Wet Your Whistle

We had our 1st official pool day yesterday and Shayden surprised us by remembering his GAL's  finger whistle and showing us his version.

Needless to say he had us rolling with laughter and used it quite a few times to get a hold of me when he needed my attention.  

This one's for you GAL.

Diggin In

Yep that's right...we are digging in around here, in just about every mulch bed, flower bed and outdoor area of the house.  And the boys are loving it!  Those could be their hands pictured above from all we have done, but I couldn't risk grabbing a camera and attempting to catch a shot like that while keeping them safe and dirt out of the house.  :)

We have successfully raked every bed, hoisted around 30 bags of debris to the curb, weeded until I am pretty sure I didn't want to pull one again and now we are on to the good stuff.

Planting flowers, cleaning pool furniture (pool officially swimmable on Saturday), mulching and learning how to care for a landscape of this proportion.  To say we are being schooled in the ways of home ownership is an understatement, we are knee deep and I'm loving it.

As I get ready to post this, Chris has just returned from a run to the hardware store and we are headed back out for a quick mulch job on the front bed before we go to bed.

Off to the yard....Hooray for Summer!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Columbus Clippers Ring Your Bell - it was Max's 4th Birthday...and he took us to the ball park - THANK YOU MAX!  ...oh, and Happy Birthday little buddy.

We had a BLAST this past Monday night celebrating with our nephew Max as he turned 4 at the  Huntington Ballpark.  Sam and Jen invited all the siblings and kiddos to overtake the lawn section at the park and enjoy an evening under the night sky.  It was a night to remember.  The kids had so much fun running around, Eli and John caught a ball, it was Dime-A-Dog night and the weather was picture perfect, 80's with a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky.

And to top it all off, it was both Shayden and Quinton's 1st ball game!

It could go down as one of my favorite memories from this year....so far :)

A few pics to mark the occasion.

(left to right) Gabe, Shayden, Eli and Max

Action Shot - Shayden practicing to catch a ball.  (nice camera work Uncle Luke)

A huge thank you to Rachel who allowed me to borrow her camera.  A rare moment of forgetting mine.  You were a lifesaver!

Easter 2012

Easter 2012 was in one word, Wonderful!

Not only do I love that our oldest, Shayden, understands the full reason for Easter but also that he can explain it to anyone who wants to listen with full passion and love for Jesus.  Its just awesome!  And Quinton, well he fully understood the reality of an egg hunt this year and that was special as well.  :)

We had a full weekend with a family visiting us from Michigan, a great egg hunt and a wonderful sermon and family brunch on Sunday.  

A few pics to highlight the weekend...

Community Egg Hunt - 50,000 eggs and a special egg drop by a helicopter.  

Little Boy Approved!

Shayden on the left, Q on the right

Quinton was on a mission this year, and kept saying "more, more".

We had a small family egg hunt on Sunday night as well, the boys received yard tools from Mommy and Daddy.  We have fondly nicknamed them "GAL's Maintenance Crew".

He is Risen!