Memorial Day weekend in Kansas

 We had a full and fun Memorial Day weekend. We headed up to Kansas for one last big get together with Joe's family before Josh and Val leave to go back to the Philippines (we aren't even going to think about that yet...) :(

Jennifer arranged to have family pictures taken while we were all there. I can't wait to see the pictures from the photographer!

We all had our "own" clothes on first for the whole family pictures.

I thought my three looked pretty cute...

Then we got all the kids changed for grand kid pictures. It was a little crazy with 17 grand kids, but thankfully more than half of them can dress themselves! :)

Jennifer made ALL of the girls' dresses. Amazing. And the girls all loved them!

Sweet twin cousins. Norah wants to cut her hair just like Naomi's now!

These three middles are quite the crew. They have a blast together. 

Thankfully pictures went really well. Val and I were commenting how much easier family pictures are now even with all the kids than when we first joined the family. It was hard getting those teenage boys to cooperate back then! :)

We spent the rest of the day hanging around the house. We had a great game of kickball going that evening. 

Val had a great idea for the kids to make stepping stones for Nana's garden. The kids loved it, and they turned out really well. 

 Lots of relaxing (I'm sure they stayed this way for all of two minutes...) :)

 And wrestling. Don't mind the look on Deacon's face. His Uncle Jeff isn't actually choking him...

Grandpa played board games with the girls.

 Sunday morning we all headed to church. The six brothers all sang a song together. It was really fun to hear them all sing together because they haven't done that in forever.

The kids stayed to watch the daddies sing, and you would have thought we were at a concert the way they cheered for their daddies when they were done!

 After naps, the boys headed out to do a little work in the yard for Jody. Deacon and Joey now have the privilege of being one of the boys who have to work! :)

Then we headed back to Sunday evening service at their church. The kids all sang two songs together. It was so sweet.

Kylah sang her first ever solo. She nailed it!

I got to cuddle with sweet Riley.

 After church the guys all played basketball. Joey and Deacon got to play with them, which they thought was pretty awesome.

The littles cheered on their daddies.

On Monday the weather was beautiful. The brothers went golfing, and the rest of us took the kids to a park. 

Snack time!

And then cooled off in the sprinkler back at Nana's house.

I love watching Joey with his cousins. He is the favorite of almost every little cousin and is so sweet with them.

Norah and Riley are pretty fond of each other too!

 Kylah got a real sewing machine from my parents for her birthday, so she brought it to Kansas so Nana could show her how to use it (I have no clue!) She was pretty excited!

It was such a fun weekend with everyone around. We are so blessed with great family who we also really like! :)

Kindergarten graduation

 Our baby has graduated from Kindergarten. It really is bittersweet. 

She is at a really fun age, but it's hard to believe I don't have little ones anymore! (Joe would say "Hallelujah!") :)

The graduation ceremony was adorable. They had a little program. (You can see Norah in the back rown, third from the left.)

 Official Kindergarten graduate.

Joey and Kylah skipped class to come watch the ceremony too.

 It's been fun to have Matthew and Norah in the same class.

Norah has loved having Ms. Whelchel this year. She has been perfect for Norah, and Norah really learned so much!

Happy 9th birthday Kylah!

 I really can't believe my Kylah is 9 years old!!

She got to spend her birthday at school. But she did get to have lunch with daddy and mommy!

She opened presents before her softball game. And we took cupcakes to her game.

We celebrated a few days later by going to the trampoline park. We took her BFF Audrey with us.

It's so fun to see these two grow up together.

Especially when they have been together since birth!

 We finished up at the trampoline park...

And then headed to Steak 'n Shake for dinner and shakes.

Happy birthday sweet girl. We love you!

a few extra kids

 Our friends had a 15th anniversary and had not been away alone together in many years, so we told them to leave their kids with us and go away! :)

They have an 11 year old, 8 year old and a 7 month old. So I definitely got my baby fix for a few days!

Joey had a field trip on Friday so baby Ember got to join us. I kind of forgot how much different (aka harder) it is to have a baby with you on these things! But thankfully Meredith was there too and helped a ton!

I had plenty of helpers back home.

It was a rainy Saturday so baseball games were cancelled. It cleared off enough later in the day to hit the trails with bikes and scooters (and a stroller). :)

We also stopped at our friends house to see their new puppy!

 And went to Joey and Kylah's piano recital.

Sunday was bright and sunny and clear enough for a few baseball games. So we loaded up all the kids again and went to cheer on Joey. 

Ember doesn't look too thrilled to be there...

My friend DeAnn got in a lot of snuggles at the baseball game too!

It was a full weekend (with a little less sleep than I normally get...), but it was fun having a full house and a baby around. Well, Joe may disagree about the baby part. He likes Ember, but was reminded that he is happy that we are out of the baby stage! :)

I was quite exhausted for the next few days, but I'm so glad our friends got to enjoy some fabulous time away together. 

Mother's Day

 I was awoken by three smiling kids with presents on Mother's Day morning. My favorite.

We headed to church (and got our picture taken!) :)

Then Joey had a baseball game. But he lost, so we were done by early afternoon.

We had started working on the landscaping in the front of our house, so we decided to finish. It was quite the job, but we got it done! Joey was really a ton of help which was nice. The girls...not so much....

Before...

During...

And after...

I love it, and it makes the front look so much homier! 

Now to keep the plants alive and growing... :)

Baseball days

 Joey has been playing in a lot of baseball tournaments lately. Our weekends are full of baseball, and our weeks are full of softball, but we love it and the kids love it!

I coach the girls, so it's so fun for me to sit back and just watch Joey play.

He's growing up so much lately!

We had a tournament this past weekend in Springdale. Connor played on the field right behind us the entire day, so we got to watch him and be with the Adair's all day while Joey played. It was perfect. 

It was also Meredith's birthday so it was extra special!

These little people are so cute together (and they get so dirty at the baseball field!)

 Baseball boys.

Joey has officially surpassed Connor in height.

Joey won his tournament which was so fun for everybody.

Go Yellow Jackets!

It's so fun to watch these two together (even when I have to close my eyes when Joe yells at Joey...) :)

Spending so many nights and days playing baseball and softball while still in school wears a little one out!

It wears Kylah out too! She never falls asleep before I come tuck her in, but she did this night right in the middle of reading her book. Sweet girl.

We still have plenty of baseball and softball left to go, and thankfully school is almost over for the year!