Spring Break

This year we were lucky enough to have a visit from our cousins in California - the California Cushings! We had tons of fun -Here are the shots to prove it!

Here are the kids and cousins getting ready to get in the pool. I have to say, it was one of the warmest days for pool water, and I loved every minute, as did the kids!
Here they are on the play equipment - getting ready for a game of tag with dad.
What a great looking bunch!
Oh, an even better looking bunch!:)
It is so hard to get a great picture with all of these ages! We did pretty good!
One of our activities was going to Classic Skating, where we could skate, bounce, jungle climb and Nerf war. It was a really great time - although pretty stinky with all those kids and their feet!

Here is our little family getting ready to skate - it was Alex's first time and he did a pretty good job!
Aunt Verity and dad helping out the skaters!
Two of my favorite skaters!
Oh look - two more hot skaters!
Lilly and Grandma Deb cheering on all of the kids.
Our new sandbox came in handy. The kids loved burying each others feet.
One of my favorite nights was at our home, where we had a great pizza dinner from - The Pie (thanks to grandpa) and played Rock Band. Everyone participated, even the littles and I had a really fun time! We even got to hear grandpa and grandma sing!
What a great Spring Break! We cannot wait for our cousins to come back at Christmas!

The New Sandbox

I am just thrilled about our new backyard addition - A New Sandbox. I have always wanted a sandbox for the kids to play in, but as the kids got older, and our Dixie Dog passed away (to keep the kitties at bay), and play sand is just so expensive, the idea was shelved. Until, last weekend, when I found a guy who was giving his sandbox sand away and all you had to do was haul it away.
So, dad and I did just that and we ended up with this great play area, and all it took was $25.00 and a little (well alot of muscle).

Here are the kids all playing together, which is wonderful!
Our Roxy Dog keeping guard.

My Crazy Busy Life

My Mother in Law says that she can tell how busy I am by the number of new posts I have on our blog, and as you all can see...very few of late!

It seems like just when you see a break in the schedule, something comes along and fills it up - not that I am complaining, but life just seems like a freight train lately, without any stops- or really picture/blog worthy ones.

I am not sure how many of you want too see pictures of Mom or Dad in the car coming or going from: Karate, Baseball, Scouts, Activity Days, Work, Maturation Day at school, Haircuts, Dog shots, PTA Meetings, Library pickups, Grocery runs, Weeding, Taking care of the dogging, Shed building, Carpet cleaning, Wall painting, endless phone calls to make and all of that is just this week- some of it everyday!

I have to say, though, in the few minutes I had to sit at the computer and think about all of this, I would not change it. I love my life, my husband, our kids and dog so very much. I really think I would be lost without the chaos, and with all of this, I think about what Abraham Lincoln said, "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years" I truly believe this, so with that said, I may not look like a beauty queen or make much sense when I talk to you, but I will continue to fill my life up so bear with me!