Pat & Adam's first trip to Mankato...

Last weekend I took Pat and Adam to Mankato to meet Team Bentson. (We also had my friends daughter, Maddie.) All went well. The kids had a great time together! We all walked down to the park. The big kids, Pat and Ken played a little baseball. Krista and I took the little kids over to the play ground. It wasn't long before the big kids joined us. All the kids (including Pat) played in the sand for a while. Then we headed for home.

The kids did a little swimming and goofing around in the front yard before dinner. After dinner, we turned on some rock n roll (Poison, Unskinny Bop) for them.

Pat and Adam had a great time and the kids can't wait to see each other again so they can all play! We are all looking forward to next weekend when we go down to Davenport and Pat and Adam get to meet mom and dad...

Just GOOFING

Who are these kids and who do they belong too?? Love the unibrow and the facial hair!

Ken't trip with the Kids

Ken had a couple days off, during the week so he and three of the kids headed to the lake. You can see they had their fishing attire on and did some fishing. They really like to fish and have a running tally at the cabin. The dock had a little remodeling and now it is easier for all of us to fish at once. We still untangle lines now and then but it is great to be out there together.

Our First Camping Trip

Team Bentson had their first "official" camping trip. We bought a tent and got tons of camoing supplies from some of Rosemary's friends. We loaded up the camping gear, the kids, and headed out to Sibley State Park. We learned that next year we need to reserve campsites well in advance. Sibley is about 20 minutes from the cabin so in case of disaster we could evacuate. Ken set up the camp while Denise, the kids, and myself went to the beach and swam. We grilled brats and hot dogs over the campfire. Made yummy smores!!! It was a little challenging getting the kids to settle down with all of us in a tent. Finally by 10PM all was quiet. We had cereal out of cups for breakfast and all has a good nights sleep. I must admit that it was much better than I imagined it would be. We are looking forward to doing it again before the summer is gone.

Evan has been busy with hockey camps and has one week left in August. He is awesome and gets better every time he skates. He is bored most of the day and looks forward to daycare kids.

We are keeping busy and it is hard to believe that summer is almost gone. We are heading to IA for the kids Birthdays. That will be a fun trip.

Stacy met a guy and they are doing great. His name is Pat and he has a 6 year old son. We are going to meet him this week-end, I hope.

I think that is all the news for now.

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Harold and Mary's Farm

All of Team Bentson was invited out to the farm. It belongs to Evan's bus drivers, Harold and Mary. They had all kinds o f baby animals, including, chicks, turkeys, calves, pigs, kittens, and geese. We had a great time. I think the hit of the farm was the tractors. They tried out as many of them as they could get on but I don't think that they hit all 16 of them. We are going to get some sweet corn form them and a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving.

Have a great week!

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Not Quite a Month

Well, it hasn't quite been a month since my last post, just close. Things have been hectic here and I am thinking that is going to be that way for about 18 years.

We are doing great and enjoying every day of this warm weather. We have been heading to the park or just out in the yard. We had a couple weeks of sick kids. That was daycare kids and all. We had pink eye, runny nose stuff, and a GI bug. I hope that we will start getting used to all the germs and quit getting sick. The kids have been out riding their bikes and usually when they do that we go to the college.

We made a trip to IA with Aunt Stacy and did The Race For a Cure with Mom and Dad. That was fun and the kids held up very well for being up at 5:30AM. We walked three miles---YEAH!!!

Evan has been playing baseball and and is really good this year. Papa was in town and got to see him play. Evan has had hockey camp this week and then goes right to baseball. He should be tired by tomorrow.

Saturday we are heading to IA. Ron and Kelly and their kids are here for a visit. IT will be a lot of fun to see them. We are getting a family picture taken and plan on doing some swimming. It should be a great time.

Next week we are heading to WI Dells with Gordy and Dolly to celebrate their 20Th Anniversary and also their 70Th Birthdays. We have a video of the Dells and the kids are very excited to go. We will also be getting a family photo done with them.

I will try and not wait so long between the next post and add some more photos.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

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Who's Garage is This?

