Tractor Pull (it's Ohio Y'all)

We took the boys to a tractor pull today. Fascinating.  

We took in the sights, sounds and folks.
And tractors.  Lots of tractors....

First Days of School!

Happy First Day of 2nd Grade!

... and Marching Ants Preschool!  

It's going to be a great year!!

Happy Birthday Johnny!

A Superhero Ice Cream Social.... the perfect way to turn 5!  

Happy 8th Howie!

Howie turned 8 years old this weekend.  

We celebrated with family pizza and rock climbing with friends.  

Happy Birthday Howie!

Ladybug Graduate

And yet another year has come and gone at preschool. What a wonderful and nurturing place our kids have attended. We will have very fond memories there!

Update!

Okay people, where has the time gone?!  

I cannot believe that this is my first post of 2015.... and it's May!  

Thankfully, pictures have been taken along the way 

and hopefully they will help tell the story of the past six months.  

Let's review:

Of course, we had a lovely Christmas....

The winter proved to be rough (can you say EIGHT snow days from school?),
but we took advantage of the warmer days to get outside....

 Daddy buys a new building for his company.  The boys "help" with the clean up and renovations.  Here is a picture of Johnny being the boss,
"Take a picture of me being the boss after someone did something naughty."

Howie has a line in the school play....

Rick and I seek a retreat to Chicago....

Another warm day with snow still left on the ground....

St. Patty's Day at preschool.....

The annual Florida trip.
Friends, sun and family time.....

And Haiti.   We love you Haiti.  

www.chances4children.org

Christmas Card Bloopers

I love the Christmas Card.  Each year, I get out my camera, take about 350 pictures of the boys and choose one that would be acceptable to send to everyone, everywhere.  This year, I actually got *THREE* decent shots of them, meaning I could pick one of those fancier cards that has a place for three pictures... a Christmas miracle.  

But alas, there were some terrible shots during this photo session as well.  Would you like to see the pain and anguish that goes behind the choosing of the Christmas picture?  Want to see 90% of what I have to work with?  Behold, I give you some of the best of the worst:

What are they looking at?

Pinching my brother's neck seems like a good idea:

Wrestling, lots of wrestling.  

Why the face?

Classic Johnny.  Landed it buddy.

Veteran's Day

Howie gets to escort Pap Pap through the halls of his school for the Veteran's Day parade.
It was a proud moment for Howie.

Fall 2014

Oh my.  It's December.  Where has the time gone?  Let's do a general Fall 2014 post to wrap up some of the good times we've had in these past few months.  

Johnny gets to take the annual preschool farm trip with Mommy.
We visit all the animals that Mommy has seen for years and years,
but somehow things are fresh and new when experiencing it with Johnny.  

The boy spend some fall days in the backyard, preparing their fort with the neighbor....

Pumpkin Carving with Daddy....

And of course.... trick-or-treating is a highlight.