All Things Rhodus...

Cone Heads...

2009-09-04T20:04:00.003-04:00

At Elijah's soccer practice today his coaches had them be "cone heads." They had to run across the field holding a cone on their head. It was so cute because they were laughing so hard they could barely do it. Elijah has a great pair of coaches this year. They all have so much fun. I took the picture with my phone so it is not the best quality.

Elijah Meets His Kindergarten Teacher...

2009-09-01T20:03:00.002-04:00

Tonight was the open house for the Kindergartners. Elijah got to see his classroom and meet his teacher. We found out she goes to our church. She is a very nice lady. I think he is going to love school this year. I forgot to bring my camera so I had to take the pictures with my cell phone.

Georgia Vacation...Boating with the Smith's

2009-08-22T19:58:00.006-04:00

Today the Smith's took us to the TN. river to go boating. It was a blast! Along the way we found a good half way point to stop and jump into the river. Thanks so much Smith's for an awesome boat ride and a great time! Afterwards we all headed to The Catfish house for dinner.

Our Georgia Vacation...

2009-08-21T19:57:00.003-04:00

This year we decided to go to Cartersville, GA to visit Will's sister and family for our family vacation. They have a little guest house/cabin behind their home for us to stay in and they have a swimming pool to enjoy. We always have such a good time when we stay there. It was a long drive with the kids. It took about 9 hours to get there. We were so tired of being in the car. The photo is of Will just having some quiet time in the cabin.

"All Yankeed Up"

2009-08-16T19:54:00.007-04:00

On the weekends the kids and Will like to wear their Yankees gear and usually watch a game (if it is airing on TV). They always look forward to it and they chant "we're in the club!" once they get their jerseys and such on. You have to wear Yankees paraphernalia to be in the club :)

Adrielle's 1st soccer practice...

2009-08-05T19:57:00.009-04:00

Adrielle had her first soccer practice tonight. Almost all of the girls were crying at first including Adrie but she soon warmed up and realized I was not leaving and that soccer was fun. She was all smiles at the end of practice. She looks so cute out there playing. I think she is going to be really good at this! She is such a fast runner! Ezra really wanted to play too. It was really hard keeping him off the field. Doesn't he look like such the multi-tasker?

Our Anniversary....7 years!

2009-08-02T19:43:00.004-04:00

Today Will and I celebrated our 7 th Anniversary! It really is tomorrow but today worked out better for us to celebrate. Aunt Sarah (my sister) came over today and watched the kids for us and we went to the Art museum (something we have always wanted to do) and then we went to the Claddagh Irish Pub afterwards for dinner. The picture is of Will on the way to the museum. We even took out the mustang tonight. We had a good time. Then after we ate we decided to go grocery shopping...how exciting huh? But is was very enjoyable to go with out the kids. Happy Anniversary Will! I love you!

Roo a tiger!

2009-07-24T21:14:00.005-04:00

Today I was helping Adrielle and Elijah clean their rooms when I noticed it was awfully quiet. That usually means that Roo is up to something mischievous. When I went to check on him this is what I found....

When I asked him what he was doing, he said "Roo a tiger." You can tell by the look on his face that he knew he was in trouble. Luckily he used the washable markers. I couldn't get the pictures to turn the right way...sorry!

Canoeing on the Little Miami...

2009-07-05T19:37:00.005-04:00

Today we all decided to take a canoe trip on the little miami river. This is something we had talked about for a long time but have never done. It was not as warm as we could have hoped for but it was still lots of fun! Thanks for visiting May family! We love to have you come to Ohio each year and can't wait till your next visit!

About halfway, we took a snack break and that is when Will decided to be brave and jump off the tree into the water...and it was freezing! He is so brave :) It was a lot higher than it looks!

4th of July 2009...

2009-07-04T19:38:00.005-04:00

The May's came to our house after staying with Troy and Sarah and we went to a local high school parking lot to watch fireworks. We all had to watch from inside our cars since it was still raining. We brought some sparklers for the kids too, but had a really hard time getting the matches lit in the rain, so we only did a few. Even though the weather wasn't cooperating with us, we still had a great time!

Reds Game and Fireworks...

2009-07-03T23:29:00.007-04:00

The May family came into town today for the weekend. They stayed with Sarah and Troy the first night. We all met at Sarah and Troy's house tonight then we all went to the Red's game. Aunt Sarah got us tickets to the sold out game. Will stayed home with Ezra because we didn't think he'd make it through the game and fireworks afterwards. We had a great time. Thanks Sarah for getting us the tickets! The fireworks afterwards were some of the best we've ever seen. Elijah and Adrie had so much fun with their cousins :)

Pool time...

2009-06-29T19:40:00.008-04:00

It was so hot and sunny today we decided to go to the neighborhood pool once again... the kids all love to swim!

Father's Day...

2009-06-21T19:32:00.005-04:00

Happy Father's Day Daddy! We had a great day just spending time with you. We hope you liked all the gifts we got for you. We love you so much!!!

Adrielle finally has a pink room!

2009-06-10T19:34:00.006-04:00

Adrielle has wanted a pink room for a long time (she is such a girly girl)...so for part of her birthday present I promised her in January that we would paint it for her. I didn't forget about the promise, but things have just been so busy! I finally made time and asked Poppy to help me out with the idea I had for her room. Poppy made and put up all the "eye-let" trim for her. We were so excited how it turned out. When it was all finished Adrielle was thrilled. She said...: "Oh mommy, I feel like a princess cause this looks like a princess room." I'm so excited she felt that way because she is my little princess. She also has been in a toddler bed until now. She now sleeps in a Victorian bed that her great, great (I really don't know how many greats) Grandfather Rhodus made. We had to get a mattress made for it and had been putting that off forever but now that she is four, it is about time she is out of the toddler bed. It looks so pretty in her room. I hope you enjoy your room sweet girl. And thanks so much Poppy for helping to make it so special for our little princess :)

Elijah's Birthday Party...

2009-06-06T19:32:00.005-04:00

Today we celebrated Elijah's birthday. We had so much fun. Elijah chose Star Wars as the theme. He was so excited and couldn't wait for the party to start. We had our family and a few friends come for his party. We had the jump house blown up and had a Star Wars pinata. For his birthday he wanted Star Wars Lego's and toys and he had been begging for He-Man toys. He has been so intrigued with Will's old He-Man toy that was stored in our basement and Will told him all about Castle Grey-skull and Snake Mountain. They love to watch old commercials on you tube together and watch episodes of the old cartoons. This really made Elijah becomae a huge fan of He-Man and want the toys, so... Will did a hunt on good Ol' EBay and he found a huge auction lot of stuff for him. Will and I both couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he opened the gift. I think Will couldn't wait to get all the toys out and play with Elijah...they brought back so many memories from Will's childhood. Elijah was so excited about all the He-Man stuff he got and it all was a huge hit with his cousins and friends as well. We had a great time today but I still just can't get used to the fact that I now have a 6 year old boy!

