Mother's Day

Mother's Day this year was wonderful! It was a beautiful sunny day, but rather chilly. We went to church first and then headed on our journey to the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. We had a really nice brunch and then walked the grounds.

Soccer Days are Here Again!

Wow! It's been a long time since I created a post! The last post was from Spring Soccer and Home Depot Days.

The kids are all in full fall soccer mode. All three are playing on different teams, but we've managed so far. Michele has practice Tuesdays, Jackson practices Wednesday and Friday, and Chance practices Fridays. Michele plays Kiddie Kicks, so the games are at the end of practice (15 min scrimmages). Jackson and Chance both play on Saturdays, and it actually has worked out that we will only have to be separated 2 of the Saturdays!

Both the boys teams are currently undefeated.

Jackson is playing defense for the most part and is doing an awesome job. He tried out for the RecPlus division and made the team. 70 kids tried out and 36 made it, so this soccer mom is proud! Jackson is enjoying 3rd grade and is playing the violin. He loves it and I think he will definitely be a musician.

Chance is playing U6 and it is a little slow for him. He has scored 7 goals in 2 games! He's enjoying first grade, but is excited for the math and reading groups to be established.

Michele is attending StarMaker Montessori School for Pre-K. She is currently going from 8:30 - 2:30, but times may change once I get a job.

Chris has been travelling a lot. By mid October he will have taken 5 trips in 1 1/2 months.

Pray for me as I will be taking my certification for pediatric nurse practitioner on Monday!!!

Enjoy the pics!

Home Depot Days

We spent our morning at the Home Depot working on our monthly kids' project! It was a blast. Each of the kids made "Wheelbarrow Planters" for Mother's Day. Michele even got involved in the hammering!

This evening we went to church and Christopher gave another fantastic lesson in large group on obedience. This week's example was Jonah. Jen taught the kindergartners and first graders.

After church we went out for a yummy pizza dinner with Luke, Jena and Katelyn Jung. A great time was had by all.

Home Depot Building and Soccer Sundays

This weekend was packed full of fun things! Saturday we headed over to Home Depot and the kids each built a bird house. For those of you who don't know. . .Home Depot does a kid's project the first Saturday of every month. Our kids really enjoy it and Michele even tries to use the hammer!

After building, we drove over to the outlet mall for the sale at Osh Kosh B'Gosh. What a great sale. We spent $200, but got 33 clothing items. Shorts, shirts, capris, skorts!

We came home and visited with some friends for about an hour before church. Chris did a great job of storytelling in the children's large group. This month the virtue is about conviction (doing what is right even if others aren't). Chris told the children of the story of Jesus praying at Mount Olive and the disciples sleeping. He told them how Jesus was so convicted and knew he was going to be crucified, but was doing the right thing because it was His Father's will. Jen taught in the Kindergarten/First Grade Room. What a great week we had with the kids.

Sunday we headed to church in the morning. It was another great sermon. Facing the Giants!

After church we took the kids out for donuts. . .boy was it hard to resist the temptation, but I need to lose this weight!

Then we were off to soccer! Michele played at 1:00pm and the boys played at 4:00pm. Michele is so cute. She might touch the ball one or two times during the game, but she runs up and down that field smiling!

The boys won this week!!! It was so awesome. Other than their indoor soccer team, Jackson has not won a game ever! The last goal scored for his team before this game was the first game of last Spring's season (Jackson scored that goal!). They played awesome! Jackson scored 2 goals and Chance scored 3. The final score was 9 - 0. We felt bad for the other team, but we have been there!

Unfortunately, both cameras were acting up so I was only able to take one picture. Hopefully next games we will have action shots of the boys and Michele.

Soccer Days are Here Again

Yesterday was the first day of soccer season for the kids. It was bitterly cold. A whopping 40 degrees with rain and wind!

The boys play on the same team this year and had a really great game. They lost 4-0, but they scored on themselves twice! I say they did good, because they played against "The Dream Team" and have lost to them in the past by 13 points! Jackson played goalie the first half of the game. He did an awesome job and was only scored on one time (in the first 30 seconds of the game).

Michele wasn't too excited about the cold. By the end of the game, she had a long-sleeve shirt, raincoat, winter coat, and soccer shirt on. She kept running over to the sideline saying "Mommy, I'm cold. I want to go in the car." She did great though. Ran her little heart out and popped back up after being knocked down by the bigger kids. She was worn out and fell asleep on the way home.

Unfortunately, I was only able to get pictures of her as the boys game was at the same time and Chris is the assistant coach for their team.

Our Smoky Mountain Vacation!

What a week it has been! We left on Friday, March 20, for Gatlinburg, TN. What a beautiful drive it was and the kids were very cooperative. We took our new car, which means no DVD player, and they read books and colored the whole trip! We really surprised ourselves by taking the little car. Usually we pack way too much stuff, but we limited ourselves to one suitcase, the toiletry bag, crockpot, and some food. We arrived at our timeshare around 8:30pm, checked in and then went for a very quick bite to eat as we were all dead tired from the trip.

