Summer (June)

I cannot believe how quickly summer is passing and that there are only a few more weeks before Ben heads to Kindergarten.  I am very melancholy about this fact.  I am going to miss having him home, but I know he is super excited about school (which makes me happy).  We are also only eight weeks away from meeting baby number three.  AHHH!  How in the world did this pregnancy pass so quickly?!?!?!  Anyway, if you were wondering what we have been up to around here you can check out the pics below.  These are from June, and I will try to post July pics soon.  :)

JUNE 

 We have visited the zoo several times this summer.  The first time

we went was with Ben's buddy Brady and his family. 

Ben finally got to go fishing in June.  He had been begging

forever!  He really enjoyed it and is ready to go again.



 We have visited Black Pine Animal Sanctuary multiple times

this summer.  It is close to our house and the kids love seeing

all the exotic animals so close.  Our favorite thing to do is

to head to Chain O' Lakes after a visit and have a picnic lunch.

Bob's work had a family night at the FW Tincaps, so we

went to our first game in June.  The kids really enjoyed the

Kid Zone and the dollar hot dogs.

We made an impromptu decision to take a vacation to Florida

around two weeks before we headed there on an airplane. 

Although the vacation started out bumpy, it turned out

great.  Tropical Storm Debbie decided to vacation in

FL the same week we did.  We were glad that she took off after

just a few days. 

While Debbie was wrecking her havoc, we found some

fun indoor activities.  We went to the Mote Aquarium in Sarasota,

did some shopping, saw the new movie Brave and also The Lorax.



After things cleared up we took a day to visit Disney.  The

kids LOVED it! 

Here we are visiting with Mickey and Minnie.

We also visited with several princesses. 

We spent a lot of time at the beach while in Florida and even

got to enjoy several beautiful sunsets.  I have to tell you that

Bob was awesome and did most of the work on our

beach days.  I spent most of my time on a beach chair

under an umbrella.

On our way back from Orlando, we stopped at Dinosaur World.

There were replica dinos and the kids also got to do a

fossil dig.

We also spent a lot of time in the pool while on vacation. 

Thank you so much to Grandpa and Grandma Cormany for letting

us stay in your place!  Every time we went to the pool Maggie

would ask us why there were other people in Grandma Cormany's

pool.  We tried to explain that it wasn't just theirs, but she didn't seem

to understand. 

We hope that you are having a wonderful summer!

January through May

I apologize as I have fallen behind on the blog again.  I had several months where just getting my housework done each day without falling asleep or feeling sick was difficult.  Needless to say, blogging was the last thing on my priority list.  Now it is time to catch up.  Here are the highlights. 

January

Here are the kids before we went to the farm show at the

Coliseum.  They really enjoyed seeing all the big 

tractors and equipment. 

This is how Ben chills while he watches Saturday

morning cartoons.

Here is Ben before heading to school on pajama and

teddy bear day. 

February

 Although we didn't get a lot of snow this winter, the

kids and Bob were outside enjoying it every chance

they got.  Thank goodness Bob loves snow so much,

because if it was up to me the kids would never get

to go out in the snow.

Ben's school also celebrated Dad's Night in February.  Bob, Grandpa

Gaerte, and Grandpa Keefer all got to come.

We needed something fun to break up the monotonous

days in February, and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese did the trick.

March

 I can't believe it is even possible, but in

March we celebrated Ben's fifth birthday!

I honestly feel like I just brought him home

from the hospital.  He is such a wonderful

and smart boy.  I can't believe that he will

be heading to kindergarten in the fall.

Here are all of the cousins at Ben's birthday party.  Maggie

was there, but somehow got behind one of her big cousins and

didn't make it in the picture.   

 Ben received a fishing pole and tackle box from Grandpa and

Grandma Gaerte.  I love this picture of Dad showing

Ben how to use his fishing pole during the party.

 My big five year old. 

 My cuties!

 On Ben's actual birthday we went to Chain O' Lakes for

a picnic, some hiking, and some playground time.

 Aunt Jess and Uncle Tedd came to visit for a weekend

in March.  They brought their cute little dog Calvin with them

and both kids loved him.   