Elijah is 6!

2009-06-04T19:32:00.002-04:00

Today is my baby boy's 6th birthday. I can hardly believe he is 6 and will be starting Kindergarten this fall. The time flies by. Elijah got a present in the mail from the May family so we let him open it this morning. We are celebrating his birthday this coming Saturday. I love you Elijah! Happy Birthday Bubby!

Elijah's First Baseball Glove...

2009-06-03T19:35:00.005-04:00

Today Elijah and daddy went out to together to buy Elijah his first ever baseball glove for part of his birthday present. He thought he was so big. He loved his new glove, but didn't like practicing with it so much...(He got hit in the face with the baseball trying to catch it when practicing with daddy). Maybe he'll warm up to it again, if we can talk him in to trying it out again. When Will and I went to check on him tonight...this is what we found...

So I think he does really like it.

Elijah's Last Soccer Game ...

2009-05-30T19:45:00.010-04:00

Today was Elijah's last soccer game and then he had a pizza party afterwards. Mommy, Adrielle, and Ezra were in Indiana for Grandma Julie's funeral. Daddy stayed home with Elijah so he did not miss his last soccer game and party. We also did not feel Elijah could handle a funeral at this age (he is so sensitive and afraid of death). Elijah did very good in his game and he finally got his first ever trophy! He could not wait to get a trophy. Mommy was very sad to miss it, but Daddy took lots of pictures.

Grandma Julie Passed Away...

2009-05-26T23:32:00.010-04:00

Grandma Julie passed away on 5/26/09. Will and I were at a Reds game when we got the news. She had been suffering with Alzheimer's disease for a few years now. I feel like we had lost her a long time ago...but this is still so, so hard. I'm so glad she no longer has to suffer with this awful disease. I have so many memories of Grandma that will forever be with me. The night of her viewing the grandchildren all got together (except for me...to emotional and just knew I couldn't handle the situation) and wrote down something to be read at her funeral. It was perfect and so very touching. Here is what was read:

Grandma Julie Bell was an amazing caretaker, wonderful to all of us through her great kindness and patience.

Usually stationed in the kitchen, she will definitely be remembered for her delicious home cooking. You would never leave the her house with an empty stomach--her specialties included the comforts of mac'n'cheese, beef'n'noodles and pie with the perfect crust. Everyone knew where to look for her famous sour cream and sugar cookies topped with red hots and chocolate chips, they were sure to be in a round Tupperware on the lazy Susan. And the is no doubt--sitting--sitting in Grandma's kitchen surrounded with all of her wonders, we've all be told a time or two, "Don't tip the bar stools."

She always hovered around the table, serving everyone else before herself. She even prepared food for Grandpa, bringing him a hot meal to the gas station every night.

Grandma was also very creative and skilled in sewing anything we needed, from care bears to the best tooth fairy pillows, quilts for all the grand babies, and hand-made dolls and clothes for all the grandchildren, individually designed to match each child. From the 70's to the 90's, she kept us up with the latest fashion trends, with matching vests, jumpsuits, and yes, we all wore MC Hammer Parachute pants.

You could always play with Grandma no matter what it is you could imagine, she would be there to play with you. We spent countless hours completing puzzles and playing games from rummikub, memory, Chinese checkers, uno, monopoly, and carom.

We all lost marbles in her shag rug and insisted that the Barbies belonged on the stairs, which also served as the site for our purple slinky, the set for our make believe never ending cruise, and annual family Christmas portraits which grew increasingly crowded over the years.

With the background echo of the highway, we nestled in the red, purple or brown rooms to bedtime stories, goodnight kisses and sayings of "goodnight sleep tight, and don't let the bedbugs bite!"

We woke in the mornings to Grandma's "good morning sunshine" and the smell of blueberry pancakes, dippy eggs, our favorite cereals, and toast with homemade strawberry jelly.

We knew that what ever our favorite foods were, she was going to make it for us that day.

We bonded with Grandma singing in the car, watching her favorite shows, or listening to the crackling AM radio. And in the summertime we would sit outside and help her snap green beans.
As parents, Grandma and Grandpa never missed a single sporting event, choir concert, band concert, and for every event they were sure to bring Aunt Opal and Aunt Thelma with them.

She didn't pick favorites, but made us all feel special to her. Every birthday, every Christmas, Easter and 4th of July was such a great memory at Grandma's house. Every holiday was so special because she created a home for us all, a place for gathering as a family and sharing our time together. We are all blessed for knowing her and for learning to love and care for one another through her example. We love you Grandma Julie Bell and you will be greatly missed by all.

We Got King's Island Season Passes!

2009-05-23T20:32:00.003-04:00

After we went to Claire's birthday party, we went home changed clothes and then we to Kings Island to get our season passes for the summer. The kids were super excited. After waiting in the very long line just to get the passes, we had time for just a couple of rides. The kids love rides. They are so excited we have passes and can come back when ever we want. I'm sure we will be there a lot this summer!

Claire's Birthday Tea Party

2009-05-23T19:31:00.005-04:00

Today we went to Claire Kemper's Birthday Party. She turned four and had a tea party. Claire is one of Adrielle's best friends. The party was adorable. They all looked so cute! The boys had a good time too, but they did not want to join the tea party...imagine that :) Happy Birthday Claire!

Preschool program...stage fright!

2009-05-22T13:30:00.000-04:00

Here is Adrielle at her end of the year preschool program. She was a little stage fright, but at least she stayed up there the whole time and didn't cry! She looked so sweet. She sure is gonna miss school over the summer time! I can't believe she will be in her last year of preschool in the fall.

Preschool Graduation/Last Day of Preschool...

2009-05-21T19:29:00.004-04:00

Today was Adrielle's last day of 3 year old Preschool. They had a little program for the parents at the beginning. Adrielle stood on stage but got a little stage fright. She wouldn't sing or do any of the hand motions. (I will post a video clip soon...too cute!) After the program, the class went outside for a picnic. We had a great time. She had a great year! It went by so fast I can hardly believe today is the last day! She will really miss her teachers and school!

Finding Worms...

2009-05-10T19:29:00.002-04:00

Today was a great day for finding worms. The kids spent almost 2 hours finding worms...too funny! I love it when they all play together.

We Got A New Jump House!

2009-05-09T19:28:00.003-04:00

Today Mommy was online looking at the free-cycle site (a site where you can find stuff for free that people want to get rid of in your area) and she came across a jump-house. Adrielle and gus went and picked it up. We love it! This will be great to use for Elijah's birthday party. We even can set it up in our basement and use it this winter or when it is raining outside. It is so much fun! Adrielle and Gus got to try it out first since she helped mommy pick it up.

