Easter Weekend - Part 2

Easter morning after we woke up Hudson and I got busy making the Resurrection Biscuits.  This Easter tradition started 3 years ago when we visited the Wurpts family.  To make Resurrection Biscuits you flatten a large biscuit and spread melted butter on top and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar (oils and spices they put on Jesus body).  Put Jesus (a large marshmallow) in the tomb and close it up (like the tomb).  Bake.  When you take a bite of the biscuit its empty/hollow inside (the marshmallow disappears) just like the tomb was empty on Easter morning.        

Greta's Easter dress arrived one day late but she was still all smiles for the special day.  

Bapa and Mimi with their two favorite little people.  

A family photo on a blessed day.  

Before lunch we had an Easter egg hunt with Cousin Ainsely.  This photo is pure perfection.  

Hudson's job was to find all of the eggs that were hidden up high that the little girls couldn't reach.  

The weather all weekend was absolutely glorious.  

Roy captured this photo too.  What a joy to see my dad and brother love on our baby girl.  

An afternoon game of Quirkel with Bapa Rog.  

Easter Weekend - Part 1

We visited my parents for Easter weekend.  We always enjoy our time in Sioux Center with Bapa and Mimi and participating in the festivities of a holiday weekend together is extra sweet.  Our Saturday went like this...

7:30 am - Hudson leaves to go farming with Bapa Rog

10:00 am - Easter egg hunt and crafts at the All Seasons Center 

Hudson always enjoys doing crafts.  

I love this silly bunny.  

Unfortunately, I didn't think of taking their Easter baskets from home so a grocery sack had to do for collecting the eggs.  Functional yes, but certainly not as cute for the pictures.  

They had a large section of Easter grass and scattered empty Easter eggs in the grass.  Kids searched for the eggs and then dumped them in a large bin when they were done and received a treat bag full of Easter candy and other Easter prizes.  A fair way to structure an Easter egg hunt I thought.  They also gave out lots of raffle prizes.  

I'm not a big fan of Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny, but he was available and with very little line so we grabbed a picture.  I was shocked that Greta didn't scream in fear.  

11:00 am - a donut treat at Casey's Bakery 

1:30 - nap time for Greta, swimming for Hudson and Daddy, and a walk for Mommy

4:00 pm - cookies, tea and playtime in Cousin Ainsley's adorable playhouse 

 

Ainsley was a great hostess and served us cookies and Skittles with our "tea."  

Lots of beads for tea time is a necessity.  We are already looking forward to the next time we get to play.   

6:00 pm - Pizza Ranch for dinner followed by a game of Qwirkle for Hudson and Mimi before bed

Kindergarten Coop :: Food Groups

I hosted our Kindergarten Coop for the last time this school year on Thursday, April 6th.  Our theme for the month was the 5 food groups and making healthy food choices.  We learned about using the Choose My Plate graphic organizer as a guide.  The students each colored their own Choose My Plate and then glued on a few sample foods in each food group.  

Several of the children said this was their favorite activity of the morning.  

Hudson always enjoys doing art projects.  

We read food books, played with the farm toys and set up a grocery store.  We made a list of our favorite foods and made our own homemade pizzas for lunch.  

After spreading out the dough it was time to add the yummy toppings.  

Thoughts on homeschool coop...I plan things I wouldn't normally take on the extra work and mess with just my two kids because doing these types of projects with others creates meaningful learning experiences and memories.  

Sweet and swine pizza is a favorite at our house.  

The following week we took a field trip to Chick-fil-A.  This happens to be one of our family favorites so I thought a field trip there to look behind the scenes would be special.  We love how Chick-fil-A is a Christian based company, they strive to serve their customers "with pleasure," and they use as many fresh foods as they possibly can and prepare the food on sight.  I enjoyed learning more about the mission of their company and how the store works.  We were surprised when Cow, the Chick-fil-A mascot was there to greet us.  

Learning how the order machines work.  

After our tour we had some time to make a project for our upcoming Grandparents Day celebration (we are doing a Fruit of the Spirit theme) and before we ordered our lunch.  The kids had chicken nuggets and then played in the play area before heading home.    

Making Memories with Malaysians

We have made some great memories with our Malaysian students this month.  We hosted them for a "make your own homemade pizza night."  After dinner we played several rounds of games, but I believe Spot It was their favorite game.     

Each pizza created was uniquely delicious.  

Pizza and smoothies made for a perfect Friday night dinner with friends.  

The following weekend we took the girls horseback riding on Scout.  This is the same horse Greta rode on her 2nd birthday.  They had been asking for a chance to ride so we were grateful to coordinate a time.  

Husna was the most eager rider of the 3 girls.  

Hudson patiently waited until it was his turn to ride and was ALL smiles.  I think he was excited about the older girls there who were Mrs. Debbie's helpers.  By the time it was Greta's turn to ride she wanted nothing to do with the horse.    

What a Writer!

