Company Carnival

We went to the Gen Mills company picnic/carnival the weekend. It was pretty fun. The weather was pretty good too. It wasn't too hot and there was a nice breeze which brought a little rain, but nothing we couldn't handle. Ben was playing at the playground when the rain hit and all the big kids started yelling, "get in the tunnels." Ben started running around outside the playground and yelling, "det ee da tunnel dies" translation "get it the tunnel guys!" It was so funny because he was getting rained on while he was trying to save the other kids.
The boys all started out riding the small ferris wheel. Noah and Jakob had fun even though they hit their heads and stuff. Ben, on the other hand, had a good time until about two rounds from the end and he started crying, so the guy let him out. There were tons of fun activities. Jakob was so responsible and kept an eye on Noah the whole time and made sure he was getting through the tunnels and slides and everything.
Noah had fun too because he could run around and do everything that the bigger kids were doing.
All the boys ate a huge dinner of pancakes, bacon and biscuits at Bob Evans after the picnic and of course, slept so soundly.
Oh, and Steve won a door prize - a croquet set.
Oh and I almost forgot! Steve and his team won the 3 on 3 Basketball tournament as well.

Happy Anniversary!

I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my parents. 40 years ago today, they got married and have been together ever since! They met in 8th grade, and could still stand each other when they got married years later at 24!
They are a shining example, not only of 2 individuals, but of how 2 people can grow with each other over the years and still like each other - let alone love each other. In this day and age, that seems to be increasingly more difficult to find.
One of my fondest memories from growing up is of the 2 of them dancing in the kitchen to only the music in their hearts. I have hope that those are the kinds of memories our kids will have of me and Steve when we are celebrating our 40th!!
Anyway, Happy Anniversary! We love you!

By the way, these are the best, most recent pics I could find! They are 2 1/2 years old! And there aren't any pics of them together!

Captain Underpants

Ben has been doing a great job with potty training. We went to a friend's house to go swimming yesterday and he went in their potty. He's been able to go on the potty almost every time we put him there! I have figured out some of his ques and get him there in time most of the time. I hope that I have purchased my last package of diapers for him. Yay, Ben!!! He also loves wearing 'unweer' instead of diapers and being a big boy.

Zoo day

Jakob, Noah, Ben, and Aaron at the Columbus Zoo.
Aaron and Jakob were so excited to see each other when we picked Aaron up that I could tell that they wanted to hug each other or something, but they did 'boy hugs' and hit each other a little. Noah was really excited too.



All the boys had to touch a farm animal at the petting zoo so we could go on the train. This sheep had the craziest under bite! The boys were great they even brushed and combed some of the animals. We created a monster in Ben - he kept wanting to touch everything. He touched starfish in the touch pool, a ferret, and even a snake!







Jakob, Aaron, and a manatee. These were so cool and huge, too. This exhibit had manatees, rays, and tons of fish. For some reason Ben kept covering his ears when the manatees would get close. He did it by the elephants too, but I figured he thought they might be loud. I don't know why he did it at the manatees. I told him they don't make noise but he covered anyway!


This is Jakob's favorite animal. It's called an Okapi (oh - copy). He says it's half giraffe, half zebra, and half horse. Ummm.... It was pretty neat. It seemed to have the head of a giraffe, the legs of a zebra, and the body was a mix of the two. There was another one that had a longer neck than this one. According to the Zoo website, it's the size of a horse but more closely related to a giraffe.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy birthday, to you!
Happy birthday, to you!
Happy birthday, dear Jakob!!!
Happy birthday, to you!

Jakob is 7 today!!! I can't believe that it has already been 7 years since he came into the world in sunny Southern California. It was the best day of my life.
It is amazing to watch him grow and learn - and of course, he is the smartest 7 year old alive!!
We love Jakob so much.
He also finished the baseball season in 2nd place yesterday. His team lost to the Subway team 26-9! :{ Everybody was intimidated by them, so it was no wonder. And one of the Subway boys caught an unfortunate bounce from a really hard hit ball with his eye. It puffed up right away but he stayed around for pictures and trophies.
Still, we are extremely proud of Jakob and all his accomplishments.
Big day ahead, more later!

New project

Well, I have begun a new project in my life. I have become an Uppercase Living Demonstrator! It is fun and exciting home decorating expressions that can be put almost anywhere in your home and on nearly every surface. Anybody who knows me knows that I cannot paint to save my life, except maybe a flat wall (and let's face it who has the time to hand paint?), but these help put a little personality all over the place. They just stick up on walls, tiles, glass, and a whole lot of other stuff. I am excited to start this new endeavor and hope that everyone who reads this checks out uppercaseliving.com to find the expressions for your life.
I just finished my first project in the powder room and I love it. I can't wait for people to see it.

Something's missing!

Jakob finally lost tooth #3. Steve pulled Jakob's first top tooth Sunday. We've been working on it for about a month. Jakob was a little sad after school got out because he was the only one who didn't get his name on the lost tooth board. Which means that he's the only kid in his class that didn't lose a tooth at school. I guess his dental health is in pretty good shape!