Adrielle and Gus part 3...

2009-05-07T19:27:00.002-04:00

Adrielle got to have Gus come home with her for the last time of the school year. She took Gus everywhere with her again. Here she is drawing Gus for the Gus book. She is becoming quite the artist! She sure will miss Gus!

Elijah's First Soccer Game...

2009-04-18T13:14:00.001-04:00

Elijah had his first real soccer game today. His team is green and he is number 3. His team name is "the Pirates". He looked so cute out there and so little! He was really nervous. He shed a few tears before the game but once he got out there he did great. This is a good social experience for him which he really needs. We hope he learns a lot too!

Easter Outfits...

2009-04-12T20:26:00.002-04:00

Here are some pictures we took after church in our Easter Outfits...

The Easter Bunny Was Here...

2009-04-12T09:25:00.003-04:00

The kids were so excited about the Easter bunny coming...they went to bed extra-early and it was so easy getting them to bed. This is what they found when they woke up... We had a very good time celebrating Jesus. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then we went to church. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

Coloring Easter Eggs...

2009-04-11T20:24:00.003-04:00

Today we finally got around to coloring Easter Eggs...

(Notice Ezra has to try to taste it...eeww...)

Elijah is going to be a Ring Bearer...

2009-04-11T19:23:00.003-04:00

Today Elijah got a package in the mail. When he opened it it was a neat spiderman transformer toy , candy, and a card with a picture in it. It was from His 2nd cousin Joel and his fiance Jamielynne. They asked him to be the ring bearer in their wedding this October. Elijah was so excited!

Later Elijah made a video clip for them with his answer....

The Smith's are in Town...

2009-04-09T21:22:00.003-04:00

After we picked up Adrie from her Easter Party at school...we went to Nanny and Poppy's house for dinner. Aunt Becky and the twins came up from GA. and were there. We had tons of fun with them and it was so good to see them.

Adrie's Easter Party At Preschool...

2009-04-09T19:21:00.004-04:00

Today Adrielle had her Easter Party at preschool...she had so much fun!

Here she is all dressed and looking so pretty....

Playing Games...

Craft time...

Hunting eggs...

Ezra is 2!!!

2009-04-05T19:20:00.004-04:00

Today we celebrated Ezra's 2nd Birthday! I can't believe my baby is 2. He wanted an Elmo party. We just did a very small party this year. Poppy and Nanny came over to help celebrate. He was so cute blowing out his candles on his own...well at least one of them...Elijah wanted to help so bad. Happy Birthday baby boy! You'll never know how much I love you!

Missing Daddy...

2009-04-01T23:45:00.002-04:00

Today the kids actually asked to go home. They were missing daddy. Before we left Indiana Ezra had crawled into the laundry basket and fell asleep....it was so sweet. He loves laundry baskets. Daddy was so excited when we returned home. We actually surprised him. He thought we'd be gone longer.

Today is Mommy and Alysha's Birthday ...

2009-03-29T19:15:00.005-04:00

Today Grammy and Papa took us to the "Boat House" restaurant (yummy) after church to celebrate me and my niece Alysha's birthday. I turned 33 this year and Alysha turned 8. She was born on the exact same day as me! A lot of people think she could be my daughter too...she sort of looks like me (poor thing). Later that evening we went to her house for her birthday party. She had a basketball themed birthday. It was a good time. It has been a very long time since I have been able to celebrate my birthday in Indiana. It was a great birthday present for me...I love spending time with family.

Indiana visit...

2009-03-28T16:27:00.003-04:00

This weekend we left to go to Indiana. We met Grammy and Papa in Indianapolis and picked them up from the Triton State Basketball game and then stopped at Chucky Cheese on the way to their house. The kids had a blast! This was our first experience at Chucky Cheese and one we will not forget. The kids loved it (I think Grammy and Papa had just as much fun)! After that we made our way to Papa and Grammy's house. We have no certain time we have to be back so we are gonna have fun!

Busy, Busy, Tooth Fairy...

2009-03-22T11:12:00.003-04:00

This morning Elijah woke up to find that the tooth fairy had brought him $2.00 and left him another letter. He is sure keeping the tooth fairy really busy! He got a toy and $2.00 for the first tooth because it was such a special tooth and the second tooth he got money only. We went to Target and bought a small Star Wars Lego kit with the tooth fairy money. It was just burning in his pocket and he had to go spend it. He knew exactly what he wanted to get too. He looks so cute with two missing teeth.

Elijah Pulled His Second Tooth Out....

2009-03-21T16:11:00.004-04:00

Tonight before bed Elijah was determined to get his second tooth out. He really wanted the tooth fairy to come again tonight. After about 20 minutes of tugging....he finally pulled his second tooth out. He was so excited to use his tooth pillow again tonight and couldn't wait till morning to see what the tooth fairy would bring this time....

The Tooth Fairy Visited Elijah....

2009-03-21T09:30:00.004-04:00

The tooth fairy visited us last night! Elijah was so excited to put his tooth he lost in the new tooth pillow we made and put the tooth pillow under his regular pillow. When he woke up he found a new G.I. Joe and $2.00 in the pocket of his tooth pillow! The tooth fairy even wrote him a letter. He was so excited. My little baby boy is growing up way to fast!

Elijah Lost His First Tooth!

2009-03-20T16:07:00.003-04:00

Today we realized Elijah's bottom tooth was very loose and we could see the new one coming in. I told him he had to get the old tooth out to give the new tooth space to come in. He was so nervous but said...I will do it mommy. He worked at it for quite awhile. Then he got a wash cloth and finally yanked it out. He was SO excited! He pulled out his first tooth! He can not wait till the tooth fairy comes tonight!

Elijah's First Soccer Practice...

2009-03-17T22:49:00.002-04:00

Today Elijah had his first soccer pratice. He is playing in the LMYSA league. He looked so adorable in all his soccer gear! He was a little nervous but got right in there and played. We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather too. Let's hope it stays that way!

Army guys and dollhouses....

2009-03-14T20:00:00.001-04:00

Today I was sitting here at the computer and the kids were quietly playing all together. It is not often that this happens in our house. I went to go check on them and they were all playing together and working things out. They were playing with army guys and with the dollhouse. Adrielle wanted Elijah to play dollhouse with her and Elijah wanted Adrielle to play with army men with him...so they worked it out! Even little Ezra joined in the fun and the other two didn't mind. Too funny! I love to see them all play together and compromise like this!

Off to Pre-school she goes!

2009-03-12T16:20:00.002-04:00

We can't believe that we only have a little over 2 months left of pre-school. Time flies by! She has learned and grown so much this school year. I thought Adrie looked so cute , I just had to take a picture. Daddy was getting ready to take her to school today and she was waiting by the door for him to take her. She just loves school and can't wait to go. I hope it stays like that for her!

