Life Together

Weather has warmed enough that the girls have been playing in the sprinkler like crazy, and their little pool as well.  Unfortunately, the pool walls went flat for some unexplained reason, so the girls were very excited to get a new one and help me fill it up so they could play in it.  

 Last Saturday, we were sad to learn that our neighbor, "Mr. Barney" had to say goodbye to his dog Molly.  We knew it was inevitable as she had developed a bone tumor a few weeks back and he told us at that point there was nothing they could do.  Still, we enjoyed playing with Molly so much, and were sure to spend extra time loving her and Barney during those weeks.  After he had buried her, we talked to the girls about what had happened.  Ezri had been given a bag of goodies at church on Sunday and instructed to give it to someone who needed it, along with a note she wrote/drew that said "God loves you, I am praying for you".  Ezri decided Barney definitely needed that message.  So, she and her sisters set out to make cards and then we all went over to give them to him and share our sadness as well.  Barney was clearly touched, and even cried, so of course I did too.

Since that day, the girls have made it their mission over the last week to daily bring him gifts.  One day it was a vase of hand picked flowers from the yard.  Other days it has been notes or pictures of Molly.  Some days they snuck over to Molly's grave and left flowers.  My heart has overflowed watching these beautiful girls share their hearts and love Barney through this very sad time.

 Thursday, we celebrated Mommy's birthday.  It was a quiet day at home, spent playing and just enjoying the girls, and I couldn't have wished for any better gift than that.

 Friday, the girls and I headed to Aunt Nancy's house for some fun in the pool.  While we were there, the girls discovered kittens!  They were so excited and the kittens kept them occupied for a very long time.

 They had their share of in the pool, too.  Ezri is practicing her swimming and has been jumping into the pool without flotation whenever a big person is available to watch.  Alora got brave and decided she wanted to jump in too (with flotation on)!  At first it was by slipping over the edge slowly, but by the end of the day, she was jumping in full force and loving it!

 Our water baby decided she only wanted to swim for a little while before she was cold and would rather play with the dogs on the deck or ham it up by climbing on furniture.

More Reasons to Celebrate

This past week was packed with activity.  Monday morning, we woke up and decided we should go pick strawberries.  We joined Kathy, Emmett and Travis and in the course of about 45 minutes picked a ton of huge berries. It was the best picking I have experienced in quite some time, and they were delicious too.  The kids helped, though I think they may have eaten more than they put into the basket. 

Wednesday, the girls and I met up with some other friends from MOPS for an outing to the Critter Barn in Zeeland and a picnic to follow.  We had a great time together and the kids enjoyed the farm and the park.  Alora has developed a fear of goats since an incident at a friend's house where she was convinced by other children that a pygmy goat was going to "buffle" (butt) her if she turned her back, so it was a little frustrating with her because she didn't want to go near any goats especially, but was hesitant to go near even rabbits, chickens or sheep.  After our fun day out, the girls played with Emmett and Travis at our house and we celebrated Kathy's birthday together.

Thursday, Kathy and I took the kids to a children's carnival in Allegan.  It was a chilly day, but the kids had loads of fun and got tons of stuff.  They planted a tomato plant, got free books, made fun things, had a free lunch, and got to bounce in bounce houses too. I was very impressed by the event.

 As Kathy and I were gathering flowers at the park across the street from our house later on Thursday for her book party on Friday, we nearly stumbled over a very young fawn laying in the soccer field!

 Friday, the girls and I spent most of the day helping prepare for my friend Kathy's book launch party.  From 1:00 until 9:00, we spent they day in Burnips.  After getting all set up, the party began and the kids got to play outside with their friends for hours while parents traded the job of supervising them.  Team Kathy showed up in matching shirts and flowers to support Kathy, and we had some fun with a few photos to celebrate with Kathy.  I sure do love these girls!

 As the day wore on, the kids grew tired and hot, so a movie ended the evening for them.

 And then, as we cleaned up that night, the balloons provided huge entertainment!

