Memorial Day Weekend

We did lots of fun stuff this weekend. Daddy and Dylan did a little fishing at Nana's pond. Dylan only caught seaweed, he did catch some big ones though. He is so good at casting and it craksme up to see this little guy throw clear out over the pond.
Dylan's favorite food is corn, he loves it any way you make it. Everytime we go to the grocery he begs me to buy corn on the cob, so in the spirit of summer I bought them some. Macy and him did it all themselves and they did great.
Grandpa Jeff was doing some farming this weekend and needed a little refreshment so the kids got to take him some water. I thought this was the neatest photo opp. The kids love to do anything they can to help dad, they are young enough to think farming is cool.
Nana had a cook-out for the kids. They like to turn everyday in the extra special. Kenzie is very tolerant of her obsessed little cousin Maddie. The kids and I ran from our house to Kris', pushing three kids in the stroller was a great workout and they were so tired that the slept the whole ride and got to wake up at Nana's.

We took advantage of the warmer weather to run in the sprinkler for the first time. Maddie is the only one who would pose for a photo, Macy was sleeping and Dylan was being a silly.
We are happy to welcome summer, we off camping for a few days so we will have cute photos when we get home.

Maddie Graduated Pre-school.

Maddie had such a great year in Pre-school this year. It is so sad to see her growing up so quickly. I guess my baby really is gone. Mrs. Ash did such a great job with them this year, and she met some great friends. She took a second to pose with three of her favorite friends from this year, Maddison, Will, and Maggie. Aunt Tina came to her program and was impressed with all of the great songs.

We made our first trip of the summer to the zoo on Monday. It was really cold, the kids were bummed that they did not get to play in the fountains. The cooler weather did mean that the animals were all out and about. We also took Grandma with us.

Macy was taking a little rest in the hammock along the way. She really liked the animals more than the other kids did.
The orangutans are always my favorite, I think they are so cute. They do always seem a little sad though.

Grandma's Gardners

The kids are planting a garden at my mom and dad's. They have planted everything imaginable, so far the only thing to grow is radishes. They had fun planting the seeds and watering everything. Something tells me their enthusiasm will not last the whole summer and grandma and grandpa have a lot of work ahead of them.

Dylan's Pre-School Program

Mommy, Daddy, Maddison, Dylan and Macy at New Beginings Preschool on
Dylan's last day of school.
Grandpa and Grandma Gurtner joined us at Dylan's program.
This was Dylan's teacher Mrs. Hewes.

We had such a fun time today at Dylan's program he did such a terrific job. He was so proud of himself and so happy we were there to hear him sing. We took advantage to the opportunity to get a photo of our family and the kids with my parents. It was a fun day, we went to Pizza Hut to celebrate afterwards. This is Dylan's favorite, he love the the frosted cinnamon sticks.

Our T-Ball Team

Dylan and Maddie are both playing T-ball this year. They are doing a great job, it is amazing how much better Maddie has gotten in a year, not to mention how much better she is behaving. We had team photos this evening. We are so lucky that we have great coaches. Michael's life long friends Nathan and Andy are coaching and they are so great to the kids, and very patient. It is really neat that the kids get to have this experience with their friends like Hayden, Dawson and Gavin,



This is a picture of Maddie, Gavin and Dylan. My kids love Gavin so much, he is a great little boy.

Macy first dentist appointment.

Macy got to go and have her teeth cleaned today. She was such a big girl, they said she does a great job of brushing her teeth, and she was not scared at all, she did not even want me to go back with her. She usually is a little shy but she answered all of their questions herself. Of course getting a tooth brush when she was done was also a highlight. She has carried the toothbrush everywhere she went all night long.

Mothers Day

We had a fun day celebrating Mother's Day. We started off by going to church, then we had lunch at Nana's house. Great Grandma Oberlin and Great Grandma Call were both there with us. The kids are so lucky to have all 8 of their Great Grandparents still living and healthy. Macy had to take advantage of Grandma Calls lap for some snuggle time. They know each one of them really well. The kids had fun just playing together and we had yummy food, we always do at Nana's house because her and Aunt Tina are such great cooks. It was another fun day.

