Happy 7th Birthday Sarah!!

Sarah had a great birthday this year. 

We took the kids ice skating on Friday night, and then on her birthday (Saturday) the elementary school had a carnival. 

We had a great time playing there, and then we came home for a little party. 
Grandma and Grandpa Hunger joined us for the festivities. 
Lasagna dinner, rainbow cake and ice cream, and presents completed the evening.

I had to include a few extra pictures of the cake this time because it was our first six-layer rainbow cake.  It was so much fun to make and for everyone to eat!

 Seven things about Sarah on her 7th birthday:
1.  She is a sweet girl who loves to help Mom & Dad and her younger siblings. 
2.  She is very bright and excels in school.
3.  She makes friends easily.
4.  She has perfected her cartwheel and back-bend in tumbling this year.
5.  She absolutely will not eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (how is she MY child?)
6.  She finally lost her first and only tooth last month.
7.  She is constantly writing and illustrating short stories any time she can get her hands on some paper.  

We are so grateful to have Sarah in our home.

Hippity Hoppity Easter

This year I got a little ambitious and decided to make the kids' Easter clothes.  I found a tutorial online on how to make a little girl dress out of a men's dress shirt.  Dennis was happy to donate to the cause.  I even had enough material on the sleeves to make the boys matching bow ties.

Jared was not cooperating for pictures... but Andrew, Emma, and Sarah were doing great.

This Easter was especially great this year because it was Jared's first day of nursery at church!  We were very, very excited for this day.

And, Jared?  Well, he'll warm up to the idea eventually.  Especially when he realizes that snacks are always part of the deal.

Weiner Roast

Dennis went down to his Grandma and Aunt's farm yesterday to help his dad do a few different things.  We all met up later for a weiner roast.  It is a necessary (at least) annual event.  Roasted hot dogs, chips, soda, and s'mores were on the menu.  And we also did a little playing and riding on Grandpa's old "Johnny Popper". 

Creativity At Its Finest

I couldn't leave this in the picture archives without sharing it with the world.

Who doesn't want to wear a bunny mask, ball cap, flip-flops, no pants, a shirt that's too big, a Sheriff Woody vest, and only the neck piece of a tie?

Your name is MUD

I remember growing up if we were in big BIG trouble, my mom would say, "Your name is MUD!"  I still to this day have no idea where she came up with that one.  I don't know if it was handed down from generation to generation, or if it was from a friend, or from a TV show, or something.  Either way, I thought it was hilarious when she said it.  Just for fun, I like to say it to my kids sometimes.  I'm sure they think I'm nuts.

But in this case, I think "Your name is MUD makes perfect sense.

Donuts, Toys, and Ice Cream - The Triple Threat

 A few local teams made it to the high school state basketball championships in Des Moines, so we decided to make a weekend of it.  We dropped Jared off at Grandma & Grandpa's house (because we didn't think he'd have much fun with us), and treated the older kids to a fun filled, hotel staying, donuts and ice cream eating, toys playing, movie watching weekend.  We surprised the kids when we picked them up a bit early from school on Friday afternoon, and then headed off to the Friday night game.  When we arrived at the hotel afterwards, we swam for a little while and then fell asleep watching cartoons on TV.

Saturday morning, we asked the kids what they wanted for breakfast.  We were thinking pancakes, eggs, bacon, and all breakfast foods in their glory.  The kids were thinking donuts, so off to Krispy Kreme were we! 

Down the street, we saw a Toys R Us, so we thought we'd kill a little time browsing around.  The next game we wanted to see wasn't until 6:00 that night, so while we were at Toys R Us, we thought it best to entertain the kids with some small new toys.  At $7 a piece, it was the best investment of $21 we could have made that day!  The kids played and played with their new toys while Dennis and I took turns shopping at the mall.  We also went to see The Lorax in the mall's theater (which provided a wonderful nap for Andrew and myself).

The last stop before the game was our favorite ice cream... Culver's Frozen Custard.  For those of you not in the Midwest, it is honestly amazing.  Their vanilla cone should be ranked on one of those lists, "10 things you should eat before you die".  It's that good.

We finished off our trip with a basketball game, and a sleepy drive home.  It was a great mini-vacation.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

This is what I found when I got home from my workout this morning:
The next Peyton Manning