***T-Ball***

My life may be changed forever...Khara went to her first sports practice tonight. Her first T-Ball practice was tonight and she is thrilled!!! Last year I encouraged her to play but she wasn't sure about it, later she wished that she had signed up. This evening after 1 1/2 hours of throwing, hitting, catching, and running the bases, she came home and said, "I didn't know T-ball was so fun!!".

She has a great coach that is going to make sure they learn the correct fundamentals of ball!! (He use to play college baseball-eeekkk, pressures on). They are still kids; 5, 6, and 7 year-olds at that, so I'm sure it will be a great season full of lots of laughs.

Mark bought Khara a new glove today. Saturday we will go in search of cleats. She should then be all set. Now, Kelsey can't wait until she can play next year. :-)

Photo Session

Brenda, here they are, finally!!!

A couple of weeks ago I took Kelsey and Kaden to a really neat studio to have their pictures taken. We had taken Khara when she was younger but never had Kelsey or Kadens done there. (Since they don't cost "pennies", it may be just a "once in a childhood" thing :-)). We had a great experience, though I was a nervous wreck by the time I left. A two-year old in a huge room full of beautiful antique props while a 4-year old is trying to give a "real" (vs. fake) smile, can be a little stressful on a mom who is there solo.

I picked up the proofs last week- 52 of them!!! Now we have the very hard job of trying to stay on a budget while choosing the ones we like the best!!

I am still so new at trying to scan and post pictures, so please excuse them being a little crooked, dark, or with a white border around them. If only I knew.... Of course a picture of a picture will never do it justice but, Gives you a little idea anyway.

**Bunnies To Bobcats**

I'm back in the world of blogging, yea!!

The Saturday before Easter we were at my parents and Mark found this little rabbit. (just before the dog did-eekk!!) The kids had SO much fun with it and Dana and I laughed and laughed at them. Khara, our MAJOR animal lover, wanted to just hold, hold, and hold it. Kelsey wasn't quite sure of it, but since Khara did...the pressure was on. :-) Kaden, all boy would grab it with just one hand, give it a good squeeze, drop it when he was done, etc. All while Khara was crying "he's going to kill it, he's going to kill it". Hilarious!!

We let them keep it in a box for the day until their cousins Andrew, Caleb, Kaley, and Camen could see it. Khara then "released it back to the wild". :-) I know, I know, if you know anything about wild animals you know that it could never survive with all of that handling, being squeezed and dropped, but Khara didn't have to know that. :-)



Last week Mark came home with another animal he found for the kids to see. I was on my way out the door for a School Board meeting as he came in. He told me to look on the trunk, I told him to be sure and take a picture. We did not let the kids hold or pet this one.

Balloon Art

On Saturday our local library was having a special celebration in honor of Library Week. We went and ended up staying about 2 hours. They gave all the kids free books, folders, and buttons; plus they had a really neat clown doing some incredible balloon art. We've probably all seen the little clowns that can make a horse, giraffe, etc. from one little balloon. This guy was amazing. He could make just about anything. My favorite is the motorcycle that Kelsey requested, (complete with handle bars, seat, and kickstand that allows it to stand up)--5 balloons and about 3 minutes!!!

I didn't even think about taking my camera to the event but snapped a couple of pics. of the balloons that Khara, Kelsey, and Kaden got when we got home. Oh, one more neat thing...we all received coupons for free drinks from Sonic!!! Gotta LOVE Sonic!! :-)

Easter Weekend

What a wonderful weekend!! Easter egg hunts, Dyeing Eggs, Easter Baskets, New Easter Outfits...I think we managed to get it all in and had a great time enjoying family. For the sake of Brenda/Aaron, and Kendall/Leanna; I will post several pictures...we missed you guys!!!! For some reason, I forget to take pics. of the adults...I will work on that, my dad, mom, Jeff, Vicki, Dana, Mark...they were around also.

Saturday morning we went to a very chilly Easter egg hunt at Stockton. It was 25 that morning with wind. Mark said the wind chill must have been about 10 or 15. Sounds like we were a little crazy, but the kids did enjoy it and got some neat prizes!! Our kids were in three different age groups, in three different places. We were thankful to have Dana along so that they could all participate .Kaden wasn't real thrilled with the Easter Rabbit. But, you know the spill--"real quick, just for a picture..."



Saturday evening Khara, Kelsey, Andrew, Caleb, and Kaley had a blast dyeing eggs!! That is a wonderful memory I have of every Easter doing that with my family. Great fun for all ages!!!


Kaley watches as Kaden cracks and tries to peel another one of her eggs.

Some very creative eggs from Drew.

Ready to go to church. Kelsey is even armed with her snack bag of Easter candy. :-)

Excuse the glare. This will come as a real shock, but we were racing, again, to get to church on time. We just snapped a couple of pics real quick before going out the door.

Khara's Easter Party

Today was Khara's 1st grade class Easter Party. I volunteered to bring snacks and attend to help out. I tried to think of a snack that was cute and also appealed to children. With the help of one of my 150 cookie cutters, I made Rice Krispie Rabbits.



It was a chilly 33 degrees, but they still went outside for the egg hunt. I think kids seldom think it is to cold to go out. And, what would an Easter Party be without an egg hunt??


