Starting off summer...

We've been starting off "summer" with fun!  It doesn't really feel like summer and Logan isn't done with school yet, but I'm calling it summer because I am ready!!

Sweet post nap snuggles with this busy lady!

A Starbucks date with my littles in the morning while Logan is at school.

I was so anxious for a playdate that I scheduled one for our first free afternoon (no more preschool means our schedule has opened up!)!  Jack, Logan's buddy from school and soccer, came over to spend the afternoon with us.  They boys had a great time!

Eden is 14 months going on 3.5 years.  She does everything and is so fast!  She loves to be outside all day and ride cars, climb the playset and play ball.  I'm exhausted!  :)

Bennett's Last Day!

My mom came over early this morning so I would have time to get all set and accompany Bennett on his last day of school!  It was a field trip to a local dance studio and then special classroom time.  It was a wonderful day with Bennett!  Thanks to my mom for coming so I could be there for this special time.

I mentioned this earlier, but Bennett has really turned a corner this month.  He loves school, loves to go each time and seems to have more confidence.  Its been amazing to watch.  It was hard to be consistent with him this year when it was such a challenge to go to school.  Some days, I just wanted to let him stay home and forget about it so that I wouldn't have to deal with the big fit and fight.  But, we stayed consistent all year, encouraging him to go to school and staying calm (even when he wasn't).  It seems as though its paid off.  I don't care about myself as much as I am relieved to see that he has more peace about school and himself.  Look at this photo!  He is so awesome!  Way to go Benny!!

Here are all the kids, lined up on the dance studio floor.  Benny was so excited.

Warming up...

Rolling heads...

Learning some moves!

When the kids were asked to partner up, Bennett and Emma immediately joined hands.  

They are so cute!

Bennett's class was full of adorable little girls!  He and Emma spent a lot of time playing together.

Little lovebirds...

Benny steals a kiss.  I asked him about this moment later (I can't believe I caught it with the camera!) and he said, "I just kissed her because Emma loves me and I love her".

The dance teacher used one of our favorite songs, "Goldfish" by Laurie Berkner Band and Benny loved dancing around like a swimming fish!

Hmm...there Emma, and Bennett close by.

So cute!

Back at the classroom, we had snack (here they are having a prayer), and then special time when the teachers gave personal year books to each child.

The kids always love their year books and are so excited to look through them!

Benny went through his book naming every person in every photo!

One last little squeeze and a photo for Emma.  What a fun day!  Bennett will be back to Noah's Ark next year M-W-F mornings.  Most of the children in this afternoon class will stay in afternoons, but we opted to change to mornings.  Its sad to be in a different class than some of the friends, but we will make new friends next year!  We are excited to have a few playdates with friends from Noah's Ark this summer!

Benny didn't want his photo with Mrs. Lien but he did want to give her a big hug!

Back at home with my two boys while Eden naps.  The boys are getting SO big.  I'm a very proud mom.

Soccer Buddies

Logan and Jack go to school together and play soccer together (Fall & Spring) so they are quite the buddies.  We have loved getting to know Jack and his family, who also go to our church.  Looking forward to some summer playdates with Jack!

Memorial Day

We knew we wanted to walk all the way to the Memorial Day Parade, but that meant we had to hope for no rain!!  Lucky for us, there was no rain expected until after noon when we checked the forecast, so we were off!!

It was a long enjoyable walk to "our spot" for the parade.  The kids picked up some flags from a Veteran on the way.  Little kids waving flags is so cute.

John and I moved to Eau Claire SEVEN years ago this weekend.  We watched the parade from this same spot that first year - not knowing or even dreaming what the future would hold for us here in Eau Claire.  God has blessed us so much: two homes, two jobs, two ministries, three kids and so much faith in Him because of it all.  Its been trying, exciting, scary and amazing.  Crazy to think what "kids" we were seven years ago with no babies of our own.

Eden loved her first parade of course.  :)

Hanging with Daddy is always fun!

Mommy and kids!!  Then someone offered to take a whole family photos!  Woohoo!

Eiselt 5!!! 2013

The parade was fun, it wasn't too long and the weather was just right.  We weren't cold, but we weren't worrying about sunburn either.  This was our favorite part of the parade: McQueen and Mater.

Towed by Big Rigs

Super fun!  The kids came away with a bit of candy, but they weren't too crazy about picking candy up off the street when it was thrown.  Haha.

Then we headed home and some had naps while others worked on a little porch/front step revamp.  Maybe we will finish by the end of summer....maybe not.  :)

It was a super fun day and we ended with a movie and popcorn - at the boys' request.  Benny couldn't make it through the movie with his eyes open.  Summer is here!

Day Out

Today we opted for a day out about town.  It seems there isn't often a day to just go around and enjoy our awesome community.  Today we did a little of that.  And we hope for more of it this summer!

We started off by playing in the wet grass and getting muddy.  And then needing to change clothes.  All before 9am.

First stop was the Farmer's Market downtown.  So many beautiful flowers and we picked out some yummy produce to start off the Farmer's Market season.

It was chilly!!!

We walked down to the river to see how HIGH and FAST the water is!  So much snow this winter followed by a lot of rain this spring has really made trouble for some areas.  So far, its not too bad in Eau Claire.

One of our favorite finds for this trip was the fresh asparagus!

I loved all the assortment of Dahlias - makes me want to have some!  It inspired our next stop:

Down to Earth Garden Center - becoming my fast favorite of all places in EC.  It has a unique beautiful  shop and the most amazing gardens, greenhouse, and grounds.  I love going there!  Its so inspiring!

This time around, we enjoyed lunch at their yummy cafe.  Hello: they serve ice water in Mason jars.  Amazing.

It was a great day that followed with lots of playing at home and a couple projects!!

We ended the day with a "PJ Run" - surprise trip for ice cream after jammies are on.  I think it was Eden's first PJ Run.  It was fun.  She loved it!

Nature Walk

It was a beautiful day so I decided we should take a walk - we made it a nature walk by collecting some artifacts along the way.

Bennett was only sorta into it - he rode his Skuut the whole way.

Logan LOVED it, which is no surprise since he is the most nature-loving boy ever.

We found all kinds of cool items from nature - even in the city!  :)  We also chatted with lots of neighbors along the way.  Imagine that!  The boys were quick to point out "litter" and remind me that is NOT part of nature.  Yuck.  What a couple of tree huggers we are raising.  :)

Eden rode in the stroller happily and was also happy to explore the artifacts when we got home.

Logan's bounty.