Grandparent's Day

This year we invited Grandma Jacque and Great Grandma Carie (AKA: Grandma GG) to join us for the school's Grandparent's Day. The kids put on a special performance for all the grandparents, which was adorable. Then the grandmas got to see each of the kids' classrooms and meet their teachers. The grandma's loved it. The kids got out of school early, so I joined in on the fun and we went out for lunch.

We had a nice visit with the grandmas. Grandma GG brought her famous pickles and chimichangas with her from Iowa. She also coached my mom and I through making her famous tenderloins. A highlight for the girls was doing a word search with Grandma GG. I love that my kids have the opportunity to know their great grandma. Thanks for making for making the day special for the kids Grandma Jacque and Grandma GG.

Easter

The girls got baptized on Easter Sunday!!!!

Kaylee getting baptized

Kianna getting baptized

Decorating Easter Eggs

Kianna and Mahkaylah at Church Easter Egg Hunt

Kaylee

Trace

Kids with Easter Eggs

The Dog House- Stacie ate the whole hot dog, which surprised us all.

Sisters

Pedicures

Kaylee and Trace with Uncle Patrick

Kianna with Aunt Stacie and Mommy

Easter Baskets

Our Sweet Kiddos

Patrick and Stacie

Easter Dinner

Cute Deviled Egg Chicks

We had a very special Easter this year. In addition, to the normal traditions of easter egg hunts, easter baskets, easter dresses, and yummy food we had Stacie and Patrick come visit us. We had a great time with them. We took them to Frosty Boy for ice cream, to The Dog House for lunch, jumped outside on the trampoline, went for a bike ride, went for walks, got pedicures, played whiffle ball, and relaxed together. It was great!

Another highlight of the weekend, was that the girls were baptized on Easter Sunday. We dedicated them to the LORD as babies promising to tell them about Jesus' love for them. Then once they are old enough and have asked Jesus to forgive them for their sins then they may choose to get baptized. This is a way of showing the world that they love Jesus and are not ashamed to follow Him. We are so proud of them for making this decision!!!!

Camp Friedenswald

Our Cabin: Kaylee, Amelia, Emily, Ella, Summer and Olivia

Silly Faces

Class Time

Inspiration Point

Borrow the Ball- I spent a lot of time in captivity

More time in captivity

East Fen- Sandhill Cranes

Kaylee and I

Land Bridge on Prairie Fen Hike

Burned area

Hiking

Parents Hiking

Kaylee and I

Camp Friedenswald Map

Kaylee and Emily at Bonfire

Survival Game Instructions

Dining Hall

Moms- Keri, Jen, and Dori

Camp Friedenswald is a three day field trip for all the 3rd graders at LCS. Parents are encouraged to go too. I had the opportunity to go to camp with Kaylee and we had a blast! Camp Friedenswald is located about 2.5 hours west in Cassopolis, MI. It is a science camp. The kids had 8, one-hour classes they had to attend the first two days. They learned about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and the food chain in general. Lots of the classes involved hiking. The camp has two fens, which we learned is marshy land supplied with water that springs up from the ground. We spent a lot of time outdoors. 

In the evenings, we had large group activities. We had a scavenger hunt one night, a bonfire with kettle popcorn another night, we played a large game similar to capture the flag another night, and the final day we played the survival game. The survival game is AWESOME. The kids are all categorized as an herbivore, carnivore or omnivore. To survive they have to find 3 different watering holes scattered throughout the camp. In addition, herbivores have to find 6 plant food locations; while carnivores have to eat 6 animals; and omnivores have to eat 3 plants and 3 animals. The kids start off with a carabiner filled with little circles called "life rings". Every time they are tagged they have to give up one of their life rings. The goal is the get all their water and food for the day and still have one life ring left. In the meantime, the parents are let loose and are either environmentalists that give back life rings or are hunters/disease/vehicles that kill the animals and take away life rings. I chose to be a disease. I am proud to announce that I collected 23 life rings. Kaylee was a white-tailed deer (herbivore) and was killed twice. It was such a fun game!!!!