Now I'm off to do a marathon house cleaning!! My sister Dana flew in from Alabama Thursday (yeah!!!) and the kids all wanted to go with her out to grandma's this afternoon. We will see how much I can get done in oh, maybe an hour. ( I don't want to take advantage too much...) :-)

My brother Jeff and Vicki and their four children are coming tomorrow (another, yeah!!!). It should be a wonderful Easter weekend!!

Kelsey's Easter Party

Kelsey had her preschool Easter Party today!! I don't think I have ever seen a group of more excited 4 & 5 year olds!! They were so anxious to get outside and hunt for eggs that I think we threw away more of the food than they ate. I'm thinking more and more that this would be a wonderful age to teach. They are so fun!!!

The Results of Staying Home on a Saturday!!!

two loaves of bread, two cracker pies, chocolate peanut butter bars...yum, yum, yum

This past Saturday during the day we...stayed home!!! Seems like our Saturdays are normally so busy. Mark had really hoped for us to all go out in the boat for the first time of the season , but when the day looked cloudy and stormy that was quickly postponed. I had a chance to get a jump start on my "Monday work" and do some much loved baking. We had a church dinner the next day which is where the bread and pies went.

Later that day we traveled about 40 miles to Ft. Scott and heard the G.B.S. Band--very good. What a great way to spend a Saturday!!!


*Yes, I did manage to do this with three children around...they all took a nap on Sat. afternoon--at the same time!!! A wonderful thing at our house. :-)

Our Trip To The Zoo!!

Tuesday Kelsey, Kaden, and I hooked up with some friends and headed off to the Springfield Zoo.

I still feel bad about doing some things without Khara being able to go along. While we were planning this trip Khara brought home a field trip permission slip. Her first grade class is going to the Springfield Zoo next Thursday-YEAH!!!!

After the zoo, we headed to a pizza restaurant. We only had one spilled drink, and one toddler who would not stay seated. Pretty good ratio, considering our numbers! :-) It is always so much fun for the moms to be together and I know the kids Loved it!!


Kaden wasn't real thrilled about the goat eating out of his hand. He preferred to throw the food at them.

This little monkey was pleased to have an audience and came right up to the window.


Round 2 or was it 3, or 4, of "musical chairs" with the strollers. I guess that is to be expected when your group includes an 18 month old, 22 month old, 25 month old, 28 month old, and 4 year old. Kelsey enjoyed every minute of mothering to the "little ones" she could get in that day.

Another Fishing Trip

Crappie, Bass, Bluegill...


Our family loves to fish!!

A guy that Mark works with invited him to go fishing this evening after work. A third co-worker from U.P.S. joined them and they had a very successful trip. Mark said they threw back more than they kept and then divided the ones they did keep between them.






This may gross some of you out, but my kids love to touch the eyeballs on the fish...where they get that??? Maybe they will be biologist, vets, opthamologists,... Needless to say, as soon as they came in they went straight to the bathtub!!!

Saturdays with the Burley Bunch

A couple of Saturdays ago enjoying a visit to a family favorite--Bass Pro


Unable to get Kaden to take his eyes off of the displays even for a few secs. for a pic.



This past Saturday, putting what we learned and saw at Bass Pro into practice--Family Fishing.
Kaden is thrilled to have his own pole even though it has no line, etc. :-)

Kelsey with a nice crappie!!



***********************************************************************************

Per Kelsey's request...

Last week our church was privileged to host A.W.C. Choir. What a wonderful group of students!! Khara, Kelsey, and Kaden really enjoyed all of the attention and "privileges" they received. They made a big impression on our kids. I'm so thankful anytime we have the chance to be around great groups like that.

Kelsey with her friend Mary before they left Thursday morning. (Kelsey, a little sad to see them leave.)

Kids In The News

My kids made the paper, and the front page to beat!! :-)


Our M.O.P.S. group met last week. Due to it being Spring Break, we had a meeting for school aged kids as well. Super turn out and a great "Safety Party". I hosted the "snack-craft" table. We made edible fire trucks out of graham crackers with red frosting, oreo wheels, a licorice ladder, etc. They turned out very cute. Wish I would have taken my camera...glad someone did.

(l to r- Khara, Joel, Eli, Kaden, Kelsey, Nathaniel, Julianna)

Check Out Those Roots !!!

Okay, here goes...I am humbling myself in order to fulfill your curiosity. I am posting pictures of my face- 6 days post surgery and my; well, they use to be mine, teeth. This is a picture of my face that I took tonight. I didn't think it was bruised that much anymore but Khara said "Oh yes, it still is!!". I really wish I would have taken pictures on Friday and Saturday when I was extremely swollen. At the time I didn't think I would ever want any memories of the "EVENT".

It's times like these that you're glad you have a respectable life and marriage. I've had many "nosy" (okay, curious) :-) people ask "Did Mark....." full knowing he would never but just dying to really know what happen (which really is totally fine). It was also funny to go to the store and watch people try to take a second glance without being obvious. :- )

I had one older lady at church tell me Sunday night "I don't know where you went(to have your surgery) but it was the WRONG place". If you have been to our church very often at all you know exactly who I am talking about. Gotta love her... Some people really have a way with words. :-)

In closing- To those of you who really wanted to see by teeth and bruises-THANKS--I'm happy to share!



The remains of my wisdom-

These are absolutely terrible pics of me but, they will help you to get "the picture" ha, ha, ha, ha