We had a very full weekend here! Friday after school I took the kids to see the Easter bunny. That night Natalie had a friend sleep over. Natalie's girl side really came out. The girls were dancing to High School Musical 2. It was so cute! Here's a video, sorry it's sideways. I forgot you can't rotate the screen on the computer, haha.

Saturday morning I took the kids to their bowling league. Afterwards we went over to our church for an egg hunt. The kids had a great time & it went so fast I didn't get many pictures. I told the kids we would go home and dye eggs but when we got home I realized I hadn't hard boiled them yet, oops! So I told the kids to go outside and play for a bit. They suckered Daddy into getting on the trampoline with them and boy did they wear him out! If you're wondering where Matthew is in most of the pictures, he was in time out for messing with Daddy's glasses. So they all had a great time and I got some fun pictures.

The kids were so excited to dye eggs. I was already so tired from Friday & Saturday's events but I did promise we would do it. We had dye, stickers, an egg spinner, glitter & a crayon to use to decorate the eggs. The kids tried a little of everything and I made each one an egg with their name on it. Rhiannon put the names of her family members on her eggs. I helped the girls put glitter on a few of their eggs. They all were so creative and the eggs looked great!

We have this beautiful tree in our front yard. Recently it bloomed these little white flowers. I looked online to see what kind it is but apparently there are lots of trees with white flowers. I know it's not a dogwood though. Three years ago when we moved into this house the tree was missing a lot of branches from a hurricane that hit the year or two before. It has really filled out since. I just love it. A couple of years ago the kids and I painted bird houses & hung them in the tree but both of theirs fell apart. My bird house is still there. I painted it to look like our house when we bought it, white with blue shutters. We also have a Japanese Maple but right now it has no leaves. When it is in full bloom it's full of beautiful red leaves. It's small too so the kids hang on it sometimes. I'm worried it will break, it's so little. I'm not good at gardening at all but the trees are taken care of by nature so I'm thankful for that. I just wish I had a green thumb so I could fill up my flowerbeds. For now I will enjoy the white tree!

Sunday is our family day since Jeremy works so much. This Sunday we decided to go to Busch Gardens for their opening day. The flowers were so beautiful, they always have the best displays. Actually, Natalie's friends dad worked there recently doing some of the flower beds. Wish he would come help me with mine, haha. So we spent a few hours there walking around and watching the kids go on rides. First we saw the Clydesdales. They are so beautiful but a little intimating because of their size. We went to Italy where the kids rode some rides & played a game. They each won a stuffed animal. Matt's was almost as big as him. Then we watched a show. My favorite part of going to Busch Gardens is to see the shows. We all went on the bumper cars which was a blast. It was pretty busy and it was getting late so we left and went to Outback for dinner. It was a great family day, I hope soon we can have those more often!

Friday I took Matthew to the Mother & Son banquet at his school. First we ate, then went on the stage to have our picture taken. After that we headed outside to see what there was to do. They had a rock wall which I thought for sure Matt would head straight for. Instead he went for the blow up obstacle course. I watched as he goofed off with his new friends: Blake, Devin & Blaine. Watch out when boys get together, haha. They had lots of fun being silly, at one point they even went over to the school playground and were chasing each other. I told Matt that he could do that anyday, maybe he should go on the rock wall. He was perfectly content running around with the boys for awhile but finally got in line for the wall.

While Matt was on the rock wall they called everyone around in a circle for the raffle. They gave away these little footballs. I just wanted to win something for the fun of it, not that we need any more toys at our house. The big prize was a $25 gift certificate for the company that provided the blow up obstacle course.

I was standing there with some friends listening to the numbers being called & playing like I was mad if they didn't call my number. Wouldn't you know it, they did! I won the big prize, the gift certificate! Yay. So it was a fun night and I enjoyed spending it with Matt. He was with his friends for a lot of it but he told me as we were leaving it was the best night he had so I'm glad at least I was there for the "best night" he's had.

Saturday morning the kids had bowling then I took them to Michaels craft store for a little family craft day since Jeremy was working. They made three crafts each; a door hanger, a magic wand & a card. After that I decided to go get the kids bikes from the house and took them to the park since it was so nice outside. I figured I would walk with them and get a little exercise since I haven't been to the gym lately with all my sinus issues. When we came up to the little pond we saw some ducks. The kids were so excited so I just had to take some pictures. The trees were so beautiful too. Natalie saw some trash in the pond so she used a stick to try to get it out. She couldn't so I helped her. She said it was going to hurt the animals. I have taught her well. The kids so nicely took the 3 things we retrieved and put them in a trash can.

