VACAY!! YAY!!!

Well, I won't be posting anything for about 2 weeks. We leave on Thursday night for New York. We won't be making all the stops that we originally planned due to kids' activities. Kaity begins t-ball tonight and will be missing her first game and team pictures next week, Nathan is supposed to be leaving for his camping trip with boyscouts on the 12th, and Matthew has a baseball tournament the 10th-12th. So, needless to say, we will be cutting our vacation a little short. We still will have fun though. We are going to Darien Lake (Amusement Park), Niagara Falls (we realized just recently that Kaitlyn has never been there and she's 6), and we will go to a Buffalo Bisons game (not the Baseball Hall of Fame, but Tim is still happy). It'll still be fun and a nice break. Tim is more than ready for this vacation. His friend, a very nice guy (we call him the Dog Whisperer), will be staying at the house and caring for Shelby while we are gone. So, I'll post all of our vacation pictures when we get back.

Tim's Bar-b-que

Thanks to everyone who helped to make this barbque awesome. Tim had lots of fun and greatly appreciated it.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday Tim!!!! Tim turns 32 on Friday, June 26th.

We are so lucky to have him in our lives. He's a great provider, an awesome dad, and a wonderful husband. We love you!!! Tomorrow we will be having a bar-b-que for him. It was supposed to be a suprise, but to make a long story short, to save face, I had to let him know about it. For over a month, it was kept from him successfully and 3 days away, we had to let it out.

Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn has found her love of the high dive and the slide at the Carey Pool. She wears her vest so that lightens my nerves, but only mildly. She started her swim lessons yesterday and today she all ready moved up to the next level. She's like a fish just like her mom and uncle.

Father's Day!!!

We had so much fun on Father's Day, although it started off slow. We were up waaaaaay too late the night before. We had lunch at Cheddar's and then went to the Bass Pro Shop in Rossford. They have family fun summer camps every weekend until July 5th plus Tim wanted to check out a few things. Not usually my cup of tea, but it was sooo much fun. The kids went fishing for prizes, shot archery, target practice, made crafts and had their pictures taken for a chance to be on the cover of Field and Stream magazine. It was so much fun. Tim walked out with some Peanut Butter Fudge (his favorite) and a new t-shirt. It was such a simple day and yet so much fun. Plus, I now have some great ideas for Tim come Christmas!!

Girls Day!!!

I just had the most fun with the greatest group of gals. We went to Toledo to watch Mama Mia! at the Stranahan. Oh my gosh, it was so amazing. I had goosebumps throughout most of the show. I'm so glad that I waited to see the show prior to watching the movie. The music was awesome, the performers were awesome, and the stage production was beyond expectations. I can't believe I left the camera in the van and didn't take one picture of our group. The only downside to the show was the woman sitting behind us comparing the show to the movie and singing some of the songs..........Hello ever heard of etiquette???? I was suprised to see kids (young kids) at the show. Not sure the content was kid-appropriate, but to each his own and the kids were impressively well behaved. Other than that, it was a great performance. We finished out the day with dinner at Abuello's. It was the best Mexican food I've had since leaving Colorado. PePe's in Colorado Springs is still the best Mexican establishment. So, here's to the ladies that made today and awesome day!!! Our next trip will be in October to see Wicked and I can't wait.

Getting Closer!!!!

The kids are getting so excited for our vacation trip to New York this year. Last year the kids and I spent the summer in Colorado with Grandma and Grandpa Bonds, so this year we decided to have a full-fledged family vacation that includes Tim. Tim has always wanted to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, so that is definitely on the list. We will be starting off at Tim's parents for the family reunion picnic. Then, north to Niagara Falls (we just recently realized that Kaity has never been there). After Niagara, we will head southeast to Cooperstown to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame (Tim and Matthew are stoked about this spot). Next, our trip will take us to Howe Caverns, New York to take a tour through an 80mile cavern. Part of that tour includes a boat ride on an underground lake (this is the destination Nathan is looking forward to the most). Finally, if time allows, we will make a stop on our way home at the Finger Lakes to enjoy some R&R before driving home.

http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/

Matthew-baseball

Here's Matthew. He's the second pitcher on his baseball team. Yesterday, he and his friend Brayden pitched a winning game. It was the first game of the single elimination tournament. On Thursday we will play either another team from Carey or a team from Van Buren. Unfortunately, we played both Van Buren teams earlier in the season and we lost to both.......badly. Of course, we are an entirely different team now. The boys are playing 100% better and their fielding is amazing.

