Field Day 2011

Field Day was never one of my favorite days at school when I was growing up. I was not an athletic person, and frankly that's who my Field Days were designed for! We had 59 yard dash, three legged race, pull-up contests, tug-of-war, etc... My sons' Field Day was nothing like that in any way!
Here are a few of the giant inflatables that are brought in for Field Day:
Doesn't this look like fun?!

What kid doesn't want to come out and see this along with snack stations, games, and even Wii Just Dance set up?!

Usually I never get a chance to volunteer at Field Day, as I always have at least 3 small children attached to me. However, this year, because I have a father-in-law that rocks, I got to go and be a group leader for Maddox's class. This was our first stop:

Watching the boys play soccer like this was hilarious!!

There was very little soccer playing going on, and more rolling than anything else!

They loved this!

Next stops were an obstacle course and giant slide.

Maddox is much faster than I would ever be at this crazy inflatable things!

And down the slide!

There was a new inflatable obstacle course and it had all of the kids a buzzing! It looked like a giant roller coaster!

There were some games as well. While walking around with Maddox's group, I ran into Caden a few times and was able to snap some pictures of him too. Here he is doing a toilet paper toss into a box with a toilet lid. Gross to me, but really fun to kids!

Now this seemed like a traditional Field day game!

They had a wet t-shirt relay as well. You had to grab a wet t-shirt, race it down the way, and hang it on the clothes line. I think that the kids just liked the excuse to get soaked!

We did this one over and over and over!

Here is a different kind of inflatable. The kids bounced on these balls through the course. It looked like fun too, but too much work for me!

Caden inside a bounce house!

Caden enjoying the roller coaster obstacle course.

I had an absolutely great time being able to volunteer this year. I can't wait to help next year as well. I guess this is my way of vicariously enjoying a Field Day through my children!

My Mother's Day

Upon waking up on Mother's Day, I was greeted by all of my favorite people who brought me many gifts. I must say though, that this was my favorite:
Caden and Maddox wanted to make a banner, but did not have paper to do it. So they improvised and make a banner out of notebook paper hooked together. Then, all on their own, they managed to tape it up on the wall hanging down as you enter our kitchen.

I LOVED IT!!! How could you not?

Maddox even wrote a note that hung with it. It read: I love you with all my heart. You are the best mom. I hope you have a happy mother's day.

Pretty sure I'm the luckiest mom in the world!!

Can Penguins Play Baseball?

Not only can Penguins play baseball, they can play pretty darn well!! Caden decided last year that he was tired of watching his brothers play baseball and decided that he wanted to take a crack at it. So, a new team of 9 year olds was assembled and the Penguins were born!
It hasn't always been the prettiest, as we have a team that's completely new to the league, but they have grown so much and are now a pretty formidable opponent.

Caden has really loved playing baseball, so I'm pretty sure that we'll be spending many more summers out at Ken Berry.

What do the other 4 do while Caden's playing baseball? Well...

...they eat! And eat, and eat, and eat!! We had 3 games this past Saturday, so if snacking on junk food that Papa buys them keeps them happy, I am all for it!!

Down on the farm...

The Director at Brennen's preschool has a farm. Every year she invites the preschool classes to come out and feed the cows, play in the barn, climb on tractors, and enjoy all of the wonders a farm has for small children. Notice that I said all the wonders for a "small child"! This is because I do not care for this field trip at all! Anybody who knows me knows that I am not big into the great outdoors. So spending time outside, with stinky farm animals, in the mud, and cold, is not my idea of a great time. However, I do it, because that's what mom's do!
We got to dish up cups of nasty stuff to feed the cows. Ella would get cup fulls, but then was too afraid of the cows to dump it into their troughs, so I got to do it for her. Yay me!

Preston and Brennen loved every minute of it!

It turns out that cows eat ALOT!

Preston...still feeding!

I was thinking that maybe there was something to be said for the simplicity of just dumping food into a giant metal bin and letting the animals all gather around for their share. If only I could figure out a way to implement this at home, without having to hear, "Caden shoved me!" or, "Brennen ate more than I did!"

After the cows were fed, we headed to the barn to play int he hay bails that were up in the left. Again, I do not care for heights and the only up in the loft is an 80 year old narrow ladder. More fun for me!!

Here is a quick shot of Brennen's class!

Alas, I can say I survived another farm field trip. Only 4 more to go! :-\

Easter 2011

Yep, this just goes to show how far behind I am in blogging! Just now to Easter! We do an egg hunt in our culdesac every year. Here are a few of this year's participants.

I LOVE our street!

Ella was not the biggest go getter when it came to her first egg hunt, but with 4 brothers who take pity on you, you really don't have to do a lot to get eggs!

Easter morning the Easter Bunny had come and left all sorts of goodies! He was very excited to give Lego sets, remote controlled motorcycles, ds games, and an American Girl baby bathtub! Second best job next to Santa!

Here is my group all gussied up. Are they beautiful or what?!

We went to my mom's house and the kids did another egg hunt there. Here are a few photos from that egg hunt. Ella was a little more motivated this time, but still managed to bat her little eyes and find help...

this time from Daddy!

Preston found a lot at Grandma's house!

Hi! I'm Davy Crockett!

There are many assignments that the boys have had that require quite a bit of work from me. However, Caden's "Live Wax Museum" report really put a lot of pressure on us! He had to choose a famous person, read a biography on them, and then do a report on them. Then dress up as that person and tell people all about "themselves". As you can see, Caden chose Davy Crockett after a little persuading from me, since we already had a costume! They paraded through the halls of the school and then back to their classrooms.

In their class, they were situated at their desks. If you look closely at the corner of Caden's desk, there was a "PUSH" button. When pressed, it would bring the resting celebrity to life, who would then proceed to give you some interesting information on their life.

The kids all did a WONDERFUL job. Every class comes and goes through the third grade classrooms on this day. Maddox, so generally kept pressing his brothers button, until Caden had to inform him that it was out of order. That's brothers for you!!