We stayed in heated cabins. The boys were jealous of the girls cabins because we had bathrooms with showers. The boys had to walk outside to a bathhouse for their toilets and showers and it was cold outside! We had a fun cabin filled with some of Kaylee's closest friends. In addition to spending time with Kaylee, I enjoyed getting to know the other parents and kids better. It is always nice to be able to put a name with a face. Camp was so much fun. We both had a blast. I'm excited I get to go again with Kianna in a few years...

Spring Break in Iowa

Kaylee's new bike

We decided at the last minute to head back to Iowa for Spring Break. It was a much more laid back trip than usual because most of my side of the family was out of town for about half the time we were there.  We spent most of our time with Trevor's side of the family and stayed with Sam, Mike, Bryker and Bruxen. We had a nice, relaxing visit.

Some of the highlights include:

• Visiting with Sally and her family on our way to Iowa.
• Spending time with family. The kids love spending time with their cousins, grandparents, and aunts and uncles. Bryker and Trace are two peas in a pod. The kids introduced Byker to the iPad version of Mine Craft. We have a bunch of little addicts on our hands. We had to detox when we returned...
• Grilling out for the first time this year. 
• We got to see the condo that Bob and Becki recently purchased. 
• I got to help Becki pick out some new furniture. 
• Trevor enjoyed watching a couple movies with his dad. 
• We got to see Bryker play soccer. 
• We got to play with Bruxen. Unfortunately, the little guy was sick most of the time we were there. 
• Weather was great, so we enjoyed lots of walks and several trips to parks.
• Tried several new restaurants in town.
• Dinner at Biaggi's with my mom, grandma, Patrick, and Bree. Enjoyed good conversation and yummy food. 
• Dinner with Dad, Sue and Aliyah at Osaka's. It was the kids' first experience they can remember at a habachi table. It was also my dad and Sue and Aliyah's first time. My dad put a big glob of wasabi in his mouth. We had a good laugh and so much fun!
• Night out with Issa's and Langfald's.
• Date with my hubby. We went out for thai food, watched a movie and did some shopping all while the kids spent a fun afternoon with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne. 
• Visiting with Grandma Carie up at the hospital. Unfortunately, she ended up in the hospital the day before we left due to being full of fluid. 
• Once back in Michigan, we continued to enjoy the great weather by having our first family bike ride of the year and grilling steaks.

April Fool's Day

The pranking began several days earlier. It was late at night. Our room was dark. The only light came from the glow of Trevor's iPad as he sat next to me reading a book. I pulled the covers back on my bed and found a SNAKE! It startled me. I jumped away from it and told Trevor to "get that thing out of my bed". I immediately recognized the snake as being the fake one Trace got for his birthday in January. The kids were all in bed. We laughed and discussed who we thought put the snake in my bed. Trevor suggested Trace. I guessed it was Kianna.

In the morning, I told the kids I found something in my bed last night and watched them carefully to see who looked guilty. Both Kianna and Trace had a guilty look on their faces. However, they immediately placed the blame on none other than my lovely husband. Can you believe it? He tried to push it off on the kids...

So on April Fool's Day, I still hadn't thought of a good prank to pull on Trevor until Kianna told me of a funny trick one of her friends had told her about. She had the idea of making a carmel covered onion instead of a carmel apple. I knew this was the prank for me. I had it waiting for Trevor when he got home from work. Unfortunately, he licked some of the carmel that had dripped down the side of the "apple" and thought it tasted funny and decided not to eat the "apple". I told the kids I couldn't get him to eat it, so they proceeded to try to convince him to eat it. About this time, Trevor asked us if there was something different about this "apple" and that is when Trace shouted out "yeah, it's an onion!". We tried hard and we had a good laugh, but unfortunately he never took a bite. Better luck next year...