More Memorial Day Camping Pics

Mommy and Boy

We had a good camping trip this past weekend.  Definitely more pics to come, but I think this is my favorite!  Yes, it’s because I’m in it.  I am always the one with the camera.  Not such a bad thing most of the time, but I am glad I can prove I was a part of this event!  Ha!

We all have camping hangovers.  It’s Tuesday already, so I am sure our first week of summer break will fly by.  I hope you had an enjoyable holiday weekend!

Easy Baked Donuts

I saw these Easy Baked Donuts on Pinterest. Ethan had a friend spend the night last night, so I thought it would be a great time to try them! I used regular size canned biscuits that were cheap. I liked the fact that you brush them with oil and bake instead of frying them! So next time I’ll try making my own dough for a better taste.

Ethan’s buddy loves chocolate, so we made a few with some leftover icing I had made for a baby shower last weekend.

And powdered sugar donut holes!

They were all a big hit in this house of boys! Ethan and his friend are off to a kite making class with daddy now!

Ohio Birthdays

Two weekends ago we went to Ohio to celebrate three special birthdays.  My sister’s 40th, my niece’s 16th and my other niece’s 6th birthday.

Here are a few pictures from the party…

Visit to Ohio

I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t made the time to do much blogging!  And something is going a little whacky with it.  I had an Advent post all ready and it disappeared twice!

We had a great time visiting family in Ohio.  My brother and his son came in from Florida.  It was so good to see them.  I love spending time with my big brother.  The boys love him to pieces.  There’s always wrestling that happens when they are together, and I so enjoy watching them!  We all joined at my sister’s for a Thanksgiving celebration.  Huge reason to be thankful!!!  We had a wonderful time.  Our family is so blessed.

Transformed!

This year my boys dressed as Transformers.

Iron Hide, Bumblebee and Optimus Prime.  I think I’ve got that right.

This picture is from the party we had at co-op last week.

I have to throw in a picture of some of the other children, because it’s just so cute.

We really enjoyed our weekend.  The fall and Halloween is always fun around here.  I have fond memories as a child, and I hope we are making some for our boys.

Saturday a friend and I went to a community festival.  The local high school was packed full of fun for the kids.  Our dentist friends were there.  One was dressed up as a great big tooth!  We love getting our free toothbrushes and toothpaste!

Saturday evening we met some friends at the nearby park for another party and trick or treating around the hiking trails.  It was so beautiful there!

Sunday evening we had a bonfire with our dear church family.  It was such an enjoyable time.  I loved every minute of it.  It was bittersweet, too, as we gathered around the fire to say goodbye to our old church property and meet the new church family moving in.  Tears ran down my cheeks as we sang a few hymns together.  I felt like I was given a very small glimpse of what heaven might be like.

Monday evening we went trick or treating around the neighborhood.  But we were missing two special people.  Chad was on another business trip and Andrew was sick on the couch.  Andrew asked me if I could take his bag along with me.  Only in this great group of people would that work!  Love our neighborhood family!

Transformers….More Than Meets the Eye!

I hope I am more than one meets the eye, you know?  In this world, often it doesn’t seem like that.  We buy into the lie that what you see is what’s important.  I want people to see my heart.  Do they see the heart of Jesus?  Are we training our children to be concerned about the souls of others?  For daily we have to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds” (Romans 12:2).  God, renew my mind through the reading of Your Word.  Help me be like You.

This week of celebration wasn’t about just collecting loads of sugary sweets, although that is fun.

It was about spending precious time with friends and neighbors.  My hope is that we were able to shine that Light into this dark world, and have some fun doing it.

It’s my first link up to Growing Godly Men!  I have always loved this gal.  Great encouragement for raising young boys!  Check it out!

