Jeff took Jack and Ella-Kathryn on a practice hike before Jack's Scout hike last weekend.  These two make me smile:)  They do fight, they're normal siblings after all, but man alive they love each other and miss one another when the other is elsewhere.  Hope they are always so close!

 Ryan loves to sort and organize his tackle box!  About once a week he gets it from the garage and goes through everything.  He tells me he's got to get his "hookers" in the right spots!  Ha!

 We finally had gutters installed!  A friend of Jeff's owns his own guttering business and was able to fit us in a couple of weeks ago . The kids thoroughly enjoyed watching him in action!  Jack was so sweet to, inquiring as to whether or not the man knew Jesus, what church he attended etc.  Mr. Minnick called us a couple of days later to tell us how impressed he was with Jack and his bible knowledge!

 These two faithful friends.  Hap continues to show his age - slower to get up and going, lots of naps, and he's rather lumpy these days (fatty cysts.)  But he's still as sweet as ever!  Chewie was diagnosed with a tick disease and after being on antibiotics for 3 weeks we will find out tomorrow if he's ok.

 The one pic from Easter!  I think my sister in -law may have snapped a few so I'll see what I can come up with.

 Ryan teaching Will how to play the piano!  Ryan is actually rather musical.  I'm giving lessons to the older two, and just letting the younger get the feel for the keyboard right now.

 Out for walk one afternoon, I'm pushing Ry in the jog stroller and Will and EK are behind me.  Will says "Mom, I just kicked a fake snake!"  What??? I walk back to him and sure enough there is the snake - NOT FAKE WILL!!!!!!  Luckily it was just a little guy, but still - not a fan!

 Ryan waiting for the pumpkin to grow:)

 Just a little randomness from our house to yours - Ken's head on a an Indian warriors body?  Make's total sense to me:)

And the update:
We are all over the place these days.  Scouts, karate, school, Jeff's 3 jobs!  It is easy to feel out of control and off kilter pretty quickly.  Yet, when I map out our weeks, I can see clearly where we have time, when we need to be certain places etc.  Sometimes, things do fall between the cracks, but Jeff and I are being much more intentional in checking calendars, texting appts to one another and we are doing ok. Remembering that God did not give us our days to be wasteful and lazy, yet balancing that with His reminders to rest in Him and take a sabbath - this is a delicate see-saw!  One more activity and we all fall with an abrupt thump on our rears.  Deciding to 'rest' and we all fly wildly into the air with a lack of direction and chaos ensues.  These people under our care require some structure and discipline in their EVERY day lives!  So do the adults:)  Jeff and I are working diligently to get our health back on track.  To date he has lost 10 pounds and is using an app to track his eating habits.  I too have lost pounds and am faithfully walking the hills of Bella Vista.  It is truly quite the interval training around here!  With my 40th coming in just a few months, I decided I didn't want to drag my wimpy self into this next decade.  I really desired to show up strong, healthy, and confident that God could use this body for his glory without worrying whether or not it could keep up!  I even made myself a hair appt for Fri so that I can cover up these gray hairs:)  I know it shouldn't bother me to see them taking over my head, but I just can't shake the feeling that they are tattling on me!  Ha!
We put in our garden this week and the little boys are so very excited to see the various veggies grow.  They cannot understand why the pumpkin isn't here yet:)  they bickered all day yesterday as to who would water the plants too!  It's going to be a long spring!
Jack had another camp out for scouts.  This was a big backpacking trip and while he did better this time, it is still a challenge for him to not be homesick.  We are still praying about another upcoming overnight trip as well as summer camp.  Not sure which would be the right call for this tender boy of ours.  We are trusting God to make it clear to us - we don't ever want Jack to feel that he has to hide his emotions, yet he also must learn self-control: not every emotion we feel needs to be expressed.  And he's only 11.  Much to think over and process.
Ella-Kathryn continues to amaze me in her diligence and independence.  She is truly a homeschooling delight!    She gets her books, heads to her room and then hours later comes out with the completed work.  Quite a contrast to our first born!  And i say this not to say she's better than Jack, just in amazement in how different two kiddos can be.  She still loves animals and after a recent visit to the vet, was asking about how old one needed to be to work there.
Will and Ryan keep me hopping!  They are both so energetic:)  Will is wrapping up his math curriculum for the year - he did extra work every day so that he could begin his 1st grade math sooner!  He is doing well in his reading too - I'm remembering how fun it is to listen to a little one sound out words.
Ryan continues to make us all laugh out loud every day!  He is so smart and talks NON-STOP!  I have to be really careful to mind my own mouth, b/c there are times when "yes, Ryan?" becomes "WHAT Ryan?" because I am so tired of answering his questions! Oh but that boy is so cute:)
We have been off school this week since we never took a spring break and the older two have their state testing on Thurs.  They did a little math and reading each day, but today I think we'll just do our read aloud.  Ella-Kathryn is nervous, and Jack is just Jack!  We keep telling them that we really dont' give two hoots about these tests so not to worry, but I'm afraid they are their mother's children!