Zoey and the Jumping Tigers

Playing catch-up...

Zoey was part of a jump rope group that performed at field day... I saw two performances, so the lighting is completely different...





It was a cute performance. I never knew there were so many different ways to jump rope. Nice Job, Zoey, we are proud of your hard work!

Five on Friday

And now, onto a more random note...

1. I like Pink's song "Perfect", although I just watched the explicit lyrics version video and that was a little disturbing... But the message is good... We take wrong turns, make a bad choice, get misunderstood
Pretty, pretty please
Don't you ever, ever feel
Like your less than perfect.
Pretty, pretty please
If you ever, ever feel
Like your nothing
You're perfect to me.

Not sure if Pink realizes it or not, but is seems similar to another message:)

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well." Psalm 139:14

2. I've seen two snakes in two days! yuck!

3. So I am sure the worst possible thing I could do with Ross's deployment is countdown days starting at the beginning... BUT the math person in me (serious math nerd here) CANNOT NOT DO IT! I'll be driving along and just calculate percentages in my head! Not a good idea when you are 1% done! At least I can laugh about it!

4. When we were in Denver, the kids had Ross speak into a voice recorder and had it put into a doggie at Build-A-Bear. It is really a great thing. Everytime they miss him, they can give the doggie a squeeze and hear an "i love you" from Daddy... The first couple days without him around though, I was jumping out of my skin... I wasn't expecting a male voice in the house and it would take a second for me to realize what it was!

5. Zoey just got her Bo Staff in Taekwondo and it is pretty darn cool...

Happy Friday;)

It's been awhile...

Hello blog and blogworld, are you still out there? I know its been a while... I guess you could say, we've been a little preoccupied! My last blog post was one month ago! Yikes! I will try and back track a little, while trying to stay up to date...

So, on our 10 year anniversary, Ross got notified of a short notice deployment to Afghanistan... Bummer, right? Our whole summer trip was altered, and well, we just went into crazy mode to prepare for his deployment. The kids and I went to Arizona (part of our summer trip) while Ross went off to training. We had fun in Arizona, and I will share some bits from that, and then were blessed with a chance to see Ross one more time before he headed overseas. He had 2.5 days in Denver, so we flew up there and took advantage of it! It was a nice, but short couple of days...

Off he went (two goodbyes, tough) and then home we came. Coming home without him was a lot harder than I thought, but nothing compared to the traveling ordeal Ross has been going through... Anyway, that's where we are now...

For those of you who know what's going on and having been praying for us, thank you. We feel your prayers. If my blog changes tone a little, its partly to share more of our everyday with Ross, as well as a way for me to chat with you I guess, so thanks for that as well.

We miss you Ross/Daddy:)

Kings Island, part 2

My sister was passing through on her way to Georgetown University where she gets to have a pretty awesome month doing all things historical and government related while getting graduate school credit! Anyway, after a very long drive to make it to our house, the next morning Tina, Max and I got up to join Zoey and her Girl Scout Troop at Kings Island!

We had a really fun time. The lines were really short and it wasn't too hot or humid! Couldn't really ask for better on an Ohio summer day! Zoey and I get a little motion sick, so we took some dramamine and tried to keep up! Max, who is pretty tall for a new 7 year old, was able to hang with the big kids, height wise and so he could go on all the rides they wanted. He was a little daredevil and wanted to do every ride possible, but some I just couldn't handle. There was a huge drop (315 ft) ride that he wanted to go on. We were going to do it, but didn't want everyone to have to wait for us, so we saved it until the end, but our last roller coaster took Zoey and I over the edge and we just couldn't do it! He was disappointed but I was actually relieved... I used to love that kind of stuff, but I think I have become a chicken in my old age! HAHA! Both kids did do a roller coaster that was 3 minutes long, went 55mph, and had 6 upside down loops! I never thought they would want to ride it. Zoey didn't like it, Max wanted to go again! yikes... he can be daddy's partner.
coolio Max and Auntie Tina waiting for a ride!


Zoey and her BFF Codie. It was a girl scout thing, but brothers went too!


My family loves to do these cheesy smile pics!


See... here's another one!


Here is Tina being a gracious model for me...


And laughing and something hilarious I said, obviously!


Tina and the kids before a special Melting Pot dinner! Yum!


And a pretty Zoey pic!


I wanted to set up for some pictures of me and Tina, so my assistant got to work:


And then he actually took some pics of us. Here's one:

Birthday Photo Shoot

After Max's birthday dinner, we came home for a little balloon photo shoot! We love the whole birthday balloon thing and have been doing it for both of them since their first birthday! I love the balloons floating around the house. I only wish they lasted longer!

Max was way more interested in staying inside to play with his new games, and it reflected in his forced smiles, but oh well... what are you gonna do right?

I was checking the light on this one, but I kind of like the overexposed sunny-ness of the picture...


Here he is... our latest seven year old!






Something funny...








Getting annoyed...

This one makes me laugh! I figured it was his birthday so he could be done now!


But, since I had it all set up... everyone (even me!) got a turn...














Zoey action shots (her fav)




I love you, sweet family.

Max's Birthday

For Max's birthday, we decided to pick the kids up from school on the last day and surprise them with a trip to the amusement park, King's Island, near Cincinnati.

It is our most exciting thing to do in southwest Ohio (really, that is what everyone tells me), so we decided to finally check it out. Plus, Zoey's Girl Scout Troop was going later that week, so this was our test run.


The kids were excited! And the weather, well, it just wasn't going to cooperate. Lightening hung around for hours and the rides were shut down! Boo hoo...

We did a couple rides but not many! The kids still had fun though.


When I took Max to pick out his cake, he originally wanted a puppy cake of some sort! But when he saw this one in the book and that it came with toys that popped off, he was sold! And so we had a SpongeBob Theme!


the cake was actually one of the best I've seen! Airbrushed waves and water, jellyfish, and 3-d seaweed. It was very well done. Yummy too, of course!



Zoey came up with an idea earlier in the day to make a big, life size Patrick and put him on a stick. She was going to hide behind the couch and hold him and talk like Patrick for Max. It was her vision... Ross helped out a little, and it turned out great!
Up Close Working Hard






Max opening up a present:


While playing with some gifts, Patrick makes his entrance...


Recognition, mixed with shyness...




Buddies!


When I told him he could choose his dinner place, he said he didn't know. I was telling him that when it's my birthday I love to go to places like the Melting Pot, or Cheesecake Factory or something, and that he could choose anyplace too. He leaned over sweetly and said, "the Melting Pot!" He doesn't like it, he was just being sweet for me! We ended up at Texas Roadhouse!



He got to sit on the saddle while they said "Yeehaw" and happy birthday!


more to come...

Last Day of School

Just some pictures from the last day of school and the comparison of first/last days! Here we come first and fourth grade! yikes!