the last day of soccer

Well, we had our last day of Soccer on Saturday. Ironically, it was Will's best day of Soccer. He did all the drills and activities, kicked his ball a 100times, picked it up a few times too :), and even got a little aggressive during their scrimmage. Here's a few team pictures of the Orange Tigers:

Go Tigers! ROAR!
Here's Scott or Coach, with his boys. Eli loved going to Soccer too, except I can just tell he wants to be out there with the big boys. He watches EVERYTHING, and wiggles and squirms like he can hardly stand to just sit and watch and not be in on the action.

I was so proud of Will, once he warmed up to the idea of Soccer, he did great. He is so fun to watch, is smaller than all the other kids, but still such a good sport. I had a lot of fun watching him, and cheering him on. Yes, I am the loud mom on the sidelines cheering like crazy.... even when he's just doing drills. I can't help it. I get so excited and so proud of him.

We can't wait for next year!

Eli laughing at dinner

I know I just posted a video of Eli, but he's just so darn cute. He has the funniest laugh, he chuckles here and there, but mostly just screams in excitement. We can hardly believe he's ours, he's so dang cute. Enjoy!

the one and only

To my one and only:

Happy Father's Day!

Scott, you are such a wonderful father and husband. I'm thankful everyday to have you in my life. Thanks for choosing me and sharing so much with me. We've been through thick and thin, and you've been a great partner, friend, support, listener, jokster, and as always the love of my life.

What would I do without you, and these two sweet boys? What lucky boys they are to have a dad like you!
Thanks for all you do, we love you!

our summer days

We've been busy as ever the past couple of weeks. Summer is great, the weather here is awesome. Soccer is winding up, and swimming lessons were supposed to start this past week. I say "supposed to" because we had a little change in plans..... it seems that you can't do swimming lessons unless the child is actually willing to get in the water, with someone other than a parent. Needless to say, we'll still be spending a lot of time at the pool this summer, and try for a more successful Summer of swimming lessons next year.

This Saturday is Will's very last soccer club. He has really enjoyed it and I think it is a positive experience for his time ever doing team sports..... or sports in general.

Sitting on his ball...... this is what he's best at! :) Just kidding!
Ready to kick it and make a goal!
There's Scott, or "coach" showing the kids some awesome moves.
On Friday this week, we took a trip to the beach. Lake Erie is really pretty and there are some really fun beaches close by. So, we loaded up the car for a day at the beach with some friends. It was great, we had a fun day, enjoyed the water and Will loved collecting a bunch of shells, rocks, and seaweed...... or something. This is the only picture I got of the boys at the beach. This is also before the sand mishap. Note to self: if you have hair like Eli, and you get a bunch of sand in it, from falling over, right into the sand.... you have to buzz your hair. True story. Eli fell over, right into the sand, got sand all over in his hair and face, and it DOES NOT come out of his hair. So, that night we had to buzz it, and the next day, I was still picking sand out of it.

Will also got his summer buzz. Now Eli has one to match! It is so humid here that they get really sweaty, so the best way to keep them both nice and cool is to buzz their hair.

After the beach, we came home and Will started playing outside with neighbors. One of our little neighbor friends came over and they wanted to turn on the sprinklers. I was fine with that since we were all covered in sand, it was a great way to wash him off before he came inside. This is Will's friend Makiah. She's a hoot. She has three older brothers and you can tell, she gives Will a run for his money.
Now, we are back to the beginning of another week! Where does the time go? I can't wait to post pictures of our piano. Scott painted it this week and it looks SO great. I'll post some pictures soon!

the boys are back in town

Last week, we headed to the zoo. The DINOSAURS are back! Mostly, our main purpose in ever going to the zoo is to the see the dinosaurs, and to go to the rainforest. When Will woke up and I told him we were headed to the zoo, he said "We ALWAYS go to the zoo....." but he instantly perked up when I told him the dinos are back. However, I think we may forgo another years worth of zoo pass and get a pass to a museum of some sort for this next year. Maybe we only need one trip to the zoo each year.....?

