Joe's first turkey

My sweet hunter has been turkey hunting a lot and has never come home with the "elusive" bird...until this morning.  He shot an approximately 25 pounder.  He said the beard is 11inches.  And he says it tastes like pheasant.  (Funny how I thought it would taste like turkey...)  Here are some shots of the bird and my awesome hunting hubby...

Spring is coming

I spent pretty much the entire weekend either in my bed or on the couch except when I ventured out on Saturday morning to get the diagnosis of strep throat from the doctor.  So when the penicillin finally kicked in and I saw the sun shining this afternoon, I decided that I needed to get out of the house.  So we all went for a very mild hike in the woods.  With the warmth of the sun, I think I expected a lush, green woods to walk in.  So I was a little disappointed to find that the woods still looked overwhelmed by winter.  However, ever now and then you would step over a hill or glance across a valley and see glimpses of spring.  I took my camera to have a little fun.

Even though I am ready for spring, I still find that there is something beautiful about winter.

Spring Break Part 2

About midweek I decided that we all needed a break from our decluttering so we had a "family" sleepover night.  Each kid got to invite a friend over to spend the night.  Joe escaped to a meeting to it was me and the kids hanging out.  Each of the kids made a snack to share with everyone and each kid made a personal pizza for supper.  It went so well that I think we may try it again a couple of times this summer.

John and his buddy in lego and playmobil heaven

Nate enjoying his pizza with his friend

All the girls stayed in the basement pretty much the whole night.  Their friends loved Ticket to Ride!

Our "spy guys" of the night

Spring Break Part 1

We decided not to do much traveling during spring break this year.  I hadn't had much time off this school year and the house was taking the brunt of the it.  The closets and storage area in the basement were out of control.  I hadn't really had any time off at home to work on them since we traveled at both Thanksgiving and most of Christmas break this year.  Plus, I was just ready to be home and sleep in a few mornings in my bed.  However, I didn't want the kids to feel like they didn't get to do anything over break so we planned a couple of special events.  So the first Saturday we loaded up the car with a picnic and headed to St. Louis for a visit to the zoo.  We hadn't been in a couple of years and it is one of our favorite zoos.  We thought it was suppose to be a little warmer then it ended up being, but despite the cold we still had a great time and saw every animal in the zoo.

Our van turned 100,000 miles on our way to the zoo.  Sigh...still hoping it lasts until the kids start turning 16.

One of the reasons I love zoos is because it such an example of God's unbelievable creativity

amazing....

they were all having fun...I promise!

love the butterfly house in St. Louis and bonus..it was heated!