The Weekend What - Papa's Birthday & Easter Edition

My goodness!  Was this weekend ever busy and fun!  Let's get started. Early Saturday morning, Jason headed for work and the girls and I dropped Evan off at the band hall for contest.  Evan and Stephen participated in a solo contest and both were pretty nervous.  Evan has only been playing baritone for about a month.  Stephen had a very complicated piece.  We got word early in the afternoon that they both knocked their solos out of the ballpark and received superior ratings.  Evan got some very positive feedback from a judge and it really reaffirmed his decision to switch instruments.  While the boys were away, the girls and I went to Karsyn's soccer game.  Her team tied up the game.  After, we went to Karsyn's church best friend's birthday party.  We had to book it there, but Karsyn couldn't wait to see Eli. =)  After the party, the girls and I headed to Wal-Mart to buy a few last minute items for Papa's 60th birthday party.  We couldn't wait to host it.  While we were at the store, we got the call that the boys were almost home.  Yay!  We did all of our shopping, got our Evan, and headed home to do party setup.  Natalie and Stephen came over early to help us get things ready.  Before long, guest started arriving.  Then, the fun ensued. Papa and Nat doing deuces.  LOL!

Me and My Dad - We look alike, no?

We had such a nice night.  We roasted hot dogs, made s'moores, played volleyball and laughed a lot!  I think in total, we had 23 family members show up to celebrate Dad!  Here's Grandpa at the fire,

Nana got Papa's favorite cake for his birthday - German Chocolate.  It was so good!  Because of the time of day, none of my pictures turned out very good. =(  But, I think Papa felt very loved.  Right before he left, Natalie, Emily, Payton, Uncle Billy and I did a special dance for Papa.  It was super dorky and it makes me crack up just thinking about it. ha ha!

Sunday morning, we woke up to a cool and rainy day.  That called for inside Easter pictures.  The kiddos all looked so cute.

Mommy and Crew.

Daddy and Crew

I didn't know it when I bought my dress, but one of my Aunt Charlene's necklaces perfectly matched it.  I really loved that.

After church, we headed by Papa and Nana's house for a quick picture opportunity.  Enough of us were looking at the camera to call it a success. ha ha!

We left Nana's house, did a quick change, and then went to Grandma and Papa's house.  Here's the whole clan.

And here's Uncle Robert, Grandma, and Papa

After lunch, the kiddos opened their Easter baskets.

Then, it was time for an egg hunt.  Each kiddo had 12 eggs to find.  Here they come!

 Grandma told all of the kids that some eggs had candy and that some had money.  Karsyn decided that she wanted cold hard cash.  Since she could only collect a dozen eggs, she would shake the eggs to see if they had money.  If they didn't, she left them.  She's too smart for her own good. lol!

Addi was all about finding eggs.  Once she had her dozen, she told everyone else that she would help them.  I love her kind heart.

Evan and Payton on the hunt.

After all of the eggs were found, the kiddos flew kites.  And just in case you are wondering, Karsyn's method of egg shaking did make her the big cash winner of the day. LOL!

After kites, we had dessert and then headed home.  In the evening, Natalie and I walked about 2 miles.  It was a great weekend and I hope you had one too!

The Weekend What - Spring Break {2016} Wrap Up

On our last Friday of Spring Break, the kiddos and I headed out and went to speech therapy.  Addi's appointment was earlier in the day than normal, which was nice.  After, we bought groceries.  Our cabinets were running on fumes. It's funny how a week of the kiddos being home will do that. lol.  Later in the day, we picked up Sarah and Silas and headed to the park.  It was rather windy and chilly.  

Even with the winds sweeping down the plains, because that's what they do in Oklahoma, we still had a lot of fun.  Saturday kicked off an entire weekend of no work for Jason.  We were thrilled!!!!  We slept late and were pretty lazy most of the morning and early afternoon.  After lunch, Jason, Payton, and Evan went to see the movie Allegiant .  It's the 3rd part in the Divergent series.  They really enjoyed it.  Meanwhile, the little ladies and I went to a really fun birthday party.  The little ladies bounced away.  You can see Addi in her white tiger pants.  You can also see me yakking away. ha ha!

After bouncing and having a grand time outside, we all headed inside where there was a chocolate fountain.  It smelled so delicious!!!!!  As hard as it was, I refrained from the yummy treats.  Karsyn and Addi LOVE party food.  Karsyn could not get enough chocolate covered strawberries.  It was well worth ruining a dress for in her book. ha ha!