 

Fall Camping

My favorite time to camp is in the fall!  We went Thursday-Sunday of this past weekend.  We were planning to do our annual Halloween camping trip.  When we arrived, we realized that this wasn’t the right weekend!  It’s always the weekend before Halloween and we book it 6 months in advance.  We barely got a spot then, so we sure didn’t think a thing of it.  Apparently the famous Covered Bridge Festival was a week late this year, pushing the camping holiday until next weekend!  Oh well!  I think I was more disappointed than my boys were!  We had a great time.  The weather was so beautiful, and it won’t be as pretty this coming weekend.  So I’m glad we were there.  We did “reverse trick-or-treat” children all around the campground and met some nice people.  We did our best to “shine the light of Jesus” wherever we went.  Here are some pics!

This is my favorite picture from the weekend!  Thursday night was cold.  The boys were so excited to where their winter coats and their new winter hats we got in West Virginia.  The way they highlight their faces…I can hardly take it!

My Birthday Boy

We celebrated Chad’s birthday this weekend!  We had a big crowd of friends and family here.  The weather was perfect for the outdoor bonfire party I had planned.  I was so delighted to see so many of our friends and family here to love on Chad.  I know our backyard couldn’t hold the amount of people whose lives he has touched, though.

After everyone left, Chad and I went back out to assess the mess.  We sat down on the bales of straw and had a lovely conversation.  I’m so in love with this man.  I love him for who he was in the past, who he is now, and for what he wants to be in the future.

He’s 39 now, so I think that had him thinking.  He was touched by the love he felt that night.  That led to some other thoughts that he shared with me.  He talked about how he never wants his children to pass him by spiritually.  Now, that may sound strange.  But as we talked about it, he explain it this way…His goal is to never have his children look back one day and wish their dad had done things differently.  He wants to always strive to be more spiritually mature than they are.  That way, his boys always look up to him and “want to be just like that someday”.  Because “just like that” means being more like Jesus.  That meant the world to me.  I want that, too.

 

Our Weekend

This past weekend was the perfect fall weekend.  I mean perfect!

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous around here!  And the fall colors are putting on quite the display this year.

Ah.  I love the fall.  I’m so thankful for the beautiful change of seasons that Indiana offers.

The weekend began Friday night.  Our homeschool co-op had a fall party out at a friend’s farm.  It was a great night for it.  We had such a fun time visiting with one another.  The boys had a blast bobbing for apples, taking hay rides, playing games, and especially loved going on a “snipe hunt”.

Saturday morning we got up and did some things around the house.  We really could have used the whole day for some projects, but we headed out to corn and bean country instead.  Ethan’s favorite time of year…harvest.

We stopped by a farm that was selling pumpkins and all kinds of beautiful fall things!  Of course, out in the middle of no where, Chad knew the family.  I love that, though.  It has its perks!  We picked out lots of stuff to decorate with.  Boys are itching to carve their big pumpkins!

Pics from harvesting soybeans…

After that, we stopped in for a visit with Chad’s dad.

Sunday Chad took off for another trip.  After church, the boys had an Awana carnival day.  They had a lot of crazy fun.  Andrew got a kick out of the oversized tricycles.

Sunday evening was spent outside in my front flowerbed.  I am replacing the rock with rubber mulch, and that has been a job!  But it was a lovely evening to be out there with my three little guys.  Boys and rocks always mix, so they were good little helpers.

Virginia Beach Pictures

Here are just some of the many pictures taken on our Virginia Beach trip.  We had such a lovely time.  Chad had a business meeting out there, and we were blessed to be able to tag along!

We all piled in a rental Toyota Camry and drove the 13 hours there and back.  The boys did so well.  We were so proud of them!!

We went to visit some very good friends of ours in the area for a couple of days.  It was so good to see them again.  It felt like we had never been apart for almost a year.  All 8 kids had a blast together.  And I had some precious time with my friend.  I think she has a goofy picture of us at the beach!

The hotel where the meetings were held was amazing!  We enjoyed the beachfront view and access to the beach, as well as all the fun things to do there just in the hotel.  I think my favorite memory was breakfast on a beautiful morning right by the beach.

Beach time!  My favorite place to watch the boys and their daddy!