Boiler Up!, Chickens and SPRING!

Anyone who knows us, knows that we are really struggling right now! The weather is nice (for the most part) and we are ready to be out of school and schedule free! We are tired of being tied down by homework and are ready for the freedom of summer! We’ve got 5 weeks left and while we are trying our best to finish strong, we are struggling!! Thankfully, the end of the school year always has a ton of fun activities and field trips! 

One of the most exciting things happening lately was Purdue basketball making it to the national championship game! Our school counselor came in to talk with Charlie’s class about Zach Edey and how kind he is to all the fans and Charlie really enjoyed that “talk”. 

Johnnys class had a final four celebration!

Our church parking lot had a resident for several weeks. This mama goose decided to lay her eggs right in the middle of the parking lot. So the staff put caution tape and cones around her so no one would be tempted to bother her. 

April 8, 2024 = Solar Eclipse!! 

West Lafayette was about 95% totality so while it got pretty dark, it didn’t get totally dark. But still cool nevertheless!

Johnny and John spent a Saturday morning doing shooting sports for 4H. 

Mellany let Ellie fix her hair ❤️

I got to spend an evening at baseball practice….in the rain… not my favorite!

John was gone and these two (Johnny) ended up in my bed with me. 

Bus stop selfie with my girl!

Friday afternoon haircuts for two tired boys…

For several reasons, we decided to re-home our rooster Spike. He actually ended up at a house just down the road from us. Johnny was pretty sad the first few days but after hearing him crow one afternoon, he started feeling much better about it; Spike didn’t seem so far away. And, to make it even better, the new owners sent us a sweet picture of him! 

Another Saturday, another day at the coop! 

The mornings have started getting warmer, which means I can go back to walking after I go to the gym, before the kids go to school. The sunrises are a favorite of mine! 

The boys recently got some transformer posters thanks to their kindergarten teacher. Her son moved out and had taken them down and she decided to pass them on to our transformer loving boys. Talk about melting my heart! It was the sweetest gesture and you can tell by the look on their faces that the boys are ecstatic!

Just waiting on the bus…

….and waiting in car line….

Battle Ground Elementary had a surprise reader in one of the first grade classes while I was volunteering this past Thursday. Trey Kaufman-Renn from the Purdue basketball team answered a student teacher’s message to read to her class and he was the sweetest, most kind college student athlete I’ve ever met. After he read to the class, he even walked over to Johnny's class and took a picture with them! Then as I was leaving the building, the principal insisted I take a picture with him for bragging rights with the boys and Trey was more than happy to take a picture and then chatted with me for a few minutes. Seriously, such a kind kid! It was unreal how tall he was (6’9”!). 

 

Cub Scout Ceremony, KC Spring Break, Easter!

 Winter sports and activities have come to an end and we are in this really awesome transition phase waiting for spring activities (basically baseball) to start. And to be honest, I'm soaking up all the "calm" I can, because starting this next week, you'll pretty much always find us at the baseball fields....haha! Mellany will be taking a few dance lessons in the next couple of months and we will really get started on 4H projects too. Not to mention, we are so anxious for sunny and warm weather to be able to be outside more often! Bring on Summer and the end of the school year!! 

Here's what we've been up to: 

While putting some laundry away one day, I noticed that Johnny had organized his rock collection 

Ninja has finished up and now he's ready for baseball!

There is a special savings weekend at Dick's for our baseball program so we took advantage and the boys are loving their new practice equiment!

Cub Scouts finished up as well after the Blue and Gold Ceremony. The boys were given their belt loops and are advancing to the next rank!

There was a cake auction as well and we were the highest bidder for Simon's!

These two took a selfie on their walk to the bus one morning. I love it so much!

As we were prepping for our Spring Break trip, Winston found some sun to soak in

John had to travel one weekend and into the next week, so we sent him a selfie in the line at Starbucks on the way to church. And it actually turned out really good!

Mellany's dance team celebrated their season with a banquet and Mellany was awarded with the "Best Attitude" Award! We couldn't have been more proud! 

While helping in Charlie's class one day, we walked to the intermediate building for a special activity and I finally got to see Mellany's name on the plaque for the Citizenship Award she was given last year. I snapped a picture so she could see it too. 

I found a couple pictures of Charlie on my phone...ha! 

Anytime we leave, this is where you will find Johnny. He is always hugging Winston and telling him goodbye....it is the sweetest! 

We headed to KC for a few days over spring break this year and since I was traveling with the kids by myself, I decided to drive a few hours after school got out and stay overnight in a hotel. It worked out great and was nice to have the trip broken up! These three were quite amusing while trying to check in...

Trying to leave the hotel....just waiting on our tween girl!

...and we're off....KC bound!

While in KC we spent an afternoon with Brad and Amiee taking a "Container Class" at a local nursery. Gammy was amazing as always and watched all 7 of our kiddos!! We had so much fun and would love to do it again! Our container turned out so pretty! 

While at dad's Teresa let the kids hunt for some eggs....they were so quick, I didn't even make it outside so I only have a couple pictures from other people of that day. 

John got to go fishing with my dad, Brad, TJ and Shane and had a really great day! A much better day than the last time he went when they only caught one fish on the most frigid day imaginable! While he was fishing, I got to spend some time with my mom and Amiee and the Jones kiddos.....unfortunately I ended up with zero pictures! 

Mellany took the cutest selfie with Quinn while we were at Virginia's, but again, I failed on getting any other pictures!

While heading back home, John and I decided that we needed to take the kids to top golf! I had never been either and the weather was going to be amazing, so we booked it and went the next day! We all loved it so much and can't wait to go again! The lighting isn't real great for pictures but at least I took some!

Then we spent the rest of our spring break weekend opening the chicken coop back up, mowing, landscaping and celebrating Easter! It was so perfect!