Fall Fest Fun

This past weekend was our town's annual Fall Festival. As always, the kids had a blast! Here are a few pictures of all the fun....

LOTS of time spent riding rides (that were so pitiful this year, by the way...).

Ready for the parade! The kids always enjoy riding a fire truck in the parade:)

Jungle John. Kelsey got called up to help out with the fox. Ewww....

Face painting...this was done by my friend Bridget at their church's booth. I think she did awesome!! Even better, it was free!

Gotta love the petting zoo!!

I'm THAT Mom....

I never thought I'd be one to have my boys spike their hair (or have a mohawk for that matter!), but the boys really wanted to try something different. So, I let them choose what they wanted to so with their hair, and I actually love it! It may not last long (who knows?), but for now, it's cute:)

Another One in the Books!

    Another 'First Day of School' has come and gone. We are finally settling into our new routine, and I have to admit, it feels good. While I don't love the kids being gone all day, I do love knowing they are at an amazing school with wonderful teachers, learning and building relationships. 

    The kids have adjusted well, and each of them really likes their teacher. Kelsey is in 5th grade and started the year off with Mrs. Zellers. About a week into the school year, there were some new enrollments, and the 5th grade classes were too big....about 30 kids in each class! So they split the 2 classes into 3, and Kelsey now has Miss Dishon. She was ok with moving to a new class...she likes her teacher and has several friends still in class with her:)

    Landon has Mrs. Hopkins, who is fairly new to West Central. He says she is funny and jokes around, which he loves! A fun little bit of info....I realized recently that I used to go to church camp with her back in middle school all the way out in Arkansas and Missouri. Small world!!

    Maddox has Mrs. Chrzan this year, which we couldn't have been more thrilled about! For those of you from the Francesville area, there are no words needed! If you're not from our small town, Mrs. Chrzan is just....well, great!! And Maddox loves her already:)

      Here's to another school year! I pray that my kids will thrive....not only academically but socially as well. I pray they can be a good, Christian example to those around them. Also that we can deal with any situations that might arise and deal with them in a way that reflects the heart of Christ. 

     I love these kids more than words can say and can't wait to see what God has in store for them!

** I feel like this picture says a lot about each of their different personalities! :) **

Just a Couple More...

I found a couple more pictures on my phone that I wanted to share...

Kelsey has gymnastics two days a week, so the boys and I will often go to the park. This has been their favorite thing to do....take their shoes off and get in the water! We can spend hours passing time this way - it's so fun!

Here is a picture of Kelsey with her best friend at the gym, Braci. This was taken at camp at the beginning of the summer. Kelsey has learned several new skills at the gym this summer, and we are so proud of her! If I can figure out how to get videos from my phone uploaded I'll share them:)  (If any of you already know how to do this, please share!)

Life in Pictures....

       To say our lives have been busy is an understatement. I can't even really tell you what we've been doing...we just haven't been home much this summer. Part of it is due to the fact that I have been working two days a week at the family business. I really enjoy being at the office, and I'm very glad I have been able to help out, but I had my very own pity party this morning over it (something I'm not too proud of!). It's really hard to leave the kids and feel like they have spent their entire summer with a babysitter. Yes that's a little dramatic because it's only two days a week! Maybe God is trying to teach me a little compassion for all of the moms who also work full time. So, my morning has been spent praying for all you moms out there who manage to work full time and also find time to keep up with your house and spend quality time with your family!

       Ok enough of that! We have actually had a pretty great summer. I have a lot more pictures on my camera, but since I haven't found time to put them on the computer, these few pictures from my phone will have to do:)

We went to Deep River Waterpark up by Valpo one day. It was a little chilly that day, but the kids didn't mind too much. Heather and Linsey met us there...it was a great day!

The kids have begged and begged for us to take them to Uncle Gordon's pond, so we found time for that one evening.

Landon's All-Star team. That was a busy (but fun) week of baseball!

Francesville garage sale day was very rainy this year! Maddox and his cousin Anna had fun standing out by the road to let people know we ha a garage sale inside:)

The other kids, Kelsey, Landon, and their cousins Linsey and Drew, had fun playing baseball in the rain!

The whole crew...soaked from head to toe!