BRR-PANE!!!!!!!

2009-03-10T16:02:00.005-04:00

Today we spent more time outside. Ezra's new thing is to point to every airplane (or sometimes birds) in the sky and screams (and I mean scream..) "brr-pane!" (That is Ezra's way of saying airplane). He gets so excited! He loves airplanes right now (notice his "arr-pane" shirt he is wearing). So cute to see him explore the world outside. I love his age right now. Just so curious about everything. The kids all had a fun time playing outside. We love these touches of spring time weather...can't wait till it stays warmer.

What a beautiful Day!!!

2009-03-09T20:42:00.004-04:00

Today was just so pretty outside so I decided to plan a special day for the kiddos. Daddy is on Lay-off again this week, so he got to come too! We had some errands to run and then Will and I surprised the kids by taking them to Cottell Park in Mason. They love this park. It is fairly new and we haven't been there very often. We also packed our lunch and had a picnic. We had a great time. After the fun at the park, we went to the Mason Library and read books and checked out lots of books and movies to take home. What a great day. I love spending the day just with our family...so fun!

Adrielle and Gus part 2...

2009-03-06T17:17:00.002-05:00

Adrielle got to bring gus home from preschool again... here is what they did together this time (this is also what we wrote in Gus's journal)...

Adrielle had another fantastic time with Gus. She was so excited when she came out of class Tuesday! Her mommy was watching her friends Joshua and Laura for the day. Laura and Adrielle played with Gus when they got home and they watched a movie together. Gus really liked all of Adrielle’s new toys from Christmas and her birthday.
On Wednesday Gus got to go to story time at the library with Adrielle and her brother Elijah. They read a book and talked about the letter “S”. They also made a neat craft. Gus really liked story time. Gus even helped Adrielle pick out some neat books at the library to borrow and bring to her house. Later in the day Adrielle also took Gus to the park with her. It was a warm and sunny day. It was almost like spring time weather. Gus really liked being outside.
Each night Gus got to sleep in Adrielle’s baby doll crib. He loved it. He said it was so comfortable. Adrie tucked him in and gave him lots of hugs and kisses. Adrielle had a great time with Gus and he will be greatly missed. Thanks for visiting our family Gus!

2 Wiggly Teeth!

2009-02-19T17:35:00.001-05:00

Elijah with all his teeth (but 2 are wiggly)....

Today Elijah noticed his bottom 2 teeth were wiggling! He was so excited! Most of his close friends have lost some teeth, and Elijah couldn't wait for his own teeth to start getting loose. We talked about the tooth fairy and I showed him the tooth pillow I used as a child. He was so excited! I told him that he could use my tooth pillow when he lost his teeth. After showing him my tooth pillow, he looked at me very sadly and said "Mommy I don't want to hurt your feelings, but that is a girl tooth pillow. Do you have any boy ones?" I laughed inside but then told him that we'd go on a special date and pick out material to make him a boy tooth pillow. (Probably all the lace on it just didn't set well with him). We ended up going to Wal-mart and he picked out a sports and plain green material for his pillow. We even put a baseball print ribbon on it so he could hang it in his room when he wasn't using it. He helped me make it and was so excited when it was finished...now he just needs to get those teeth out so he can try it out!

The new tooth pillow...

My old pillow I used as a child...the one to "girly" for Elijah...

Neighborhood playground...

2009-02-18T20:40:00.000-05:00

Today it was somewhat nice enough to go outside and play! The kids and I had a great time. It seemed like ages since we had been here!

Last day in Indiana...

2009-02-15T23:29:00.001-05:00

Today we went to church with Grammy and then we went to the Memorial service for Aunt Doris. She will be greatly missed. After the service we came back to Papa and Grammy's house. Uncle Troy had made yummy lasagna for us to eat for dinner. We also celebrated Papa's 60th Birthday. It really isn't until the 19th but we wanted to celebrate with him while we were here. Aunt Sarah had made him his favorite...pineapple upside down cake. After celebrating we visited for a bit and then had to pack and get ready to go back home. I thought it'd be easier to drive at night while the kiddos slept! I got to listen to my own music and didn't have to stop once. It made the trip home seem a whole lot faster. We had a good time in IN, but there just never seems to be enough time to see everyone we'd like to.

Valentine's Day in Indiana...

2009-02-14T22:54:00.002-05:00

This morning we left to go to Indiana. We have a lot planned in such a short amount of time. We are only staying till tomorrow night. We first were planning to go to the memorial service for Aunt Doris on Sunday, but also thought we'd go a day earlier so that we could attend Alysha's basketball game, and Javan's birthday party. We had a great time on Saturday. We were able to just make it to Alysha's basketball game. I thought I took pictures, but when I uploaded my photo's they weren't on the card...bummer! Take my word for it, she was so adorable out there. She is so quick and a really good ball-handler too! After the ball game we headed over to Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Terri's house for Javan's birthday party. He had a spider man themed party. He was so excited about his party. It was so cute just to watch his expressions. He even dressed up in his costume for us. We had a yummy taco dinner at their house.

After Javan's party, it was getting late so we went back to Papa and Grammy's house and we all got our pj's on watched a little bit of a movie (Toy Story 2 of course). Here is Papa and Ezra snuggling...so sweet! The kids all fell asleep pretty fast. We had a great day!

In Memory of Great Aunt Doris...

2009-02-11T12:37:00.000-05:00

You will be greatly missed Great Aunt Doris!

http://www.hahnfuneralhomes.com/obituaries.php

(Aunt Doris was Grandma Kay's oldest sister.)

Scooter Fun...

2009-02-08T16:33:00.000-05:00

Today it felt like spring! While Ezra was napping, the kids decided to go on a scooter ride. They were so cute scooting up and down the sidewalks. Adrie got to use her new scooter she got from her birthday for the first time outside. She did pretty good on it too :) We also had a great time playing with our walkie-talkies. It was so fun to be able to play outside again. We were starting to get cabin fever!

Adrielle's Family Birthday Party...

2009-01-31T20:39:00.008-05:00

This weekend we celebrated Adrielle's 4th birthday with the family. Nanny, Poppy, Great Aunt Bootsie, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Troy, Aunt Jackie, cousin Whitney, cousin Gabe, Grammy, and Papa all came to our house. Adrie had so much fun and received tons of very nice gifts! Thanks so much to everyone who came. Adrielle told me before bed that she felt so special because everyone came to her party. I think she was thrilled to have everyone doting on her. I hope she realizes just how much she is loved and how grateful we all are to have her in our lives. Her birthday and everyday with her is such a blessing. I still can't believe she is 4. Time goes way to fast. I love you Shoobie...always and forever!

Adrielle's 4th Birthday Party!

