Whirlwind Weekend

The boys were here in March, then there was Easter weekend, then we were out of town the following weekend, so that makes this past weekend our first sane weekend in a loooooooooong time ... and it was still packed with busyness which sapped it of the aforementioned sanity. Ha!

BUT, who needs sanity when you have blessing upon blessing?  Busy though the weekend was, it was busy with goodness and all things I humbly thank the Lord for - time to regroup and catch up, family, friends, gorgeous weather, and fun!

First, taking care of much catch-up stuff and tasks at home.  We moved more of class stuff out of Noah's room and hung more things in the classroom.  Josh started a repair on a towel bar Noah yanked out of the wall last week.  I got checkbook stuff underway and {started} to catch up on blogging.  Josh was able to finally mow our jungle of a yard for the first time this season. (True story - it was so bad while we were gone because Josh had NO time to tame it before we left that our neighbor mowed the front for us, bless him.  Good thing he has a nifty new fancy mower and he said it was actually fun to have more turf to play with his new toy on.  Ha!)  Anyway, back to yard stuff, it got mowed and some other yard stuff got done, too.  Josh framed out more space for the swing set/tree house area.

And he and the kids weeded the raised bed for tomatoes to come and hoed up a patch next to the fence for Anna's chosen flower for the summer, sunflowers.

She was not a fan of the "stinky" dirt that Josh bought for her to lay out, but she soldiered on through the chore.

And heartily watered her newly-planted seeds.   Let the germinating begin!

We also got our new shoe shelf assembled and love how it hides the crazy so well.  No more open shelf of sloppily thrown together shoe stash.  Open/Shut.  It's a beautiful thing.

That afternoon, Noah had pics taken with his baseball team and then waited around for his first game that night.  We missed the real first one when we were out of town, and the second one was rained out upon our return, so this third try was the charm .... and even more so because the boys won big!  :)

Josh makes a great Dugout Dad every year, but this year he has been helping at practices as well so he was roped into wearing a team jersey and hat.  Looks good on him!

And it makes me giggle because it is a real milestone.  He was dead-set against volunteering for coach or assistant coach for years, but has slowly inched closer and closer to taking on more responsibility with every season. Finally crossed the line ... albeit unofficially ... this year.  :}

The game started late and then ran late.  We didn't all get home til just before 9 ... which made for a tired family getting out the door to church yesterday.  But there was no rest for the weary because we had GTP meets to do on the way home.  And then I had to hustle to the grocery on my way to a baby shower several of us pulled together for a friend. 

Here's a shot of the guest of honor and those of us who coordinated it ... though Karla was our real shower-planning leader. :)

My job, besides beverages and last minute set-up, was to come up with a sentimental gift idea for the shower guests to contribute to for baby's nursery.  I decided on a magnet board for everyone to write a verse or prayer that was related to the nursery's sheep theme.  It turned out so sweetly when all was said and done.  No, I didn't make it and was so glad to not have to though I did pin some ideas in the event that Hobby Lobby wouldn't pull through for me. :}  I did make the magnets though.  Ha!

While I was doing the shower thing, Josh and the kids made their long-anticipated way to Lego KidsFest in Nashville with those underwhelming tickets we surprised the kids with at Easter. :}  As the date approached, and more and more buddies talked about going to the event, Noah, especially, apologized for not appreciating the tickets at first.  He and Anna were so excited to finally go this weekend... especially after seeing everyone else's pics from Friday's and Saturday's shows.

Some shots Josh's managed to get while making the rounds there...

This one is really special to them because we are currently listening to The Hobbit on audiobook in order to be able to watch the first of the movies on Noah's birthday.  This, in case you don't already know, is Smaug from that book.

Tiles they made and affixed to a display.  Poor Noah didn't space well and his name just came out No.  Josh did the face.  Anna, showing them up in a big way, created that sea serpent!

Another display ... with vAnna (ha!) showing us her contribution.

Taking care of some business with a Lord Business photo op.

Apparently, this was some sort of Lego pizza race.

Check out the USA map behind them FULLLLLL of Lego structures built during the three-day event. 

Somewhere in that finished product are Noah's and Anna's creations, too. 

More bricks!

Some team building competition.  Noah tells me the challenge was to build a brick structure that could hold the most weight.  They only managed 5 lbs in the allotted time.  Another team's build was able to support FIFTY pounds.  WOW!

It's not a complete Lego event without Emmett!  Everything is officially awesome now.

Someone tell Anna that Vader isn't exactly a hide-within-the-folds-of-my-cape kinda guy!

I was surprised to hear how engrossed Noah and Anna were at a book station.  Love it!

And this shot, in particular, is my favorite. Judging by the girl, they clearly had a roaring good time.

And that concludes our whirlwind weekend recap.  Next weekend promises to be more chill.  Thank goodness!