We left the party a little early to rejoin the rest of our little family.  Then we all headed to the mall.  I was feeling the top poof all weekend. Now I'm not so sure if it was the best idea. lol.

Sunday of Spring Break, we went to church.  After, I swung by Nana and Papa's house to do some vacation planning.  Let's just say.... I cannot wait until Summer!  We had a fantastic Spring Break and I really enjoyed the time off with the kiddos.  If you can believe it, we only have 8 weeks of school left!!

One last thing, over Spring Break, I hit the 50 pound mark in my weight loss journey.  Even though I still have a lot of work to do, I'm really proud of myself and how far I've come.  I'll do a post soon about all of that. =)

St. Patrick's Day {2016}

It's always fun to be festive on St. Patrick's Day.  This year, we had 3 cousins sleep over the night before. When all of the kiddos finally made their way out of bed, I made some green pancakes and green eggs.  It got washed down with green juice. Yum!

Here are 7 hungry cousins.

Cousin sleepovers are always so much fun.  I'm always amazed at how much noise two boys can make.  They were so loud and I have to say that I love it (Well, I love it until it hits midnight. ha ha!)!  The girls, well once the little ladies are fast asleep, are usually really quiet. Aunt Kary and Aunt Jenn came by to pick up Emily, Stephen, and Sarah before lunch. We spent the rest of the day resting.  We were all pretty tired, but we couldn't skip a few St. Patrick's Day pics in the afternoon.  I love my ladies in green.

I feel so lucky that I'm their mom.

Let's take a little look at St. Patrick's Day Past.  Here are Evan and Payton with their friends Jesse and Katelyn.

St. Patrick's Day 2010, was my first St. Paddy's Day as a mommy of three.  This is one of my favorite pictures from those two years.

In 2011, we went out to eat on St. Patrick's Day.  My little crew was too cute!

In 2012, we celebrated our first St. Patty's Day as a family of six.  For reasons I will NEVER understand, I thought black and white photos made sense. ha ha ha!

In 2013, St. Patrick's Day fell on a Sunday.  I realized that Karsyn didn't have a green dress, so Daddy came to the rescue.  He ran off to the store and this was the only dress that he could find that had any green.   This was the best picture that I could take that day. ha ha!

St. Patrick's Day 2014 - I mean, I just LOVE this picture.  

2015 was an unlucky picture year. That's all I'm going to say about that. LOL!

 And that brings us to St. Patrick's Day 2016.

 I hope you had a lucky one!!!

Spring Break 2016 - Monday thru Wednesday

After working the whole weekend, Jason was finally off on Monday.  Our original plans were to go hiking, but we ended up going fishing instead.  We loaded up the kids, along with Sam, and went to our favorite fishing hole - Grandma Beverly and Papa Floyd's pond.  The little ladies had plastic fish at the end of their lines.  So, they spent their time casting their lines out and reeling them in with a fish every time.  That made them very happy.

 Payton went a lure that she had to continually cast out and reel back.  Though no fish would take the bait, she still had a lot of fun.

My fisher girls.

 Sam got the first catch of the day.

 The girls all got a little bored and they headed up to the house to visit with Grandma.  I stayed at the pond with the boys.  Sinking a line in on a beautiful afternoon was quite relaxing.

Jason tried his luck with Payton's lure, but it didn't get any bites.

 Evan finally got a bite.

I loved my view of these cousins fishing.

Evan caught two fish and I caught four.  They were all too small to keep.  Sam was a pro.  He caught around 10 or so and was able to keep this catfish.

 After a few hours of fishing, we headed back to town.  Payton had a party to get to at the skating rink.  It was fun watching her with her friends.

 On Tuesday, the kiddos and I headed to Aunt Jen's house for cousin time and pizza.  We also went and visited Jason at work and then went by Nana and Papa's house for a while.  On Wednesday, Jason, Evan, and Payton got the lawn ready for the cousins to come over, while Addi, Karsyn and I met some church friends at the park.  We were very impressed with the fire pit set up when we got home.

I couldn't get any pictures to turn out, but we roasted marshmallows and made s'moores with Nana, Papa, Grandpa James, Uncle Billy, Aunt Kary, Emily, Stephen, and Sarah.  I got glow bracelets for everyone to wear.  We also got some LED light balloons, so that the kids could play glow volley ball.  It was a lot of fun.

All of the kiddos stayed over for a sleepover.  That will be continued in tomorrow's post.  So far, we've had Spring Break has been great!