2009-01-29T22:18:00.007-05:00

Today my precious little girl turned 4. I can hardly believe it! She is so grown up in so many ways. She was supposed to have school today but it was cancelled...snow day. She was so bummed. She was looking forward to celebrating with all of her friends. We were still able to make it to her 4 year old check-up. She is growing and doing just perfect! She was 36 pounds and 40 inches tall. She got a special birthday book from Dr. Irvin. We had also planned to have a birthday party at McDonald's for her with two of her little friends. One of them could not make it, so we debated cancelling, but decided to bare it and have it anyways. We all had a great time! Her friend Laura and Laura's brother Joshua were able to come. We had a late lunch, cupcakes, ice-cream, and opened gifts. Then we let the kids play on the play equipment for a while.

After our fun at McDonald's we all decided to go sledding at Laura's house. We dropped off Ezra to stay with daddy while we went. We had a great time. We had hot chocolate afterwards. This was their first time sledding. I think it was a hit! (The video clip is posted below). We are going to have to invest in a sled soon. After a fun day of birthday fun, we all settled down in our pj's and watched Adrie's new dvd she got from Laura..."Abby in Wonderland". She had an "Abby Cadabby" themed party so it fit right in. The movie was a huge hit! I think she will remember this birthday for a long time. We are planning to have another "family" birthday party for her this weekend. Happy Birthday baby girl! I love you more than you'll ever know!

The kids all playing together...

2009-01-26T18:22:00.003-05:00

Today as I was putting clean laundry away, I heard the kids playing and laughing together. I love moments like this. It is very rare when they all three are playing together and having fun. They were giving Ezra a ride in the Lego box. I got the video clip towards the tail end of it and Ezra was starting to get tired of the game...but he was having a blast.

Poor Elijah...

2009-01-25T16:18:00.010-05:00

We had to take Elijah to the urgent care again today. This time it is his ear. I guess his ear drum had burst. Ouch! He was in a huge amount of pain Saturday night. He even vomited because of the pain. Of course this kind of stuff always seems to happen on the weekend. Hope he feels better real soon...poor little guy!

Lunch with my boys...

2009-01-22T16:18:00.001-05:00

Today while Adrielle was at preschool, I took the boys to "Chik-fil-A" for lunch. We had a blast! It was so busy...but we still had fun. I had to go through the play equipment too...to catch Ezra. He is so brave and does everything Elijah does...even if he is to little. He got himself stuck a few times. It was so cute to see them play together. We also went shopping for Adrielle's birthday present afterwards. We had a great time.

Little Ezra is sick....

2009-01-13T16:18:00.001-05:00

Today we had to take Ezra to the Doctor. He has had a cold, but it turned into Pneumonia! He scared us for a while! He was very wheezy and was struggling to breath. The Doctor gave him a breathing treatment and he responded very well to it. We have to do the breathing treatments/inhalers/antibiotics/mucenex at home and hopefully he will get better soon and won't have to be hospitalized! Looks like we will be staying in until he gets better!

Follow-up on Elijah....

2009-01-12T16:11:00.001-05:00

Elijah's test results came back totally normal! We are sooooo thankful! He does have signs of acid reflux (which we already knew) and is lactose intolerant. But these tests showed no other allergies or conditions. The next step would be to have a colonoscopy done. I think we are going to wait on this though. Poor guy has been through so much this year. His stomach is still bothering him...but it hasn't seemed to be as bad here lately.

Daddy's Birthday...

2009-01-10T15:47:00.004-05:00

This weekend we celebrated daddy's birthday. His actual birthday is on the 13th. We had lots of fun baking a cake for him. We got him a Playstation 3 for his birthday. Happy Birthday Daddy! Hope it was a good one!

Elijah's Same Day Surgery...

2009-01-08T17:01:00.003-05:00

Today Elijah had an upper endoscopy done at Children's Hospital downtown Cincinnati. He did very well! Dr. Ferrel didn't see any visual signs of anything to be alarmed about so now we will have to wait for the biopsy lab work to come back. We just want to try to put an end to all these stomach troubles. Poor little guy! His upper GI he had done came back abnormal, but this time around everything looked okay (PTL!) We will keep you updated. Thanks so much Nanny and Poppy for coming and watching Adrie and Ezra for us. I know it was an early morning. We REALLY appreciate it!

Air Force Museum...

2009-01-02T23:33:00.003-05:00

Today we went to the Air Force Museum with the Stafford family and Nanny and Poppy. It was so neat! We were very impressed. The kids really enjoyed it and so did we. Will and I said we want to go back sometime without kids so we can actually read all the stuff and enjoy it a little more. Ezra even did pretty good. It was a long day for him and he usually gets a little restless in the stroller, but he actually did pretty good as long as we kept moving. After the museum, Aunt Jackie had us come to the house for dinner. We had yummy home-made vegetable soup and salad. We had a great time. Thanks so much Stafford family!

New Year's Day...

2009-01-01T23:12:00.000-05:00

Happy New Years everyone! Today is Aunt Sandra's birthday. She turned 40 today! Her husband (Uncle David) planned a surprise birthday party for her at Abuelo's. It was so good to see all the family. We had a great time. Happy Birthday Aunt Sandra!

New Years Eve...

2008-12-31T23:50:00.004-05:00

We didn't do much this New Years Eve. We went to the Kemper's house earlier in the day for a play date, but then just had our own little party at our house tonight. Elijah actually stayed up long enough to see the ball drop! Adrielle didn't quite make it. Here are a few pictures from the day/night...

Ezra playing the hormonica at the Kemper's house
He finally figured it out...(oh, no for us).

Adrielle Fast Asleep...

Elijah trying so hard to stay awake to see the ball drop...

Adrielle singing at her party for Jesus at school...

2008-12-27T18:51:00.001-05:00

Here is the promised video clip...
Her party was actually on Dec. 18 2008...Sorry It took so long to get this on here. I had trouble downloading it for some reason.

Christmas Day...JESUS IS BORN...Santa was here!

2008-12-25T21:52:00.000-05:00

Santa was here! We had such a great Christmas this year. It was priceless watching the kids open all the gifts. They were so excited and thankful for everything. They played all day today with all of their new stuff. We had a very relaxing day today. We just stayed home and played all day. It was so fun! Ezra really loved opening gifts this year. He was so cute and so curious. I sure love Christmas time. The kids all sang happy birthday to Jesus and we had yummy cinnamon rolls for breakfast to celebrate his birthday. Daddy made yummy chili for us today too. We all were so blessed this year.

What they saw when the woke up -----------Their stockings and newly dressed build-a-bears

Adrielle's new pink doll stroller---------------The boys checking out the new army guy stuff

Showing off the new gifts---------------------------- Ezra checking out his stocking

Adrie in her new tent with all her new stuff---------- Ezra checking out his new gifts

Christmas Eve...

