Seven Exciting, Entergetic and Blessed Years! Happy Birthday Zachy!

It is hard to believe that on April 8, my middle man turned 7!  Zachy you are a blessing and a joy to all who know you.  You are funny, loving, and a bundle of energy and one of my 4 greatest joys!

We first celebrated your birthday in Texarkana over Easter weekend with family.  We had chocolate cupcakes and celebrated your birth! 

On your actual birthday, which fell on Easter day this year, we went to church, we came home and opened gifts and we ate more cupcakes!  Then you choose McDonalds for your birthday dinner!  It was crazy busy.... kind of like you my precious boy!  I don't think I even took any pictures!!!

We had your birthday party the following weekend at the park.  It was so much fun and one of the easiest parties we've ever had.... pizza, cake, and fun on the playground!  Nana & Papa Doc came up to celebrate your birthday and your best buddies: Carlie, Kendall, Alexa, Jeb, Eli & Nathan as well as some of the siblings!  The wind was INSANE I think we used duct tape to hold everything in place!  It was so windy we couldn't even light the candles!

I love you Zac Attack and I hope that you had a wonderful birthday celebration because I celebrate your birth every single day!  Love you my middle man!

Easter 2012

We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter! I never tire of hearing the boys tell the Easter Story, especially Ben Ben because it is so cute as to what impresses him the most. This year, it was the angel who appeared before the soldiers outside the tomb and they "fell to the ground"! I'm also amazed at how well they listen in Sunday School and the way the remember the details of the stories. The most amazing part is that they believe the stories, they never question the truth of them, whereas, as we get older, it seems as if we get so caught up in worldly things that it is so much easier to question than to have faith. I pray daily that my children's faith will only grow stronger as they grow older!

Well, Ben Ben was the only one who had an Easter party this year! We went to his teacher Mrs. Kelly's house for an egg hunt and a picnic! It was so much fun and the kiddos were precious! I will say I think Mrs. Kelly needs to be Saint Kelly because putting up with that many preschoolers is no easy task!









On Friday before Easter, we went to Texarkana to spend the night and Saturday with Aunt Julie and crew.... Grandma and Grandpa too! We ate lots of yummy food and enjoyed hanging out with family! The boys played a lot of ball in the backyard.











Even though we were there a short amount of time.... we dyed eggs and had an Easter Egg hunt!

















We made a trip to Spring Lake Park! Fun times were had and good memories were made!













Well the Easter Bunny came! Thank goodness! I have very few pics because they were all up before me! LOL!



Easter Sunday, the Oosterhous crew went to church to worship a risen savior! All boys stayed in "big church" that day and did remarkably well! It is impossible to get a good picture of 5 people but the following were the best pics of our attempt to get everyone dressed in their Easter attire!









Oh yeah, guess who turned 7 on Easter Sunday! Zachy!!!! He gets his own birthday post! More on how the birthday boy celebrated!

More Fun!

In all honesty, I think this little visit was pre- Spring Break but I'm not sure! Judging by the warm winter jackets I thinks so! But I have some cute pics and wanted to include them even if it gets me out of order in my blogging!

Daddy William and Tim, have been friends FOREVER.... seriously, at least kindergarten on! So it is really neat that our boys get to spend some time together each year. Watching our boys together makes me wonder what William and Tim were like at this age!



Between Mary and I, we have 6 boys.... not a single girl in the group! That's O.K. because I think that automatically elevates us to QUEEN status! Love Mary & William and it is so fun to think that our boys will grow up together having some great adventures as they grow! Watching Mary's precious young crew, made me wonder how I survived the toddler years! Whew.... they are a blur! Gotta love all of these boys and they are so stink'in cute!











We had so much fun hanging out in Mt. Ida at the cabin with the "M's" I only hope that we didn't traumatize them too much and that maybe the Oosterhous boys remembered to use a few of their manners and attempted to be on semi-good behavior! LOL!

9 Fabulous Years! Happy Birthday Nate!

9 wonderful years this little man has been part of our lives! From California to Arkansas, where has time gone! On the day of his birth we celebrated with a small family party saving the heavy duty celebration for the following week!



The following photo is "so Nate" this boy loves money! Who doesn't.... but this boy loves it and SAVES it! Here he is counting his birthday money!



The following weekend we celebrated his birthday! I mean I must have experienced a moment of temporary insanity when I agreed to have 8 boys over for a sleepover! Let's just say these 8 little boys celebrated way in to the night! Seeing as how we have only had one or two boys EVER spend the night... I was totally unprepared for what a sleepover entails... very little sleep! LOL! I mean I had the whole night scheduled hour by hour but nothing went as planned! These boys did their own thing until this mama nearly had a meltdown at 1:00 and then by 1:30 everyone was silent! They may not want to come visit any more! LOL! But I do know this, if ever I host another sleepover, I will not schedule to be part of a garage sale the following day!

We started the big evening off by meeting at Pizza Shack at 4:30 for some dinner and then my sweet friend Melanie helped Tim and I transport kiddos to Hot Springs for some arcade fun and water boat adventure! Thank goodness Melanie and Cindy both have raised kiddos and knew that there was probably no way Tim and I could handle these boys on our own so both stuck around and helped out! A BIG THANK YOU! The boys had a blast in Hot Springs!



















Then home for the big sleepover! Tim and the little boys stayed in the guest house (per my request) and I stayed in the main house with 9 sugared up little boys who had just gotten their second wind! I will never make the mistake of thinking that because I have boys there will be no drama! Ha! We had drama! It was a fun night, and the next day, Nate told me it was the best birthday! Mission Accomplished!

Oh yeah, did I mention.... it will be a LONG time before I am brave enough to have 8 boys spend the night again! LOL! Happy Birthday Nate! I love you and I will always remember this party!