As I was taking pictures of the ducks the kids started fighting so they were put in time out right there in the middle of the park. While I waited for their time out to be over I took a few pictures of myself with the beautiful scenery behind me. A few minutes later the kids were back on their bikes and we were on our way, at least I thought. Matt decided he had to go down the big hill and of course Natalie had to follow. They went down a few times then I told them we were going to ride over to the soccer fields where Natalie use to play. On the way Natalie went really far ahead, so far she couldn't hear me yelling her name. I got very upset because there are cars going through there. I told Matt to get up there and tell her to come back. When she finally reached me I explained to her she can't go that far ahead of me again and from then on she stayed close by.

As we approached the fields there was a group of men right by the boat ramp doing chants. Kind of like a step team. It didn't bother me at all until I realized the chant they were doing right then was not appropriate for children's ears. I mean in the middle of a park where they know kids are around?! They should have known better. I quickly turned the kids around and went back the way we came when Matt rode his bike right across the grass and across the street without even looking for cars. That was it, I was not going to deal with them not following directions so I made him walk while I pushed his bike. The kids know the rules about streets & what they are suppose to do to be safe. We got back to the car & put the bikes away. I let the kids play on the playground for a bit then told them it was time to go home for lunch. Natalie started throwing a fit, saying she wanted to swing. I insisted she do as I said and I removed her from the playground. We went home and had lunch and hung out until Jeremy got home. It's days like these I wish the kids would do as they are told so we can enjoy being together instead of making me crazy. I mean how hard is it? Haha. Funny cause I was a hard headed kid when I was little, just ask my mom!

Thursday I went with Matt's class on a field trip to the Virginia Living Museum. He has a great teacher, very sweet and really cares about the kids. She took every opportunity to teach the kids and explain to them that some of the things they were seeing are the things she's been teaching about in class. I always love seeing the turtles & other live animals. The weather was really nice so we enjoyed lunch outside. In years past I have had Natalie so it was nice to spend that time with Matthew and his classmates. When we got back to class the teacher asked the kids to name things they saw at the museum so I asked if I could write what they said on the board. She plugged her camera up to the tv and went through the photos. It was so fun, I really enjoyed it. I love that I get to volunteer at the kids school and spend that time with them. I'm very blessed! I am also lucky that Matthew has a great teacher that allowed me to go.

Last school year I worked as a volunteer at Matt's school, Cary elementary, for the RIF (Reading Is Fundamental) program. Three times a year the children get to pick a free book to keep. My job was to pick a theme, decorate, set up the books & check off each child's name after they chose their book. This year the kids are going to a new school, Phillips elementary, where my little brother goes. They already had a RIF coordinator, my friend Christine. She had never done RIF before so she asked if I would like to work with her as co-chairperson. I really enjoyed it last year so I said of course. We had great plans for the second distribution but things didn't work out so I got in contact with someone I had worked with last year at Cary. Lucky for me, my last minute plan worked out great. We were lucky to have our friend Billy Flynt & William Howard from Blackbeard's Crew join us. The kids were so into it, they really enjoyed having the pirates come. See Matt in the top picture? He's wearing a black shirt & needs a hair cut, haha.

Phillips has never done RIF this way. The way they have done it for years is by simply setting up a table in each hallway & just having the kids walk by and pick a book spending less than 10 minutes per class. The kids go back to class & stick their book in their backpack. There is nothing wrong with this BUT in my opinion it can be a more educational & fun experience. I just don't see why a school wouldn't want to make it a celebration of books & reading. Many times the pirates told the kids how all we know about pirates comes from books & if they have questions they want answered the best thing to do is go get some books on pirates. This is my whole mission, to encourage kids to turn off the TV and reach for a book. My kids LOVE to read and I at times have to get on them about reading when they are suppose to be going to bed or do something around the house.

Back to the pirates. I myself want to go get a few books after hearing them talk about famous female pirates & our local pirate history. When Blackbeard was killed they put his head on a stake & put it out in the Virginian waters as a warning to other pirates. There is so much great info they gave today. I took lots of pictures and some video so I'm adding those so you can enjoy it as I and the children did. Leave me comments you scallywags or you will walk the plank!

• Bye bye bunnies...
• Baby bunnies
• Quiet
• More summer fun
• Our little cheerleader
• Exciting news!!!
• FLOR-I-DA
• So much going on, so little time!
• Independance Day
• Our summer so far

• Grubb Triplets
  

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