2008-12-24T01:24:00.001-05:00

The kids were so excited when they woke up this morning. They have been counting down the days on their nativity advent calendar. They finally got to put up baby Jesus tonight. They also were so excited about Santa coming. We made cookies for him and gave him egg nog and custard. They also fed the reindeer. Here is the letter they wrote for him...

Dear Santa,
We hope you like the egg nog, cookies, and custard. We love you Santa. We have our Santa jammies on for you. We hope you give us good toys. We will be thankful for the presents and for you Santa. Please be careful tonight. Adrie wishes you a very Merry Christmas. Elijah says don't eat to much tonight. Make sure your reindeer eat as much food as they can. We put food on the lawn for them. Have a great night and we love you. We are so thankful for you giving all the children toys.

Love, Elijah, Adrielle, and Ezra

It was so cute writing this for them. They had so many ideas to write, and it took us a long time to get it just right. They went to bed so easily tonight. They knew they had to be asleep before Santa would come. We can't wait to see their faces tomorrow morning! Thanks so much Stafford family for the pj's! They looked so cute on the kids! They couldn't wait to wear them.

Christmas jammies...

Getting ready to feed the reindeer...

Feeding the reindeer...

Putting cookies, custard and egg nog out for Santa...

Christmas With Nanny and Poppy...

2008-12-23T20:39:00.004-05:00

Today Nanny and Poppy invited us over for an early Christmas dinner. She made chicken and dumplings and all the "fixins". It was so delicious!!! We love old fashioned home cooked meals like that. She even gave us tons of left-overs (which by the way were all gone by the next day). We also opened gifts which were totally unexpected. Adrielle and Elijah got DVDs and Ezra got a snail toy. They got Will and I a gift certificate to Carrabba's which includes Nanny and Poppy's babysitting service, which we can't wait to use. Thanks so much for everything Nanny and Poppy! Merry Christmas, we love you!

Christmas in Indiana...

2008-12-22T19:02:00.019-05:00

We traveled to Indiana on Friday night (Dec. 19) to go to Papa and Grammy's for Christmas. We all were pretty excited about seeing everyone. Grammy and Papa planned to celebrate early so we could be home in time for Santa. On Sat. everyone came to Papa and Grammy's. We had a delicious dinner. It was so nice to visit with family and be back in Indiana for a bit. We also got to meet Sadie Belle for the first time. (Who, by the way, is absolutely adorable!) Adrielle has been begging for a little sister ever since. On Sunday night Will and I went on a double date with Jeremy and Terri. We went out to dinner and then bowling. It was a lot of fun! Thank you so much Grammy and Papa for babysitting all the grand kids (ALL 7 of them). Then we headed for home. We miss being there already...we had a great time.

.....1. All the grand kids.....2. All the grand kids + Sadie....3. Javan AKA "spiderman"

.....4. Papa and Grammy......5. Elijah and Sadie Belle......6. The Warner Family.......

....7. Adrie opening gifts...... 8.Elijah and his new toys.......9.The Steuck Family.....

Adrielle's Preschool Party for Jesus...

2008-12-18T12:17:00.002-05:00

Today we all went to Adrielle's Christmas party for Jesus at her school. She had a great time. Nanny and Papaw even came to watch. They had Christmas Chapel and then snacks to eat in her classroom afterwards. They had a book exchange too. The class also sang some songs for us. It was so cute. Adrie was so excited to have us all watch her sing. She did a great job! She is really going to miss all of her freinds and her teachers over the break. She loves school! I will be posting a video of her singing soon...

Swimming at the YMCA...

2008-12-17T12:05:00.003-05:00

Today we decided to go to the "Y" to swim. Daddy had never been there before and we had a couple of guest passes to use. The Kempers came over to our house to play, and to open Christmas gifts the kids had made for each other, then we all went to swim afterwards. We had a great time!

Christmas Greetings To All...

2008-12-17T00:08:00.002-05:00

We Want To Wish Everyone A Very Merry Christmas

And A Happy New Year!

My Gingerbread House

2008-12-10T21:05:00.001-05:00

Adrielle made a gingerbread house at school today (Tues. Dec. 2) and was sooo excited about it. She had so much fun! She asked me to take a picture of it before she ate it all and it didn't look pretty anymore. This is a short video of her talking about it.

First Snow of the Year...

2008-12-07T17:15:00.002-05:00

Yesterday it started snowing and it actually stuck to the ground! We went outside and played in it today. Mommy dreaded getting us ready...she knew we would complain about all the bundling up, but daddy finally convinced her into helping us get ready. (Notice Adrie is still able to wear the snowsuit Grandma Kay made for mommy when mommy was a little girl...so cute!) We actually stayed outside much longer that mommy thought we would. We had a blast making "snow castles". Ezra napped while we were outside...maybe the next snow he can join in on the fun.

Grammy's Surprise Birthday Dinner...

2008-12-05T11:13:00.004-05:00

Last night we drove to Anderson IN. to meet the family to surprise Grammy for her birthday. Papa planned it all out. We met them about half way (2 hours). We met Uncle Troy and Aunt Sarah at our church and we all car- pooled together. Grammy was so excited! We all met at Cracker Barrel. The May family, Aunt Ginger, Claire, and her friend were also there. The kids loved to see their cousins. On the way home Ezra got sick serveral times...I think he had a little 12 hr. virus. Thanks so much for helping out and sooo very sorry Aunt Sarah and Uncle Troy! We had a great time! (Except for the ride home ). Hope you had a very Happy Birthday Grammy, we love you!!

Rub-a-dub 3 in the tub...

2008-12-04T13:25:00.001-05:00

Three in the tub...today we were in a hurry to get baths, so I had them all get in together.

I won't be able to do this much longer! What a tight fit!

The Boys...(and sugar too)

2008-11-29T20:47:00.001-05:00

After Church tonight Will wanted to have a picture taken of "the boys." He loves it when they dress a like. But of course Daddy wanted one of sugar too (sugar is the nickname daddy has given Adrielle). She hasn't been feeling the best. She is recovering from strep-throat and scarlet fever.

Decorating the tree...

2008-11-28T15:47:00.001-05:00

It has been a tradition to put the Christmas tree up the Friday after Thanksgiving. The kids could not wait! They were so excited! We waited until Ezra took a nap. He was excited to see everything once he woke up. He walked around and pointed to all the decorations and said "pretties".

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T23:47:00.000-05:00

We had a great time today. We spent the day with family and eating good food! I actually forgot to take pictures, but here are some from my nieces. Cousin Cassie also spent the night with us. We had so much fun catching up!

Afternoon Drive...

