Aly's First Tooth...

...to fall out. :)

She missed losing it while she was in first grade by three days.

CHEESE!!

*Update*

And the second...
Two days later she lost the second. She's definitely lisping now. :)

Jake's New Trick

Jake's been having a great time riding his John Deere bike this spring/summer. He has been asking to learn how to ride without training wheels, so tonight Chuck decided to take them off and give it a go. :) He started going so fast I had time to grab my phone and run outside in time to see the second try.

Within 10-15 minutes, he mastered starting on his own. He has been the quickest of our three so far to learn to ride on two wheels.

Way to go Jakey!!

Mmmm Summertime is Here

One of our favorite proofs of summertime...

The little icecream shop right down the road has opened back up!

Ahoy Mates!

Some friends (and children I babysit) had a birthday party the other day (or maybe it was last month!). The theme...pirates!




AAARGH!

Parties and Cupcakes and Cakes, Oh My!

My baby turned 3 and my firstborn turned 9. It has all been a blur. I really do feel like I enjoy every minute, but it does fly right by.
We had quite a few (six) family birthdays from mid-April to mid-May, so we decided to combine them and have one big birthday bash. It happened to fall on Anna's birthday. She had quite the day.
She was so excited to get to go to lunch with her Daddy!

Caleb requested a Bears football field cake, soooo I tried my best and he didn't notice all the flaws. :)


We continued on the partying last week because of school celebrations. Since Aly has a summer birthday, they had her bring cupcakes last Thursday to celebrate. I made her green frosted cupcakes with different colored flowers on the top. The centers of the flowers were mini oreos. They turned out pretty cute, but I just realized I erased the pictures before I downloaded them. The best part about hers was that the cupcakes were rainbow colored! I died the cake batter purple, blue, green, yellow and red and poured it in the liners one at a time so when they took a bite they bit into a rainbow. But you might not believe me because I have no proof! :/ Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make them again for her real birthday. I'm just glad it's a few months away!
Caleb decided on baseballs and footballs for his school celebration. Since both of "his" teams were red and blue, his cupcakes were red and blue layers. :)
Happy, Happy Birthday, my two sweeties! You both bring me so much joy.

Track

This year our two oldest participated in the town youth track club, "Sterling Striders." They had three laid back practices a week and something else we've never done... little kids Track Meet. :) We had never participated or even attended an entire youth Track Meet. It was (chaotically) fun. The weather could have cooperated a bit more (both of the meet days were cold, cloudy and even rainy). But they just cuddledand smiled and did their best. (Aly keeping warm with a couple of her friends)

Caleb and Aly each did two field events for the first meet (something we changed for the next track meet). This year was a learning year. :) Caleb did a great job on his softball throw - over 90 feet. He scratched his long jump twice but still managed to squeeze out a second place medal. Aly did the long jump and softball throw too. She sure improved by her last jump at the second track meet.

Although Caleb did really well in the field events, he really just wanted to run. The second meet he ran, ran, ran. :) He was in the 100m, 200m, 400m and a medley relay.
Breaking the ribbon (first in his heat)! IN-tense!! :)
First leg in his relay. His sis is right there cheering him on. :) GO Caleb!

My Prayer

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4,5