Chocolate Banned!!!!!!!!!

Wow, I didn't realize that the picture was going to upload to huge. Anyways, after all of Tim's medical scares, we now have a minor list of "don't eats" in our home now. For one, nothing that contains caffeine and yes, that means CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!! So, I"ve been scouting around trying to find new desserts to make that Tim can also eat. This one I received from a friend. It's yellow cake, layered with vanilla pudding, strawberries, bananas, and topped with cool whip. It's so good and the kids love it, they don't even care that it's missing frosting. Try it and ENJOY!!!!!

Final Update!!

Well, the final word on Tim is that he is extremely healthy. They can't figure out why he is having PVC's, but gave him some information on things to avoid and things to watch for. At this point, they aren't going to do anything about his heart. He has an appointment in November for a follow up. For those of you who know about the 2 procedures he was scheduled to have today, I'm to tell you that everything looked good. They did take some tissue samples and will get back to Tim in about a week with results. They did find some inflammation, but it looks like no irreversible damage. He is on medication for the next two months, but other than that, he's received a clean bill of health. Of everything that came out of this, the best is that Tim has quit smoking. Other than one cheat, he hasn't smoked since April 10th. We're very proud of him and very relieved to know that he doesn't has to return to the doctor for another 5 months. Now, onto the rest of his life!!!!

End of School Updates!!!

Okay, so I have a lot of catching up to do for the month of May. The following pictures are out of order, but that's okay. I'll learn how to choose them for correct placement order eventually. This was from Relay for LIfe. Going around the track are jugs with lighted-candles in them. On each jug is the name of someone that either lost their life to cancer, beat cancer, or is currently fighting cancer. It was so amazing, all the people there supporting each other. Kaity wanted to go with me and I'm glad she did. Besides, learning about some people she had fun. There was so much there for the kids to do. People stayed there all night. From 6pm to 11am the next morning.

This is Kaity with her Kindergarten teacher on the right and the classroom assistant on the left. She loved being in this classroom. The last day of school, she cried. She didn't want kindergarten to end b/c she was going to miss her teacher. The teacher now has Kaity writing her letters over the summer. Kaity was so excited about the suggestion.

This is Matthew's teacher and one of his friends. Nathan had this same teacher for 3rd grade, so I knew what to expect. She's amazing. Matthew is as goofy as ever. He received the classroom award for being the quiet clown. After the teacher announced the award, he turned around and asked her "what do you mean, the quiet clown?" The teacher looked down at him and he was laughing and had put stickers all over his lip to look like a mustache. She couldn't stop laughing. My camera battery went dead during the awards assembly so I missed out getting pictures of them on stage.

This was Nathan's 5th grade teacher. The best teacher he's had up to this point. He told me that he wished he could have Nathan in his class every year, but I told him he couldn't hold him back. I loved this teacher. Nathan learned so much and gained so much responsibility and organization this year.

This was Kaity on her last day of school. They played at the different parks in the area all day. This is her favorite apparatus(spelling?) to play on. She has so many blisters on her hands from the monkey bars and the high-bars. I guess I need to get her into gymnastics. All she likes to do if flip upside down and do cartwheels.

This was Nathan's 5th grade Spring Band Concert. They did so good and I was so proud of them. All of them worked so very hard. Nathan is still taking band lessons for the next 3 weeks. His band instructor offered group and private lessons for the month of June to all those interested. Nathan still loves the trombone and plans on sticking with it for atleast another year.

This is from the adult soccer tournament. It was the first year for it and it was a success. I believe that this will take place every year. Matthew and his friend were bored and acting silly by the end of the night, but they had a lot of fun.

This is Tim, he played for the red team. Their first game they went up against the orange team, which had some of my family members on it. They won in a shoot-out by one goal. At the end of the game, their was one sprained ankle, one broken ankle, one torn miniscus (my cousin's), and a lot of sore old dudes. It was so fun and funny to watch. Since they won their game they had to play again later that evening. That last game, they lost. They played a stacked team of high schoolers that were cocky and rude and did a lot of sneaky jabs and kicks--they took all the fun out of it.

Anyways, that's May. Now we're into June and I hope to be better at posting updates as they come.