Church Camp...

Church camp has changed since I was a grade school student....

Avery has been enjoying day camp this week at our church - Rock walls, Zip line, waterslides, flying monkey, euro bungee, singing, skits, and learning about God's word!

SpringHill Camps came to town and Avery has had so much fun.

Tomorrow, we have the celebration and ice cream social - she'll be tired!

The verse that has been their theme this week is:

"Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

It's so fun to hear about all that she has done each day.

Birthday Boy & Graduation Girl

We celebrated Austin's 4th birthday party over Memorial Day weekend with a basketball themed outdoor party. It was so hot that day and we all enjoyed the unplanned water fight in the backyard. We even had a vist from the Kona Ice truck to cool us all down.

My sweet little boy is getting so big! 4 just seems so old - just look at his 4 year pictures that we took over the weekend. He's all boy and loves to give his sister a hard time. This year he has learned to play soccer and t-ball and is finally enjoying riding his bike (last year he took a bad spill the first time out and didn't get back on the whole summer).

But he still loves to cuddle and gives the best hugs and kisses!

Friday, May 28th was Avery's last day of Kindergarten! Wow, that year went by quickly. The school had a small reception for the Kindergarten families and awarded each child a nice certificate.

Avery has learned so much this year - she's reading books, telling time, counting coins, and loves to draw pictures. She's been playing soccer for a few years now, and I've just started giving her piano lessons. She'll be headed to a week of Church Day Camp this summer along with Volleyball and Basketball summer camps at the high school. Busy Busy!

We're ready for 1st grade!

Earlier this month, I celebrated my 34th birthday, I shop in the big kids section at stores like Target and Old Navy(not baby or toddler section), I am 12 years older than the new college graduates that have started working in our hotels, and I listen to the oldies station on our radio at home (they played a Prince song the other day). I'm no spring chicken. :)

Road Trip

Saw this on Yahoo.com today and thought I'd add it to my bucket list.

America's Top 10 Road Trips

I've been on 3 of these already (Big Sur, Hana Highway, and Red Rock Arizona), so only 7 more to go!

Who's up for a Road Trip?

Survivor Finale

Survivor is a pretty big deal in our house. If you know us at all, you know never to call our house between 8-9pm on Thursday nights. You can, but you'll probably get voicemail. Jon and I have watched all 20 seasons! It just never gets old - best reality show out there, in my opinion.


Our neighbors are big fans, too. So in honor of the season finale of one of the best seasons in recent history, we had a little Survivor action in our backyard yesterday.

We had the neighbors over for dinner and then we all participated in a Survivor-like obstacle course. And yes, I do have a Survivor soundtrack CD. Pathetic, I know.

The kids had a ball, so did the parents! Team Princess even had a little turmoil within the team very similar to Team Heroes this year on the real Survivor - everyone wanted to be in charge.

Future Survivor contestant? Look at that concentration!

(and yes, in case I forgot my son's name, he still has his name tag on from church 7 hours earlier)

We ended with a puzzle! Guess who took home the Immunity Idol?

Team Princess! Way to go girlies!

Someday, maybe I'll submit an application for the real show, but until then I'll be okay watching from the comfort of my couch. Only about 3 1/2 months until season 21!

Happy Mother's Day

Avery brought this card home from school for Mother's Day.

Wonder what the teacher thought after reading #1?? :) Who's in charge, here?

Austin's class invited their Mommies for a tea party on Friday and they could show us around their class. Austin is drawing a Mother's Day picture on his little chalkboard. I'm so blessed to be able to be the Momma to these two little people. Certainly, it is not always easy, but at the end of the day when I'm tucking them into bed and giving hugs and kisses, and looking into their sweet little eyes, I know I am loved!

Thanks Avery, Austin, and Jonny for making it another special Mother's Day weekend~

I'm so lucky!

Little Fish

Over the past 2 1/2 days, Austin spent a total of nearly 4 hours doing this over and over in Indianapolis this weekend.

This boy has no fear! If he jumped once, he must have jumped 500 times.

Chasing the Winter Blues Away

If you are looking for a fun afternoon activity in the middle of the winter, here's a fun one -thanks to the creativity of my sister-in-law, Heather:

1) Separate into two teams - Men vs. Women

2) Create a suprise scavenger hunt list of 10-15 items that would be difficult, unique or embarrassing for the members of the opposite sex to find in your local super store.