This past weekend we went to Prophetstown to go camping. What a fun place!! We had a wedding in Lafayette on Saturday, so we decided to make it a weekend event:) We really enjoyed this campground and will definitely go back:)

We have a few more things planned for the summer that we are looking forward to....Indiana Beach, another camping trip next weekend, hopefully a trip to the dunes, and who knows what else! Summer will be over before we know it, so we are going to enjoy it while it's still here! School starts August 12th this year, just 3 short weeks away! Yikes!

The Big Apple

Lance and I just got home from a long weekend trip to New York, celebrating our 12th anniversary.  We are normally lay-on-the-beach kind of people but decided to step out of our box a little this time.  I am SO glad we did!  This was the most amazing trip....I absolutely loved it!  Pictures don't do New York justice. It is honestly so beautiful!  We did a lot of walking, sight-seeing, subway-riding, eating, and the list goes on and on.  We took tons of pictures, and there is no way to even come close to showing you everything, but I did choose a few of my favorites.

Here we are at the 911 Memorial.  This and the museum were probably my favorite part of the trip.  Words cannot even begin to describe this place.  It was beautiful, mesmerizing, humbling, and so much more.  Right behind us is one of the fountain pools they put in the exact location of the previous towers. On the ledge of the pools are the names of all the victims of 9/11.  The museum tells the stories of the 9/11 attacks and the 1993 bombing of the WTC.  It was truly amazing...

Our view from the top of the Empire State Building

Times Square.  In the evenings we would walk through Times Square, find a place to eat, people watch, and just relax.  It's a far cry from small-town Indiana, that's for sure!!

Statue of Liberty

Our view of the city from Liberty Island.  The tall building is the Freedom Tower.

We took a walk through Central Park.  It was stunning!

I had to throw this in....garlic rolls from our favorite place to eat, John's Pizzeria.  Yum!!


If you've never been to New York, I highly recommend it!  I would love to go again someday, maybe take the kids when they are older.  It was truly a vacation to remember!

Still Going Strong....

Baseball is still going strong, and Landon's team is doing great!  Their record is 6-1.  He is still loving to play, and it's really fun to watch.  Here are a few fun pictures.....

Playing catcher (which he didn't love)

Landon and Colton Metzger

Landon on first with Lance there coaching him.  So fun!

Giving high fives to the other WC team

Landon playing first base



More Ballgames at the Park......

Last night was Maddox's first T-Ball game.  I forgot how cute t-ball is!  Maddox is one of the older ones on his team, and he does very well.  He really loves playing and has a lot of fun!

They get 3 pitches before they have to use the tee.  Maddox does a great job hitting!

Ready to run!

Running home:-)

Playing first base



Last Day of School.....

FINALLY!!  We have looked forward to the last day of school for quite a while now, and at last it's here and gone.  The school year actually flew by, so I'm not complaining, but it feels really good to be done.  I now officially have a 5th grader, a 3rd grader, and a 1st grader. 

Our summer is already filling up, and we have a lot to look forward to....baseball, t-ball, gymnastics camp, VBS, camping, and I'm sure there's more.  I love staying up late and sleeping in, not needing a jacket at night, making a fire in the back yard, and the list goes on and on.  Bring on the summer!

Last day of 2nd grade

Last day of Kindergarten

Last day of 4th grade

Can you tell they are excited?!

Maddox got an award recognizing him for his reading abilities.

So proud of this little guy!

Landon got an award for perfect attendance for the last 9 weeks and all A's on his report card for the semester

He did NOT want me taking his picture!

Kelsey got an award for perfect attendance for the last 9 weeks and all A's and B's

Kelsey and her good friend Blayden

Kindergarten Field Trip

As the end of the school year is quickly approaching, that means it's time for field trips!! Sadly, I didn't get picked to go on the kindergarten field trip, but I'm pretty sure Maddox had a good time anyway. They went to Lafayette to Imagination Station and then to Columbian Park Zoo. I was at work this day, and a friend of mine sent this picture to me......

Her daughter was on a field trip at Columbian Park too, and she saw Maddox there! What are the odds?!

4th Grade Field Trip

I got to go with the 4th graders to the stone quarry and then to Fair Oaks to see the pig farm. It was a really fun day, and I'm glad I was able to go! I had a really great group of kids which made it even more enjoyable;)

At the quarry we rode the bus down into the hole...that was pretty cool!

The 4th grade class

Kelsey's class

They got to climb into this huge loader

A fun little waterfall we saw while we were down there:)

Looking at the pigs:)

Pretty much the whole 4th grade class on this bounce pillow....yikes!!