Socer Game 4

Justin had a great time and did a great job at his soccer game yesterday. I got some nice pictures and this is the result. Justin had a busy week....field trips, birthday, bounce birthday party. More pictures to come soon!!

Matthew's First Birthday Party

We traveled to Chicago last weekend for Matthew's first Birthday party (my nephew). We had a good time visiting Ryan and Lisa's beautiful new home and hanging out. Matthew seemed to enjoy his cake experience!!

My baby, Justin, will be six tomorrow. Hard to believe!!! He has a school field trip to the orchard scheduled. I get to go as a chaperone. Should be fun. Grandma Betty is helping me get Justin's soccer cake and school cupcakes baked and decorated. He will take treats Friday as they won't be at school tomorrow. Then Friday afternoon we have a party planned at a Bounce Party Place. They are basically a big warehouse with several blow up bounce houses and slides for the kids to play on and I bring the cake and food. That way I don't have to worry about the house and any messes or the weather cooperating for an outdoor event. Should be fun... I have recruited both sets of grandparents to help chaperone the event. I am sure I will have pictures soon!

I also took pictures of Justin after he cut his own hair yesterday and then again after mom trimmed it up to even it out. Let's just say it is VERY short!!! My baby is almost bald!!! But he likes it...it would have been more appropriate last July...but I am not going to fret over it too much...it will grow back and I am trying to be grateful it wasn't Megan's hair :)

New Layouts

Some new layouts I finished. The kids are getting into their routines and enjoying school. Kyle enjoys hanging out with mom, but kind of wishes he could go "play" as well.

Wednesday

Hello Everyone! Justin had his first outdoor soccer game for Fall 2007 last Saturday. He did a great job and had a lot of fun! 6 of the 10 boys on his team are in his AM kindergarten. We had Curriculum Night for Justin last night. Basically, you go and meet with the teacher and get the low-down on her routine and expectations for the year. I am the Head Room Mother for Justin's class, so I had to get some sign up sheets ready for some upcoming parties. I am really excited about the whole Room Mother thing, it should be lots of fun. Anyway, we really like Justin's teacher Miss Posey, she is sweet, energetic and fun. She is very big on literacy, which is a big bonus for us considering Justin went to a Young Fives kindergarten last year and is already reading a bit...I was concerned he might lose his enthsiam for it if he got bored.

Megan had her first day of preschool on Monday. Same school and teacher as last year, she just goes 3 days a week this year - M,W,F. I feel so light and free on Mondays and Fridays, Kyle and I are alone, we do major errand running during this time. Amazing how much faster you can move with one vs. three children to buckle in and out of your car. Wednesdays Kyle will go to some childcare at church and I do a bible study. We are doing a Beth Moore study on the book of Daniel this year. It should be really good :)

The past couple of days it has gotten a bit cooler and reminds us that fall is right around the corner....My favorite time of year :)

Justin's first day of school

#1

#2

Today was Justin's first day of school. He liked his new elementary school and his teacher. He is very excited to have his best friend from school last year in his class.

I did this layout with 2 different pictures and one with red and one with blue journaling. I can't decide which I like better. What do you think, picture #1 or #2 and red or blue?????????? Let's see who actually reads my blog :) Remember, click on photos to see them larger and use back button on your browser to go back to the main blog page.

Science Center of Iowa

More layouts from our Iowa trip.

SwimmingFun

As you can tell from the pictures, the kids (and parents) had a great time swimming while we were at Grandpa and Grandma's house. I think even with all the rain that week, the kids still managed to squeeze in a little swim time each and every day! Remember to read the journaling or see a close up of the pictures, just click on the page you want to see. You will have to use the back button on your browser to go back to the main page.

Fountain Fun

Cruising Around

Journaling reads:

When Mommy was a little girl we would go to Iowa to visit during the summer.

While Uncle Ryan & I were visiting our Grandpa Handley,

he would let us drive his lawn tractor all over his big backyard. History
seems to be repeating itself, because your Grandpa Handley let you take

his golf cart out and drive it around his big backyard.

