Horseback Riding!

Katie's Girl Scout Troop went horseback riding at Pople Ridge Farm.  Another fun activity for the girls made possible from their cookie sales!  The girls learned how to groom and tack the horses before riding them. 


Katie shaving the horses whiskers!

After a few safety rules the girls were ready to ride the horses!  They were so excited!

Katie about to get on Barney.

Learning how to hold the reins.

Riding around the arena.

A quick pose for Mom!

Katie loved every minute of
the horseback riding lessons!
Horse Camp may be in our future!

Girl Scout Party!

Katie's Girl Scout Troop had a party to celebrate all of the cookie they sold this year!  It was a "Princess" theme party and they did lots of girlie projects while earning a few badges! They were also able to bring guest to the party.  Katie invited her friends, Julia and Grace!  The girls had a fun night!

Julia, Katie, & Grace making bracelets!

April Snow Showers

It is supposed to be April Showers Bring May Flowers.  I am not sure this applies here!  We woke up to a snowy/icy mix! The kids were thrilled because they had a 2 hour school delay!  I must admit it was a nice way to start off the week.  Sleeping late and extra morning playtime!

I hope those May Flowers are just around the corner!

Mazie enjoying the spring snow!

Spring Fling!

The 91st MP Battalion put together a very nice spring event for the families.  The kids had a blast!  They bounced in the multiple bounce houses, got their faces painted, planted spring flowers, and had all the cotton candy and popcorn they wanted to eat!  

ROAR!!!

Even tigers need a break to eat cotton candy!

Katie enjoying her sweet treat!

My boys, I mean tigers
decorating their pots for planting!

Soccer!

Living in the North Country you learn to embrace the days you get nice weather because the next day it could be snowing!   We had a very nice dinner outside with some of the staff from Donnie's office.  It was a beautiful spring evening which made our dinner to say thank you for all of their hard work even more enjoyable!  The kiddos took advantage of the nice evening with a little soccer game after dinner.

Four...

My baby boy is not a baby anymore!

Happy Birthday Luke!

Luke is such a sweet and loving little boy!  He has done a lot of growing up this past year.  I adore the time we get to spend together in the afternoons just the two of us! He rarely ever naps anymore so that gives us lots of time to cuddle, watch his favorite shows, play games, run errands, cook, and even do some cleaning! Luke is my little helper! He will do most anything you ask of him. I love his kind heart and helpful nature.  We also have a lot of great conversations!  He is so silly and very funny! I know he gets this from his Daddy!

Luke had two requirements for his birthday!
1.  He wanted to pick out the cake (it took him weeks to decide, but he finally decided on Power Rangers).
2.  He wanted a pinata, which he called a pay-yata no matter how many times I corrected him! I'll admit it sounded pretty cute!

Luke had school on his birthday.  He celebrated with his classmates by having Angry Bird cupcakes!  He thought this was a good thing because otherwise he said he would be peaking at his presents all day long!  And as soon as he got home from school the peaking began, so I let him open one present early!

 

My Four Year Old

Present Time!

I love the excitement on his face!

Showing off one of his presents!

We celebrated Luke's birthday with our neighbors and good friends, The Crow and The Douglas Families!

Luke thinking of a good birthday wish!

Blowing out his #4 candle.

It was a very cold and rainy day here (not surprising) so Donnie hung up the pinata in the garage! It worked great and the kids all had fun, especially the Birthday Boy!

Taking his first swing at the pinata!

He loved whacking it!

Of course, the best part was scooping up all the candy!

Luke, 1 month!

Luke truly completes our family! I feel perfectly content with our family of five!  He is so easy going and sweet!  God new exactly what we needed from #3, because we were certainly outnumbered! 

Luke was our only one to be born in the United States, but it was even sweeter because he was born in Texas! Home Sweet Home (hopefully home again oneday)!

Luke, 1 year
Playing cowboy!

Luke never misses a chance to show off his silly side! He loves to be a little joker!


2 years old, being silly!

Luke is never far behind Katie and John no matter what they are doing! Maybe that has something to do with being the youngest of three, but there isn't anything he doesn't think he can do! 

3 years old, just being a boy!

I can't wait to see what adventures age four holdw for you! I love you, Luke!  You will always be my little Luke Bear!

Easter Blessings!

The kids woke up bright and early on Easter morning to see what the Easter Bunny (E.B.) left for them!   E.B. left clues to help them find their Easter baskets.  E.B. also hid some eggs around the house for the kids to find.  What a fun way to start our Easter morning!

Katie reading one of her clues.

Luke trying to figure out one of his clues.

Luke found his basket in the toy closet!

John found his basket outside in the backyard!

Katie found her basket outside in my car!

John and Katie looking for Easter eggs!

My boys with their loot!

My loves!

My little bunnies with E.B.

The kids start to act like wild animals the minute I get my camera to take picture!  Here they have decided to become ninjas! Seriously, it is next to impossible to get a good picture of all three of them!

I did manange to get a few good pictures!  These are a few of my favorites from Easter....

Happy Easter!

I hope your day was filled with many Easter Blessings!

Good Friday...

It was a good Friday at our house!  The kids dyed and decorated Easter eggs.  This is something they look forward to every Easter!  This year we used some of the egg wraps and then dyed the eggs! A fun twist that the kids thought was pretty cool! The boys got sports wraps and Katie had Easter wraps.  I think they turned out super cute!

A little ice cream treat from Way Cool!
Hopefully next time it won't be so cold
that we have to eat our ice cream in the car.

We finished up our day with dinner at one of our favorites The Peanut Place better known as Texas Roadhouse! John just kept saying how this was the best steak ever! So juicy!  It was adorable!