 This past Sunday was Father's Day.  The girls and I spent some time a few weeks back making something special for him, and they were so excited to give it to him on Sunday morning.

 Each girl put her handprint on the painting several times to make a sunshine and we painted the words "You are my Sunshine" because this is one of Daddy's favorite songs to sing to the girls.  He loved it!

After church, we let Daddy choose what he wanted to do.  We grilled out and later in the afternoon met up with our friends to go swimming for the afternoon in Sandy Pines.  This meant golf cart rides for the kids, who piled in a cart with Jay and Becci on the way to the lake. It was a cart full of giggles and squeals!

With all of the action, Tierney was a sleep-fighting mess. so there were a few occasions where she fell asleep wherever she sat because I was just to wore out from the nap and bedtime struggle to fight her anymore.

Farewell Kindergarten, Hello Summer!

We are winding down our school year and gearing up for summer around here, and very excited about it!  One of our fun projects has been our Fairy Garden.  Earlier, the girls painted their houses, but I recently varnished them so they could stand some weather and then we put them out on an old stump we got from Grandpa.  A couple of trips to Michael's has resulted in some added furniture for the fairies, so when the girls got to finally put their little village together, it was quite cute.  They are very proud of it!

 As a year end project for Ezri's Kindergarten year, she got to paint a plate which we then baked so it would withstand use.  She was so excited to finally get the chance to work on it and sat focused for over an hour.

 I told her she could paint anything she wanted.  Her choice?  A picture of herself with her sisters under a rainbow.  I love this kid and her love for her sisters!

 We also took a few pictures to celebrate her last official day of Kindergarten on Thursday.

The ending of Ezri's school year also meant the end of the public school year and the end of my need to cross kids for a few months (yay!).  This past year, there was one bus driver that just stood out to me, she was always waving and smiling no matter what, and would often hand me a piece of candy or little treat on holidays.  At Christmas, I had called the bus garage to learn her name and then sent her a card to just thank her for her kindness.  What resulted was beyond what I would have imagined as it apparently touched her quite deeply and resulted in a card sent back to me thanking me for my kindness, friendliness and recognition of her as it had been a hard year.  Her daughter works at the bank in town and also mentioned what I had done several times when either Alex or I went in.

A bit into the new year, she stopped one day on her way home from driving one morning to meet me and give me a hug, expressing again her gratitude.  Fast forward to the end of the year, the second to last day of school, and I found myself greeted by a bus stopping at my cross so she could hand me lunch with a note as well as a gift.   It made me feel pretty special, needless to say.

We started off our summer with a trip to Hart this past Saturday morning for the Asparagus Festival with Uncle Andy, Jay & Becci.  The girls were a bit moody in the van, anxious to be there.

 Once in Hart, the girls got to play carnival games, win prizes and jump on bounce houses - all for free!  We also watched the parade, which resulted in a whole lot of candy and goodies.

But, it sure was hot!!!  We all tried to huddle under a little tree to get some relief.  Early talk of going to the beach after the parade was ditched for a trip back home to Sandy Pines with the Sebrights and the pool instead, which turned into a sleep over for the whole lot of us, and lots of fun that lasted into late Sunday night.

We sure do feel blessed to have such a tight, fun group of friends we can do so much with.  The kids play so well together, as do the adults :)  We are excited for some planned summer trips together as well as the un-planned that we know will arise as well.  Looking forward to a fun summer with the girls!

Summer is coming

The girls are still growing...

This week, we laid low, played around the house, worked in the garden and worked on finishing up some school.  We did get to have a picnic lunch with Grandma one day after a doctor visit, and that was a lot of fun for the girls.  While we waited for Grandma at the park, we enjoyed watching the ducks and geese on the pond.

 We ended our week hanging out with our friends.  Sunday afternoon, we even got in a little baseball together, and we had a lot of fun!  The kids enjoyed taking turns hitting the ball and running the bases as the adults "fumbled" the ball in an effort to catch them.  It was laughs all around and the girls have already asked if we can go and play again.  Even Tierney enjoyed the experience.