He is tough enough

Erik earned tons of manly points this weekend by completing the Tough Mudder. He did this as part of the annual "man trip" with his friends. The Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile course with 22 obstacles. The obstacles are challenging and filled with mud. It seems like boot camp. 

Erik loved it! He said it was more fun than the triathlon. We are planning on doing it next year together.

Island Hopping obstacle

Berlin wall obstacle - Erik said this was the hardest

"Erik" on the monkey bars

A bruise from his tough mudder

 He had a great time this weekend even though he has a few bruises and scrapes. Those are scars of manliness!

While Daddy was gone, Jenna and  Sarah drew pictures on the whiteboard. I though it was cute when Sarah drew a picture of Joel (the J is backwards). It says "A Joel".

Sarah's picture of Joel on the left

70 points on Quiddler today

Jenna the biker

Growing up one of my favorite snacks was "ants on a log". This consists of celery topped with peanut butter then topped with raisins (not real ants). Yum! We don't always have celery at the house (who does?) but we happened to have spinach. Jenna thought it would be delicious to make ants on a log with spinach. Tiny victory dance. For this I really should get a good Mom award. Who would have thought you could make ants on a log MORE healthy??

Obviously Sarah did not want "ants on a spinach leaf" and instead opted for the cupcake.

For you Mommy...no spinach for me

Ants on spinach

 Now that the weather is nicer we are back to walking home from school. I pull the wagon with Matthew and Sarah sitting peacefully to pick up Jenna from school. As soon as Jenna exits the building Matthew is giddy with excitement. He grabs her hand and walks with her the entire way home (while Sarah stretches out in the wagon).

Walking home from school

 Today we took our first family bike ride of the year. The most exciting part of it was that:

Jenna rode by herself!

Jenna rode to Handels ice cream and back. This is a 4 mile round trip and she did a great job. She was rewarded with cotton candy ice cream too! Sarah now moved to the trail bike on the back of Erik's bike and I only toted Matthew in the trailer. Nice! I'm excited for us to bike more as a family.

I think she's ready for pelotonia 

Jenna, Daddy, and Sarah biking

73 points on Quiddler today

My new brother-in-law

Congratulations Missy and Dave!

On Saturday Missy and Dave were married in a beautiful ceremony and a fabulous reception. 

Wedding collage

At 8:35 am (the wedding started at 3:30pm but we got there early for hair and makeup). Amanda's friend Jodi did everyone's hair and makeup. The girls were very excited to have their hair and makeup done and said they looked like "princess rockstars." Matthew would not take his sunglasses off so Missy and Dave's ringbearer looked pretty cool walking down the aisle. The church was a very quaint country church that might only hold about 100 people. With the flowers and decorations it was a beautiful, cozy ceremony. During the ceremony I cried - this time tears of joy!  Amanda, Megan and I had tissues hidden in our flowers. Dave and Missy were crying during the ceremony too. We really love Dave and are so excited he is part of the family now.

Missy looked amazing; whether it was Jodi's makeup or her inner glow she was radiant! 

The reception was so much fun. The food was unbelievable. We had roasted vegetables, pasta, scalloped potatoes, beef tips with mushrooms, and chicken. Then we danced the night away. Missy and Dave had a photo booth which the girls loved. The kids danced all night long. Matthew loved dancing so much we had to drag him away from the dance floor (literally kicking and screaming) at 10pm! I really loved the cookie buffet too. I ate two boxes worth of cookies - they were so yummy. This was a fantastic weekend and I gained a brother-in-law! Congratulations Mrs. Monhollen this is for you!

57 on Quiddler today

Chocolate cake tower

The day has finally arrived and Missy will be getting married this weekend. We are all so excited especially the girls who are ecstatic to be flower girls. They have been talking about it nonstop. Matmoo (that's what he calls himself) doesn't know what he is in for. He will be a fantastic ring bearer as long as he leaves the lights on in the church.  Last weekend I drove to Cleveland to meet Missy, Amanda, Megan, and Missy's friends at the Wild Mango Restaurant. The food was beautiful and delicious! I ordered seared sea scallops with crab risotto. Yum! Then Missy and I shared a "piece" of this chocolate cake. It was amazing!

Yes that is a piece of chocolate cake with spun sugar on top

 I am beyond excited that Missy is marrying a wonderful, Christian man who will soon be my brother-in-law!

Jenna had her second grade musical and her class was celebrating Mexico. The other classes celebrated Ireland, China, Iraq, and Russia. They sang a song in Spanish and even did a little dance. Jenna is the fourth one over in this tiny picture. She is almost done with second grade.

Jenna's 2nd grade musical performance

Erik and I both like computers. This can be a problem sometimes. Today I bought a Windows 8 tablet. I'm excited about it even though there is no start button anymore.

73 points on Quiddler today

My VIP

Sarah is now registered for Kindergarten in the fall and was the VIP (very important preschooler) of the week at preschool. She got to wear a crown all week (princess Sarah) and make a poster about herself. If you are wondering about the shot in the corner in which her tongue is blue - yes that is correct.  Below is the picture. It defines Sarah's fun spirit.

Sarah VIP of the week

Blue tongue

On the Monday of Spring Break we went to Entertrainment Junction in West Chester, OH. The kids loved the huge indoor model train layout and the play area. They especially loved the funhouse. Erik battled motion sickness but the kids and I had a blast! Then we went to visit our friends Julie and Randy and saw their two boys Nicholas and Nathaniel. We ate pizza and cookies and had a fun time visiting with them.

Entertrainment Junction

Funhouse

Our Coo* book club is now reading Queen of Men by the wildly famous author Joel Cooper. It's fun to read this book together and it has prompted more discussion than some of the other books we've read. I have already read the book but I'm excited to see what other people think of it. This is a great book and I hope he can publish it someday. 

The weather is starting to warm up and we've been outside every day. Erik even went biking today and I went running. It feels good to be outside enjoying the sunshine.  I feel like my friend Lynn is looking down on us and smiling.

77 points on Quiddler today

Never far from me

"When you are born you cry and the world rejoices. When you die the world cries and you rejoice."

This a quote from the eulogy at Lynn's funeral today. The funeral was nice until Joe sang and played a song on the piano called "Never Far from Me". He couldn't make it through the song and everyone in the church was sobbing.

I still don't understand, and cry every day, and miss her so much. Please pray for Joe, Lauren, and Jacob. Joe has amazed me with his faith and eloquence.

Some good things are happening to outweigh this tragedy. Erik's parents are closing on their house tomorrow and have received an offer on their current house. It looks like everything is falling into place for them to move here this summer.

Missy is getting married in a little over a week and we are all looking forward to the wedding. I am also going to the Bachelorette party this weekend.

At some point life will go back to normal just as it did when Scruffles died. Just when I think I can shed no more tears...I'm wrong.