Either way, here are the only two pictures I took at the zoo. My very camera shy 4 year old, wouldn't get in any pictures, so it was Eli. And me.

Here's Eli, staring at a very big dinosaur. Yep, he's cute, and serious......

I love this picture. Me and Eli in front of an Allosaurus. Then off to the side is my favorite Audrey with a big huge grin. I'm sure she was telling something, but I didn't even realize she was in my picture! :) I love that girl, she cracks me up, and she tells me I'm beautiful. But, she tells everyone they are beautiful......
It was a fun filled day at the zoo, and we made it home just in time for naps, from both kiddos!

a great day for homemade

This is what it looks like out my front window. Gray. Rainy. And really really pretty.

We had big plans today to play at the park. The rain put a little damper on those plans, but it's okay because I felt doing something homemade. I put black beans in the crockpot for dinner, and now my house smells like Cafe Rio..... I also decided to bake bread. So I set to work.

It goes from this, little kernals of wheat......
To this, warm fresh milled wheat flour.......
To this, raising on my stove......
Baking......
All done. Homemade bread, nothing dreary about that! It is mighty tasty too!
I love rainy days, especially during the Summer. It gives me a chance to re-group, cool off, and enjoy my home.

new around here

We've had an exciting couple of weeks around here. We are so blessed, we've acquired a couple "new" things for our family the past few weeks and we are super excited about them! First of all, I think in my last post I mentioned we are now officially a two car family. Yipeee!

This is our new car. It's a Toyota Camry. I love driving it, and it has been so nice not to have to worry about rides to and from work for Scott, or planning our schedules around who needs the car when, etc. It'll make our schedules more flexible and our budget more tight. Hee hee. But, we love it and we hope it will be a great car for us for a really long time! It's not the swagger wagon, but it still has swagger..... especially when I'm driving! :) Ha! Just kidding.

Last night, we got our very first piano. It'll be a whole post in and of itself here in the next few days, but I love it. It is ancient, and I love it. It also weighs about 1000 pounds, no exaggeration. There is just something timeless and so homey about a piano, especially an old one. I seriously am loving it already, can't wait to watch my kids learn to play on this beauty. It has some scratches, digs, and paint coming off (from shoving it in our door), but I also love that about it. It's worn, and I love wondering about all the hands that have played this piano, and what families sang around this piano, how many Christmases it has had, hopefully being sung around. It was a beast to move, but that's a whole other story......

Last but definitely not least, is our first pet. Dandy. He's a tadpole that Will got in the mail. He got this habitat for his birthday from Aunt Krista, and it came with a free tadpole that we had to order in the mail.
It is probably one of the most exciting parts of our day, feeding this little guy or gal. He's tiny, but growing little by little. And to be perfectly honest, I'm shocked he's still alive..... please don't die on us Dandy! Will prays for him every night, prayers are heard!

Having a family is so much fun. There is never a dull moment. Always something to do, someone to help, clothe, feed, and always somewhere fun to go! Life never seems to slow down, but even in the day to day hussle bussle, something exciting always happens!

memorial day

After I posted about last weekend and my b-day, I realized I still hadn't posted from Memorial Day. So, two posts in one day, lucky us!

On Memorial Day, Scott ran in a 5 mile race, here in our little community. He did awesome. We met him at the finish line, it only took him 34 min. That is pretty cool. He is good like that. The boys and I waited on the grass to watch him, and they were happy campers.

Go Scott! He was just a couple steps away from being done, I always get so excited to watch him finish, it is great.

Cheering!!

After the run, we went to sit on our friends lawn and watch the parade. It was a parade full of interesting people doing interesting things...... and lots of candy. It was fun to sit by friends from church. Will thought the sirens and fire engine were a bit loud, so he spent most of the parade with his fingers in his ears. Until all the candy started flying, then it was a bit hard to keep the ears plugged while gathering up gobs of candy.
After the parade, we set out to buy a car! It was probably the most stressful thing we've ever had to do. Even more stressful than buying a house, to me. We are happy with our choice, and happily living as a two car family.... finally. It's only been seven years!

my weekend

This past weekend was great! We had big plans to go to Erie PA, stay in a hotel, wake up refreshed and ready to run our 10K. Well, Friday, Will was sick, so let our friends stay in our hotel and we hung out at home. Saturday morning, we woke up at 5am, packed up the car and drove to Erie, just in time to start our 10K. Since the boys had to get up so early, Scott didn't run with me, he just stayed with them in the stroller and cheered me on. I was glad I had their support.

