Annual Easter Egg Hunt

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Belly Flops!

Ready for the hunt!

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birthday wishes to my sweetheart

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Story Time

This was so cool- Grace gave up on me reading to her while I made dinner and answered the phone… There is something so sweet about Grace and her brothers reading Angelina Ballerina together…

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gene and debbie in the driveway…

Well Gene was kind-of the smooth dancer… maybe it’s Donald  – he always made me laugh… Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du
Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du Du….I’m singin’ in the rain….Just singin’ in the rain,….What a glorious feeling,….And I’m happy again.
Didn’t Fred record this one too? Maybe it’s Fred and Debbie….I’m laughing at clouds….So dark, up above,….The sun’s in my heart….Du Du Du Du Du…

Let the stormy clouds chase….Everyone from the place,….Come on with the rain….I have a smile on my face….I’ll walk down the lane….With a happy refrain… Just singin’, singin’ in the rain….Dancing in the rain….I’m happy again….I’m singin’ and dancin’ in the rain.,,,,Dancin’ and singin’ in the rain.

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biking in steven’s point

Our second day in Steven’s Point we went biking. First we headed into town to have breakfast and check out the farmer’s market. Then through a nature preserve where we saw a deer and climbed in the tree house. After church we took the kids to the beach to cool off. It was another perfect day – except that I’m a little saddle sore:)

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hiking at rib mountain

This weekend we went hiking at Rib Mountain State Park near Steven’s Point. We were hanging with our friends Todd, Sara, Maggie, and Aubrey. It was a perfect day of fun with the kids and the challenge of Mountain Climbing!

Okay, it’s not technically a mountain — it is almost 4 miles long and peaks at 1,924 feet above sea level and 760 feet above the local terrain, the highest difference of height from peak to surrounding terrain in the state of  Wisconsin.

Local legend states that the ‘ribs’ in Rib Mountain come from the legend that it is the burial site of Paul Bunyan. Furthermore, nearby Mosinee Hill is said to be the grave of Babe the Blue Ox.

Even if it was not a mountain – it was a challenging 1.38 mile hike — Really is that all it was? Wow – I really thought is was longer than that!

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stepping stones… a fair project for the garden

This is another one of the entries that Truman showed at the fair. Grace and Anna Mae made a stepping stone too. We have supplies for Cole when he gets back – don’t worry.

The stepping-stones were made with a kit. We found everything we needed at Hobby Lobby.

I put Tim in charge of this one – I thought the kids could use some Dad time doing something other than sports. It was a hit and will be great in the yard. I love that I have a plan for all the projects this year…

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the crafty rainbow

We have been feeling crafty this week…

Getting ready for the county fair will do that to you.

We did this when it was really warm outside… I think that made it even more “melty.”

Blue ribbon #1 – for Truman and cool art work to hang in the basement for me – Yea!

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Getting ready for me to leave

The past two days were less about me seeing everything and more about Cole getting acclimated to life here. We gave the boys time to play and Cole and I had some time to ourselves to shop and wonder around the village. We found some things to bring back for Anna Mae, Truman, and Grace so they would know that Cole is thinking about them while he plays with the toys we originally bought and now Cole and Michael want to keep here.

It is 5am- I am up- not to sit on the balcony and read today, but to begin coming home. It is very hard to leave Cole here. We talked about it last night. I told him the story about the first time I left him to go to a movie with Tim. I made it to the credits, grabbed Tim’s hand and demanded he return me to my baby. That mother thing is pretty powerful stuff.

So when he said, ” I will really miss you mom.” I thought he should know that honestly I will really miss him. Not just because I enjoy his company. Not just because he makes me smile. Not just because he reminds me of his dad. But also because that mother thing is pretty powerful stuff.

On the other hand I am overwhelmed by the people here. The family wants him to be here. They know I am scared.

They have planned so many things and Cole is really excited about it all. So hopefully the ride to the airport will be the hard part and then he will focus again on the adventure.

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