Wordless Wednesday (Papa's 40 foot water slide of 2012)

Interviews for school year-end

We are more or less done with our 2011-2012 school-year, and I always try to tie everything together and include a little of each subject in a folder, along with a report card.  I saw this idea from Jessica's year-end plans and decided that this idea would make a great cover for our folders.  I spent some time on Pic Monkey last night and today and this is the finished product.  I only did the 4 big kids, and will hopefully get to Max and Pookey within the next week....

What do you think??  Did they turn out alright?  Please share some of your year-end plans....

Happy 175th birthday....

...to the company that employs my husband, 2 of our brothers-in-law, my retired father, and my retired father-in-law - John Deere!!! 

"I will never put my name on a product that does not have the best that is in me."    -John Deere

The company is going all out and truly cherishing their employees in helping them celebrate their 175th birthday.  Today was the celebration for the branch of the company where Neil works.  The food was great!  The activities drew my kids in so much that they didn't want to leave - bouncy houses, cotton candy, crafts, snow cones, carnival games, popcorn, etc....  and we didn't have to pay a thing!!  It was one of the fanciest birthday parties we have ever been to!!  We all walked away feeling blessed to be part of a such a wonderful company, who not only works their hardest to put their best into products, but also cares for their employees.  Here are some pictures from our celebration today....  (note - the blurry pictures.... it was sprinkling when we got there, so I purposely left my camera in the van for fear it would get poured on.  We had our phones with us though to take pictures, although not the best quality)

Fone and Mario riding the charter bus to the party

Ariel and Melody riding the charter bus on the way back

Fone with 3 of the MANY bouncy houses (in the background)

Fone and Max waiting in line

Fone and Pookey jumping away

Fone and Pookey

Melody, Max, and Ariel making bed necklaces and bracelets

Melody, Fone, Ariel, Mario, and Max crafting with sand art

the sand art was such a hit and turned out so well that we had to hang them up as soon as we got home!

Happy 175th birthday, John Deere!!! 

Pentecost celebrations

Last Sunday, we celebrated the birthday of the Church (Pentecost) and also Big Red's Anniversary with our family (3 years now!!!).  Of course, we all wore RED (except Melody who didn't have a red shirt, so she wore pink).  The kids did a very simple Gifts of the Holy Spirit craft before Mass and we hung them in the doorway between our dining room and kitchen (thanks to a sweet friend who shared her idea on Facebook).  It is our hope that throughout the month of June, we can read these gifts often and stand under a particular gift and pray to be blessed with it. 

That afternoon, we were asked over to swim at my sisters and we brought ingredients to make Pentecost Sundaes (ice cream, DOVE chocolates, cherry - for the fireball, and lots of RED syrup).  They were SO yummy!! 

 And, at night for dinner at our place, we made a Fruits of the Holy Spirit salad....

A Prayer to the Holy Spirit

 

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.  

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.  

And, you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful; grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.  

Mother's Day handprint craft

I love Pinterest!!  It has given me so many ideas the last few months.  I stole this super cute idea and decided to make it into a Mother's Day present for my mom and mother-in-law.  It can be done in a few easy steps....

1)  trace and cut out handprints of all the kids/cousins (in different colors)
2) find and print out pictures of each of those kiddos (we just printed them quickly using our colored printer)
3)  cut out a large circular piece of poster board and arrange and glue the handprints around the outside, for the petals
4)  glue the pictures in the center in a collage format
5)  use green construction paper to cut out a stem and leaves and glue to the flower
6)  you can even write on the stem or back of the card - "Happy Mother's Day - 2012" or make it a birthday gift and write "Happy Birthday!!" 

I made up 3 of these lovely flowers:  one of my mom, one for my mother-in-law, and one for my grandma. 


Here's how ours turned out....

Super easy.  Super cute.  Super special!! 

Mother's Day 2012

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Mother's Day!!  The Saturday before Mother's Day, we enjoyed lunch with Neil's mom (and family) and then in the evening, we celebrated with my own mother (and family).  How blessed we are to have our mothers so close to us.  They are always willing to help us - clean, feed us a meal when hungry, watch kiddos, projects around the house, a phone call away when we need tips on cooking, parenting, gardening/landscaping, etc...  I really don't know what we'd do without them.  Love you, Mom, and love you, Jean!!!

On the morning of Mother's Day, we scooted out of the house and drove to a lovely state park, recommended to us by a friend (who also has lots of littles).  We had a blast!!!  Not only were there awesome trails and places to splash in the water, but there was also a wonderful museum dedicated to the park.  We all had a wonderful time and on our drive home, we decided last minute to eat out (which we hardly ever do).  It was the perfect ending to the perfect day!  Thank you God for my wonderful children, whom I am blessed to mother! 

Here are some pictures of our wonderful trip....

sweet little piggies

Ariel

Melody

Max

Pookey

Mario

Fone