Saturday, March 21, we woke up and went out for pancakes at FLAPJACKS! The kids had chocolate chip pancakes of course. Then we were off to play miniature golf. It was a great time, and the 18th hole challenge provided a free game to anyone who made the putt. Well, the only one in our family to make the putt was. . .Michele!! After golfing, we drove around and got to know the area a little bit, then headed to the grocery. When we arrived back at the hotel, we took the kiddos for a swim in the heated pool! Finally we had a nice dinner. I made grilled buffalo chicken salads.

Sunday, March 22, we ventured into Gatlinburg and toured the Ripley's Aquarium. It was awesome. The kids had a really great time. They have one of the biggest undergound tunnels I have seen with sharks, stingrays, and an abundance of fish swimming over your head! Then as Jackson would say we went out for a "fancy lunch" to a place called Desserts and More. They had one of the best chicken salad sandwiches I have ever tasted and a great potato soup! The kids had grilled cheese and PB & J!! Then we strolled down the streets and toured the shopping area. For dinner I made a balsamic chicken with rice and slices of watermelon on the side!

Monday, March 23, we drove to Asheville, NC. It took about 2 hours and the GPS had us driving some CRAZY roads! We had lunch at the Biltmore McDonalds. We saw this McDonalds on the Travel Channel and just had to take the kids there. It had a self-playing baby grand piano, a fireplace, and rod-iron galore (because it is in the Biltmore district it has to be built to code). Next, we toured the Biltmore Mansion and I must say. . .those people had the life! 43 bathrooms, an inground pool, a bowling alley. . .need I say more. After touring the mansion we took the kids to the farm where they got to pet the animals including two huge horses named Bert and Ernie! We ended our tour of the Biltmore with wine tasting for Chris and grape juice for the kids and I! We then drove back to Tennessee where we discovered that mountain cooking must be different than regular altitudes, because my spaghetti sauce that had been cooking in the crockpot all day had no water left in it! So we put the kids back in the car and went out for dinner at a place called the Flying Horse. They have a carousel in the restaurant and everyone gets a ticket for a free ride.

Tuesday, March 24, was a glorious 82 degrees! We drove to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and toured Cades Cove, an area known for its abundant wildlife. Check out this link:

http://www.cadescove.net/auto_tour.html

It was absolutely beautiful and we did see white-tail deer! I was hoping to see a black bear, but no such luck. Maybe next time. . .we will go back! The area still has the old buildings of the settlers that called the area home. There is a working grist mill still on the land and the kids were impressed at how they used water from the water wheel to make energy! After Cades Cove, we drove to the grocery and picked up some jarred spaghetti sauce (a sin) and revamped my sauce by added some of Emeril's tomato basil sauce. The kids decided they wanted to play mini-golf again, so we headed off to Davy Crockett's Mini-Golf and then off to Baskin Robbins for dessert.

Wednesday, March 25. We laid around the room for awhile. The kids did homework and journaling. Then we headed out to the Old Mill and area known for it's grist mill and pottery. We picked up some taffy made in the candy shop, watched a potter spin a bread bowl, and tasted some samples at the kitchen store. Next we headed to the Ripley's Mirror Maze. It was a blast. Jackson kept saying "the ultimate challenge is to make it out without touching any mirrors!" The kids had a great time!

Thursday, March 26. I laid in bed until 11:30am! I guess I do have allergies! Three days before this I was having symptoms and thought I must have a sinus infection or something, but now that we are back in Ohio we are attributing my sickness to allergies. When I finally made it out of bed, we headed to Olive Garden. . .I needed soup! After a couple bowls of soup and some peach tea, we headed to Ripley's Old MacDonald Mini-Golf where 4 of the 5 of us won a free game on the 18th hole. . .Jackson, Chance, Michele and Jen. . .Chris did not!!! Then we headed back to the room to start packing up our stuff. The last event of the trip we headed to a dinner show called the Black Bear Jamboree! It was a great time and the kids even enjoyed the 50's, 70's, Country, and Gospel Music.

The trip was just what we needed. . .relaxation and family time! It was soooooo beautiful and peaceful. We did have television, but no internet which was nice. Well, now that you've read my long post. . .enjoy the photos!!!

Spring is in the Air!

Well, spring was in the air today. It reached 73 degrees and was absolutely beautiful!

Chris and I are finishing up our winter quarter. My last final is Thursday (he didn't have any this quarter!). We are excited for our Spring Break Family Vacation to Gatlinburg, TN! Not much of a spring break spot I know, but we are looking forward to relaxation, hiking, and just spending some good quality time together.

As we head into the spring, soccer season begins again! The boys had their first practice last Thursday (March 12) and Michele started practice tonight. She sure was the littliest out there (by a foot in some cases and probably 20 lbs!). She gave it her all and really had a blast. By the end of the practice one of the older boys, Anthony, was holding her hand and guiding her in which direction to go. It was soooooo cute.

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the little bit of warm weather we have had. Hope you enjoy the pictures and I'll try to post a video of Michele practicing.