Yellowsprings Convention

We had such wonderful days in Ohio last week. The fastest 4 days of our year for sure. It was special to be with Don's family. We both had campers which the kids totally loved. My family came for Sat & Sun. So we had a lot of help with our 3. There were so many cute pics this will be a long blog entry.....just a warning.

The Klenks (Don & Cindy) came from WI. Cindy is Diane Kolbeck's sister. It was such a treat to spend some time with them. Their girls, Sadie, Sienna & Shana, are adorable and fantastic baby-sitters. We might just move in next door to them! :)


Aunt Ruth was awesome help too. She totally took care of Sheila and pitched in with entertaining our kids. Thank you Thank you Thank you Ruppie (Paige is still calling you that this week I'm sure the misprounciation won't last long!)



Sleeping in a camper is a kids dream come true. Ours were so exhausted at the end of the day they jumped into their "fancy" sleeping bags and zonked.

Sweet Mia Newman (in the tan skirt) was nice enough to share all of her new Polly Pockets with the girls.
Ring around the rosie

School Picture

GO BUCKEYE'S

Support Aunt Lisa

Lisa in Training
GO LISA!!!!!
What she's doing........

"Have you checked out my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer personal page yet? I'm training for a 39.3 mile walk in October to raise awareness of and money for breast cancer research. Go to my page today to learn more and donate!"

(Click link below!)
Lisa's Avon Walk Web-Site

Don's Japan Trip

Several folks have asked about Don's trip to Japan. When he was over there, he kept a blog for our family to get a gkimpse of his adventures. Here is the link - enjoy.
donjapan.blogspot.com.

Our swingin' cuties!

Friday evening we played at the park for about an hour -- our kids love it there...and are always begging us to go. Hudson usually chills out on the grass or in his Bumbo seat, but today I decided to try him in the swing. He LOVED it. We filled up the swing set -- I love this picture of my three little blondies. Marina has officially outgrown the baby seat swings, but still wants to squeeze in. The worst part is trying to get her "daddy long legs" out. :)

Paige - 2 1/2Marina - 4
Hudson - 8 months
About 2-3 weeks ago Marina and Paige were making faces at Hudson and he started scrunching up his face too. We all laughed and egged him on. He loved the attention. Now at random times he'll make his silly face. I was so glad that I had my camera in hand to catch it. What a goof-ball!
A boy and dirt -- it's like love at first sight. He couldn't stop kicking, tossing dirt in the air & squeeling.

Chiminea Fun

After the kiddies went to bed - we broke out the Chiminea! Looks like we may have gotten it a little too hot. Brian and Don sat out and watched it die down and enjoyed some good conversation.

Party Time!

What a crazy weekend! Nate flew into Chicago Thursday evening and Mom and Dad picked him up on their way down. Don, Barb & Sheila and Brian, Michelle & Lindsey arrived Friday afternoon. We attempted family pictures Friday evening. Marina caught a cold on Thursday and while we were at the park doing pictures she spiked a fever and felt terrible. So if one picture turns out we'll all be soooo surprised. Saturday morning she woke up without a fever - so we decided to keep the party on. Our plan was to have it at the park -- so I thought that kids would be running around and not in close quarters -- just hoping that the germs would disperse and not land on anyone. BUT - at about 3pm when Don and I were ready to head to the park and get set-up it started to sprinkle. Argh! Our rental house is a bit snug thus the park plan. So Don and I drove around Chillicothe trying to find another party location - no such luck. With less than 1 hour left before the party, a messy house with no decorations we punted and everyone pitched in to make the birthday party happen. The real kicker -- it never really rained...oh well....better safe than sorry.

We did one craft to start the party. I had a foam covered journal for each short guest with their name on it and then princess/castle/frog stickers and glitter glue to decorate them with. It actually held their attention for a while. Anthony Vail - 4 (the little boy in blue) was by far the most focused artist!
The next activity was an egg race. I had Don and Uncle Brian demonstrate for the kids - little did I know it would become such a competition for the big kids too.
OK -- so getting off the starting line was quite a challenge. Half of our group was 3 and under so balancing the egg on the spoon was quite the concept.

Except for Lindsey (17 mo) -- she thought -- what's the big deal? You have two hands - right?!?! The youngest AND the smartest!
Malia Ames - 3 and Paige eating supper. Malia is the daughter of Shana - a dear friend that I met when I was working at Illinois State University. They live in Peoria (about 20 min away) so it's great to be able to see them more now.
The kids menu was PBJ, grapes & Pringles -- rough life! The main request this year was a castle cake!!!

Lovin' the girly gifts!

I just had to include this pic because I thought -- oh my word, she looks so old with her legs crossed listening to Don explain her new kitchen utensils.
Lindsey loves her Daddy!
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The family picture in front of the white flower! We are going to have to come up with a new background...just for the sake of variety.

We tried to get a nice group shot of all the kids at the party...but as you can see someone had a hard time not using her new camera. As the snap-happy mom - I can totally understand. :)

The little boy in green that is holding Hudson is Kenrick Vail - 6. The Vails just live 15 minutes away and are already our special friends. Our girls love playing with Kenrick and Anthony. In the pic Hudson is smiling at Lindsey. All weekend Lindsey would just go up to Hudson, lean in and say awwwww -- it was so cute.

Marina's 4th Birthday

Her birthday is August 1st - which was a Wednesday this year and her party wasn't until Saturday so....we gave her one gift Wed morning. A special celebration plate.

Grandma and Grandpa Stickel and Aunt Sheila sent her this arrangement. She loved having a delivery man come to the front door asking for a 4 year old.

We had to make cupcakes with sprinkles. Paige can consume all the frosting off a cupcake without even a little bite of cake. Ahh - what talent!

Diagnosed with "The Knack"

There is the possibility that someone in your family may have an undiagnosed case of "The Knack". Watch this informative video to gain an understanding of the condition.