Saturday, April 25, 2009

Our maple tree


Payton used to climb this maple tree all the time when he was younger. Just lately he's climbed it again a couple times. I think he got a little nostalgic or something. What stinks is that the tree is dying and we're most likely going to have to cut it down--so sad! It has beautiful ORANGE leaves in the fall that the boys used to LOVE jumping into after they raked them into a big pile.
Our family on Easter Sunday

face painting

Cooper went to a birthday party today (he was one of 50--yes--Five-Oh kids there, (but that's another story), and he got skateboards painted on his face. I wanted to get a picture before they got washed off in the tub.

Basketball on Saturday night

Jackson loves to have Chad play basketball, football, catch--whatever with him. I decided to get some shots, and boy am I glad I did!!! What an amazing dunk! Jackson has some serious skills! Who knew???

Cooper freshly bathed and in his jams wanted to play too.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Butterfly


When I was little, I remember a girl's dad bringing a whole ton of monarch caterpillars to our 1st grade classroom. We put them in jars and watched as they each formed a chrysallis and eventually became a beautiful butterfly. I even remember letting them go. Well, one day I found a monarch caterpillar in our yard. We drove around Beavercreek looking for milkweed, as I remember that's what they like best. I wanted so much for my kids to have a similar experience as I had. We put it in a jar with milkweed, but it died. I was so sad. Well, a day or 2 later, I went out on the porch and saw a chrysallis hanging from the railing! Just a couple days later, we saw that the butterfly had come out! I was so excited! Throughout the day, it slowly made its way along the railing, up to the top of the pillar where it dried its wings, and eventually flew away. We got to watch it for quite a while and I even went and got the neighbor girls to see it. Talk about tender mercies!
The butterfly drying its wings preparing for takeoff!

Bed & Breakfast


My friends and I went to Dresden Ohio to a bed and breakfast. This is the place where the Longaberger baskets are made. I couldn't care less about the baskets, but it was a great excuse for a get-away! We were the only guests at the B&B and we stayed up into the wee hours of the morning acting like silly little girls. It was a BLAST! I'll never forget Joann's impersonation of an egg beater!