I Love It

I can’t help it! That is right I can’t help but organize every inch of my house.  I think being a clean orderly person is a positive thing.  I find my organization skills to be helpful in many situations.  I love order and cleanliness.   A therapist might say that I clean and organize due to O.C.D. and control issues but they over think  everything (believe me I studied therapy in school for 6 years)! I like to think my organization helps my life run smoother and brings comfort to me.    

Eric Teases Me That I Am Ready For The TV Show Cribs

                              If My Spices Were Not Organized It Would Take Longer To Cook

     Another Reason For My Organization Is I Take Pride In My Home And The Things I Own

                                                                           I Love Order

4 out of 6

Last weekend Eric and I kept 4 of our 6 nieces and nephews overnight.  Alivia was at her Dad’s for the weekend and Benjamin lives 12 hours away and is a little young for an overnight visit.  I don’t know who was more excited about the sleepover the kids or me! We started the evening playing on the swing set.  All the kids love to swing after swinging Uncle Eric facilitated a soccer game!   After lots of outside play we all headed in for a snack, baths, and a movie! A little before 11:00 pm all 4 kids were asleep and at 7:00 am all 4 kids were up and ready to start the day!  By 10:30 am we had eaten breakfast; watched cartoons, played hide n seek, went on a walk, and played on the swing set.  At 10:30 we headed to church with all 4 kids in tow! Our congregation members were impressed that we made to church on time with 4 kids!  The kids were great at church! After church we headed to Pizza Hut for the hand off.  We met all the parents for lunch and discussed the fun night we had.  After Pizza I went home and slept for 2 hours, I was exhausted.  I live for nights like this though; nieces and nephews are one of the great gifts God gave us!  Eric and I have been blessed with 4 nieces and 2 nephews and as of this week we found out that my sister Jennifer and brother in-law Drew are expecting, baby Clark will be here around Christmas time! Eric and I are so excited for Drew and Jennifer!

                                                                                   Swinging

                                                                          All 4 kids are in the tube!

                                                                                      Breakfast Time

                                                           Chocolate Milk and Donuts

                                                 and fruit so that they had some nutrition

                                                                             Ready for Church

New Do

Max is sporting his summer do! Now we just need some sunshine to go with it!

From Old to New

This shelf was Eric's grandparents he used it all through college.  After college the book shelf set in his parents garage for 5 years.  We have been wanting a small black book shelf for our office and we decided together we would refinish this book shelf that had family history. The book shelf had water stains and scratches all over it.  With little knowledge about refinishing furniture we headed to Lowes with lots of questions.  Lowes came through for us and helped us find all the items we needed for the project.  So we headed home and started our first project together! With a little elbow grease and hard work we have a like new black shelf in our office!

Liv's First Communion

Last Sunday Eric and I were blessed to be able to witness our oldest niece Alivia take her first communion.  The services was wonderful and she was absolutely beautiful. 

Easter Service

We felt blessed to be able to worship on Easter morning in Indianapolis with Eric's parents. 

Sparks Easter

Easter weekend for the Sparks family was as usual a hit.  I made egg cakes, we had tons of great food, and Mom hosted her famous egg hunt! This year I thought it would be fun if I let the kids decorate one of the cakes.  They had a blast and used all the icing and sprinkles!  Chalk up another great holiday celebration for the Sparks family!

                                                                             The Kids Egg Cake

                                                                           My Cake

                                                            The gummy bear tree made an appearance

                                                                 Grandma & Grandpa Sparks

                                                                   They are ready for the hunt

                                                                                  Kinsey

                                                                        Alivia

                                                                            Layla

                                                                          Addison

                                                                                        Liam

Garber Shoot

I had the pleasure of taking a couple of snap shots of the Garber family and their extended family last week.  The weather put a damper on our location but we made due!  I am not looking to start a photography business but I do like to have the chance to practice and learn more about my camera and how to edit pictures!  I had a fun time and I learned a lot about indoor lighting. 

Girls Night (Kind Of)

On Good Friday Heather and Tiffany came over for dinner and brought the boys to play. We have all been friends for over 11 years and try to get together at least a couple times each year. During this dinner there was a lot of baby chatter since both Heather and Tiffany are expecting. Heather is due in June with a boy and Tiffany is due in October and she does not know the sex yet. We had a great meatless dinner since it was Good Friday (Oley's cheese pizza which is always a favorite choice in the Strobel household during Lent). After dinner we headed to the playroom with the boys, they had a great time! I am already excited about the next time we can get together.