2011 women's retreat

This year, I attended the Women's Retreat with our church (April 15th-17th). It was my first time in many years...at least 5 years? I couldn't actually remember how long it had been, but I did figure that I hadn't been on one since having kids & it was my first time leaving Cedar over night. Crazy how time flies! But I'm so glad I went because I had a great time!


On Saturday, I spent some of our free time working on the craft that was provided. We made covers for a collection of recipes that the women of our church provided. It was right up my alley, as far as crafts go! ;)

Kelly & Becca, focused on their covers.

Our table of creative ladies. :)

Becca's finished product! So cute! I didn't take a picture of mine, but I hung it up in my kitchen - check it out the next time you're over! :)

Becca & Gretchen just came for the day on Saturday, so I definitely stole (more than?) my share of cuddles from baby Tate!

I also enjoyed cuddling with sweet Genevieve, who also came with her mama Malia for only the day...but here Stephanie is enjoying the sleeping, little girl.

On Saturday night, my mentor friend Mary (on the right) led the group in a "Minute to Win It" game. She sure isn't afraid to be silly in front of large groups! But she knew better than to call me up to compete. ;)

Here are some of the cabins we slept in. It's been a long time since I've slept on the top bunk of a bunk bed. But a little Nyquil & some ear plugs does wonders for sleeping in a cabin with snorers! :P

Pretty camp!

On Sunday morning, I went for a walk to try to find cell phone reception...

...no luck, but I did find some lovely photo opportunities!

The covered bridge.

Delicious cinnamon rolls & fruit for breakfast!

The lodge.

I enjoyed my time away but I missed my boys & was happy to return. They were happy to see me too, so that's always great! Kenton did great on his own & keep the boys busy with grandpas, uncles & cousins. Team work! ;)

happy birthday henry!

On Wednesday, April 13th, we went to Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate our friend Henry's 5th birthday!

The kids scattered when the tokens were handed out. So much fun to be had!

Cedar enjoyed the games, with a little help. :)

Fun carousel!

Henry, the birthday boy!

Lucky kids - Finn was so excited to get Root Beer! Cedar had lemonade. :)

The only other photo I got of Henry...my camera battery died before he had a chance to open his gifts. Whoops! :]

Cedar tried to dance along with Chuck E Cheese! Finn enjoyed dancing with him too, but I missed that photo opportunity...ugh, dead camera battery again! :P

happy birthday gretchen!

On Sunday, April 10th, we celebrated Gretchen's 33rd birthday (her actual birthday is on the 8th). Josh made a yummy orange cake with chocolate frosting. Becca helped make it a princess cake, at Griffin's request. :)

The birthday girl with sweet, baby Tate.

Tyler snuck into the Mama/Sons picture. Goof-ball!

Ready to open gifts!
Happy Birthday, Gretchen! We love you!

science factory

On Saturday, April 2nd, we went to the Science Factory.

It was our last weekend of Spring Break & we wanted to do something fun! :)

Finn is at a great age for all the exhibits...Cedar is a good sport, too! :)

So many fun, hands-on exhibits. Their special exhibit was all about toys & what toys are made of. Super cool! Finn really enjoyed checking it all out with Kenton. He also liked playing with the magnets! I'm glad we took the time to do something special with the boys. We didn't really end up doing much more than projects around the house, after Finn broke his arm. So the Science Factory was the perfect way to spend a few hours on Saturday. :)

On a random note: Finn's really been into knock knock jokes (Cedar's been getting in on the jokes too), so I made up a silly one for him. He's been impressing everyone with it, every chance he gets:

"Knock, Knock"
"Who's there?"
"Spring Break"
"Spring Break, who?"
"Spring Break my ARM!"
hee hee hee! :P

spring sing

On Thursday, March 31st, Finley's preschool put on their Spring Sing!


Tyler, Finley, Aaron & Cohen
Ty kept Finn busy while waiting for the performance to start by talking about & drawing pictures of MineCraft.

Kenton, Kevin, Jesse, Carolyn, Jacque & Stu
Finn had a whole group of adoring fans. :)

Proud Mama & Dad!


*Photo by Amy*
Miss Debby's class was the first to perform. They sang several songs, but I particularly loved seeing Finley doing the motions for "I'm a little teapot!" He had such a cute spout with that cast. :)

A quick video of "I'm a little teapot."

*Photo by Amy*
Cute spout! ;)

Miss Debby's class

*Photo by Amy*
So lucky to be in the same class as Griffin! :)

Next up was Ethan & Macey's class, taught by Miss Jen.

Happy Tate!

Then Cohen's class performed, taught by Miss Deena.

Our super star! :)

Our family.

Happier Cedar. :)

garden project

One of our Spring Break projects was to expand our garden. We learned from last year's garden project that a sod cutter was a better route for removing the grass from under the future raised beds.

Kenton made quick work of removing the surrounding lawn...

...while Finn "helped" my dad to roll up the strips of grass. Loading the sod rolls back into the truck was the hardest part, by far & we only loaded about half of the rolls. The rest are still hanging out in the back yard, patiently waiting for motivation & free time on our part. :) The chickens have also been enjoying some of the smaller strips.

Not at all related: this is the face Finley makes when I force him to take a bath. He is not a fan of wearing a trash bag over his cast & would prefer to go without baths until the cast comes off. Clearly, this is not a choice & so we must endure the pitiful sad face. :(