Baby Turtle

Found a baby turtle in Daisy's pen!  Provided hours of entertainment for the boys, mainly Braden who gave it a bath, made a swimming hole for it, and eventually lost it IN THE HOUSE for about 30 minutes.  Luckily he was found and we later let him go outside.

Memorial Day at the Park

Memorial Day...went to the park and had a picnic lunch and played.  Overcast and cooler, was a great day!

Cowboy Braden

After watching a cowboy movie with daddy, this is what emerged from our basement.  Being memorial weekend, we went up to the cemetery to place flowers and yes, this is what Braden wore...in the 80-90 degree heat!

Practicing Baseball

Baseball season has begun and practicing at home is a must!  Kaleb has become Blake's official "coach" and works with him on grounders, pop flys and catching.  One evening I peeked out the window to capture these photos of them playing together.  Every once in awhile I noticed them running a lap around the house....that was what they did if Blake missed catching the ball!  Later that night we went inside and sat down and colored and drew pictures.  Blake got his journal from school and drew a picture of him playing catch with Kaleb.  I told Kaleb how special that must have been for Blake to draw that in his journal!

Playing with Chase

Playing with Chase!  Chasse loves to swing and play with the boys.  Playing in his new turtle sandbox...poor guy was covered in sand!  We all went to the softball field that night to watch daddy play in his first game of the season....a home run!  Chase even made it to "Field Day" at the Elementary School!

Braden's Zoo Trip

 I sponsored the 5th Grade field trip to Rolling Hills Zoo in Salina, taking Braden with me this year.  He had so much fun!  The kids were so good with him and he of course loved all of the animals and the interactive characters in the museum, especially the snake! Picnic lunch, building penguin nests, playing on the playground, digging in the sand, riding the tractor, and playing with his friend Kaylin, it was a gorgeous Friday afternoon at the zoo!

Kaleb's 3rd Grade Shops

Kaleb's 3rd Grade shop with Nick...Shootin Hoops!  Dunk, free throw, or 3 point contest, with prizes including m&m's, popcorn, and pop.  $82 made one day!  The girls convinced Kaleb to come to their "finger-nail painting" shop!  Braden enjoyed spending play money attending all the shops, playing the games and winning prizes.

Artwork

Blake's Kindergarten ice cream cone artwork, Kaleb's 3rd grade "slice of cake".

Mother's Day

What a wonderful Mother's Day I had!  Flowers from the boys, card from daddy, hand scrub and coupons from Kaleb.  The boys made cards for Grandma Judy, Blake's included a picture of all of our family plus Chasers!  Uncle Derek emailed Grandma, when she was telling the boys about it, Blake says "When will Derek graduate so he can come home!".  A special, relaxing day with the family, wouldn't have it any other way!

Fishing with Grandpa Hansen

Fishing with Grandpa Hansen....23 fish caught in a few hours!  Taught Kaleb how to get the hook out.  Kaleb said Grandpa was proud of him because he learned how to unsnag his line without any help!

Stuck in the Mud

Braden, riding his trike to Grandma's from Cindy's of course has to ride through the only, 2 huge mud puddles in the driveway.  He made it easily through the first one, but immediately got stuck in the 2nd...."Uh Oh" he says to himself!

Day with Grandma Judy

Took Grandma Judy to her eye appointment and made a fun day of it.  At the doctor's office they have a huge fish tank, Braden decided to take pictures/movies of the fish.  All of the elderly people in the office were so shocked at how he was running the technology!  Stopped at Spangles for a treat! Reminded me of Grandma Dreier and how she would always buy us an ice cream cone on our Wichita trips!

Painting with Grandma

Painting "fish" at the Middle School for the new beach patio area!

I Don't Want to See...

Driving home from a day of fun with Aunt Cindy and Grandma Judy.  I remarked what a nice day it was outside.  Braden says he wants to go to the park and proceeds to ask if we can go when we get home.  I said "We'll see" (my standard response which the boys have picked up on usually means no").  Braden replies as serious as ever, "I don't want to SEE the park, I want to GO to the park".  Well played Braden.

Getting rid of "Farmer Tans"

Kaleb is blessed with his daddy's "good skin".  He tans so easily and never has to worry about sun-burning like the other 3 of us in the family.  Although it has been a cold and snowy spring, Kaleb has managed to get a farmer tan from the few days the sun was actually out.  He asked me why the bottom of his arms were brown, but the tops were white?  I explained to him this is called a "farmer tan".  He decided he didn't like that and the next thing I knew they were outside on this still brisk spring day.  I asked them what in the world they were doing with their shorts off.  "Mom, we are getting rid of our farmers' tans!"

May Day

Braden made a May Day basket in pre-school.  They must have talked extensively about what you do with a May Day basket.  He was insistent on leaving it for our "neighbor", Grandma Judy.  I tried to just have him put it on the door and leave, however he again insisted that he had to hide and watch her face as she saw it.  He was so excited, and so was Grandma as she said she had never received a May Day basket!  Braden then convinced Grandma that since there was plenty of candy inside, she should share with the MayDay basket maker!

New Puppy, Duke

Our newest family member, our puppy, Duke.  We now have 2 dogs, Daisy and Duke.  He has already bonded with the boys, they play basketball with him, bought him some squeaky toys, build castles outside for him, take him down the slide, gave him a bath, and plenty of naps.  He is always so worn out, he often falls asleep on the boys!

Driving Mower with Grandpa

Grandpa let Braden drive the mower around the yard, all by himself!  He did pretty good, just needs to learn to watch where he is going and not be looking back to make sure everyone is looking at him!