Father's Day and Child Dedication

On Father's Day we had Child Dedication after our church service. We decided to dedicate both boys (even though Eli had been dedicated at our old church when he was a baby). This is such a special moment where the pastor & his wife pray over our children and pray for us as parents. God has blessed us with these two beautiful boys and we want to raise them to know God and live with Christian values.
We then went out to lunch with Grandma and Paw Paw for Father's Day. We went to one of Scott's favorite places, El Maguey, for Mexican food, of course.

I'm a little late at posting this, but we had a wonderful Father's Day! I'm so blessed to have a wonderful husband who is also an amazing dad to the boys! Scott, you are definitely loved!

Sprinkler Fun

Eli loves playing in water & last week Daddy turned on the sprinklers so Eli could have some fun!

Swimming in Syracuse

On Saturday we headed to Syracuse to enjoy the sun. We spent the morning at Grandpa and Joey's condo swimming in the pool....so nice. We purchased Eli this floatation vest with shorts and he did awesome! He was swimming around no problem! Jayce was fearful of the water at first....think he didn't like the cooler temperature. Eventually, he relaxed and liked floating around.

We met the Goods, Schrocks & Megans at The Frog for lunch. By that time Eli was pooped! I think the sun and swimming did him in.

After lunch we headed back to the Megan's for a boat ride on their lake. Cole & Eli had fun playing on the boat. (Notice the matching swimming suits! Ha Ha!) We got to go swimming in the lake & Eli (without floaties, only a noodle) did a great job! He has no fear!!!! I think by next year we will have a swimmer!
It was such a wonderful day! With all that sun & swimming we were exhausted!

Thank you Goods, Schrocks & Megans for letting us join your family for the afternoon! We had a blast!!!

First T-Ball Practice

T-Ball has started for Eli and I believe that we have a natural! Eli did so well with throwing the ball, hitting the ball off the tee and running to the bases. Catching still needs a lot of practice, but I didn't see any of the 3 year olds catching too well yet. That will just be something fun we can work on with him throughout the week. Eli really enjoyed the first practice and I'm excited to see the progress he makes through the session.

Congratulations Ellie!!!

This past weekend was Ellie Hershberger's graduation open house. Ellie is the oldest daughter of one of my past teaching partners, Marcia. I can remember when Ellie was a little 3rd grader and she loved hanging out with her mom at the school....she's all grown up now! When Ellie became old enough she then was our babysitter for Eli. She and her younger sister, Abby, have been a big part of Eli's life. He adores them! We love you, Ellie, and are so proud of you!!!!!! Congratulations on your graduation and enjoy Goshen College in the fall!

Shrek 4

We took Eli to go see Shrek 4 last weekend. Grandma watched Jayce for us, so Eli got all the attention from Mommy & Daddy. The movie was a hit and we all had lots of fun together!

Car Show & Paw Paw's Birthday Dinner

Last Thursday was Paw Paw's birthday, so we went to Essenhaus for dinner with the whole family. Essenhaus was having their Classic Car Cruise-In, so before we ate we got to walk around a see all the old cars. Eli was in heaven! Every car was his favorite! He seems to think he's going to own a few cars like these someday, so we told him to save up his money!!! Maybe he'll take his Mommy for a cruise! Fun!



After dinner we headed back to Paw Paw & Grandma's house for cake and ice cream. Eli got to help Paw Paw blow out his candles while Jayce enjoyed play time on the floor. We even caught Eli sneaking a lick of the cake!

It was nice sharing the evening with the family. Happy Birthday, Paw Paw!!! We love you!

Bunk Bed Fun

On Thursday Eli's friend, Cole, came over while his Mommy was in a meeting. The boys had so much fun together! They played on Eli's bunk bed most of the time. They were bringing lots of Eli's cars to the top bunk to try and cover the bed. I loved just listening to their conversations and all the giggles. I mentioned to the boys that they could go down to the playroom if they got bored. About 5 minutes later I heard Eli ask, "Are we bored, Cole?" He then repeated it, but no answer from Cole, so they just kept playing cars. I don't think Eli even knows what "bored" means! Was so cute!

We Love You, Miss Lynne!!!!

This year Eli had the most awesome teacher at MOPS. Miss Lynne (Lynne Brewton) and her husband have been friends of our family since I was in grade school. My sister was good friends with their daughter, Jessica. It was so neat to have her as Eli's teacher!!! She was SO good with the kids! She spent a lot of extra time planning lessons and used her own money to make creative crafts, too. The teachers at MOPS are volunteering their time to help, so we were so impressed with all she did. Eli just adored her, so he was so excited when she invited us over to her house for lunch and to play.

Lynne made us a really nice lunch...chicken salad sandwiches, watermelon, carrots, chips and Spiderman Mac-N-Cheese for Eli....yummy...not to mention, chocolate brownies for dessert! Then, Eli got to play in the playroom! She has this awesome playroom (made for her grandsons) with Tonka Trucks painted on the walls (so mad I didn't get a picture of the walls!). It's so cool! Eli loved playing with all GeoTrax she had, too! She had tons!!!! And Jayce loved watching!
We had such a nice time and would love to get together with her again. Thank you, Miss Lynne, for everything!!!! We love you!

7 Months

I can't believe that Jayce is 7 months already!!!! He has been such a good baby....so easy going and happy. We could not have been more blessed to have two perfect little ones. I LOVE watching the boys relate to one another. Jayce just lights up whenever Eli walks into the room. And the giggles are the best!!! Eli can get Jayce laughing like no other! Jayce is now eating veggies regularly, rolling over all the time, loving his bath time and sitting up. He's even started eating puff snacks, even though he doesn't get many into his mouth, but he loves trying. He's even had quite a few nights of 10 to 11 hrs. of sleep, but now he's back to waking once or twice due to teething pain (I think). Just like Eli was, he's off the charts in weight and height. At his last check up he was 24 lbs. and 28 1/2 inches long!!!!! Huge boy! Here are a few updated pictures of my "little" 7 month old!

Cubs Game....Rooftop!

This past weekend we headed to Chicago for a bachelor/bachelorette party for our friend, Ryan Grady, who is getting married in July to Beth Collins. Scott is the best man! For their party they wanted to watch a Cubs game on a rooftop. It was amazing!!! It was all inclusive, beautiful inside and had awesome views! The place had about 7 floors where you could sit and watch the game, with the top floor being stadium seats on the roof. It was such a hot day, so it was nice to be able to go in and sit in the air conditioning while watching the game on large TVs. The food was really good, too, and there was LOTS of it!

By the way, Beth and her friends are all from St. Louis, so they were rooting for the Cardinals, but.......Cubs won! 5 to 0! It was such a great time with great friends! Goooooo Cubbies!!!