3) Drive to your local super store and set a time limit

4) Document all found items with a digital camera- all members of team must be present.







5) After all items have been documented on camera, be the first to call the home phone number and leave a voicemail as a team, singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

Side notes: Strange glances, laughter, and smiles are to be expected.

Monday Musings

1) It's amusing to me that everyone brings out the flip flops and summer clothes as soon as it hits 45 degrees in Northern Indiana!

2) It takes me all day on Monday to get focused on the work week - by the time I hit my stride, it's time to go home.

3) Sometimes I wish I could get a sneak peek as to what life will be like when I'm 60 - am I making the right decisions now for the future? Would I change anything if the sneak peak wasn't what I was expecting?

4) I'm really out of shape - I played Wii tennis and boxing like a mad-woman on Saturday night with the neighbors and I could hardly raise my arms to get dressed yesterday morning.

5) The bathing suits on the front of the Target ad yesterday confirmed my thoughts that I am getting old - I prefered the "Mom" suit on the 2nd page with more coverage.

6) Next week, my little girl will be 3/4 of the way through Kindergarten - where has the time gone?

7) It makes me smile that my little boy loves to play with his sisters' Barbies - he's going to be a sensitive little jock!

8) It's nice to see my hubby's smile again - it was missing for a few months, but a new job brought it back to life.

Pop Culture!?!

Just now I overheard Avery playing with her Barbies.

One little Kelly doll was talking to another Kelly doll and said this:

"Sometimes I live with my Dad and sometimes I live with my Mom. But I like living with my Dad because he has a DS (as in Nintendo)."

So I stepped in and said:

"Avery, we all live together - why are you pretending that this little girls' Mommy and Daddy live apart?"

She responded:

"Well, Jon and Kate don't live together anymore."

Oh Boy! If you think they are not listening to the TV.....they ARE!

I remember a story that my Mom used to tell me about a time when she was not feeling well and she was lying on the floor. I believe I was four, but I was concerned for her and asked what was wrong. She told me that she was sick. I said, "that's okay Mom, Steve was sick too and he's all better now". Steve was a main character on the soap opera that she watched. I don't think she watched another episode after that comment.

GAME DAY!

We're excited today - it's the Super Bowl and the Colts are playing!

Jon has two autographed footballs that are very special to him and it's ironic that the two he has are signed by the two quarterbacks that are playing in today's game: Peyton Manning & Drew Brees. (For those that don't follow football: Peyton Manning plays for the Indianapolis Colts and Drew Brees plays for the New Orleans Saints, but he was an outstanding quarterback at Purdue.) We're proud of the former Boilermaker that is playing in the Super Bowl, but our loyalty remains with the COLTS - GO HORSE!

In honor of the game today, Avery and I and a couple of girlfriends had a girls' morning yesterday and had our toes done to show our support (actually stole the blue and white idea from my friend, The Blissfully Happy Housewife). Now we are literally dressed from head to toe in BLUE.

The last time the Colts were in the Super Bowl, they won and we're hopeful that today will be another big win! We're off to watch the game with the neighbors.

School Project

Avery chose to participate in the school's Mindscapes project. It was an optional science, history, and art fair that took place last week.

We decided to do a Family Tree project and it was a lot of fun.

We started several weeks ago collecting pictures of all of the relatives, and enjoyed looking at old pictures along the way.

Avery is becoming quite the little artist - I let her draw the tree and branches and she did a great job. We printed off an apple template from the internet and I helped her cut out several apples and leaves to put on the tree.

I wanted her to learn something by doing this project, so we came up with four questions for each person on our tree.

1) What color are your eyes?

2) What color is your hair?

3) What is your height?

4) What year where you born?

She called everyone on the phone to interview them and captured the answers on the tree. The grandparents helped answer the questions for the great grandparents that aren't with us anymore.

It was fun to see Avery's "wheels" working as she put everything together.

Last Thursday, we had the chance to go to the school for an ice cream social and to see everyone's projects. She was one of only two students from her class that entered a project. We're so proud of our little Kindergartner!

I thought it turned out really nice - now we just need to figure out where this huge project will occupy space in our home.

Christmas in the City

After our Christmas celebration in Oak Park on Saturday, we were able to go downtown on Sunday with Jade & Andrew's family. We wanted to see the lights & decorations.