2008-11-23T17:47:00.000-05:00

Today we all needed to get out of the house so we went on a drive. Will wanted to go and see a house he would love to own, and then we went to the park and let the kids play for a while. The kids all ended up falling asleep in the car. Ezra looked so adorable and peaceful.

Pre-school Pictures...

2008-11-21T12:47:00.002-05:00

Adrielle's 3 year old pre-school photos...

Adrielle and Gus...

2008-11-11T21:38:00.002-05:00

This week Adrielle got to have a turn to bring Gus home with her. Gus is the stuffed fish friend from preschool. She had so much fun with him. She cried when she had to take him back to school. We hope we will get another turn soon Gus!

This is what we wrote in Gus's journal...

Adrielle was so excited to bring Gus home with her! We all had lots of fun with Gus. Here are a few of the things Gus did with us:

Thursday: Adrie’s friend Claire came over for a play date and dinner. They had so much fun playing with Gus. We had pizza for dinner…Gus ate so much pizza!
Friday: On Friday it is cleaning day at our house. Gus helped Adrielle clean her room. They did a great job. Adrielle said Gus was a great helper. Every Friday in our house is “Family Friday Fun Night”. We all went to the library and picked out a movie and then we came home and made brownies together. After we all got our pj’s on we watched a movie together as a family and ate popcorn, brownies, and had juice boxes. Gus and Adrielle ended up falling a sleep on the couch during the movie. They were so tired! Saturday: On Saturday we all went to Meijer’s and got groceries. Gus didn’t like grocery shopping but he did like all of the fish tanks there. Adrie’s daddy even let Adrie, Elijah, and Gus pick out a new fish for the aquarium we have at our house. They picked out a “Peacock Eel”. Gus loved to watch our aquarium we have at our house. We had to really watch him though. We were afraid he might jump in. That night Adrie took Gus to church with her. They learned about God’s Promise’s in her class. (Her class is actually in the preschool room). Gus loved church! Sunday: On Sunday Gus went with us to the Otterbein Nursing Home. Adrielle visited with her two great Grandmothers who live there. Mamaw Rhodus and Mamaw Stocker loved Gus. They thought he was very colorful. After our visit, we all went to Best Buy and bought a new computer.
Monday: On Monday we went to Nanny and Poppy’s house for dinner. They always have M&M’s waiting for us in the special toy drawer at their house. Adrielle shared her candy with Gus. He loves chocolate!
Tuesday: Today Adrielle woke up and realized it was the day she had to take Gus back to school. She was so sad. Gus reassured her he never ever would forget all the time they had shared together and that he loved her. He said he was going to miss her too.
We all had a great time with Gus and we will miss him. Thanks for staying with us Gus!

Brunch at Mimi's Cafe...

2008-11-08T18:35:00.006-05:00

My good friend Kelly Butler and her family came in to town for the weekend and we were able to meet up with them this morning for brunch. (We missed you Charlie). My kids had never met Brooklyn in person before...they loved her! The Simko Family was also able to meet with us. They met Kelly and Brooklyn through my blog an couldn't wait to meet them in person too. Little Brooklyn is a huge inspiration all of us! We all had a great time. It was so good to catch up Kelly. Brooklyn is beautiful! I wish we had the whole weekend to catch up! It was also so good to catch up with you too Jessica! I'll call you soon and we will have to set up a play date for these boys soon. Elijah has been talking about wanting to play with Jason again non-stop :)

Our little runner...

2008-11-02T18:10:00.001-05:00

Papa and Grammy are still visiting with us, but they are leaving later today. We are so sad. We all have so much fun when they are here. This morning when Papa woke up, he got all ready for his morning run. Elijah demanded to go too. Papa said he could go but he had to get his running gear on. He was so excited! Papa taught him how to warm up first and then off they went! Papa said he ran a good 1 1/2 to 2 miles! I could hardly believe it! He said he only had to stop and walk a couple of times. Papa couldn't believe how well he did for his first time. He taught him how to pace himself while running. When they came back from his run, he helped him cool down and then Papa was ready to go for his real run (about 5-6 more miles). Elijah cried because he wanted to go back out with him. We told him we didn't want him to over do it on his first time. He really had a great time! He says he wants to keep practicing so he can win a trophy...so cute! We will miss Papa and Grammy. We had a great time with you both!

Halloween!!!

2008-10-31T23:36:00.004-04:00

This year for Halloween we invited Papa and Grammy to come and spend the weekend with us. On Halloween night we had a bon-fire at our house after we went trick-or-treating. The Kemper family, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Troy came over too! Sarah and Troy handed out candy at our house for us while we went trick-or treating. (Thanks again Troy and Sarah!) The kids all had a blast trick-or-treating. Elijah really got the hang of it this year and wasn't shy at all. He and his best buddy Ben were so excited and were running from house to house. Adrie did well too! She and Claire had a great time together. Ezra and Joscie mostly rode in the wagon and watched. Ezra went up to a few houses. They all got tons of candy. Afterwards we all went back to our house and Papa started a fire for us. We had hot dogs, campfire pizza, marshmallows, pudgy pies, pumpkin pie, apple cider and lots of other good food. We had a blast!

Oh yeah...today also was a very special day...Elijah no longer has to wear his brace full-time! He only needs to wear it when he is doing something physical. He got his cast off 4 weeks ago. The Doctor really wanted him to be back in a cast for a few more weeks, but his skin on his arm was in such bad shape he was afraid to do so. He put Elijah in a brace full time, but told him he had to be really careful for a few more weeks. He had a brace on his arm for the last 4 weeks, but now his arm is mostly all better! Now we just have to do some therapy to get it stronger and get his movement in his wrist and hand back to normal. Elijah is so excited to have his arm back to normal. It was a long summer/fall for the little guy. Now...no more broken bones, PLEASE!

Halloween Costumes...

2008-10-30T16:38:00.001-04:00

We had lots of fun picking out costumes for halloween this year. Elijah went as "BUZZ LIGHTYEAR", Adrielle dressed up as "HELLO KITTY", and lil' Ezra went as "ROO" from winnie the pooh. They looked so adorable!

Carving Pumpkins...

2008-10-27T15:02:00.000-04:00

We had so much fun carving pumpkins this year! Ezra was napping while

we were carving. Maybe he'll be old enough to join the fun next year :)

Ezra's 18 month photos...

2008-10-25T17:58:00.001-04:00

Ezra turned 18 months on the 5 of this month. Here are Ezra's 18 month photos...they didn't turn out great, but he did pretty well. We had to have his picture taken with his "aahhh" (his special blanket). He demanded to have it. We at least got a couple without it :)

Whitney's 21st Birthday Bash...

