Last Day of School

Today was the boys' last day of school. They've had a great year at school, but we're ready for summer vacation.

America's Favorite Pastime

J's first baseball game of the season was tonight. This is his fifth year and he did great catching, throwing, pitching and hitting.

Motherhood

Happy Mother's Day!

Even though I'm not living the life I expected, it's God's good and perfect plan for me. At times, I still get tired, overwhelmed and frustrated by my lot in life, but I'm still blessed. I'm especially thankful for the blessing of my sons. It's amazing to observe glimpses of me and flashes of Kent in each of them. They encourage me to persevere through life while making it interesting and fun. They truly are gifts from God!

Field Day

It was Field Day at the boys' school today. A lot of parents gathered on the football field to watch their children participate in four events. J, E and N did well in their events. In fact, I continue to be pleasantly surprised at their athletic ability. J placed 2nd in two events, E placed 1st in three events and 2nd in one event and N placed 1st in two events and 2nd in one event. I'm so proud of them!

Spring Music Concert

The spring music concert at the boys' school was tonight. This quote was at the bottom of the program:

GE hires a lot of engineers. We want young people who can do more than add a string of numbers and write a coherent sentence. They must be able to solve problems, communicate ideas and be sensitive to the world around them. Participation in the arts is one of the best ways to develop these abilities.
- Clifford Smith, President of the GE Foundation

Isn't this a great quote?! In an economy where school districts have consistently lost funding over the last few years and have had to make budget cuts that include the arts, I'm very thankful my boys are at a school that values them.

The boys and their classmates sang well and E even sang a solo. One of the highlights of the evening was the 4th grade class playing harmonicas. They played five songs including Amazing Grace. It's such a blessing to hear Christian songs in a public school!

What a great evening!

Easter

He is risen! 

On the first Easter morning many years ago, Christ defeated death through His resurrection and ascension into Heaven to the right hand of God. Through this, we're reconciled with God and offered the gift of eternal life. What a gift! I cannot grasp the enormity of God's love for the world in sending His Son to Earth to die for us and Christ obediently surrendering to God's will by suffering a torturous death on the Cross for our sins, but I'm forever thankful.

We had a wonderful Easter celebration that included Handel's Messiah, Good Friday Service, coloring Easter eggs, watching It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, Easter baskets full of goodies, Easter morning breakfast and service, an Easter egg hunt and egg salad on croissants. It was a blessed day!

Happy Easter!

Huskers' Red-White Spring Game

J and N went to the University of Nebraska's Memorial Stadium for the first time today for the Huskers' annual red-white spring scrimmage game. They even went on the field during half-time! It was a beautiful spring day to be outside with over 60,000 other Husker fans.

Grandparents' Day

Today was Grandparents' Day at the boys' school. The hallways were busy with grandparents accompanying their grandchildren to their classrooms, the lunch room and the playground. What a fun day!

The Sentimental Swing Set

The swing set that Kent built (the weekend before our trial with cancer started) traveled well from Indiana to Nebraska and the boys are still getting a lot of use out of it.

Spring is here!

The first day of spring brought weather nice enough for the boys to shoot hoops in our driveway.

After baseball, basketball is the boys' favorite sport. J was a starter for his school's 3rd and 4th grade team this year and is looking forward to camp this summer. 

E and N have been learning the fundamentals of the game through a six week program at our local YMCA and are looking forward to playing on the same 1st and 2nd grade team next year through a league hosted by a local church.

N was goofing around here and actually made the shot!

What a great first day of spring!

Wrestling

I was surprised when all three of the boys wanted to wrestle this year. I didn't know anything about the sport and was apprehensive about it but let them try it anyway. N excelled at it, E had fun with it and J, who competed against boys with three or four years more experience than him, will probably just be playing basketball next year. At first, I resisted liking it, but it was a lot of fun!

N lost his first tooth!

N lost his first tooth at school this morning! He lost his first tooth sooner than both of his brothers.

The Boys & Their Fort

The boys have been working on this fort for awhile now. A few of the logs were already there. Now that J can drive the Ranger, they used the bed of it to move some of the logs there and they pulled, pushed and carried the rest of them. They've spent hours working on it and, of course, playing in and around it!

More Good Reports

I went to parent-teacher conferences tonight and all three of the boys are continuing to do well in school. Like other boys, their favorite part of school is PE, lunch and, of course, recess!

First Snow

Even though it has snowed three times so far this winter, our first big snow storm arrived last night. The boys are always eager to shovel the porch, deck and sidewalks while I plow the driveway.

It's a lot of work for them but helps me quite a bit. They have fun too, though, especially when they pile enough snow up to build igloos and tunnels.

Of course, Belle, like most Labs, likes to play in the snow too.

Christmas Cookies

 

We've been busy baking. We made the traditional Eloe cookies of chocolate towne, ginger, molasses sugar and sour cream sugar as well as oatmeal raisin and peanut butter. The boys' favorite kind, though, is roll-out sugar. They like to make cut-out cookies with cookie cutters and decorate them. It's been fun and the deep freeze is stocked!

Halloween

The boys had fun trick-or-treating in town tonight. J was a Nebraska Husker football player, E was a pirate and N was an indian.

It's harvest time!

The boys had fun taking turns riding in the combine to harvest corn on their grandpa's farm today.

Carving Pumpkins

The boys carved their pumpkins tonight.

New Robes

The boys' new robes arrived in the mail a few days ago. They're supposed to wear them as an alternative to bringing blankets to the kitchen table every morning. So far, so good!