Millenium Park - it was COLD, with lots of snow!

The kids wanted to go ice-skating, but the line was really long and did I mention it was COLD. So we settled for watching them clear the snow off of the ice while listening to the music.

We walked along the magnificent mile - destination American Girl Place.

Avery was nearly running - she was pretty excited.

We made it - must have been white coat day! The boys hit the adidas store and legoland while we enjoyed all that American Girl had to offer. Avery currently has a bitty baby, so she and I will be coming back after she completes Kindergarten to celebrate with a new older doll. She needs to save her pennies until then, but this has given her an idea of what she would like to pick out during that trip.

There is so much energy in the air when you are walking along the mag mile - even though it was COLD out, the streets were packed. So glad we were able to see the city during this time of year.

Christmas 2009 in Pictures

Christmas 2009 has already come and gone, can you believe it? We are so fortunate and grateful for our families and are thankful that we were able to spend the last five days together with everyone!

We have several traditions that our family participates in annually during the Christmas season:

1) Baking cookies - 4 different types this year. We participated in a cookie exchange with our neighbors and have been enjoying more than our fair share of goodies in the last few days.

2) After our Christmas Eve Service at church (which we would recommend catching on line if you have the time), we came home to get ready for Santa's arrival. Avery wrote him a note and we left cookies and milk near the Christmas tree.

3) On Christmas Eve, we read two stories before bedtime. Twas the Night Before Christmas and also the story of Jesus' birth. Just a reminder that although there is lots of excitement about Santa, we want the kids to remember the true reason we celebrate at Christmas. This year, Avery actually read the story to us - here's a little sample.

4) Stockings are hung by the fireplace with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there - and he didn't disappoint. But I need tips on how to keep those little stocking holders in place for next year - we've had a few bumps and bruises on toes and heads after a little tugging at the stockings.

5) The kids actually get to thank the big guy and his Mrs. in person every year. This couple has been visiting Grandma's house for over 30 years and it's so much fun to look back at the pictures through the years of those that sit on these laps. Santa's lap has gotten smaller as the years go on! Little Miss Avery is asking too many questions for a six year old - the gig may be up sooner than we think.

6) The other tradition at Grandma's house is the re-enactment of the first Christmas. My cousins and I started this in 1978 with the same little outfits (on Mary & Joseph & the wisemen) and the same script. For the first time, Grandma actually participated too, as the angel.

Look at these sweet kids waiting patiently to exchange their gifts while the parents finish cleaning up the kitchen after dinner.

7) Cousins in matching jammies -

Sophia (3), Austin (3), Owen (almost 5), and Avery (6)


We suprised Grammie and Grandpa with treasured photos of their grandkids taken by our friend, Jamie. It has been so difficult to keep this secret over the last two months and as expected, they were more than thrilled with the gift.

Looking at the photobook again the next morning with all the kiddies.

There is so much anticipation leading up to Christmas and then once it's here, it goes by so quickly. Hope everyone had a magical Christmas!

Vacation 2009

Sunshine + Ocean + No Verizon Cell Service = PARADISE!

Jon and I recently traveled to St. Thomas to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. We did a lot of nothing, which is just what the Doctor ordered.


We spent the better part of our days lying on these two chairs ocean-side. A few times I felt a little guilty about doing nothing except for lying there soaking up the sunshine, but that feeling very quickly passed.


We saw beautiful sunsets and had nice, quiet dinners together talking about life (past, present, and future).




We stayed at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Resort on Morningstar Beach. We were across the harbor from downtown Charlotte Amalie and enjoyed watching the cruise ships depart each evening right before sunset. The resort was wonderful and had so much to offer, so we didn't have to leave very often. We enjoyed breakfast on our balcony overlooking the harbor each morning.


We took a ferry into downtown Charlotte Amalie to do a little shopping in the duty-free capital of the world. We ate at fun places like the Giggling Gecko and the Fat Turtle.




We missed the kiddos, but enjoyed some much needed Jon and Jill time.


These iguanas were everywhere and they were HUGE! We found out that they were vegetarians, but still a little creepy when they were crawling around our beach chairs or on the pool deck. They were stubborn as well, didn't want to move on the sidewalk, so we stepped around them.



Just being silly in the airport:

So sad to have to leave our paradise.....

But happy that we knew the kiddos would be on the other end and we were ready and refreshed to be their Mommy and Daddy again!