Almost.To. SUMMER!!!

We are busy, busy wrapping up spring sports, dance and of course school! Above Ellie is reading one of her books out of her school nightly reading bag. That little book nook in her bedroom is her favorite reading spot.

The little sweetie pie below...Lips for days! Those big smoochies are irresistible!

Ben dropping off the kiddos for the last day of S.A.C. (School Age Care) before summer break! YAY!

Ellie had her dress rehearsal at Troy High School the Tuesday of my last week of school. I met Ben and the kiddos there and then we had that moment. I was like, " Hey guys! Ellie, you look great! Ummmm. Ben, where is Drew?" We both thought each other was getting him so to say the least when Ellie was done Ben had to take off for Houghton and the kiddos and I zipped as fast as we could back to his preschool. We were there right at closing time 6:00 and Ms. Mary was taking good care of him. We LOVE NC3!!

Ellie, you are a gold star, sweet gal. She got up on stage and rocked her tap dance routine to the Peppermint Twist. She is so cool and calm and shows no signs of nervousness. She just loves it and waits all year to dance on the "big" stage!!

Tuesday Ben left for Houghton to be with his family to celebrate Grandpa Fassbender's life. Grandpa passed away in January. He had a wonderful life filled with love and lived to be 97. One characteristic about him was that he was the kind of guy who always had a twinkle in his eye. He always loved on our children and would play with them, hold them and chat with them. I was so sad that the kids and I couldn't join Mom, Stan, and Aunt Pam. However, it was my last week of school with my students and with our kids activities and school, it just wasn't feasible. We love you, sweet Grandpa F.

Some beautiful pics of our beautiful people in beautiful Northern Michigan! (Ben with Mom, Stan and Aunt Pam)

Ben was gone until Friday when he left right after the luncheon to make it back in time for the big weekend ahead. Boy, were we happy when he made it home!!! Especially this mama!! I finished my year though, completed report cards, and closed down my classroom to start my summertime!

On Saturday, was Elle's big day! Not only did she have her end of the year recital but also had her last soccer game of the season.

Ellie with her Peppermint Twist tap team!

This was her first tap recital performance as last year she performed a ballet routine. This year she was in both ballet and tap on Wednesday evenings but at this age they only perform one dance in the recital. I am thankful for that rule!! :) 

This girl has confidence on stage like WOW! She lives for the day she gets to be on this big stage and is itching to get up there all year long. She loves it!! Below she is the middle dancer on stage. 

SO CUTE!!!

One proud Daddy! We love you, Ellie, and you continue to blow us away with your confidence and quiet one-step at a time mentality. 

I love you more than words can say...You are a star!

And two proud brothers...Thank goodness she has these bros! (Thinking ahead to the teenage years!)

We had to leave the recital early, even before intermission, to get to Ellie's last soccer game! She went from dancer to gamer in a quick change in the car. We ate a quick lunch at Culver's and then made it on time to her game back over in Lake Orion!

Ellie with her Purple Galaxies!!

Ellie with the best Daddy/Coach ever...

Ellie grew a lot this season! She really got in there and was a strong passer and used her speed against the other team. Her highlight skill was her "pullbacks" that she used while dribbling against an opponent. She also had 1 goal for the season. It will be interesting to see which way Ellie decides to take in her future. If you ask her what she likes more between dance and soccer, she will answer, " I love both." And that's the great thing, sweet girl. Experience it all and enjoy it.

Two proud brothers who were on the sidelines all day cheering on their number one gal!!!

After the recital and soccer game we were onward to the final event...Luke's bball game. However, it was canceled due to the rain and we were all TOTALLY ok with that!

The next morning we were off to Kensington for church and then a quick bite to eat at Starbucks afterwards...

Because we were off to Luke's all-star game!!! Luke and two other teammates from the A's were selected to play and in the Little League All-Star game! 

Our britches were bursting! This kid worked so hard this season. We are very proud of you, Luke!

Representing the A's: Luke with Paxton and Sawyer 

Luke's All-Star team!

Not even kidding...Not even exaggerating...After the bball team we were then off to Luke's football game. After writing this post, I think we all need a vacation!

Love this pic below because it's Luke and his best bud Ayrton cheering on their team. 💙💙

Starting off the last week of school!!! 

On Monday, was Principal Pontzious's b-day so all of the students surprised him and wore ties to school that day because Mr. P is always wearing his. :)

I had the whole week with this cutie patoots at home! 

No shirt and Play-Doh...It's summer, baby!!

Papa and Gma Cooley also came for the week!! 