Its crazy to me when I think about the fact that Hudson's Kindergarten year is wrapping up.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to teach him at home and be the one that sits next to him as he reads new words for the first time and witness him grasp key math concepts that he will use for the rest of his life.  Hudson is a bright kid and enjoys learning new things, which is such a gift and makes him a joy to teach.  Yet, I would be lying if I said all of homeschooling was wonderful and Hudson always cooperated when I said it was time to do his work.  That simply isn't the case.  But overall, homeschooling really has been a great blessing to our entire family.  Hudson has learned so much and grown in so many ways this year.  We have much to celebrate and be proud of.  One of his most significant areas of growth has been writing.  He is taking the skills/sounds we are learning in reading and transferring them over to his writing.  Yeah!  And the details he is adding to his pictures is so great too.  Here is video of one of his recent writing pieces about one of his favorite things, farming.

Swingers Road Trip - Days 9 & 10

We organized and packed up most of our things on Friday evening after the kids were in bed.  Our goal was to be on the road by 7:30am the next morning.  We had a BIG travel day ahead of us and lost two hours because of the change of time zones.  After a quick breakfast we took a few pictures of the kids with GG Mary and GG Mel.  We are so thankful for the blessed time together, the memories we made, the meals we gathered together around the table for, the talking and connecting.  

One of Hudson's road trip gifts was this 50 piece Frozen puzzle, which he fixed several times.  

This was certainly not the most exciting day of our trip because driving through New Mexico takes a long time and pretty much looks just like this for hours and hours.  Maybe that is how some people feel about driving by all the cornfields as they travel across Iowa.  :)  

Saturday afternoon and evening was memorable.  We grabbed Taco Bell for lunch (did I mention how much I dislike fast food but when you are traveling its basically the best/only option) and the kids hated the spicy quesadillas so ate snacks instead.  Hudson refused to nap, which made for a long afternoon.  We opted for smoothies and chicken strips for dinner and arrived to our hotel in Liberal, Kansas at 9:15pm, while it was half time of the Iowa State basketball game.  Thinking our kids would be exhausted and fall right asleep we were surprised that they were still bouncing off the walls (literally) at 10:30pm.  I guess that is what happens when you have so much energy to burn after being cooped up in a car for 12 hours and your internal clock is two hours off.  We decided to stop pushing our bedtime agenda and make a memory instead, and turned on the tv to watch the last 5 minutes of the basketball game.  Even though ISU made a great comeback they didn't end up winning the game.  Letting your kids watch tv at 11:00pm while staying in a hotel...why not?!    

We all slept in past 8:00 on Sunday morning, took in some swimming at the pool and then filled up with breakfast food, hoping we wouldn't' have to stop for lunch.  :)  

Around 5:00pm we arrived at our last and final stop of our trip, which was Morrill, Kansas.  We met our newest niece/cousin, Maryn and she is every ounce of precious.  The kids played together at the park, we ate dinner together and then the kids had a blast hauling out all the stuffed animals in the house before we left.  

We brought along a few green cupcakes to share with our cousins.  

Hudson (6) with baby Maryn (19 days), Greta (2), Ellsy (2 1/2) and Clara (4 1/2) 

After leaving the Kansas cousins, we hit the rode for our last three hour travel stretch.  The kids both snoozed a bit and then woke up asking to watch Mickey Mouse and eat Goldfish crackers, which again we gave in to.  :) We arrived home at 11:00 pm and were so grateful to be back in our own space and to sleep in our own beds.  We traveled over 3,200 miles in 10 days and made countless family memories.  What a trip!  What a gift!   

Swingers Road Trip - Day 8

On Friday morning we made a trip to Mesa, about a 1 hour drive from Roy's grandparents, to visit the Orange Patch.  It proved to be a fun filled family field trip.  Last time Roy and I were in Arizona we went to this same place so it was great to go back and learn about their operation, sample the oranges, and see all the orange trees with our kids.  

Look at these beauties...sunshine on the Arizona oranges.  

Hudson enjoyed watching the man pack the boxes of oranges.  

Picking the perfect box to take home.  

Posing for what looks like a senior picture in the orange grove.  

Making careful selections while shopping for oranges for GG Mary and GG Mel.  

A school group happened to be coming for a tour while we were there and they invited us to join in, which we did.  

We got to watch the "sorting machine" in action.  

This kid is always interested in learning how things work.  

Farewell Orange Patch, we hope to see you again soon.  

When we returned from the Orange Patch GG Mary had a surprise waiting for us.  She made Navajo fry bread for a special lunch.  Roy was thrilled, as it has special family memories connected to it.  Mary learned how to make the fry bread while she lived and taught on the Navajo Reservation.   

Hudson was eager to see the process of cooking the fry bread.  

Roy decided it was a good idea to photograph his plate before he dived in...document the deliciousness.   

For a St. Patrick's Day afternoon activity we made green cupcakes with green sprinkles.  Hudson and Mary delivered a few to neighbors and we all enjoyed one too.