2008-10-18T11:31:00.005-04:00

Last night we celebrated Whitney's birthday. She turned 21! We also celebrated Justin coming back from Iraq safe and sound. My sister Sarah came over and watched the kids so I could celebrate with Whitney. Will was at work. Whitney had a limo and all. I decided to drive on my own though just in case I had to leave earlier then they all planned to. We started off by going to Macaroni Grill (me and Whitney's favorite), then to Dave and Buster's. I had to leave after that, but they continued to celebrate else where. It was a great time...and awesome food! It was so nice to have a break from the kids and see the family and friends. Thanks so much Sarah for driving all the way up here to watch the kids for me, Love ya! Also....Happy Birthday Whitney, we love you! And....WELCOME BACK JUSTIN, we missed you so much!

Web Site is Finished!

2008-10-14T11:31:00.002-04:00

I finally finished the web site for Poppy and Nanny. This was the first time I have ever done something like this. I learned a lot! I hope you like it Jack and Betty! We some how managed to get it done:) I hope it helps your business out too...Enjoy! I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon to teach you how to update it and such :) Check it out by clicking the link below:

http://www.plainandsimpleantiques.com/

Dinner over a campfire...

2008-10-12T23:31:00.001-04:00

Tonight we decided to surprize the kids and have a campfire in our back yard.. We had a loads of fun. We roasted marshmallows and cooked our hot dogs over the fire. Ezra was very curious about the fire and we really had to watch him because he wanted to touch it so bad! So, he ended up going to bed a little early so we could enjoy the rest of our night with out having to watch his every move. The kids have been asking to do this again almost every night...I guess it was a big hit! We had fun taking our pictures in the dark :)

My little helper...

2008-10-06T11:31:00.001-04:00

Adrie is starting to be such a little helper. Today after breakfast she helped me dust mop. And was happy to help! I'm sure these days are going to go by to quickly and I bet she won't always be so eager to help. So, I will just have to enjoy them while they last :) Doesn't she look like a little Cinderella here?

Pumpkin Festival...

2008-10-04T22:31:00.002-04:00

Today we went to the pumpkin festival. We have gone every year since they have started it (3 years now). We played games, took a hayride, and picked out pumpkins. It was so much fun. Nanny and Poppy came with us this year. The kids had a blast! After the pumpkin festival fun we came home and ate yummy food Nanny had brought for us and then I spent the rest of the night on the computer designing the web site for Jack (poppy) and their business. This is my first time doing this so we are slowly getting it finished. Stay tuned for the future website post :) We had a great day!

Ice Cream Truck

2008-09-28T11:22:00.001-04:00

Today while Adrielle and Ezra were taking a nap, Elijah and Daddy were sitting out on the front porch and heard the ice cream truck music. Elijah got so excited and asked daddy if he could get some ice cream. Daddy gave in and said yes. He ran and got some cash and flagged the ice cream truck to stop. Elijah picked out a spider man ice cream bar with bubblegum eyes! He was so happy! This was a big secret from sis though :)

Adrielle got her ears pierced!!!

2008-09-27T10:53:00.004-04:00

Today we all needed to get out of the house so we decided to go to Cincinnati Mills Mall and walk around. The kids love that mall. They love to play on the play equipment in the mall and look around at all the displays (animals) in Bass Pro-shop. We just got done playing and we were walking towards Bass Pro-Shop when Adrie spotted Claire's. She stopped and turned towards Will and begged to get her ears-pierced. Will just couldn't resist his sweet little girl and said OK...only if she was ready to do it. He explained to her that it was going to hurt. She was so brave and said she didn't care. He told her we'd go to Bass Pro-shop first and give her time to really think about it. And if she still wanted to do it, then we'd stop back at Claire's before we went home. Well, she still wanted to get it done so back to Claire's we went. She picked out little pink flower studs. She wanted to sit on my lap. She tried so hard to be super brave. She got a little timid when the lady actually was all ready. Elijah started to tear up because he knew it was going to hurt her. She cried for just a second, but when she realized it was over and the earrings were actually in, she was all smiles :) She was so excited and couldn't wait to call and tell everybody once we got home. She looks so cute with earrings.

Another fun visit to Indiana!

2008-09-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

Thursday was a big day. Adrie had school and after we picked her up we went to Children's hospital for 2 appointments. Ezra had a follow-up appointment for his ears and Elijah had an appointment for his arm. Ezra's ears are perfect! No more fluid and the tubes are doing great...yea! Elijah had a few x-rays taken and his arm is starting to do a lot better! They took off his red cast and he chose a new blue one with green stripes...and this time he got to get a water- proof cast. After the appointments were over, the kids and I drove to Indiana to visit Papa and Grammy. We got there very late Thursday night. We had tons of fun over the weekend. Friday morning Papa took our SUV up to the shop to work on it (thanks so much Papa!) Later that day my best friend Jamie, and her two kids Corbin and Emma, picked us up and we all went to McDonald's. It was so nice to catch up with her. Grammy babysat Ezra so I didn't have to chase him around. Jamie and I actually got to have a conversation while the kids all played! After that, Elijah went to his Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Terri's house for a sleepover. His cousin Alysha sent him an invitation to come over earlier in the week. He had so much fun. Saturday was old fashioned days in the little town of Etna Green so, Papa, Grammy, Adrie, Ezra and I went up and enjoyed the festivities. Then later that night Terri and her kids, Grandma Kay, Papa, Grammy, and all of us went to a fish fry up at the park. It was so nice to visit with everyone. We played at the park afterwards. We had so much fun. Sunday we went to church and then headed for home. We drove home in the wind storm which was so scary, but made it home okay. We had a great weekend, but we missed daddy so much!

Elijah's new "WATER-PROOF" cast...

2008-09-15T23:00:00.001-04:00

This is the cast Elijah got put on last Thursday before we went to Indiana. Elijah loves his new cast. He can take showers again! He has to wear this one for at least another 4 weeks. He is doing really well with his right hand (he is usually left handed but this whole ordeal has forced him to become right handed). His movement in his fingers is getting a whole lot better too.

Fun with the Kemper kids...

2008-09-09T05:31:00.003-04:00

Today I offered to watch Tracy and Scott's kids for them so Tracy could go look for a rental place to live until their new home is built. The kids all play together so well. We love it when they come to play. We had tons of fun. Little Joscie was so sweet really clung to Adrie. She even wanted Adrie to hold her on the couch. They snuggled for quite awhile. It was so funny to watch Adrie be so motherly towards her. She is now begging for a little sister. She said she is tired of brothers. If only Ezra would just snuggle. Elijah was even lucky enough to get some short Joscie snuggles in too!

Cincinnati Zoo...

2008-09-07T17:28:00.005-04:00

Today we went to the zoo as a family. We all had so much fun. This was Ezra's first experience to the zoo. We will definitely have make a zoo trip more often. Ezra was so interested in everything! He loves animals. It was a beautiful day too. The weather was perfect! I think it was a huge hit for the whole family.