Overview from the past few months. . .

I've been lazy over the past few months about getting pictures off of Andy's phone and uploading them to the blog. I think his hundreds of photos from Israel overwhelmed me and so I avoided it. I'm not tackling Israel here on the blog because I wouldn't be able to explain anything about the pictures, but I finally sorted through the various family photos that he took.

Here is Bella riding a hoverboard at the confirmation retreat in early March.


Curtis had some money burning a hole in his pocket, so Andy took him shopping at Target where he bought some Yu-gi-oh cards.


They also got some "coffee".


Eating out at Steak 'n Shake


Bella got a little bored over Spring Break so she decided to braid her hair.




Another Spring Break photo - guys time bowling.


Chinese Checkers is a favorite game these days. They played with Gaga when they were here for Andy's birthday and Bella's confirmation at the end of March.


Andy had pre-synod church meeting all morning on his birthday. One of the women made this cake with the Moravian seal on it. Her attention to detail was very impressive!


Gifts that Andy brought back from Israel for his parents.


This was Bella's first year that she was old enough to attend the spring rally with the older kids from church. She had so much fun and learned some new dances in her free time.


The boys are part of a community children's choir that performed at a community event in April.


Graydon has expressed an interest in learning to play an instrument. Mr. Dodd had a spare trumpet, so he's letting Graydon use it.


Graydon decided this year that he wanted to participate in our school's talent show. There wasn't as much interest this year as there was in the past, so they weren't able to do it, but this is a part of his try-out.


Baseball season has arrived and we are gearing up to spend most of our evenings at the diamonds. Here are the boys after practice one evening.










Here are a few random life shots from my phone. . .

Mabel in one of her new favorite places in the house. Once upon a time I told myself that I wouldn't let her on the furniture.






I got these beautiful flowers, card, and a big candy bar from the first graders that I work with. It was a great way to start a Monday!


Bella went old-school and decided to build a fort in her room.


Andy chaperoned Curtis's class field trip to the recycling center.


Bella spent many hours building this wind mill for her science project. There is a long string attached to the back with a cup on the end. When the fan blows, turning the windmill, it cranks the cup (filled with 40 pennies) up. She was so happy when it started working! I'm so proud of her hard work and perseverance with projects like this.


It's not unusual to find photos like this on my phone.


The Sunday morning fog made the front yard look dreamy.