We ended March by celebrating Mom's birthday.  It was a fun

birthday party and ended with a music jam session.  Jess and Justin

played their instruments and Mom and even Grandpa and Grandma

Cormany joined in singing. 

April

 April brought spring break.  We spent most of it at home

because both kids were sick.  When they were finally feeling

better at the end of the week we tried to do several fun

things around home.  The kids wanted to ride the

carousel at the mall, and we also went to a local

pottery painting store and out to lunch. 

 Here they are at one of several Easter egg hunts we attended.

 Aren't the kids cute in their Easter outfits.

I apologize for the sideways picture, but I couldn't figure out how

to turn it.

 Grandma Keefer got all of the grandkids matching pajamas

for Easter.  Such cute cousins!

Bob had to travel to Michigan for business in April,

and we got to come along.  While he was in meetings

we went swimming and went to a fun museum.

 The kids have been very into dressing up lately.

They will go upstairs to play and come down dressed

in old Halloween costumes, princess gear, and sometimes

super hero capes. 

Ben and cousin Julia finished their second year of

Cubbies in Awana.

May

Ben is playing spring soccer and his favorite position is goalie. 

 We can't believe that preschool is already over.  

Graduation was adorable.  The kids sang songs and

received their diplomas and then served refreshments

to their family members.

Ben and Maggie had a special honor in May.  They were ring bearer and flower girl

in my cousin Josh's wedding.  They had so much fun and have been playing

wedding ever since.  Congratulations to Josh and Taya.

Exciting News!!!

Let me start out by saying that I hope I am not announcing this too soon.  I am a very cautious person by nature, and I am also a worrier.  That being said, I would probably wait a few more months to let you all in on this news.  However, my husband and kids do not feel the same way, so here we go.  There is also the fact that it is starting to become noticeable when you see me ;).   

That's right!!! Baby number three is on his/her way and will be here in September.  I will be fourteen weeks on Friday.  If you feel inclined, we would appreciate any prayers for a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby.  :) 

Lost Pictures

Last week while we were visiting Mom/Grandma's house, she pointed out that I had not updated my blog in a really long time.  She was absolutely right.  I have never been good at keeping this blog updated.  You would think with as many pictures as I take that it would be a breeze, but I just have no patience when it comes to downsizing all the photos and then waiting for them all to upload.  Anyway, I decided that day that I would spend some time updating.  While the kids were napping I opened up my program where I view and edit my photos and saw that almost every one of my pictures from the past four years was gone!!!! My initial feeling was PANIC!  I emailed Bob and asked if he knew what had happened.  He called me back to say that he had noticed the missing pics several days before and had meant to ask me the same thing.  He did assure me though that all of the pictures were backed up and safe...somewhere.  He later found the pictures and made everything better.  Thank goodness for my smart/handy husband who can fix anything!  I swear he has saved us so much money in handyman, plumbing, electrical, mechanic, and tech support over the past 7.5 years.  It seems that he can fix almost anything. 

Anyway, here are some pics from Christmas time (only a full month late).  ;)

 Here is a picture of Ben in his Christmas choir at preschool.  He got to sing a solo (the only solo in the entire program).  The other kids all sang the first verse of Away in a Manger and he sang the second and third verses all by himself. 

 Here we are at Dad and Mom's before opening mountains of gifts. 

 Santa visited!  Don't be fooled by the look on Maggie's face.  She was very happy.  Santa filled their stockings and left them each a few gifts under their little tree upstairs.  He also loved the chocolate milk and cookies they left (He said so in his letter).  :)

After opening their gifts from Santa, the kids tore into their gifts from us.  Then we had a yummy brunch and everyone got ready for church. 

Aren't they sweet in their Christmas outfits?

After church we headed to Grandpa and Grandma Keefer's.  Here is a group shot of almost all of the grandkids.  Baby Ellie was born just a few days after Christmas.

 Okay, so I am almost embarrassed to show you these next two pictures.  Bob insists that we take a picture every year with everything the kids got for Christmas.  Can we say spoiled!  Between gifts from great grandparents, two sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, and us, they make out like bandits.  Maybe next year we will convince everyone to scale back a bit.