Happy Birthday Olivia!

Thank you to everyone who helped make Livy's 4th birthday special. I can't believe she is 4! We had everyone that could come over for hot dogs and hamburgers (birthday girls menu) and had fun. Happy Birthday Liv, and we love ya!

Before the rains!

Before the rains came on Saturday we were outside all day. I moved about 300 pounds of rocks, mowed part of my dad's yard, grilled both lunch and dinner, and gave 4-wheeler rides to the kids. They also did a little Jeep driving and swinging. Swings can be a fun photo opportunity. Then the excitement began when I finally was able to use my generator to power the house. First time since we've moved in. Nice to know it can power everything we need. Still running on it, as a matter of fact. As long as we have gas, we have power! I'm sure Consumers Power will have us back up in no time....

Easter Weekend Part II

On Sunday we went to church and seeing kids who are not used to attending going bonkers made me realize ours actually behave pretty well. We had Mandy's family over for dinner and were able to enjoy the afternoon with them. We got to hide Easter baskets, Emma and Julie rode the ATV, and ride bikes in the garage. One Hoffman female trait we discovered was the ability in sleet or shine to back out off our driveway and into the ditch. The John Deere came to the rescue once again after this past Monday Julie going in the ditch, Mandy's mom decided to follow almost exactly the tire prints in with the van. See bottom photo of this post. We still love them. It was a great Easter, one that will be remembered.

Easter Weekend Part I

Saturday we went to an Egg Drop sponsored by the Mason Assembly of God where they dropped the eggs from a helicopter hovering 100 feet off the deck. It was pretty cool. The blade wash was blowing all the little kids over. Coolest Easter event I've ever attended. I'm hoping next year they get the Michigan National Guard to drop egg clusters from F-16's or something. Out of the 6000 eggs they dropped they included 6 "gold eggs", which Emma managed to get one of without pushing, biting or clawing(so she says). So she won a cool Bible and prizes. We also decorated eggs with my dad and had some fun. It was warm enough for Emma to get her atv out for the first time of the year and tool around for a while.

Spring Break

Well, since we are broke we stayed home for Emma's spring break. We did find time to make our last snowman of the 2008-2009 winter. Better be anyway! We also just hung out as a family and Alex and I made a big train layout out of his Geotrax. It wasn't the Bahamas, but we had fun.

A Monday off

Well, my Monday started with a friend calling me at 3am asking to come pick up my generator because he had lost power and his crock in the basement was almost full. So my day started early. Once I saw all the snow I decided to stay home and play with the kids in it, since Emma is on spring break. We started palying and sledding but it was cut short because I had to help Julie out of our ditch. A fun day, the biggest downside was the result of the UNC-MSU basketball game. They deserve much credit for getting there, but UNC is one unbelievable team. Hopefully it warms up soon...

I love Mason

Okay, I sometimes think Mason isn't as far out of the city as it is. Sometimes I don't realize it. Then, there are times that I realize IT IS. It was small animal day at the famous store in Mason, Keans, and we went and enjoyed some small goats, rabbits, and chickens. The kids all got to hold the chickens. They had a ball, which is really all that matters. At least we got out for a bit, and with the Michigan weather helping out our propane supplier this week with snow in the forecast again, we needed to get them out. My Aunt and Uncle from Kalkaska were in town and we got to watch Michigan State beat up on UConn with them, my cousin and her family. It was a special night with MSU providing some memorable hoops. We all went out to Bennigans after church on Sunday and had good food and conversation. The we got home to Mandy's sister Julie suprising us with her presence. She is going to the Lion King at the Wharton tonight so she will stay here afterwards before heading home to Ann Arbor Monday. Looking forward to Easter, hopefully there will be a heat wave so it can reach the 40's.......