Better late than never

We had a great Easter this year. (I know, I am a little late in posting this)

We started our Easter fun on Saturday morning with an Easter egg hunt out in Newton. This was the first year that we had gone to Newton for the egg hunt and it was fantastic. It might be where we go every year. I liked how the ages were divided and what type of candy and treats there were. (Last year we went to a different one and they had Bit-o-honeys and hard candy for our little kids. My kids were upset when we took most of their candy away because they couldn't eat it.) Kylan was also excited that there was a section for him to hunt. We weren't sure if he would be too old this year.

Beck getting ready for the hunt to start




Hunter and his cousin Austin waiting for their hunt to start.


It took a minute for Gavin to figure out what was going on. But once he did, he was off and having fun.




All of us after the hunt.




After the Easter egg hunt at the park we went over to grandma and grandpa's and colored eggs.
Hunter and Beck coloring their eggs



The group - Gavin was really cute. Once Stephen showed him how to do it he did an awesome job and didn't spill too much


Beck with his egg creations


Kylan with one of his favorite creations



Sunday morning the kids got up early to see what they got for Easter.

Beck was excited about his Star Wars figures


Kylan liked his gifts


Hunter loved his gifts. He had been waiting for one of them since Christmas.


Gavin just threw his toys to the side to get to the candy.


After church (the kids didn't get new church outfits so I didn't take a picture of them ready for church) we headed back out to Newton to continue our Easter celebration.

We had the best dinner. It was finally warm enough and most of the snow had melted so we spent most of the afternoon outside. Since it was warm we decided to try out the new turkey fryer. A couple of Thanksgivings ago, Jeremy and Melanie came and brought their turkey fryer. The turkey was soooo good that Randy and Debra bought one.


Yum-Yum-Yummy!


We also had another one of our favorite summer side dishes- dutch oven potatoes. They are so gooooood.


After the really good dinner, all of us hung out in the house while Randy and Debra got the kids' Easter egg hunts ready.

Kandie showed us all the bunny that she got for Easter


And Kylan entertained us all by being goofy


When everyone was ready we headed outside to start the hunts. The kids not in school started their hunt first. Once again, Gavin was excited about the candy. I love this picture of him.


Beck also had a lot of fun finding all of the eggs and treats.


Next was the kids that were in school's turn.


Hunter checking to see if that is his prize egg.


Us Drapers get a little competitive. I think that this is a funny picture.


The adults even get an Easter egg hunt which is fun every year. Here is Stephen and I trying to find the hidden eggs.

We always have a fun Easter and appreciate everything and what everyone does to make it that way.

Feeding the Birds

Every Spring we love to see the beautiful "tweety" birds that come out. We have tried a couple of different bird feeders but they didn't really work. A couple of weeks ago we saw a bird feeding "bell" in one of the stores that we were at. It said that it would bring colorful finches to your yard. It was only $1.00 so we gave it a try. It was great. We got a lot of cute and colorful little birds in our yard. Here are some of the pictures that we got.



We loved this yellow one.


There was a yellow, red and brown bird there at the same time.

Here is the red one picking up seeds that had fallen. Isn't it so pretty?

Our seed is gone. It surprised me how fast it went. So I need to go grab a few more and enjoy a summer full of colorful birds in our backyard.

Dieting and Dying

Diets & Dying

The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.


CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like.

Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

School picture dilemma

I buy school pictures every fall.
The school then has a less formal picture that they take in the spring. They take the picture and send them home and then you can choose if you want to buy them or not. Any of you that have children in school know this situation all too well.
Anyway, every year I tell myself that I am not going to buy the spring pictures because we just bought school pictures a few months before. This is why they take the picture and then send it home and then you have to pay because if I had to pay first I would always not get the spring pictures. Anyway, some years I give in and buy them, some years I do not.
This year we have 2 kids in school, therefore, two picture packages. I, once again, told myself that I wasn't going to buy these pictures. The kids brought their pictures home the other day and oh they are sooo cute. We don't really have the money but how do I give back such cute pictures of my kids? We could probably find the money, I mean it won't put us over the edge but they are so expensive.
I know that you can't see these pictures but know that they are super cute. What do you think? What should I do?
I am sure that I will buy them because I have little will power when it comes to things like this. I figure kids are only this age once and when I am old I am going to want to look at these cute pictures and all of the memories they will hold for me.

Lipstick on mirrors! (Funny)

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem.
A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick, they would press their lips on the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back. Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine all the yawns from the little princesses). To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.
There are teachers... and then there are educators.

Scrapbooking give-a-way!

I have been trying to figure out a way to organize and scrapbook my kids' school years with all of their pictures and drawings and cute projects that they do throughout the year. I found this website that is giving away a really cute album(one for each kid - so for me that is 4 if I understand it correctly) that I think will work perfect for me. Go check it out here.

We reap what we sow!

I found this on another blog and I agree with it. I am not sure where it originated but it gets you thinking.


Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her “How could God let something like this happen?” (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”
In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said OK.
Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with “WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.”
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Alphabet Parade

Last Friday Hunter's class had an Alphabet Parade. His class had learned all of the letters and sounds of the alphabet so his teacher wanted to celebrate. She gave each kid a letter and they had to dress up or bring something that started with that letter. Hunter got the letter Ii. We went though all sorts of ideas including iguana, Iron man, and insects. Finally we came up with ice cream (one of Hunter's favorite foods-probably his favorite dessert). We had a hard time trying to figure out a costume that could look like an ice cream cone so I almost just went and bought ice cream to take to his class for a treat. Although the kids probably would have liked this better I felt it wasn't very creative. So finally we came up with this costume.

The tan pants is the cone, the white shirt is the vanilla ice cream, then we have chocolate topping with sprinkles and last the cherry on top with the red hat.

His class got together with another Kindergarten class and paraded around their school showing all of the 1st and 2nd graders that they knew their alphabet. He was super cute and had so much fun with his alphabet party.

Vampire Biting

One day Beck was walking around making holes in a piece of paper with our staple remover. He wasn't hurting anyone so I didn't think much about it. When he had the paper all done he came and showed it too me. He asked me if I knew what it was. I asked him what it was and he said that a vampire had bitten it. I laughed. I didn't know that Beck who is 3 knew what a vampire was.


Then he asked me if these looked like vampire teeth and I said yes. So now Beck calls these vampire teeth. My kids are going to grow up calling everything a different name than it really is.

The Chicks are Dancing

Kylan just pointed out that the chicks on the sidebar dance in rhythm to the Taylor Swift "Love Story" song. Check it out.

Best of Friends

Beck(my third son) and Kandie(my niece) are only 6 months apart in age. They just love each other and love to play together. They have so much fun with each other. When they aren't together they are asking where the other one is. Here are some pictures from yesterday of them playing together.


Playing on Grandpa's old lawnmower.


Say cheese



Trying to fit into the stroller together




Giving each other a push on the porch swing





Waiting for lunch. Holding hands.

Finally - a little warmth

The last couple of days have been pretty warm and I am sooo ready for the sun. We were so excited about the warm weather that we decided to have dinner at the park on Monday. So we went and grabbed some Subway.


After eating Kylan played a little football


He got a little bored of playing regular football so he played football/basketball.


Gavin hung out and was cute.


Beck and Hunter rolled down the hill and ran around.


It was fun being out in the sun. It has been so long.

Marriage and Dating ideas site

I recently have been looking at this site a little bit. I think that it has a lot of good ideas on marriage and dating. Today they had a cute video. You can find it here.