Adison's 6th Birthday!

My "Baby" turned 6 on Wednesday.

What a joy she has been in our lives!

From her sweet smile, her little dimple, and all the way to her creative imagination...

I LOVE YOU MY LITTLE ADISON!

She wanted a simple "Tea Party" for her birthday.

With a few of her closest friends.

Here is her good friend Gisele.

I love this picture.

*makes me smile.

It was so windy...and the balloons weren't cooperating for pictures...

but she decided to just have fun with it...I love that about Adi.

I had a great time decorating for her little tea party.

We had cupcakes, cookies, rice crispie treats, and a whole lot of candy to eat.

And a cup of tea...but most of glasses were still full when we cleaned up.

Here are her good friends:

Addie, Alexis, Gisele, Bella, Claire, Adison, and Taylor.

Who says you have to have a small candle for your birthday candle?

I couldn't remember where all of my candles were...so we just found a big one.

Guess what...it worked!

And it kind of made me smile.

Where did the box go of candles for parties? 

Present time!

She was so excited...so were the girls! 

We made bracelets. 

We made a little frame of a picture from the party.

Loida and Bella...

If you know my friend Loida...she LOVES getting her craft on! 

Here is Adison's frame and picture.

She has TALENT. 

Kalie and Ethan were bummed that we had the party while they were at school,

so we decided to have an after school party too.

We invited all of the neighbor kiddos to enjoy the

CHOCOLATE  FOUNTAIN!

It was a fun filled day.

The best part was seeing my little girl so happy.

She brings so much joy into my life...

I was so glad that I could help her celebrate.

Adison, I hope this year is as sweet as you are.

Chores Chart

Allowance...the Hubby and I have had lots of conversations over this word.

We have come to a realization and that it is our job as parents to teach our children the importance of money.

How to save it.

How to spend it.

How to give to the church.

We have decided to not use the word allowance...but COMMISSION.

HA...we are the mean parents!

Here is our thought process...

there are jobs that we think that the kiddos should do without getting paid...

daily chores.

Then there are the chores that we want them to do to really help out around the house.

Weekly chores, so that they will learn responsibility.

We read that you should give the kiddo 1/2 of their age for their "commission."

So...my 10 year old will do 5 jobs (at $1 each) to earn $5.

If she doesn't want to do them that week...she doesn't earn the money.

Some of the weekly chores will stay the same, but others will change each week, depending on what needs to be done.

I used an old window and a dry erase marker so that I could change them easily.

The K E and A are my kiddos initials.

I am hoping this chore chart, the "commission" and teaching our kiddos about money is effective.

Do you have any suggestions? 

How do you teach this valuable lesson?

Easter Egg Hunt(s)

Easter is a great time of year!

I can't explain the amazing gift of Christ's death on the cross with out being in awe.

Absolute awe...He loved me so much he died.  So that I could live for eternity with Him.

I am so glad we celebrate this day...and thankful we can celebrate His gift every day!

Our neighbors: Steve and Michelle and their daughter Samantha, invited us to the Genoa township

Easter Egg Hunt.
It was cold...

but the kids forgot the temperatures when they saw the 14,000 eggs waiting for them to gather.

14,000 eggs...

that's a whole lot of candy!

Ethan, Kalie, Adison and our neighbor Samantha.

Adison was GEEKED at all of her eggs...notice she decided she should use a t-shirt bag instead of her Easter basket...this bag held more eggs!

The kiddos "De-Plastic Egged" their candy and recycled their eggs for next year!

I love our community!

On Easter Sunday Morning we had our own little Easter egg hunt.

With no where near 14,000 eggs.

No way...I am Dutch!

Noah, Adison, Kalie, Anika, Brenna and Ethan all ready to gather!

My kids are into erasers...fun crazy erasers...so there were a few of those in the eggs...

to lower the intake of sugar.

The girls were pretending to put on their lipstick and paint their nails.

These two cousins are best friends and I love that!

I pray that you all had a great Easter.

We enjoyed every minute of our day to celebrate Christ's Resurrection!

Blessed with Family Visits...

Moving away from our family and friends has been hard.

***sigh and a little tear.

But, thankfully, they are amazing at coming to visit us.

Matt's parents came for a wonderful weekend.

We relaxed a lot because Kalie was not feeling so well.

We went to the Eddie Bauer Surplus store, out to dinner at Yabo's Tacos, and a little more shopping.

We shalaxed with books and coffee...

My parents also came and we put them to work.

They weren't interested in shopping and more shopping.

So, we worked on the chair and our window bench...which I know, I still need to blog about.

Me and my Mama sewing the cushions to the bench...well, she sewed and I watched.

Still LOVING GENEVA!

Matt and Erin and their fantastic kiddos came to visit us a few weeks ago.

We had a great time visiting the Eddie Bauer Surplus and Outlet store, laughing a lot till wee hours of the morning, and eating a TON of Pioneer Woman recipes.  YUM.

My sister, Lori, and her family came TWO weekends...one on their way to Florida

and another on their way back from Florida. 

The visits were short but... oh, SO SWEET.

We loved just playing together...

and of course eating.

(...can we say more Pioneer Woman recipes?)

Easter weekend we had an egg hunt.

and begged them to stay longer.

If you haven't been here yet, when are you coming?

We would LOVE to have you!