Happy Easter!

We hope everyone had a great Easter weekend and a wonderful Resurrection Sunday celebration! We had a great time at church and then a delicious lunch with family, friends and football players.

Easter Egg Hunting

Jacob and Anna had so much fun this year hunting Easter eggs. We had their little friends, the other Jacob and Anna over so I decided to have a little Easter Egg Hunt with them. It was a beautiful day and they had a great time.


It was rainy and cold on Easter Day, so Aunt Jodi let us hide eggs in her house! They had a blast!

Thanks Brian and Jodi for the wonderful meal and great time!!

Aly's Series of Unfortunate Events

The Soccer Saga
Well, Aly's had a couple of minor accidents over the last week. The first was a soccer injury. She somehow ran her face into a little boy's head. Any guesses who that little boy might have been?Yep. Big brother. We knew it was bound to happen given the odds...
* 9 5-7 year-olds
* 3 older boys
* 6 younger, smaller,more timid girls
* Caleb's intensity
We were actually hoping that if Caleb did (accidentally, of course) run into or kick a little girl, that it would be Aly so we wouldn't have any issues of angry parents or lawsuits!! :) Well, it happened in practice as it turns out. To any onlookers, it may have appeared for a short time that Aly was dying. But thankfully, she came out of it with only a bloody fat lip. After she realized she would live, she was quick to show off her battle wound and proudly retell the story. Caleb felt bad. It didn't slow him down for too long, though! The "Dynamic Duo" was back at it by the game on Saturday and were even able to pull off a win!

The Trip to the Emergency Room
Less than a week after her soccer mishap, Aly decided to go for a quick bicycle ride. I let them ride on the sidewalk in front of our house to their little boundaries. I am able to keep an eye on them from inside, so it is nice usually. But Saturday night I was finishing up supper waiting for Chuck and the boys to get home and I heard the dreaded crying from outside. I ran to open the door expecting to find a scraped knee and elbow, but instead I saw Aly with blood splattered all over! I looked her over and found the source of all of the blood! Her chin had a gash about an inch long and lets just say I didn't have to wonder if it needed stitches. When Chuck got home, we headed for the emergency room. Aly was very nervous about the impending stitches but was remaining fairly calm. I quoted a few verses to her about being strong and courageous and the Lord being mighty and powerful and being right there with her. Then we prayed together for Aly to be brave and calm. She did a great job. I think it was Chuck and I who needed the prayers to be brave and strong. I looked over at Chuck at one point during the shots to deaden the area hoping for a bit of his strength to soothe my uneasiness and instead found him ready to pass out. One nurse was rubbing my back while the other put a cold pack on Chuck's head and neck. We felt like such wimps!! We have been to the emergency room 4 times with Caleb and have seen our share of cuts, but this was different! I could go in to detail, but I will spare you the goriness! Anyway, three stitches later (we think he could have fit 4-6 more!), Aly was well on the way to recovery. Chuck and I were a different story - we were still queasy the next morning!! We thank the Lord that this was just a "minor" injury.

Soccer Fun

Saturday was our first soccer game. Caleb has played for the last couple of years, but this is Aly's first soccer (or ANY athletic) experience. When Caleb found out the two of them would be playing on the same team, he was very sceptical to say the least. :) He is so competitive and serious about whatever sport he may be participating in or watching, and Aly is so....not! They were both very excited for their big game and it was fun to be able to watch them play at the same time. Caleb's fears did not come to life - Aly didn't make a goal for the other team. In fact, she wasn't too worried about if she ever touched the ball. She tried a few times, but I think she was just as happy to sit on the side line and chat with the coach! Caleb, on the other hand just about killed himself hustling after the ball and sacrificing his body when needed to keep the other team from scoring. We didn't pull off a win, but it sure was a fun game! I love watching this youngest category run in a pack and just kick like crazy. It was very windy, but I took a couple of (very rough) videos (you might want to turn the sound down unless you want to empathise with the horrific winds we fought for the entire game.

From april 09

We are the orange team. :) Caleb has gray shorts & black socks. Aly has on pink pants. I know it's not the best video, but it sure shows the opposite personalities of our two oldest. I'm not sure where Aly disappeared to, but she ended up on the ground. At least she came up a-smilin'! :)

Caleb's Smile

So Easy!

I found this recipe on a blog I like to read called Making Home. At the beginning of January she posted some great links to some of her favorite posts from the past year. A lot of them are very good. Of course, the one I choose to write about is about food! :) Anyway, this group of recipes caught my eye because of the title. They were called "Embarrassingly Easy Recipes." Again there are quite a few that look good, but my busy-mom-of-four-brain went straight to the one that looked the easiest. The Peanut Butter Cookie recipe intrigued me so I tried them. They were embarrassingly easy and unbelievably good! I have made them several times, usually when I have to come up with something quick to take somewhere. I don't have to run out and get ingredients because it only calls for a cup of Peanut Butter, a cup of sugar and one egg (try not to think about the fat content)!! Could it get any easier?? I just spoon them onto the cookie sheet in little lumps and bake for 14 minutes at 350 degrees. Very tasty and oh so easy!

Great Day

I'm not sure the day could have been much more perfect. The ground was still mostly covered with snow and it was in the fifties! We still had quite a bit of snow in the back yard so the kids were out a lot.They greeted Daddy with a snowball fight at lunch.Jake went on a little bike ride.Aly caught some rays.
Could there have been a better Snow Day??