Schnepf Farms

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go on a field trip with Case's kindergarten class to Schnepf Farms. I actually didn't get to "go" on the field trip but I mostly invited myself on the field trip so I could monitor Case and his hay allergy. He was really stressed about this field trip since he has had such horrible reactions to hay. Thankfully, Mrs. Hebting let me follow the bus over and hang out with Case and his group. He did great and didn't have any reactions! The weather was so nice and the fresh picked beets and spinach made great additions to our dinner. A huge thanks to my Mom for watching the other two kiddos so I could attend.

Horrible picture of me but I'm happy I was with my Caser Man!

Oh Case, Grandpa Harvey would be so proud of you out there pickin all those fresh beets. They were so good with our dinner last night. I wish you would have tried them!

Cute Elle and Case with heaping sacks of beets.

Katie (who lives on the corner) and Bree.

Case and Jefferson on the dreaded hay ride.

STOP GROWING CASE!

Zach, Case, Lucy and Quinlin ready for fun on the farm.

"Let's Bowl, Let's Bowl"

On Friday night we celebrated Case's birthday with a party at the bowling alley. At first he said he only wanted to invite cousins to the party. Sounded great to me! The week before his party however, he decided he wanted to invite 3 friends from school. Lucky for him, the parents let their kids go. Can I just say this party was a BLAST! The boys were hilarious, the bowling game was awesome, and playing in the game room after was the icing on the cake! I am so happy we were able to go bowling for Case's party. I can tell he had a great time with all his friends and cousins! And now for picture overload:

We love a good birthday inviation. Case chose these and I thought they were adorable. They actually were not square but had to be punched out of the square card. (If that even makes sense.)

Case looooves to bowl. He is super competitive so he was a little bummed when he didn't win the game at his party!

Zach playing in the arcade after our game of bowling.

Hold on to that ball Katy.

Case met Chase on baseball last year. They are both in the same class this year.

Part of the birthday group.

Jefferson, Chase, Lauren, Mallorie, Brody, Jackson, Hunter,

Matix, Zach, Case, Ledger and Katy.

Not pictured: Drew, Nate, Jack, Presley, Cave, Austyn and Miss B., Ava, Jaden, Anaya.

Jack Stradling eating his chicken fingers and french fries. This was a big part of having the birthday party at the bowling alley. Case wanted all his friends to have chicken finger baskets.

GG, Case, and GPa

Jefferson playing with guns in the arcade. Sorry Libby!

Drew and Nate Stradling getting ready to bowl a strike.

Austyn and Juli Horn.

Brody and Jackson

Matix is a friend from Case's class.

Case thinks bowling shoes are awesome! He is right!

Miss B. and Ledger. You two monkey's are too cute!

Jaden and Ava had a ball feeding each other ranch dressing all night!

Thank goodness Lauren and Mallorie were there. They entertained Miss B. all night! Thanks for your help cute girls!

Cave and Kunkle. What are your parents feeding you Cave?

GG, GPa, Sugar and Miss B.

Presley, you are too cute!

Aunt Michel and Paisley playing games.

Oh look! Even I was there schooling Case in air hockey!

Someone's turning 6 today...

...and that's totally not ok!! My kids are not obeying the, "No growing up" rule! I wish they would stop having birthday's and just stay (kinda) sweet and cute. Ledger has assured me that if I let him turn 4 on June 26 that he will still be nice and happy and snuggly. I'm still thinking about it! Well today the Case Man is 6. When did that happen? Didn't I just give birth to a grayish, purple, battered and bruised, balled headed little boy? Poor Case, he was so mangled at birth. He should have been a C-Section but I think my doctor was trying to spare me. After lots of suction, yanking and pulling, he arrived at 6 lbs 9 oz. He was so mangled when he finally made it out. They rushed him out of the room as fast as you can imagine. It was scary! Just a little fact about my Case. He wasn't always Case. We brought him home from the hospital thinking his name was Cutter. We called him Cutter for a few days and then looked at him and went "Whoops!" We quickly changed his name to Case. He is named after the Case International tractor. Since my Dad was a farmer, it was perfect! We love our birthday boy and are so thankful he is part of our family.

