SUMMER FUN AND FUN WITH THE SUMMERS'!!

I know SUMMER is still a few weeks away, but we are so THANKFUL to feel the sunshine! In fact, we have had the A/C on since the middle of May! I am so THANKFUL to rub sunscreen on my pale children, give them a bath EVERY night to wash the gallons of sand off them they bring home from school, mend scrapped knees from running on the sidewalk or crashing a bike, block parties, hanging out with neighbors way past our bedtime because it isn't dark yet, packing sack lunches for picnic day at preschool, the purple quivering lips of two little ones I can't drag out of the swimming pool, and the hand picked dandelions and other weeds I receive as gifts on a daily basis. THANK GOD for SUMMER!

First trip of the season to Adventureland with the Feltner's and Froehlich's

The end of May we were so fortunate to have our old neighbors but forever friends, the SUMMERS' in town to celebrate Shawn's graduation from DMU. This awesome family were our backyard neighbors for three years and I am so THANKFUL our paths have crossed. Although it had been a year since we had seen them, it felt like old times. We were able to visit Blank Park Zoo, Raccoon River Park (where all the kids decided to get in the water with their clothes on) and the Waukee Ice Cream Shoppe with them. Carter and Sam were best buddies when Sam lived here. Carter invited Sam over for his first "sleep over" the last night they were in town. The two giggled in their tents ( set up in Carter's room) until almost midnight! Claire and Jack are only about 6 weeks apart in age and destined to be married some day. I think they would appreciate this picture on their wedding day!

Sam and Carter

I didn't have any quarters to buy food to feed the animals, so Claire resorted to feeding the goats rocks!!

Carter, Claire, Jack, Shawn, Olyvia & Sam

Blank Park Zoo 5-27-10

Sleep over!

We are so proud of what this whole family has accomplished! We are looking forward to visiting them in their new location, New York! Way to go SUMMERS family! We miss you already!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

4 GENERATIONS

Phyllis Mehlmann Berry, Ida Spieker Mehlmann, Dana Berry Freeman, Claire Freeman

Happy Mother's Day! I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful family! I am truly blessed to have the hardest working, most caring, loving, faithful mom and grandma ( she's 93 by the way..doesn't she look great?) anyone could ask for. I am also blessed that God has put faith in me to raise two beautiful, healthy children. Without him, none of this would be possible!

I was spoiled on Mother's Day with breakfast with Jeremy and the kids, lunch with my mom, grandma, sister and kiddos, and pizza from Tavern for dinner! Nothing says "treat mom" like food! I also was surprised with a new fancy phone that I am still learning to use, and I came home to a spic and span house completed with all the laundry done and groceries bought! Jeremy admitted he was exhausted after trying to get this all done while I was out with my mom and grandma and mentioned hiring a cleaning lady? All the chemicals must have made him a little loco! :) What an awesome day! Thanks family! I love you guys!

Easter 2010 ( a little late as usual!)

Thank goodness for digital cameras to help me remember the special events in our lives since I can't seem to get them blogged very efficiently! We had a super fun Easter weekend with my cousin Patty and her family. They were down from Minneapolis so we had to show them a good time . We started the weekend off with a visit to Living History Farms for their Family Easter party. Usually I try to avoid crowds but it was a really fun time with lots of activities for the kids. They had some good food, egg coloring, a toy hunt, a pancake relay, a bonnet relay and of course the Easter Bunny. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Carter went to Grandma and Grandpa's for the night with Patty and Paul, so I just had to hide eggs for Claire. Although this was the first time she had hunted for eggs, she instantly knew what to do and tried to open them! We went to Grandma and Grandpa's for an Easter feast and more Easter baskets. We all headed back to Des Moines to stay at the new indoor water park. It was so much fun! Paige and Carter had a blast playing together and Claire showed NO FEAR! I initially helped her down the small waterslide, then she mastered it on her own, going down no less than 200 times. Then she slyly pointed to the pirate ship wanted to go down the bigger slide. Again I helped her at first until she waved her bye to me as if to say, " I've got this mom" She went down the slide with her arms up in the air smiling the whole way. She then pointed to the HUGE water slide indicating she wanted to try it. So, Jeremy and I took turns taking her down that. She NEVER held on! Carter even commented on how brave his sissy was! We were all exhausted by the end of the night! What a fun time!

Claire throwing a tantrum telling us she did NOT want to get out of the pool!


Showing off her Easter basket goodies!

The pancake race is on!

Carter trying to convince 2 older girls to let him in front of them in line!