I will never forget when my Grandma was here at Christmas, we walked her into the house through the garage and she said, "This garage is a pig sty!" We finally had some time and I hauled everything out and hung things up and now we have so much more room! The kids had a great time going up the stairs to check out the attic. What a great feeling of accomplishment!
Sunday we went to church, napped, and played in the yard! We took the kids up to MSU where they had all kinds of room to ride their bikes. Drew tried a ride on Evan's old bike with training wheels and did great! The yard was mowed and fertilized. Monday we had a lazy day. The kids wanted to put flags out in the front in honor of Memorial Day. They put them in a row in front of the fence. I got to sleep in!!! We spent most of the day outside! Then Evan had baseball practice and the other kids played at the school.
That's all for now and thanks for stopping by!

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An AWESOME Mother's Day Week-End

I must say that I have the most wonderful husband and kids! They not only made this Mother's Day a great one, but the whole week-end was a celebration for me. Saturday it was beautiful out and we spent the entire day outside. Ken cleaned up the front flowerbed and the kids and I put together a picnic table and a bench for the backyard. Then when the kids napped, Ken went to Menard's and got flowers and mulch. We planted all afternoon and got the mulch in and it looks so great! We made the flowerbed in the front smaller and have to put some sod in but it looks so good. We made the one in the back a little smaller and have our big birdbath out there.
Then on Sunday we went to Church and are really liking this new Church. It is called Messiah Lutheran. They have more of a contemporary service and lots of people and they are very good with the children. The church is full with lots of small children so we don't feel like ours are being so loud. I hope that we end up staying there. It is also the Church that Maddy and her family go to. (She is my daycare baby.)
I hope that all of the Mother's out there also had a great day!
Thanks for stopping in!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

How Time Flies

Hi,
I know that it has been weeks since I updated anything here. It seems that since the warmer weather is here that there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything in. The kids have been outside so much! It is wonderful.
Last Friday, Ken went to the cities to get some camping gear from some of his Mom's friends. They have been in their house for 42 years and it was time to get rid of things. I can't believe how generous they were. We have some wonderful camping gear, tents, and sleeping bags included. Ken put up tents in the front yard to the kids got to check them out. Abbie didn't like it when and ant came in her tent. We are excited about taking the kids to camp. I am hoping there will be showers close by!
While he was getting the camping gear the kids got to spend some time with Grandma Dolly and Grandpa Gordy. The took the kids to a community center with a huge play place. They had a really great time!
Daycare is going great. I have 3 full time kids, one that comes every day after school and then two part-time kids. We are really in the swing of things and it gets easier as it goes. I will be up to renew my license in Nov. and I will change it so I can have more preschoolers and then I should be busy, busy!
Ken ran into one of his co-workers and they were talking about May baskets and she said " People just don't have tine to do that anymore." Kens reply was, "Abbie and Krista made some for me to bring to the clinic. " To which she replied,"Those stay at home Moms have tome to do that stuff." I am so glad that Ken stood up for me and said that I own a daycare business AND the baskets were made after daycare hours!!! Way to go Ken. Abbie and I had a really fun time making them and the nurses loved them. Owen was sick with stomach bug and Ken had to pass them out but it is the thought that counts. We love to make crafts!
I think that is about it for now. Oh, we had a visit from Aunt Stacy and she brought the kids their souvenirs from Ireland and me LOTS of chocolate! Is that because she knows I love chocolate or so her weight loss goes better than mine? HAHAHA
Take care and I will get some photos on soon.

Beautiful Weather

What a beautiful week-end we had! The weather is starting to get nice and the ground might dry up so the kids have been out for the last three days. Andrew wanted to go out and play before 8AM today. We were going to try and get the kids to the Zoo but we decided to stay in Mankato and with them being out in the yard I got to sort out toys, put pieces back with the right toys, and clean out our biggest closet. One of those projects that takes a few hours. Papers get stacked and put onto shelves. There are thousands of photos that need a home. I am hoping to start scrap booking with daycare Moms and our good friend Denise. It would take me couple of days just to get organized and sort pictures out. I can't wait until we get that going.

I had a little boy, Christian, that started with us today. So far, so good. He is one and he and Owen have been playing. Abbie and Drew like to chase Owen and call him "poopy monster." Now with Christian, hopefully, they can leave he and Owen to play together.

That is all for now. I hope that all of you are able to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather. Take care and thanks for stopping by!

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HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, OWEN!!

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The New Car

Check out our video below. The kids got to drive their new car yesterday and they loved it. Owen just tried to stay out of their way. They were so excited to get it out and they even had the radio on. Thanks Grandma and Papa!!!

We had a fun day and watched the Championship hockey game last-night.

Next will be coming the pictures of the kids and their Easter Egg Hunt!

HAPPY EASTER