower wouldn't start - we haven't used it in so long - and had to shovel himself out to the road to get to work.) to pass the time the kids and i were outside, i shoveled the rest of the driveway before lunch. we had at least 6 inches and it was much deeper in other locations. i think it had blown a little where i measured with a ruler near the garage.

i got so hot shoveling that i had to take my winter coat off and shoveled for a bit in my tank top and snow bibs. i gave the garbage men quite a show. and just in case you ever wondered who would win a game of chicken between a garbage truck, a recycling truck and a snow blow; it's the snow plow. every time.

mason picked up this huge clump of snow to be a giant snowball. when i looked at this picture on the computer i realized that it was shaped like ohio!

maddux liked making a snow angel better in the deep snow.

we played for at least 3 hours before going in for lunch. i could barely use my arms and hands any more. that snow was heavy!

as soon as we finished up lunch, we suited back up to go outside and attempt a snowman.

madelyn was the only one with patience to make one and protected it with a small wall.

the boys worked on digging a "cave" into the snowplow pile. they made it large enough to fit all three of them.

i worked my way around the sidewalk and up to the front door with the shovel while the kids played for another 2 hours or so. i don't think we could have planned a better snow day! i am so glad that we at least got one this winter. love.

winter family fun day

we hurried out to a church event after basketball - "winter family fun day." the plan was for sledding, hockey, snowball fights, etc. but there was no snow. none. but the plans had been adjusted and the event would still take place. it took place at the camp where matt and mason went overnight a few months ago. it was the first time for the rest of us. we weren't sure that manning could make it all day, but he did fantastic!

we showed up a little late and missed signing up for horseback rides (they were full by the time we arrived) so we went over to play games while we waited for a wagon ride.

manning held on tight to me so he "wouldn't fall off." at the turn around point about half the families got off to hike back. our kids wanted to keep riding. we played outside for a little bit before going in to get warmed up.

they served us lunch and dinner during our day and the kids loved getting to eat so many 'special' foods. i must admit that it was much better than i had expected (i was thinking hot dogs and grilled cheese sort of camp food). we had turkey or ham and cheese on pretzel buns, tater tots, chicken noodle soup and fruit with a salad bar option for lunch. there were lots of chips, granola bars and fruit for snacking on too - another big hit with our kiddos.

our kids might be as competitive as matt and i, so the games were a huge hit!

mason fell in love with ga-ga ball

manning and i went over to the building with heat and played a star wars freeze frame sort of game. he loved it! he keeps making the c3-po pose in the video.

and then we played a boys vs. girls game where everyone threw cheese balls and tried to get them to stick to a staffer's whipped cream topped shower cap. the boys loved throwing them at mrs. wendy.

working on our family 'mad lib.' the kids are hooked!

we made the video summary shown at church too - the kids were so excited! it wasn't what was planned, but it was a great time away as a family. love.

whose ready to play outside?

short sleeves?

it has been so delightful to see our neighbors all of the this week. the warm weather has everyone outside marveling at our fortune. and the kids love it! it feels like a florida christmas this year. love.