Springtime at our house

Levi's apple was more than just his snack...

We yanked out some bushes and now we need to figure out what to fill this space with!

Snacks happen outside, on picnic blankets or just on the front porch.

The angle of this photo make it look like our concrete driveway is bigger than our house...

Springtime at our house mostly means that we're spending as much time outdoors as we possibly can. The boys don't care how cold or windy it is, they know it's spring and that means being outside!

Brief, but good

Brad, Kara and Braden stopped in for a couple hours on Friday evening and it was so good to see them again! The boys played farm and all sorts of things in their short time together.



Thanks for coming over, it was nice to catch up and hang out with your family!

Warm...ish

The weather has been interesting this week...cloudy and cool until 4 p.m., then sunny and a bit warmer until sunset. We're talking warm...ish at about 50 degrees. Based on the following pictures, you wouldn't think it's only 50 degrees out, you'd guess maybe 65 or 70. Thankfully, today it was sunny all day and temps made it into the 60s. Tomorrow we might have snow...sheesh! Noah and Levi are enjoying the change to warmer weather.






On a side-note, tonight while driving to North Newton Levi complained to me that the sun was, "Too bright, mommy, too bright!" I explained that there was nothing I could do about the sun. Levi kept complaining and I said, "Levi, I'm sorry, but God's in charge of where the sun is." He said, "I like God mommy! You like God, too?" Then Levi, Noah and I go to talk about how much we all like God, good times. :-)

Bowling! Look out!

Bowling - what a fun adventure! The Epp family gathered to celebrate the February and March birthdays on Sunday evening. Instead of going to someone's house, we went bowling. The boys were excited about it, and got right down to business. They got their shoes on, picked out a ball and were ready to head straight down the lane!






Levi was pretty thrilled with his performance.

Over and over...

It was soooo good to spend time with my sister and Rylee!





It was a very busy time. 18 people, 7 of them children, makes for a busy time bowling.

Here they are - the birthday kids! Ty and Caiden turned 6, Noah 4, Addi 9 and Rylee 1!

Birthday party time=pure chaos. But it sure was fun!

Thanks Patricia for organizing this fun evening!

Supper at church

During the fall/winter and early spring our church has midweek every Wednesday night. But, the most important part of midweek is the supper that's served beforehand! It's always a wonderful meal, the boys LOVE eating at church and it's the best middle-of-the-week-in-winter break that I could possibly imagine. We sit with friends and get to socialize and sometimes our boys play...or sometimes we lose track of the boys. Like the one time that Levi got trapped in the bathroom or the time that...well, that list could go on for a while.


Last week, dessert was ice cream sundaes!


We LOVE eating supper at church, can you tell?!

The morning commute

I get 15 minutes with my boys in the car every morning. Some mornings that's a bad thing...but some mornings it's really good. One morning earlier this week Levi said, "Mommy look at me, mommy look at me!" I turned around to see this:

I know I've posted a picture of him with those glasses on before, but seeing him like that cracks me up every single time. He knows he looks silly and he loves it.

Then Noah wanted me to take his picture, but he wouldn't put his "phone" down for it...

Good times in the car. Uncle Andy, you have no idea how valuable the phones you gave the boys for Christmas are!

Which one would you choose?

I carry around a pretty big camera...but I don't take it everywhere because my camera bag is...well...ugly. So, when I spotted a really cool looking camera bag on Pioneer Woman I searched for it and well, then I fell in love! I had to have it and my generous husband said, "Go for it." It's from Epiphanie.

Which one would you choose?

It's highly protective for my camera, but leaves me plenty of room for other things so I can combine essentials from my purse WITH my camera, in a bag that looks like a purse!! Can you tell I'm excited?!

Please don't ask why I took these photos in my laundry room...a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

Well, that was interesting

We took the boys to see Sesame Street Live on Sunday afternoon. The boys didn't seem impressed with the size of the arena, or the lights on the stage but did want to eat the snacks we brought with us.

Big Bird said we had to wait 15 minutes for the show to start. Big Bird carried more authority then Ben or I did, that's for sure. When Big Bird said to sit still and wait for the show, the boys listened - at least for a little while.

And then the show started! Levi was completely thrilled. He followed every instruction that was given and told Ben, "I like this daddy, I like this!" Noah's asthma was creeping up on him and he wasn't 100%. He sat and watched but didn't have very many reactions.

I had always wanted to see Sesame Street Live as a child, and now finally as an adult I got my chance. I was actually impressed by the quality of the show. Poor Levi really wanted to give Elmo a high-five.

During the intermission we bought the boys cotton candy. I think it was the cheapest of the outrageously-priced items for sale. It was a hit! A sticky, messy, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth hit.

Taking our boys to a show like this was an adventure for us. It was interesting...I'm not sure it was totally worth it, but we had fun. We didn't make it through the whole show. The boys were begging (like, non-stop) to "go to the restaurant" so we finally gave in and took off.

The season is over

Our family survived another season of basketball. It was the easiest one yet, not because Ben had fewer games, but because the boys are getting older. It's tiring to have Ben gone 3 to 5 nights a week, but he truly enjoys the work. Plus, the money's not bad either.

The boys and I went along with my parents to watch Ben officiate the final game of 3A girls sub-state on Saturday.

The boys sat like this for about 30 seconds...and then didn't sit still at all for the rest of the game.

Ben, like all people who put themselves on the court in a black and white striped shirt, has an uncanny ability to let comments and judgement from the crowd and coaches roll off his back. He experiences the game from a very logical point-of-view and doesn't allow emotion to enter the equation. That's the polar opposite of how I experience a basketball game, so watching him at work is very intriguing.

A comparison

I'm at home with the boys today, so it actually feels like Saturday not Monday. But, anyway, this morning Noah climbed into Levi's crib and he thought it would be fun to pretend to be a baby sleeping in there. So, then Levi wanted in as well. When they were both in, covered up, and pretending to sleep I remembered a series of photos of the boys that Ben took nearly 2 years ago. I ran to grab my camera, hoping to catch some shots for a comparison. They're not a perfect match on angle or lighting, but you can still check out the comparison:










For a while each of them had a pacifier this morning. They made me turn off the lights and shut the door and then when they started to "cry" I had to come in and check on the "babies". It was fun while it lasted.