Goodbye for Now

I'm just writing to let everyone know that if there is a gigantic decline in the amount of posting I do it is because tomorrow we are leaving on a much needed trip. We will be traveling home to see our families and I'm sure they will keep us busy with exciting things to do all along the way. We will be gone for three weeks and though it seems like a long time I'm sure it will all be a blur of wedding fun, boating excitment, an externship, visiting old friends, a couple family reunions, swimming, camping, all the fun at BL we can handle, running a 5k, eating lots of great food, fourth of July festivities, and Birthday fun all wrapped into one vacation. Wow, I'm exhausted and excited just thinking about it all. So if I don't find time to post forgive me and I will update as soon as I get a chance.

A Spectacular Book

I got a great book from a good friend and it is just too wonderful not to share. It is called "I Am a Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson. It is a great reminder that this role we have as mothers is a noble and important role and we should never be ashamed to say "I am a mother." I haven't even finished it yet but am loving what I have read so far. One of my favorite thoughts so far is "while I am in the process of building a firm foundation of love and righteousness for my children, the Lord is in the process of building me, his daughter. And knowing that God has a hand in my life makes everything I go through here as a mother, a wife, and a woman-worthwhile." It is full of stuff we have all heard before but reading it makes me fill great to be doing what I am as a mother.

We love our DADDY

It has been fun to read all the posts about Daddies and see over and over just how much we love the men in our lives. I'm a little late but didn't want to miss out on all the fun. We had an enjoyable Father's Day complete with breakfast in bed, a cookout with friends, corn hole, and phone calls to our wonderful daddies. I have always had a great relationship with my dad and it continues to grow as I watch him with my kids. I am also lucky to have a wonderful Father in law who is a tremendous support to us and works hard to be a part of our lives even though we are so far away. We love you all.



Now for the little tribute to the Daddy in our house. There are so many reasons we love you and we just don't tell you enough. There is no way I have enough time to say everything or probably even half but here is a tiny attempt at just a few reasons we love daddy...

• He doesn't snore


• He will eat almost anything and not complain


• He is still crazy about me and makes sure I don't forget


• He always thinks of the family before himself


• He helps out around the house, not because it's fun but because He knows it makes me happy


• He works extra hard at everything he does and he's great at just about everything he tries
• I know it's a little cliche, but he really is my better half. When I have no patience he is full of it, when I want to give up he makes me see why I should keep trying, and when I feel on top of the world and just want someone to share it with, he is the first to join in the celebration.


• Caden says he loves daddy because he plays at the park and takes him on bike rides


• Kamrie says she loves daddy because ...


• In a nutshell, he love us more than anything and lets us know on a daily basis

WE LOVE YOU DAD

Sunshine!!!

Disclaimer: If you are tired of looking at my adorable little blond headed children this is probably not the post for you. However, I adore them and so I take way too many pictures. Also, this for the grandmas that wish they could be a part of what we do everyday...now you can.

We have had some pretty crazy storms here in the past week...in fact a good part of Indiana is partially under water due to flooding. So why, you ask, is my post entitled sunshine? Well, in between all the crazy rainstorms we have had the most beautiful weather so we have been doing all we can to enjoy it. Here are some of fun things we do to keep us buzy.

Usually from Memorial Day until Lobor Day we spend lots of time at the YMCA pool. The kids love, love, love the water and it is so nice to be outside after being cooped up all winter. These are a few pictures of our first pool outing this year.

Caden just started T-ball. His birthday is a little bit late for the cut-off so we thought we were going to have to wait until next year but I asked and they put him on a team. Here he is at his first practice.

Kamrie had to be a part of all the action too.

Daddy had a morning off so we took advantage of it and headed to the zoo.

This was so adorable, it kind of reminded me of my own kids picking at each other. Only mine are little smaller and just a tad cleaner (most days).

Our zoo has a newly remodled splash park so we got to check that out as well. It was a hit.

He's No Longer our LITTLE Boy

I think this totally takes him out of the little boy phase and puts right in the BIG BOY category. Brady has been trying to talk Caden into learning to ride his bike with out training wheels. He has some friends that are older who he adores so he has been tempted but is still a little hesitant. On Saturday we got home from running errands and out of the blue Caden said, "I'm going to ride my bike with out training wheels today." He came inside and put on his helmet and knee pads and waited for about an hour while Brady and I put everything away. We finally got the training wheels off and went outside to begin the adventure. He did an awesome job and it only took him a few tries before he was riding like a champ. We did have a couple mishaps with running into parked cars but He did amazing for only being 3. Way to go Caden!!!

Most of the crashes happened after he had gotten the hang of riding but Brady was trying to teach him to start on his own and that proved to be a little tougher. I don't think there were any tears but you can see the look of frustration on his face in this shot.The spectatorsAll in all he was pretty darn proud of himself

Wedding Advice

So my little sister is getting married and she posted on her blog about wedding jitters and sort of asked for advice if anyone had any. Well, of course I has some advice but I thought it would be fun if any and all of you (it doesn't matter if you know her or not) would be willing to click here http://malloryandtanner.blogspot.com/ and give her the best marriage advice you can think of. I will be fun for her.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

We have been here for three years now and we have never gone to an Indians Game, until now. Since they are only a Minor League team tickets aren't as expensive and you can just get them at the gate so you don't have to plan too far in advance. We have been kicking the idea around for a while and finally decided to do it. The weather was nice so we packed some snacks, stuck the blanket and stroller in the car and headed downtown. When we got there some really nice man just handed Brady tickets saying that his friends wern't able to make it so he didn't need them, we lucked out. We sat on the lawn, watched the game, and ate snacks. The kids were hyper so they didn't really want to sit and watch but that was the nice thing about the lawn seats. All in all we had a good time and right as the last fireworks were booming overhead they told everyone to hurry home because a tornado warning had just been issued. We got back to our car without one drop of rain but it poured they whole way home...it ended just in time. The best part was the impression it made on Caden. We just signed him up to play T-ball and I have been telling him he gets to play with the big boys because he didn't quite make the cut off but they let him play anyway. So the day after the game it was "meet your team day" for t-ball, right before we left he asked, "do you think I will be on the team we watched last night?" I told him probably not and he was pretty bummed, but after a while he said, "do you think they will at least have fireworks at my games?" I love how enthusiastic he is. Who knows maybe if he is anything like his Daddy someday he will play a game where there are fireworks after.

My adorable little gang

Teahing him all the tricks

Watching the Fireworks...Caden's favorite part

All Good Things Must End

I still feel like I am playing catch-up from my little "Twilight" hiatus so this happened a couple of weeks ago but am just getting to it. Caden recently finished his year of preschool at our local YMCA...have I mentioned lately how much I "heart" the YMCA? Anyway, they had a little ice cream party so they could go and see their friends one last time and say good-bye to their teachers. It was really kind of sad for me. He really loved his teachers (the younger one may have even been his first "crush") and he has made some really good friends, most of whom he may never see again. He will be attending one more year of preschool before he is off to kindergarten so some of his buddies may be in his class next year and we will probably see his teachers in the hallway from time to time so I was able to dry my eyes before too many tears fell. I captured some of the fun moments however it was kind of open house style and none of the boys were there when we were so we just have a bunch of pictures with girls--maybe he prefers it that way, who knows.

Caden with his teachers, they were absolutely wonderful.

Enjoying his ice cream

Surrounded by friends