You spent a lot of time cruising around and I am sure someday you will think
back and have the same fond memories that I do of cruising around with your grandpa.

New Layouts

Here are some pictures I got put into layouts this week. The T Ball pictures are from Justin's last game. The baby layout is of David, my friend Amy's new baby. I was present for most of Amy's labor and for the birth with Amy's husband Dave and her mom. It was very special and I am enjoying getting my baby fixes without the midnight feedings attached. :) The bottom layout of Kyle with the ball was taken while we were in Iowa. We were in Grandpa and Grandma's backyard and Kyle was determined he going to hang out on top of the ball. He must of kept at it for 15 minutes. It was hilarious!! I took a ton of pictures while we were in Iowa, so be on the look out for more layouts when time permits. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. We had to cancel our camping trip due to Gary's work schedule, but I am sure we will find something fun to do this weekend.

We're home!!

Hello All,

We made this trip in 13 1/2 hours and got home last night. We got to sit at a stand still for 1 1/2 hours in Indiana, didn't enjoy that part at all, luckily the kids were sleeping. I got my house re-organized today (mostly) now I just need to relax and recover from my vacation. The kids are in bed and Gary is working late...so I am having some computer time :)

I took my cell phone in today to see if they can repair it and the nice people gave me a loaner to use. Justin starts soccer practice tomorrow and is really excited about it. He tromped around our backyard in his new cleats for several hours this afternoon and kicked the ball around. Wednesday evening we are going in to meet his new teacher, he will start school Sept 4th.

vacation is almost over...

We have been having a good time hanging out at my mom and dad's this past week. We have been really busy visiting and running the kids around to keep them busy and out of Grandma's knick knacks. I will have lots of photos to scrap when we get home and things get settled down. The kids have enjoyed swimming every day in Grandpa and Grandma's pool. Justin learned to swim without his life jacket and even goes off the diving board without the life jacket. Megan is progressing to a smaller life jacket and will jump off the diving board with the life jacket on. She is developing more confidence in her swimming abilities. Kyle keeps his life jacket on at all times. Just tonight he fell in...the deep end....the life jacket worked beautifully and he wasn't harmed at all...can't say he was too happy however. I was sitting on the side...fully clothed and had to jump in after him...wouldn't have minded so much if my cell phone hadn't been in my pocket.....I wonder if it will ever work again. I took the battery out and plan to let it dry for a few days before trying. BIG BUMMER!! This week we also went to the zoo, the science center, shopping, for a train ride in Boone and to Adentureland. I am exhausted from our vacation!! :) We plan to leave early in the morning and are hoping for a quicker return trip to Michigan than our trip to Iowa....15 hours is too long!!! I have got to remember to give Megan her medication in the morning before we leave...I forgot on our initial trip and the poor kid was sick 3 times before we stopped for 45 minutes and let the medication kick in. Motion sickness....YUCK!! I will keep you posted. Meanwhile I need to go pack :)

new layouts

Backyard Fun

Summer Fun

The kids love playing outside in the water!

My Sweet Monkey

my sweet 2 year old

Tennis Lessons

DK Playdate

This summer we met Justin's teachers and friends from his young 5's Kindergarten at the park. We had a good time catching up, I am really going to miss his teacher next year, she was the best.

Camping with Friends.

A few weeks ago we went camping with some good friends. Here are some pictures.

New Layouts

2 new layouts done

The first layout is from our camping trip a few weeks ago. The kids went fishing for the first time. The picture in the background is the scene we saw from the bridge, it was very pretty and green. We didn't catch any fish but they had fun. The second layout is of various pictures from this years T Ball season. Justin is really improving and he really enjoys the game. Just recently he switched from throwing Right handed to throwing with his Left hand (he is predominantly Left handed) It seems smoother for him when throwing now. When the season is finished next week, Gary is going to work with him to try batting left handed rather than right and see how that goes :) Tomorrow we are leaving to go camping. This is the weekend that we meet up with other families from our church in Muskegon. There will probably be 25 other families, most with young kids that our kids know, camping all around us. It should be a great time for the kids. This is an annual event we have done for the past 2 years. Hopefully, I will come home with lots of fun pictures.