The kids are always rotating to take their turn in the back of the convertible. It's everyone's favorite ride!

After dinner one night. ice cream at Culvers!

And Luke's final game on the A's! Luke had a great season and really grew a lot in his defense game on the field. Luke, you are a rock star! We love you so, so much!

Below Ben/Coach is saying a little something about each player before handing them their league trophy.

Coach Greg and Coach Ben with their boys!

These are my favorite A's!!

Team pic..

I love how proud Drew is to be standing with his brother and Daddy. My 3 boys. 😍

Happy Memorial Day!!!

 This year we didn't have any plans scheduled so we decided to surprise the kids with a surprise trip! They had no idea we had anything planned and when we woke up Saturday morning we asked them to pack their bags, making sure they packed their swimsuits and their swim goggles. We all hopped in the van and they were full of questions and guesses. Our first stop was for pizza at the park for lunch in Monroe, MI. 

 Our 2nd surprise was a round of mini golf!

This actually worked out well as we had the course completely to ourselves! We let Elle and Drew putt in front of us and they were off. Luke, Ben and I competed keeping score. Ben beat me by one stroke, grrrrr, but I was able to win a free round of putt-putt for a lady waiting in line because of a hole-in-one I got!

 This was Ellie's 2nd time playing putt-putt but Drew was a rookie! First timer. 😍

Our final surprise destination was a night at Splash Universe!!! (Dundee, MI)

After swimming at their park, dinner at a local brewery, we came back to the hotel and I literally fell asleep in my clothes. I woke up around 11 that night having no clue that I had fallen asleep. Ben had also dozed off to sleep and so when I popped up in a panic to check on our kids they all 3 had made it to their beds with their pj's on and were fast asleep. (Our bed was just on the other side of the wall) Coolest thing about the room was the bunk beds and each bed had their own light!

Next morning we were up so we could get prime time in the pool before everyone else joined in.

First a quick bite...

 While I was watching the older two zoom up and down the "big slides" Ben was with Drew in the lazy river. I caught this little moment between them. Soooo sweet!

 These two were up and down the stairs to go down the "big slides"!

Coming out with hands up!

 And back up they went to go again!

 Ben signed up for the "Birthday Club" and that meant we all got 4 hours each of free arcade time! So after the pool and checkout it was game time!

 Luke's favorite besides air hockey...shooting hoops!

 Everyone loved air hockey!!

 Luke seriously beat me every. single. time.

 Ellie's fav besides air hockey was of course all of the driving games!

And Drew's favorite besides air hockey...Scoop from the Bob Builder!

A quick bite to eat and then we were off. So long, Splash Universe!

The park was right next to Cabella's so we decided to make a quick, which ended up not being so quick, pit stop. It was kids day at the store so we completed a circuit of activities that included a show about insects, crafts (pic below), sampling fudge, and fishing in their pond outside. Take a guess who the only one was to catch a fish????

My girl, Elle Belle!!!! I didn't get a pic but sure enough she yanked the pole and reeled him in. She also fearlessly grabbed the fish with her hands and helped Ben get it off the hook. She was so excited to throw the fish back in. My girl!!

Weekends are a Family Affair!

A few weekends ago, we had another fun-filled, busy weekend. The standard of our weekends includes chores, grocery shopping, baseball game, soccer game, football practice, football game and church. That's the going normal and that's not including the fun activities, birthday parties, play dates that fall in between! PHEW! This weekend didn't disappoint. We had our school's Spring Fair! Note: That I only have pics of Drew and Elle because Luke was off with his buddies as soon as we showed up.

Drew was a little shy with all of the people there so the only game he participated in was the Lollipop Tree, where he won a blue sucker. Ellie on the other hand was a gamer. She walked up to each game with ease and each time she won the "big" prize (this happened at 3 games) she surprised the people around her. I love that! She may be tiny but she's fierce. 

While we were enjoying our Friday night, Ben had taken the day off to fly down to Tampa at 6 am. Dad Cooley was there to pick him up and the two of them made the trek back to Michigan. They drove in 5:30 that Saturday morning. Whata guy!

So after the fair, Megs and Chad dropped off Harlow for the 1st time to babysit her. We were so excited to have Lo all to ourselves! 

And with no Mama around it was our first time being able to bottle feed her and all of us were lined up wanting a turn. Let the camera roll...

And now a happy baby who was smiling and cooing to all of us. 😍

Sweet little gal woke up and the two us snuggled just like this for almost an hour while her cousins were zonked in bed.

And Lukey walking with his best friend, Papa, out of church. We love our family so much and we are blessed to share these moments of life together.