Hugs and Giggles

It has been such a busy week!

So much laughter and silliness – so many special moments.

AnnieSnack

Several days we “went to town” to run errands and pick up Pedro from Driver’s Ed. Each girl had their purse, their baby, and their snack bag. They even got lollipops at the grocery store.

Play GroundWe stopped to play at the park – because Aunt ‘linna and Aunt “Juwe” think that time spent in a park is priceless.
SweetsWe think the girls agreed.
Beach
One afternoon we even took the whole crew (all 13 kids) to the beach – because we’re either crazy or up for Aunts of the Year. :)

We all loved it and have the sunburns to prove it!
EmieWe played dress-up clothes, read stories, played with water balloons and spent hours in the swings.
KateWe feed the moo cows, chased the chickens, threw rocks in the ponds, and ate mulberries right off the trees.

We discovered fresh garden peas, read a ka-gillian stories, painted our finger nails and toe nails, and dipped all our food in ranch dressing.

We hugged and kissed and giggled and laughed.

We tickled and prayed and sang and splashed.

It was a good week.

Cousin Week!

Just look who’s at my house!

Girls

Yep – it’s my nieces Katie and Annie. They’re here for the week along with their sister Emie and all 4 brothers.

Why? Because it’s cousin week again! Of course Aunt Julie came to help – along with her two boys, and Nana and Poppa. That makes a grand total of 14 kids and 5 adults.

For those of you newcomers, Annie is my biological niece, and her parents adopted Katie and Emie from the Ukraine. All three girls have Downs Syndrome. When you take those 3 special girls and add their 4 brothers,  you get one busy family – and two very tired parents. So once a year we take all seven kids for a week to give them some time much needed alone.

And boy do we have fun!

Girls 2This morning the girls did the Jillian workout with us – using blocks as their weights. What a hoot! Both Katie and Annie took breaks through-out but little Emie never stopped!

We played play dough, frosted cookies, made bread sticks, spent hours on the swing and in the sandbox, picked lots of flowers, played with the doctor’s kit and gave lots of “pokeys” (shots), and of course – chased chickens.

And it’s only the second day! :)

Girls pond

But we’re not always moving. We’ve had lots of cuddle time to read stories and giggle. I loved our walk to the pond before supper to throw rocks in the water. The girls played for a little while, then just sat quietly, mesmerized by the ripples on the water as the wind blew.

After a few minutes they’re charged up and ready to go again – on to another adventure!

Memorial Day Weekend

Oh my! What a weekend!

We hosted all of Jan’s family – his 2 parents, 1 sister, 2 brothers, 3 spouses, and their 15 children, plus, of course, the seven of us – for a big 80th Birthday Bash to honor his Mom.

It’s been 1-1/2 years since we were all together last – and the changes were amazing! Those cousins are sure growing up fast! At one point I was inside and heard the kids playing an intense game of Ultimate Frisbee on the lawn.

FrisbeeThose “kids” sounded more like men with their deep voices yelling and making war whoops.

And boy could those kids eat!  Seriously. Those guys could pack it in.  Bottomless pits.

But not all were forking it in hand over fist. My little ones were also here to provide a little humor and lots of hugs.
Just before this picture was shot, Annie had grabbed her straw and put it into a nearby mud puddle to get a drink! Thankfully Angel Girl got there just in time to stop her.

And of course – my youngest two nephews spent as much time as possible sitting on Uncle Jan’s “twactors” and begging for rides on the 4-wheeler.

K&MAnd then there’s Katie. She’s one of a kind – that girl. A perpetual motion machine. She was quite taken with my chickens. At one point she found 2 egg shaped rocks by the sand box. She quickly pushed them together and sat on them clucking like a hen.

She and her brother Davy and sister Emie chased those poor chickens the entire weekend. I’m not sure what they would have done if they had actually caught one! :)

The kids were outside from sun up to sun down. They climbed trees, took epic adventures, had a water balloon fight, and spent hours on the swings. If the amount of dirt and mud on their bodies and the amount of food they consumed was any indication – I’d say they all had a great time!

I think it’s safe to say that we all did! :)

The Farm Bash

We’ve got a big weekend planned!

Jan’s entire family is gathering here for a fun weekend of family time. This big ole’ farm house will be bursting from the seams with people and laughter!

Meals are planned and the freezers are full of food.

Frozen Food

The toys are brought down from the attic.

Beds are made and ready in every available piece of floor space!

Every blanket and pillow in the attic is ready to be used.

Beds

The picnic tables have been fixed, painted or borrowed.

The lawn is getting mowed.

Tents are being set up.

Games have been planned.

Birthday Surprises

Surprises are prepared.

Excitement is building as our driveway starts filling up with out-of-state license plates!

Let the fun begin!

Have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend everyone!

One Down…

Matt's GraduationWe did it!

Our first born has successfully been graduated, celebrated, and appreciated.

And this mom is exhausted – but oh -  so proud and happy!!

That’s one graduation down – just four more to go!