FINALLY a t-ball game

After years of anticipation AND a week with a rained-out game and practice, he finally got to play yesterday...

there was no shortage of parents to remind their kids to spread out on the field and watch the ball...

love the "action fielding shot" with his team-mate taking a break to sit down and check out his mitt during the game

our friend ashley came to cheer for calvin and the black team

and of course mason couldn't resist swinging a heavy metal object with his helmet on backwards. he can't wait until it's his turn too!

calvin did a great job and boy was it fun to watch!

father's day

this may be the first time i've ever posted about something that same day...and let's be honest, probably the last.

anyway, here are some pics from father's day 2011:

we usually do homemade cards, but it was a long week, so we had fun picking out cards for dad at the store. (still working on getting everyone to look at the camera and be still at the same time)


mason being a goof in dad's hat and my shoes after church


some help opening new luggage!

steak dinner

and perhaps the best present of all...
russell gets to go to scout camp for 2 days! he leaves tomorrow and the boys had a ball helping him get his gear packed up.

happy father's day to the best! love you!

biting the bullet

i've been stuck in a vicious cycle for 8 months. i think: "i should update my blog." so i go to it and realize my last post was in 2010. then i think: "i wonder if anyone else still blogs." so i look at my friends and family blogs. most of them still update, some every few days. this doesn't help me feel better about myself, but i love seeing what you guys are up to. then i think about how much has happened in the last 8 months and ALL my pictures and i get overwhelmed in yet another area of my life, so i just watch a food network show on hulu instead.

well i'm breaking the cycle tonight! it will be a struggle against some obsessive-compulsive tendencies of mine to catch up and post updates out of order, but these two little boys are growing up WAY too fast and there are grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins, and friends that are missing it. and it's likely that most of you who read this blog stopped checking months ago, so this is also for posterity and to help me feel better about my lack of journaling.

i will start with most recent events and work backwards to october 2010, so this will show up as the newest post chronologically for awhile. but i will catch up so feel free to scroll down if you want to be caught up...

we begin with MASON'S 2nd BIRTHDAY! yep, he's two and boy is he ever. those brown eyes and curly locks have saved him from the time-out chair more times than i'd care to admit. he has a knack for teasing and mischief, but we sure love him!

we partied on memorial day, which was sunny and perfect for playing in the mini pool. the water was a little too cold for the birthday boy, though!

calvin and friends kade and kanigh loved the water.

mason requested a red race car cake...

and i think he wondered why we let him get so close to fire. calvin helped blow out the candles...

he ate the frosting and was done

on tuesday we celebrated as a family

mason is a talkative two-year old and seems to come up with something new every day that makes me wonder "where did he get that?" just a few weeks ago, he would say "mm hm" for yes. around his birthday he was saying, "yeah." yesterday he started with, "yes." today i asked him what he was doing and he said, "nothing." and EVERY time i ask if he needs his diaper changed he pats his bottom and says, "no, i fine."

speaking of diapers, i think mason's trying to potty train himself. i'm not ready for the commitment, yet, but he has started telling me when he needs to go and then actually going on the potty. he'll sit there for 15-20 minutes sometimes reading a book and then tell me when he's done. it sure is making my job easy and i'm hoping he doesn't realize that and change his mind!

mason loves cars, trucks, planes, motorcycles, boats, any sport (sounds like two other boys in this house!) and wrestling with calvin. he's such a boy and wants to do anything his brother or daddy are doing. he is the only kid in nursery now at church and just loves all three ladies that teach him. =) he's learning to pray by himself and loves to help.

so thankful for our sweet mason!

rocket bike

calvin has earned his bike! he picked out the red rocket bike at the store months ago and earned a square on his chart every night that he stayed in his bed all night. he earned a new helmet after 15 days, a bell after 30, a light after 45 and finally his bike after 60 days.

since it stopped thunderstorming everyday, he's been able get in lots of practice.

we were cleaning out the garage and found the knee and elbow pads...

i love the ears!

a little more balance and the training wheels will be off...such a big boy!

gram & gramps

we had such fun with my grandparents when they came to visit! the only regrets were that they didn't stay longer and that it rained for about half of their trip.

these boys took about 30 seconds to warm up and then didn't leave their great-grandparents alone! calvin was especially interested in gramps giving gram her daily shot for diabetes. mason just pretty much followed them everywhere, usually squeezing right in between:

we were on the go with a ferry ride across the ohio river, antique shopping in augusta, kentucky & ripley, ohio, lunch at the 50's diner in ripley, a trip to the amish market for goodies, and dinner at our favorite mexican restaurant.


we had a great time fishing at our friend's the snyder's home...calvin and russell each caught 1 fish, gramps caught 4!, and i got 2 mosquito bites! we saw wild geese landing on the lake and heard the bullfrogs singing.

a highlight of the visit was a trip to the tri-state warbird museum. they have a collection of working ww2 era planes, many of which gramps worked on throughout his career.

it was so neat to see him in his element and to hear about his experiences. i was also able to explain to calvin about how gramps was a hero, earning two purple hearts in his service in ww2.


thanks SO MUCH for coming to see us, gram and gramps! we sure love you!