Dear Case,

I love you so much. You are so thoughtful and kind. I love how you are always thinking of others and that you pay attention to what people like and don't like. You are a chore chomper each Saturday which makes me happy. I love how you clean the toilets and scrub the floors with so much energy and enthusiasm. It's ok that you hate to put your laundry away, I secretly hate it too. I love how you are so athletic and that you are willing to try new things. You are so good at every new sport you try. One of my favorite things about you Case is the way you play with Miss B. Whenever she is unhappy, you quickly grab her and do something that you know makes her happy. She gets so excited when she sees you in the morning and when you finally get home from school. Speaking of school, I am amazed and proud of all you have learned this year. You are a smartie and are getting so good at reading and writing. You love math and are constantly asking me to give you math problems. I hope you will always have a love for school. You are so friendly and make friends so easily. You have lots of nice friends and people seem to love being around you. I know I love being around you because you are a little goof ball. You say the funniest things and sometimes I just have to shake my head at the things you teach me. I'm ok with the fact that you don't like to snuggle and that the thought of me kissing you makes you squeal in fear. It's just, you smell so good when you get out of the shower. I can't help myself! I'll keep trying though, and hopefully one day my hugs and kisses will make you squeal in delight! I hate that you are getting older and bigger. My hope is that you will continue to be happy and that you will love and live life to the fullest. Happy Birthday sweet Caser. I love you tons!

Love,

Mom

p.s. Don't even think of turning in to a teenager or high schooler. I'm sooooo nooooot ready for that!

Case decided he didn't want breakfast in bed this morning. It may have been due to the fact that he called Sugar last night and invited her to breakfast.

For his 6th Birthday, Case got this totally awesome birthday hat from his teacher and a super fast remote control boat to race at the lake.

Thinking

Our hearts and minds have been so heavy around here. About 1 week ago a sweet 7 year old friend, neighbor, and primary buddy passed away from a sudden brain aneurysm. It has been extremely difficult to think about his family and the pain they must be going through. As a family, we have been so overwhelmed with sadness and heart ache thinking about the 9 year old brother, 5 year old sister and soon to be baby brother that have been left behind. As a ward family, we have tried to help in whatever ways we can, but I know, as well as all of you that have lost a family member, none of it can replace the loss and deep sadness they are feeling. Brody attended the funeral with Jeremy and I last Wednesday. It was a first for him. Hopefully the last for a long long time. The conversations over the past week have been difficult for my boys to understand. Today Case asked me: "Mom, how old will we be when we die?" "We don't know the answer to that Case, but if we live a healthy, clean life, hopefully we will live to be as old as GG and GPa." I then explained to him, once again, the primary song that says, "My life is a gift, my life has a plan, my life has a purpose in Heaven it began." I then went on to explain that before we came to earth, we knew of our plan and we chose to accept that plan and come to earth anyway. We knew that life on this earth would be difficult and hard at times, but we didn't care. We wanted to come to earth and receive a body and live with our families.We talked about how as he gets older, the decisions he makes will be more difficult and that he will need to choose which direction he wants to go in life. He then told me, "Satan is bad Mom." And then he asked why Heavenly Father would create Satan. I thought hard about that question and wished for a minute that there was some magical way I could keep my kids away from Satan's influence. I wish I could hide my kids until they are 20 and never let them out of my sight. But then I realized that in order to grow and learn and become who we need to be, that we have to be able to know of Satan's influence so we can choose good from bad. We talked about Ethan some more and I could see the wheels in Case's head spinning. We have had this discussion several times in the past 10 or so days, but I can tell that the whole concept of death is too hard for my kids to understand right now. At night they are praying that Ethan will get better or that they will not die like Ethan. They just don't quite get it! I do know that they are sad that he is gone and they can feel how sad Jeremy and I are by this tragedy. It has been hard having to explain why a 7 year old boy would suddenly die and I can see why they are confused. I'm confused. It doesn't seem fair. I have to keep thinking though about the plan of salvation. I have to remember that there is a plan for each of us. I have to remember to hug and love and respect my kids each and every day. Our time here on earth together is short. Lucky for me, I know that we can all be together forever again. I hope Ethan's family will remember this in their time of sorrow and sadness. After Case and I finished our discussion about Ethan he then asked me how babies get into Mommy's tummy's. My answer, "With a lot of love Case!" Of course he wasn't going for it and asked, "Yea mom, but how does Heavenly Father put the babies in your tummy?" He then asked if he could carry a baby in his tummy. I told him that because of the way Heavenly Father made us, only girls could have babies in their tummy's. He looked puzzled as only Case can and then, as if someone knew I was messing this whole conversation up, I looked in my rear view mirror and Case was asleep. PHEW! All that thinking makes a little guy sleepy! I have got to find my, "Where Did I Come From?" book. I'm not ready for this conversation but I think it's time. These boys are asking too many questions!

It's Officially Spring

And around here that means BASEBALL! Go Express!! Go Bulls!!

Case is in Coach Pitch this year and loves it! He has a great little team and wonderful coaches.

Brody is a Rookie this year which is a whole new ballgame. The kids do the pitching and you actually follow the rules of baseball. The past two games have been a bit challenging for Brody as he learns to only swing at the good pitches and that you have to run like the wind when you do hit the ball.