Signs of spring

Budding trees, blooming flowers, and Bradford pear trees that are plaguing us with allergy symptoms. The signs of spring are here.

The kids just finished their spring break. Asher went back to school today but Leila was home sick. All of the kids have been sick over spring break. Boo! The first half wasn't nice weather anyway. A huge thank you to Tyler for keeping them and entertaining them so I could go on my "mommy's get away" weekend. Also, thank you to Nanny and Nana for keeping them and taking them for some fun too. They loved Chuck E Cheese and Skating too! Gina and Roger conquered church with the twins on Sunday while Tyler played in the praise band. It truly takes a village! We did manage to get Asher up to Fast Lane in NWA for some birthday fun before his sickness hit on the trip home. It's never boring around here! Happy Spring!

Picnic Party

Sunday was the perfect day to have a picnic party with family!

Flowers for momma from the birthday boy!

This party wouldn't have been possible without everyone's help. I was busy planning a football party and everyone else just pitched in to make this happen. Thanks to Mom, Dad, and Nana for the food and decorations! Thanks to Gina and Roger for the fruit salad! Thanks to Jerry and Laurie for the pavilion rental! I'm so thankful for such wonderful family! Love that you go out of the way to make the birthday boy feel special!

Asher is 8!

Happy 8th Birthday to my big, sweet boy!

I had to include both of these pictures…one to show his sweet face and the other to show how big this kid is getting. Asher is such a joy to our family! He is thoughtful and sweet. He is helpful and kind. I love to watch him transform into the man that he will become. He understands things that I don't think it is possible for him to understand yet. He is a great example to his younger siblings, a great big brother! He loves to read and learn. He is enjoying reading the Diary of the Wimpy kid books but his first love is still nonfiction reads. Just like his Daddy. He loves basketball, football, and soccer. He says that he wants to be an NBA player when he grows up but says he will definitely have a backup plan. That's my boy! The way to his heart is surely through his stomach. He requests specific dinners and always eats more than his mommy. He still says his favorite foods are pb & j and brownies. He said if he could go anywhere right now...Schlitterbahn! The kid's a fish! He didn't have many wishes for his birthday this year. He pretty much asked for legos and a new bike. The toy stores don't hold the same magic for him that they used to. (so sad!) He wears size 8/10 clothing. Size 5 shoe!!! My firstborn is growing up and I love him so much! Happy 8th Birthday, dear Asher! You're the best!

It's a Vikings Party!

Asher chose to have a few friends over to the house for a Minnesota Vikings football themed party. They were rowdy and loud (and sometimes smelly! LOL!) like boys should be! They played lots of competitive play games. They ate…a lot! They stayed up too late! I think they had lots of fun! Asher is blessed with some great friends!

Speaking of friends, I've bragged before on our great neighbors but I wanted to share something for memories sake. Our 5th grade neighbor stopped by during the party (he would have been invited but we thought that they were still out of town for spring break) and we asked him to stay. He played right alongside the other boys. At one point, the boys had been playing in Asher's room and came back into the play room. After a few minutes, I noticed that our neighbor was missing. I went back into Asher's room and found him cleaning up after everyone. He said that he didn't bring a present so he was going to clean up the mess as his present to Asher. I was so impressed with his thoughtfulness! I am praying that these sweet neighbors have an influence on my children! We love them very much and I think everyone was happy that he dropped by!