Tuesday

Just sharing this layout I finished. Not much else going on, I have been packing to go camping this weekend. It is really hot here!! :)

Megan Beach layout

4th of July Tigers game

4th of July we went to the Tigers game. It was Megan first time at a baseball game. She enjoyed the rides and food more the game, but she had a good time. We all enjoyed the fireworks after the game.

Justin

I finished this layout of Justin today. I took this photo this morning and in my photo editting program layers a B&W photo on top of the same color photo. I then erased the eyes from the B&W photo leaving Justin's real eye color showing through. I thought it turned out well and it was fun.

Aquatic Center

Here are some pictures from a place we spend a lot of our time during the summer. There are so many fun things to do and a lot of our friends hang out here as well.

Camping / Beach photo layout

These photos are from our camping trip last weekend. The weather was cool, but we still had a good time. This layout is 2 pages and will go side by side in an album.

Monday

Here are some pictures from 4th of July while we were watching fireworks nearby.

Basketball Camp

This past week Justin did a basketball camp for a couple hours each morning. For a kid who had never really played BBall before he did pretty well. He got alot of the fundamentals down and is now excited about practicing.

Butterfly photos

We took a trip through the butterfly house on our last trip to the zoo. We were a little nervous that the kids might step on some of the beautiful creatures, but they did a good job. I was really neat to see so many butterflies in one place.

more....zoo pics

July 2nd we spent (another) day at the Toledo Zoo. We all love going there and checking out all the animals.

Hummie's World Depth of Field Challenge

Here are some pictures that show depth of field. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I am posting all three. I used my Nikon D80 for these photos.

Happy Wedensday

Hello. No pictures to post today because I have finished no layouts this week. But I thought I would say Hi and update you on our goings ons.... Justin has been going to a basketball camp during the mornings this week and seems to really enjoy it. It is pretty much his first real exposure to basketball and he is catching on well. It is fun to watch them scrimage, the kids frequently forget to dribble as the move up and down the court. Justin is so proud we he makes a basket.
Yesterday it was still really hot and we had some friends over, so the kids played on the waterslide and we moms worked on stamping and assembling some baby annoucements for my friend who will deliver next week.

Thankfully, it rained yesterday late in the afternoon and the hot spell broke. Today it is much more comfortable in the mid 70's. I love it when I can shut off the AC and let the fresh air in. Tomorrow, after BB camp we are heading to the Aquatic Center with some friends for some swimming fun. We will stay until Kyle needs to head home for a nap.

Not much else happening around these parts. Hope all is well with you. Take care! Danielle

camping pictures

Here are some pictures from our trip last weekend. Harrisville is located right on Lake Michigan in NE Michigan. We got to watch the most beautiful moon-rises each night. The full moon shining down on the lake was just awesome. Because I forgot my camera tripod my photos don't even begin to do it justice. Most of my pictures were pretty blurry, but I had to try to capture the sight. I am really out of shape for a few days after our trip to the top of the lighthouse, my legs were really sore. We are leaving in the morning for Higgins Lake State Park. It will be our first trip there. We are taking fishing gear (a first for us since having kids). Justin and Megan are really excited about the prospect of catching some real fish. I told Gary that he better plan on some catch and release unless he plans on cleaning & cooking the fish :) Not likely!

Happy July 5th

Hi All!

Hope you are having an enjoyable beginning of July. Gary is off this week, so we have been really busy. Last weekend we went camping and we are going again on Friday for the weekend. Mid-week we have made a trip to the Toldeo Zoo, gone to see a fireworks display, went to a Tiger's game and stayed for fireworks and will probably go to the Aquatic Center today. Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

I am posting some recent layouts. Most of the time I figure pictures "speak" just as well as written words in showing you what we have been up to. I just have to work hard at keeping them current :)