The girls and I went to a Mother and Daughter banquet at church. Here they are looking very pretty in their little dresses. They were really good and had fun having a girls night.

Dressed up Divas!

When we are at Papa and Nana's the kids love to play dress-up. The boys cannot help themselves, when the girls put on the dresses they have to do it too. We were all over there celebrating Papa's birthday and sure enough the boys put on a show for us too. They were all so funny, I cannot remember laughing as hard as I did at them. When Dawson put on that wig, he looks so darn cute. We all had a great time with the kids, it is so much fun for them to just get to hang-out.




















Here is Dawson, he knows how funny he is, they all loved having everyone laugh at them. Could you blame us, are they not hilarious.

Maddie's best friend.

Our niece is Maddie's best friend, she so looks forward to any day when she gets to see Kenzie. Everything Kenzie does and says is profound in the eyes of Maddie, were just lucky that Kenzie is such a terrific kid.

A fishing we will go.....

Dylan's big ole fish, he called it a monster.

Michael bought a bass boat last fall and the kids finally got to try it out. Even though I am as far from a fisherman as they come it was hard not to enjoy watching the kids copy everything their daddy did. Dylan caught a fish on his first cast and was so proud he could not sit still. It was freezing cold, we even had to take a blanket to stay warm but that did not seem to bother them at all.

HAPPY CAMPERS

We got in our first camping trip this week. It only last for a day because we got rained out but we still had a great time. The kids did a great job riding their bikes. Little Macy is already riding a big bike, you should see her go. We even had a camp raccoon, it actually got right up on Michael's lap (REALLY IT DID). We laughed so hard at them, the kids kept feeding the marshmallows.

Dylan and Maddie are ball players.

The kids had their first T-ball game last night. After Dylan through a fit he ended up playing and did great. He was pretty proud. Maddie and him both had to use the T to hit off of, but they practiced with daddy at the camp ground and should do better next time. The best part was the pop and hotdog that they got after the game.

We had watch week at Maddie's dance class this week. We are getting close to recital I think we will all be glad to take a break until the fall. Here she is in her practice outfit, wait until you see the recital costumes. TOO CUTE

Almost Broadway!

Olivia and Maddie pose outside of DeKalb High School where we went to see the musical Beauty and the Beast.


The girls got to meet Belle after the performance. The kids did such an amazing job it was like being at Disney.

The boys were being silly and did not want me to take their picture, but we got one anyway.














We met the Knox's at the park to let the kids play. Maddie had an ear infection so she wasn't much fun. Dylan and Joel had a blast though. They played off by themselves most of the time. It is nice for Dylan to have someone like Joel, he gets to be a boy and Joel never complains about Dylan being too mean. We are so blessed getting to raise our kids with such great friends.

Bike Riding

We have been taking advantage of the nice weather to get out and get some exercise. We took our bikes to the bike path from Waterloo to Auburn last week. The kids had a blast, they actually rode three miles. Little Macy rode her tricycle the whole way, then we went and bought her a big girl bike (Dora of course). We are so thankful it is finally spring.

Look at these naughty, muddy kids.

Leave it to my kids to find the only mud puddle in Steuben County. They had a blast getting mud everywhere. We had to hook up the hose to the garage so they could have warm water to rinse off in. I just took out their soap and they had showers in the garage. I think that may have been the best part for them.

Michael took vacation this week to get his annual turkey, the kids were pretty excited about checking it out. Even though I am not very "outdoorsy" I thought that the bird is pretty cool looking. Dylan was really excited to pose with his dad.

The kids are filling up the feeder so Papa and Nana's birds are well fed this spring.

Dylan was hiding under the swing set, trying to stay away from his sisters.

Maddie is feeding Snip the horse, he was a pig and ate the whole bag of carrots.

We love playing at Nana's house, she turns everyday into a special occasion. Last Sunday we got to go fishing in the pond, help fill her bird feeders, and walk to the neighbors to feed the horse and other farm animals. Macy was actually very brave, she is usually scared of everything but she even fed the horse by herself and was able to pet this very ugly, scary turkey.