The Great Outdoors

We visited a local farm stand this week.  I love when the weather warms up and the farm stands open.  I love the whole atmosphere - surrounded by fresh produce and beautiful flowers.  Plus it gets us away from the hustle and bustle of our busy street. 


The boys got to feed apples to the sheep (who were feeling a bit shy and didn't end up eating any of the apples until after we walked away).






We picked up a few more plants to stick in our garden.

Here she is! 

This bed contains strawberries, various tomatoes, and onions.
 

In the next bed we planted cucumbers, green beans, sweet peppers, and jalapeno peppers.  I think there may be one other vegetable, but I can't remember right now. 
 

I also have a little herb garden.  It contains Basil, Cilantro, Chives, Parsley, and Lemon Thyme.  I also have a pot of Mint, but our friend at the farm stand said to keep that out of the garden since the roots spread all over the place and we'll end up with Mint in places that we don't want it. 

I'm so excited that we're growing some of our own food!


And this is just a random photo of me and Bella at a church dinner a couple of weeks ago. 

Happy Mother's Day!

I woke up to breakfast in bed.  This was a first for me on a Mother's Day.  Sunday mornings are our busiest of the week and any celebration usually begins after church is over.  I was pleasantly surprised to start my day with eggs, toast, orange juice, and coffee!  Way to go Andy and Bella!

The clouds from the morning lifted to make way for a beautiful Mother's Day.  We had some post-church/pre-lunch play time outside.








Curtis was not quite in the photo-taking mood that his big sis and bro were in.  


The fashionable piece of jewelry that I'm wearing was made by Bella.  It's her thumbprint.  Love it!


We're a crazy bunch at times. 




Four smiles and three out of four people looking at the camera.  I'll call that success.  


We roller skated in the parking lot, took a family drive, and went out for dinner.  The kids fought over who could sit next to me.  Our schedules have been busy lately.  It was so perfect to have a day to just be together.  I'm so thankful for these kids and that I get to be a mom - their mom!  And I'm thankful for such a great husband who pretty much gave me the day off.  I need to see what I can do about making Mother's Day a monthly thing! 

Hello May!

The kids were outside exploring and they discovered this. They thought it was candy.


Graydon loves "yellow flowers".  No matter where we are, if he sees them, he always wants to pick a bunch.  We did some yard work this week.  Dug up some bulbs and transplanted them.  We also added some annuals to the backyard.  He loved planting these.  He's pretty fascinated with plants and flowers right now. 


I watched a friend's kids on Monday morning.  We made some chocolate chip cookies and they all took turns adding ingredients and stirring.  They all worked together so nicely and the cookies were delicious!


A church family surprised us with this Edible Arrangement this week.  I've never had one before!


Bella loved that it was Hello Kitty.  And if you notice her smile, you can see that she lost another tooth.  This one almost literally fell out of her mouth!


On Thursday night, we went to the Phillies game. 


It was definitely a late night - but we all had fun.  And the Phillies won!


Bella had her choir concert on Friday.


I just took a quick picture at the beginning and intended to just watch the performance and enjoy it - no scrambling for pictures or video.

But then I saw her head up to the front of the stage.  I didn't know she had a speaking part!  Later on she told me that she wanted that to be a surprise.  I scrambled for my cell phone and got terrible footage.  I even missed the first part of the joke that Bella delivers the punch line to.  So I'll tell you now, the kid before Bella says, "What's a pirate's favorite holiday?"

After that, I sat back and enjoyed the performance.  The songs were adorable and the kids all seemed to be really enjoying themselves.  I was kind of on the verge of tears through the whole thing.  It was just so cute!

On Saturday afternoon, Andy and a friend finished up the path in front of our church.  This project took several days to complete.  They did a great job!

The kids did a drama in church today on our church's history.  We celebrate our 150th anniversary in a couple of weeks.  I didn't get any photos of that either since I just wanted to enjoy the moment.  And I did.  Even Curtis got up at the end to sing a song.  It was a wonderful morning!

Life through the (cell phone) lens

Here are some cell pics from the past month or so. . . 

The kids admire a beautiful sunset from our upstairs bathroom.


I scored this costume at a consignment shop for $4.50.  On any given day, at least one of the boys is in it at some point. 


Even seven-year-olds get a little messy when eating chocolate.  (At least this one does). 


Bella hosted a tea party in her room.  The "tea" was chocolate milk.  We also had pretzels and fruit.


Coloring after storytime at Barnes & Noble.  Curtis usually scribbles something and is done in a minute or two.  This day, however, he spent a good 10-15 minutes and used multiple crayons (as opposed to the usual: one) to create this masterpiece.  I'm keeping it. 


Graydon and Bella colored nicely as well. 




"Look Mom!  Trees and a house!" 


I chaperoned Bella's class field trip to the Academy of Natural Sciences museum in Philadelphia.  After keeping track of five first graders in a crowded big city museum, I was exhausted. 


When we got back to school, I signed Bella out early and we went out for coffee (hot chocolate for her). 


April 26th was 'Take Your Child to Work Day'.  Bella was Andy's Assistant Pastor for the day.  She dressed in one of Andy's old sweaters that I accidentally shrunk.  Her idea!  They were quite the pair.  She says that she wants to be a pastor or a teacher when she grows up!



While loading the kids into the car, we told them that we had a surprise.  We stopped to get gas along the way, to which Graydon whines, "Is this the surprise?"  They were all excited (and relieved) to discover that the real surprise was ice cream!


A picnic at the park on a beautiful Saturday. 

Softball season is here!

The girls have been practicing for the past couple of weeks and their first game was this past Friday night.

The coach gave a pre-game pep talk.


Bella was the first batter of the first game of the season.


I was a bundle of nerves for her.


After a couple of strikes, she hit the ball and ran to first!


She made her way around the field and, after a few plays, scored the first point!


Here she is later in the game, playing in the outfield.  She is standing in the position the girls all know as "softball ready!" 


When Graydon wasn't cheering for his big sister, he was under the stands picking "yellow flowers".


And Curtis enjoyed the snacks.


Bella ended up batting four times and hit the ball each time!

It's safe to say that her athletic ability did not come from me.

Easter. Finally!!!

Easter Sunday morning began bright and early for Andy and me. He preached the message at our town's sunrise service. A friend from church came over to watch the kids (who stayed asleep the majority of the time we were gone). Shortly after we got home, it was time to get everyone ready for the Sunday School's Easter program.




Bella always takes such nice photos. 


Even Graydon gave me a nice smile. 


Curtis did his best. 


Here are some highlights from the children's Easter Program.


You've got to love Graydon's singing voice!  He only brings out that version when he's on stage.  :P 

I do have a better family photo where Curtis is actually smiling nicely!  Unfortunately, Graydon is picking his nose. 


Easter basket time!








We celebrated later on with dinner at some friends' house and another egg hunt!