Spring Break

Spring Break was an exceptionally busy week for the Armstrongs. Todd and the boys loaded up the car and headed for Madison, Indiana to visit Todd's parents and celebrate Easter. While there they decorated eggs, went to church, had an Easter Egg hunt, went to a museum and just had a great time!After 5 days they returned in great spirits!

I stayed back and worked, took in a Brewers Game during their weekend home opener, and had a friend over for Easter dinner.

Two days after the boys returned we all got into the car and headed back down to Madison to see 2 of our godchildren (Olivia, and Wil) baptized. After being in town a whopping 40 hours we were back on the road headed for Wisconsin so I could be to work on time! (However, I did manage to sneak in Hinkles, TWICE, while I was in town!) The kids did an exceptional job on both drives and thank goodness for portable DVD players!

Try getting everyone to smile all at once!

Say NUTMEG!
Meet the newest Armstrong, Noelle Clarice. Born January 28, 2009 to Alynza and Eric Henderson.

Cole on the hunt.

Cole, Gavin and John show off their Eggs!

Gavin finds an egg!

Todd and the boys ready for church.

Cole, Gavin and John decorate eggs with Gommie.

Cole, John and Gavin play ball in the yard.

Okay, so not a great photo but the best I could do with my cell-phone camera!

This is Desiree and I enjoying a Brewer's VICTORY!

School Carnival

The kids had a great time at the annual Summit View School Carnival. There was lots to do, eat and prizes for everyone!

Todd (smartly) stands back as Gavin throws a dart at a wall of balloons!

Cole gets a spider drawn on his face.

Cole plays a bean bag game.

The kids race cars.

The boys stand in line waiting to get tattooed.

Random cuteness

Both boys LOVE the camera, and instantly start posing as soon as they see it! Here's a few shots taken recently that are too cute not to be shared!

Random acts of kindness

Cole reading a book to Gavin

Moments like this deserve to be memorialized and captured on film as a lasting reminder to Todd and I that they really do love each other.. especially on days when they do nothing but antagonize and fight with each other! This shot was completely un-posed and they had no idea I was there with the camera!

St. Paddy's

Well we didn't do much to celebrate St. Patrick's... Gavin made a silly mask at Tumbling Tykes and Cole made one at school. Todd requested Corned beef and Saur kraut... so I made a Corned Beef Roast and threw in some kraut, opened him a Guinness and that was about as Irish as we got!

Swimming

Both boys really like the water, but are so fearful of it at the same time. It had gotten so bad that we couldn't take them into a pool without them crying and clinging to us for dear life! We found a really great swimming program and enrolled them both. Gavin did not like it at all initially, and would constantly get out of the water, refuse to listen to the instructor etc.. but has since done an about face and participates and listens quite well. Cole has already advanced to level 2 and is really having a great time! We have gotten really lucky and Gavin has 1 on 1 instruction, and Cole since moving up to level 2 has 3 or 4 other kids in his group with 2 instructors. Below are some photos of them with their instructors.

Gavin going out into the "big pool."

Cole working on learning to float (above) and learning to "bob" (below).

100 Days of School

100 days of school! It is so hard to believe that my little guy is celebrating his 100Th day of kindergarten! The school has really made a big deal of it. They have had Zero the Hero come on on a regular basis and work with the kids on learning to count by 10's. They are all so excited that 100 is coming! To celebrate the school held a little parade and asked that each child make a poster celebrating the 100 day of school using 100 of the same object. All of the posters were put up on display at the school. Cole chose beans and decorated his poster placing 100 beans in the shape of his name!

Updates Updates

Sorry to all who like to check us out and see what's new... what's new is that as usual we are just busy as ever! The kids are in swimming, soccer, and tumbling tykes and it seems we are constantly on the go!
I am still working full time, trying to squeeze in another class, ( 3- 12 hour shifts a week) and have since the beginning of the school year been volunteering in Cole's classroom on Tuesday mornings after work. I even managed to sneak in chaperoning a field trip! I really enjoy being a part of his school experience and his face just lights up when I arrive :)
So.... I will do as many entries as I can today... there's so many pics to upload etc.. but I'll do what I can! Hope you enjoy and thanks for sticking it out and waiting!