The First of Many Camping Trips

This past weekend we were finally able to go camping and enjoy our new camper. We really wanted to do something fun with the kids since it was their spring break, but with Lance's work schedule and the weather, we just went for one night. The kids had so much fun and can't wait to go again!

Here are the kids right after we got there, posing with the camper

The playground was right across from our campsite, which was so awesome. The kids played on it a lot, and we were able to see them from where we were sitting. Maddox was so proud that he could do this slide bar all by himself!

My little monkey....

So sweet:-)

Taking after his father.....he loves being by the fire!

Being silly in the camper

Hiking through the woods

My boys

Maddox face-planted into the dirt. He really wants me to delete this picture, but it's just too cute I couldn't! His whole face was covered!

Bedtime....settling down and watching "Rio" (I know....what a way to camp!)

Nick and Sandra and their boys came over for the day to hang out, but sadly I didn't even think to get my camera out!! We really enjoyed having them......the kids all got along so well playing on the playground and riding bikes. We went for a hike along one of the trails and had fun hanging out around the fire. Thanks for joining us Nick and Sandra!

A Little of This, A Little of That.....

Doing this post has made me a little sad. I feel like we have had an extremely busy past couple of months, and I have hardly any pictures to show for it! I really need to get better about taking pictures. A new goal for me. Let's see if I stick to it.

Here are just a few pictures from the last couple of months.....


This one was too cute not to share....Maddox fell asleep in the car one day. While carrying him in the house, he woke up. I put him down, and he walked through the kitchen, and this is where I found him! What a good boy....he didn't even get his shoes on the carpet!!!
We went to watch the Super Bowl at Nick and Sandra's house this year. So much fun! Sadly, I didn't take any pictures while there, so here is a lovely photo of the fruit tray I brought:-)

Purdue game. Nick and Sandra had tickets, but they ended up sick and asked if we would want them. Thanks so much guys....we had a lot of fun!

Every year in February our potluck group goes to a hotel. This year, we went to a waterpark hotel in Michigan. It was a lot of fun, and the kids had a blast! Linsey was able to go with us, which was great!

Waiting for the bucket to dump!

Some of the kids....

Here we are enjoying lunch at the bakery with our Bible Study group. Our group consisted of Amber Leman, Tanya Westfall, Bridget DeMoss, Wendy Putt, and myself. We met during the days, and our kids had time to play while we were doing our study.

Our (not-so-recent) Florida Trip

Well, I can't believe it, but it's been almost 2 months since we were down in sunny Florida (and since my last blog update - oops!). Here are several pictures of our trip. They pretty much tell exactly what we did the whole time.....a lot of beach time, a lot of swim time, and a few other random fun adventures:-) We were fortunate to be able to stay with Mom and Dad G. while we were there. Thanks so much, mom and dad, for letting us stay with you and for making sure we had a great time!!

Sorry....the pictures got a little out of order, and I really didn't feel like fixing it!!! :-)

Group photo after our airboat ride.

The kids went to visit Papa at the neighbor's house after he played ping pong

Reading with Nanny

On the way down, we stopped and stayed a night with Uncle Gordon and Aunt Judy

This was a daily activity for us....digging a large hole in the sand to play in

Kelsey showing off her back flips

I love this picture of Maddox:-)

Hanging out at the mall

New boogie boards!

Lance, Landon, Kelsey, and Dad getting ready to go out on the wave runners. This was probably Landon's favorite part of the whole vacation - he still talks about it!!

Goofy kids

Christmas morning....excited to open presents!

Landon's favorite present....an iPod touch

Maddox's favorite present......his new couch

Kelsey's favorite present....an iPod touch

Our "Sandman"

Love this shot of Landon!!!

Hanging out by the pond

One of the alligators we saw during our airboat ride

Lance took the kids mini golfing one day while Mom and I went shopping:-)

Sunset

A Fun Little Quiz.....

I recently came upon a fun little quiz on Facebook. It's titled: 21 Questions to Feel Better About Yourself As a Mom I thought...Sure - who doesn't want to feel better about themselves as a mom? So, I opened it. Here I find 21 questions to ask your kids (individually) about yourself. The questions seem pretty cute, so I printed 3 copies. I have only had the chance to ask Maddox these questions (and he may be a little young for some of them), but it was so much fun to hear what he had to say about me!! I am so excited to ask Kelsey and Landon! I wrote all of Maddox's answers and then put his name and the date on it as well. I plan to hang onto these and hopefully get them out when they are older so we can read them and see what their little minds were thinking when they were younger. Who knows, I might even repeat the quiz every few years to see how their answers change!

So, here is the quiz for any of you moms who might be interested to see what your children think of you!! I highly recommend it because, like I said, we had a lot of fun with it!! Enjoy!

1. What is something mom always says to you?
2. What makes mom happy?
3. What makes mom sad?
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
5. What was your mom like as a child?
6. How old is your mom?
7. How tall is your mom?
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
11. What is your mom really good at?
12. What is your mom not very good at?
13. What does your mom do for her job?
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
17. What do you and your mom do together?
18. How are you and your mom the same?
19. How are you and your mom different?
20. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
21. How do you know your mom loves you?

Happy 8th Birthday Kelsey!!

I know I say this every year (or 3 times a year), but where does the time go?? I can't believe my little girl is 8 years old! We are so proud of her! She gets amazing grades in school, she is (usually) a good help around the house, she is loving and kind, and the list goes on and on. Kelsey, we love you SO much! Happy Birthday!!

A Caribbean Cove Christmas

This year for one of Lance's family Christmases we went to a hotel in Indy. The kids had a blast playing at the waterpark and swimming in the pool. It was so nice to be with family all weekend!

Maddox, Kelsey, Linsey, and Landon enjoying the hot tub

Maddox loved to wait for the big bucket to dump water on him!

Landon and Maddox waiting for the bucket to dump

Linsey, Ava, and Kelsey swimming in one of the pools

Grandpa learning some new dance moves from a group of girls we met!! :-)

All 3 kids were so tired after a long weekend. Maddox couldn't even stay awake while eating his sucker:-)

A Family Tradition

Since Lance and I got married (9 1/2 years ago), we have always gone to Miller's Tree Farm to cut down our Christmas tree. I still love it as much today as I did 9 years ago, and now our kids have come to love it as much as I do. It is something that we look forward to every Christmas season!

On our way to get our tree....

We found the perfect one! (and rather quickly!)

Maddox wanted his picture taken with the kids' tree:-)

It was Landon's turn to put the star on this year

Oh to be a kid again!!

So, my boys wanted to work out this morning.........

Sadly, they have more motivation than I do!

Happy 6th Birthday Landon!!!

I cannot believe that Landon is 6 years old now! He has grown so much in the past year, and we are very proud of him! He continues to amaze us every day with how well he does in Kindergarten. I can't wait to see what the future holds for our little man! Happy 6th Birthday Landon Charles! We love you so much and are very, very proud of you!!

We actually celebrated Landon's birthday last night. The weather has been rainy for the last several days, so Lance was able to be home to celebrate:-) He will probably be back in the fields today, so it was nice to have him home! Lance's mom and dad and my dad (mom already had previous plans) came out for dinner, and then Heather, Seth, and Linsey joined us for presents and cake and ice cream. It was a great night spent with great people! Tonight my mom and dad will come out to give Landon his presents, so he's looking forward to that. Maddox and I plan to go to school to have lunch with Landon today, which he always loves! Should be a fun day for the birthday boy!!