Wrestlemania, spring and 30ish

Okay, I know it is April, but I am just catching up with March so bear with me! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day in style, green hair, green beads, green clothes and green milk and mint chip ice cream to top off the night.

Jeremy's brother and his family were "back home" for a few days a couple of weeks ago. Jeremy and his brother have started a tradition of going to the NCAA wrestling tournament each year and this year it happened to be in Omaha. Carter had a blast playing with his only cousins and Claire held her own with all the boys! We all got to enjoy some wrestling action during the 3 day tournament even though the stomach flu hit the house! Uncle Al even got to escort one of the weight classes on the final night and hand out the trophies to the winners. We had so much fun and hated to see them go!

The kiddos plus Uncle Al playing a mean game of twister!

The Freeman Five

Sam and Carter checking out their new flashlights!

Our view from the nose bleed section!

Amazing Pizza Machine ROCKED!

Claire enjoying her ice cream after loading up on pizza!

Spring has finally sprung in Iowa and the kids and I enjoyed our first picnic of the season last week. It actually got a little too warm ( I can't believe I am saying that) for March with the temperatures hitting 84 here on Wednesday! Carter was able to dust his bike off and has set a goal for himself to get the training wheels off this summer. Claire can almost reach the pedals on Carter's old John Deere tricycle.

Lastly, I turned 30ish at the end of the month. Jeremy and the kids took me out to dinner and my co-workers spoiled me with treats. I spent the weekend scrapbooking at Walnut Place retreat in Valley Junction with some friends. I couldn't have asked for a better 30ish birthday! Here are some photos of me through the years, all I have to say is what was I thinking?

3 months

4th or 5th grade I think? I must have been in love with Elvis??

8th grade

Gotta love the rolled jeans, rolled shirt and button flys! Funny, my hair still looks the same in this picture as it does today!

We are spending Easter weekend with my family. My cousin and her family from Minneapolis are coming to town for the weekend. We are going to hit up some Easter egg hunts, dye eggs and spend the night at the new indoor water park in town. Claire tried on her swimsuit to see if it would fit...think I can get her out of the snowboots before she hits the pool? Happy Easter!

Dress up and puddin face

Just wanted to share a few photos on what our sweetie Claire has been up too. She is LOVING to play dress up and will bring me numerous items to help her into during the day. Her favorites seem to be hats and shoes!Princess Claire ready for "Green Day" at school plus my old stinky running shoes!
Jammies, dog walking gloves, daddy's shoes, and Nebraska hat?
Tutu's and snowboots always go together!


Claire is by far the neatest eater out of our little family. Charlie steers clear of her chair most times as she so daintily puts food into her mouth that she never drops any! She is always wiping her face with a napkin at dinner while the rest of us could care less if we have food all over our face. We've found she does have a messy weakness for chocolate pudding however! For some reason she will only eat chocolate ( she takes after her mom here) pudding. I've tried to give her other flavors and she just pushes it away! Don't mess with a girl's chocolate!

Randomness

Not much new from the Freeman camp. I was looking back through the pictures on my camera and I am embarrassed to say I've taken very few pictures since Christmas! Old man winter has really limited our activities! We continue to be buried in snow with no relief in sight. The groundhog assured us of that. I feel like I need to jump into a pool of lotion/sun and soak for a few days. I have been pressuring Jeremy to take me somewhere warm for even a long weekend but so far he hasn't caved. Carter and I were talking a few nights ago about summer and going back and forth with "I wish it was summer so..." I started out with, " I wish it was summer so we could have a picnic outside" and Carter came back with "I wish it was summer so I could sleep in my underwear!" Oh, I guess boys will be boys!

Carter is staying busy 3 nights a week with swimming lessons and Taekwondo. He recently had to take a test to "promote" to a new belt. He had to perform his skills in front of his master and 2 judges. I was SO nervous for him but he did great and advanced to the next belt. He is on his second round of swimming lessons and is doing so good. I am so proud of him! Hopefully we will see the sun one of these days and he will be able to test his skills in an outdoor pool!

Practicing his swimming in the tub!
Claire is full of spunk! She is going to be my strong willed kid and tests our boundaries everyday. Carter has asked on a few occasions if she is old enough to put in time out! She has become the instigater of trouble and thinks it is funny to pick on her brother ( we are SO in trouble) Her vocabulary is limited to mostly "no" and "no" with a lot of attitude including a little eye roll and turning her head away from us. She still loves to snuggle with me so it is so hard to be angry with her since she is so darn cute!


Playing dress up in mommy's hat and coat!

Valentine's Day was low key with a nice dinner out just the two of us. The kids had fun making valentines for their classes and friends.

Till next time! I'll try and be better about posting things more often!