Final Game of the Season

The Rush's bought all the kids mustaches to wear today.  It was a riot!

They made them photo collages from the season too.  They were each awarded a special honor and given their trophies.  Ryker was named Most Improved Player. 

Michelle brought Jay and the boys to the game.  Ryker loved having extra fans.

Karlee brought her dog Sam.  Camden loved petting him.

Jay is just the sweetest!

Coach and assistant coach.  They make a great team.

Robert took the boys to lunch with Michelle and Jay while I went to the vet to pick up Tucker.  They came back here and hung out for a bit afterwards.  Robert changed into his Red Sox shirt so they would match.

Cam helped me water after they left.

He did some special watering of the grass too.  HAHA!

Long fun day ended like this.  

One of Those Days...

Today was one of those days where everything seemed to go wrong at first, but it somehow ended up being amazing.  It started off with a rough night.  Riella's allergies started acting up fierce.  She looked miserable.  It was so sad.  I looked and felt about the same as her.

Last night before bed.  :-(

I took a Benadryl and conked out.  I remembered this morning that I had planned to make a dessert the church needed for a funeral last night.  I ended up making two cakes this morning.  I finished baking them and loading them in the van and went back inside to get Riella.  When I came back out I saw this.  

Apparently Camden decided to get in the van on the opposite side and walked all over the cakes ruining them.  After having a minor meltdown I cleaned up the mess, finished loading kids, and went to pick up my cousin Lindsay.  She stayed in the van with the kids while I ran into Marsh to buy a new dessert and drop it off at church.  We finally made it to our destination of the day....the strawberry patch!

Cam picked for about 5-10 minutes and then climbed back in the van where he ate the ones we had already picked and tried to hide the evidence by pushing it out the small window in the back.  Let's just say it didn't work very well.  

Riella stayed in her seat most of the time and let us pick.  I gave her some Benadryl this morning too and she had dried up quite a bit by this point.  Yay! Lindsay was a huge help and we managed to pick 12 quarts!

Ryker was a very slow picker because he was hunting for perfect berries.  He did work the entire time though.

Up next was a trip to the vet with Tucker.  He has a hemotoma on his ear and needed to be seen right away.  I couldn't find anyone on such short notice for the kids so I dragged all three kids and the dog to the office.  Thankfully, the vet was super patient and didn't mind the chaos I brought along with me.  He kept Tucker there for surgery.

We headed home and started working on strawberry jam.  Camden and Riella went down for naps and Ryker helped me wash and cut the berries. While we worked we talked about different Bible stories.  We talked about how Adam and Eve sinned just like we do and that's why we need Jesus and the way he makes for us to get to heaven.  I explained that getting to heaven was as easy as saying a simple prayer.  I highlighted the things to say in the prayer and he said he wanted to say it.  We knelt down on the kitchen floor and he repeated the prayer after me.  I may have shed a tear or two.  

This was by far the best parenting moment I've experienced so far.  I'm so happy for my boy and pray that his faith continues to grow and that we can foster and encourage it.

Lindsay came back over this afternoon and helped with the jam.  It was a long night, but by 11:30 we were finally done and had made 66 containers of jam and a shortcake we enjoyed with strawberries and ice cream.  Delicious!

Kate's Visit

We had a busy week but were excited to spend today with Aunt Kate and the boys before they left to go back to Kentucky.  They come over this morning and the big boys played in the baby pool and outside while we hung with the babies.  It's always fun to see them and play.

I love this sweet sister of mine and her boys.  Thank you Ryker for taking this picture.  

Oh, these two!  They are the best! :-)

7 Months!

7 months old!  It's hard to believe.  Each month seems to go by faster than the last.  This month was a big month.  You started sitting up really well all the time on your own this month.  We also started food this month.  You weren't a huge fan of plain rice cereal but you have liked everything else we've tried.  Carrots have been a favorite.  

I don't know your height and weight stats but you're growing that's for sure.  You are quickly growing out of all your 9 month clothes and are almost solely in 12 month size.  You are still in size 3 diapers but will be moving up soon I'm sure.  Your feet are still tiny and anything above a 1 falls off.  

You are still taking 2 long naps a day and are nursing 4-5 times a day.  You are almost always happy and smiley.  You adore your brothers and you love your momma quite a bit too.  You like to flirt with your Daddy and Papaw and act all coy.  It's adorable.  We all love you fiercely and can't imagine life without you sweet girl.  You are our sunshine!

Last Day of School and Nathan's Game

Starting off the day right with some donuts!

One more bus ride for the year.

They had a special picnic planned, but with the rain, we ended up eating in the classroom.

Yay for summer break!

Last week I asked Ryker what he thought Miss Oliver would like as an end of the year gift. He said, "Probably a photography...of me!"  I told Miss Oliver the story and she said she actually keeps a photo album of former students and he knew her well to suggest it.  To keep the fun going I purchased a cute frame and put Ryker's picture in it.  We also gave her an Amazon gift card so purchase some summer reading material.  She has been such a blessing to our family and we hope she has a relaxing and well-deserved break this summer.

I ended up taking Ryker home after lunch and we got a jumpstart on summer break.  We drove up to Fortville tonight to watch Nathan's tball game.

Ryker drew this owl in the sand.  I was pretty impressed.  

Robert with Ashton and Riella.

Cousins.

Goofy cousins.

His game was too cute. He's quite the hitter already.  We tried recruiting him to play for NPYL next year instead.  We'll see if we can convince Michelle. :-)

Tournament

Today was the first game in a two game tournament to close out our baseball season.  The weather was far from cooperative but the lightning held off until after the game at least.

Employing my popcorn trick again. :-)

Ryker played shortstop today and did pretty well.  He was focused!

Aunt Kate was planning to come to town Tuesday afternoon but drove up early and surprised us at Ryker's game.  It was so incredibly sweet of her.  

She hung through it all even in the downpour with her little boys.  Ryker felt very special!

1st Trip to the Lake

We finally made it out to the lake today!  What a wonderful day it was too!

Ready for her first time on the lake!

I could eat her up!

Cam had fun riding with Amber.

But even more when we let him ride with the big boys.

Robert and I tried paddleboarding for the first time.  I loved it.  Take balance and coordination.  Pretty proud to say I did not fall...not even once!

Muh man. Hubba Hubba.

Ryker did this about 100 times.  He loved it!

Amber took some great pics on her nice camera and was gracious enough to share.  She even let me snap a few.  This one of Cam makes me grin.

These two are the best of buds!

Cam and I got to go tubing together.  He was hilarious.  He was either laughing hysterically, yelling woohoo, or sticking his tongue out trying to catch the spray.  He's a fun little dude.

This picture melts my heart.

He's getting to be a bit of a daredevil.

This was Riella's first swimming experience.  She loved it!

Summer!

Little Miss Redhead.

One more of Cam and I tubing.  Hilarious!