Along the trail we were running, there were all sorts of animals, and HUGE turtles. Some of the kids found a smaller turtle and Will thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Here's Eli cheering me on. Yes, both boys are in PJ's. We had to pull them out of bed and we knew we were headed to the beach after my run, so we didn't bother with clothes. They went from PJ's to swimsuits!
Here I come! I was running so fast it was pretty much a blurr when I passed Scott with the camera, NOT. I'm probably the slowest runner ever. I don't think it even qualifies as running, more like fast walking/slow jog. But hey, it took me 6.2 miles, so I'm pretty proud of that!
I'm not sure what I'm doing, I think I was trying to give Will a high five. This was at mile 3.1.... that is why I'm still smiling and don't look like I'm in pain.
YAY! I finished! See? This is obviously the end of the race, I look like I can barely stand up. Plus, I'm really red and sweaty. And Will's pouting because he wants to the see the turtle some more.
These are my gal pals that ran the race also. They are awesome girls, I'm so glad I know them and have them as friends. I'm also glad they motivate me to keep running! It goes Me, Alison (who is a Lone Peak alum... crazy!) Stacey (she dominated the race, she was the THIRD person to finish, FIRST girl.... she kicked my butt), then Kathy who poured water on her shirt... hahaha! ;) Then Paige who was only going to run 3 miles but thought what the heck, and did the whole thing..... yes, she's awesome like that. Then Lisa who accidentally got off the trail and ran an extra mile, and just kept running the whole time, that is so awesome! Thanks for motivating me girls!
We ran the race at a place called Presque Isle, near Erie PA. It is a beautiful state park. I loved the run, it is right along the waters of Lk. Erie. There are tons of well kept, well groomed beaches, with bathroom, etc. So after our run, we headed to the beach. It was great. The day was perfect, and our kids loved it.
Before we headed to the beach, we went with our friends to "our" hotel that we didn't end up staying at. Three other families also stayed there, so we borrowed their shower, changed our clothes, and swam in the pool for a bit before heading to the beach. This was Eli's first pool experience, he wasn't thrilled. He look completely nervous and scared. But Will was loving it, and had a great time swimming with Scott.
My boys. Look at Eli's nervous face, he just kept looking all around at the water, it was pretty cute.
He enjoyed laying on the blanket at the beach much better. This is how he spent the afternoon. I love his little bare chest, it's the cutest. Check out those arm muscles! He's pretty ripped for 7 months!
Okay, I love this picture. Will is playing catch with our friend Justin. He just threw the ball. Ha! Look at his face! It is so funny and his arms look funny too, but at least he has a good follow-thru! Thanks for entertaining our kids Justin!
Ready to catch!
It was a great day. I can't think of a better way I could have spent my birthday. On our way home, we stopped and got Cheesecake for my birthday cake! Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake of course. It was delish. I downed it, plus a whole bowl of popcorn and a dr. Pepper. Go me!

Happy Birthday Kara!! I LOVE YOU

Kara-

I am posting on our blog secretly....I had to wait until you used your computer and logged in so that I would have access to make a "new post".

Kara, I love you so much. I can't believe that you are even more pretty now than you were when I married you over 7 years ago. You are such an amazing person, with energy, spunk, emotion, humor, spirituality, wisdom, and beauty. You know what to do and when to do it during stressful times, you know what to say and how to say it during hard times, and what to be and how to be it during family times and needs!!

I love you and I am so happy that I can be a part of your birthday. You are my wife and I love to be able to say that.

This is your birthday song, it isn't very long, see ya!

LOVE YOU, SCOTT, your hubby