The Great Porch Update

As I type this Matt is installing the side railing that goes down both sides of the stairs. This weekend he is taking the kids to Granny's so I can finish painting without any risk of little toes walking on the fresh paint. It looks great so far, and we'll be a nice addition when it is finished. Matt's carpenty gift is really coming through for all the projects we've decided to tackle!

Lake Tomahawk Park with Kim, Avery, and Carter

Today we went to the park in Black Mountain for a picnic and to feed the ducks. My friend Kim brought her two kids along, Avery and Carter. It was a fun day! We fed SO many ducks and got to eat our picnic in the pavilion with all of the ducks watching us. The playground was fun too. Ella learned how to go all the way to the top of the slide without any help, that was a first!

Nana and Papa Siak came to visit

This morning Nana Kelly and Papa came over to visit. We got to swim at their hotel and eat some pizza. It was good to see them! It had been a long time! We'll see them a lot in the next few months though!

A year ago...

When I look back at the pictures from just a year ago, it floors me on how much Ella and Noah have grown. These pics were from last September.

Day 4,439 of remodeling (just kidding, but it feels like it)

Ella is definitely her daddy's shadow. While Noah is busy playing by himself inside, Ella is helping daddy mark the beams, chewing on the tape measure, and being the "project manager." Notice too in the picture this is the 2nd day that she has gotten into my lipstick, I cleaned it off her face, but I might have to toss the shirt, for the 2nd day in a row...

Kate on Monday's

A little girl from Ella's mothers morning out class will be spending Mondays with us for the near future. Her mommy has gone back to work and we get the pleasure of watching her smile all day long! Noah and Kate really get along well, and Ella (while she is really working on it) gets to practice sharing all day. These are some pics from this afternoon. Oh, and the pic of Noah is what he does now when you ask him to smile (such his mother's son).

The Reason...

If my mother had not given up her time to come stay with the kids we would not have been able to go on our fabulous Ohio trip. Thanks mom. You're a great Nana/Nina to our babies. We only wish were closer, I'd let you watch them any time you wanted (you know I mean that!!).

O-H-I-O Day 3

After the cubs win on Saturday night we only expected they would win again. Unfortunately they didn't. But as someone from our group said "you have to lose a certain number to get the wildcard." According to Matt, we will see the Cubs in the playoffs this year...

O-H-I-O Day 2 Game Time

Saturday night we were all pumped, the cubs had lost the night before but we all had high hopes that they would turn it around for this game. And they did. We left a little early (in the 8th inning) and the reds tried to make a come back, but they didn't fully succeed.

During the game my cubs finger was confiscated because I wasn't paying attention enough according to Matt. I'll admit it, I was distracted.

O-H-I-O Day 2

On Saturday we had quite the eventful day. After breakfast we headed into downtown Cincinnati. We were blessed to find good parking and the tower I really wanted to see was right across the street! We went up to the top of Carew tower, the highest point in Cinci and took a lot of pictures. We then strolled around downtown and ate the world famous chili you can only find there. After a trip to the Red's Hall of Fame museum we went back to the room for a quick nap and to change into our Cubs gear for the game.

O-H-I-O Day 1

Day 1 - We left EARLY on Friday morning and after traveling through the back woods of Tennessee we finally made it to Ft. Wright, Kentucky (on the Ohio River) early afternoon. After Matt got a short snooze, and after we switched rooms a few times, we finally got ready and went on a dinner cruise for the evening. The food was FABULOUS!!! It was misty for the cruise but it didn't damper our spirits. We made it up to the very top of the boat after dinner and got to watch the lights of Ohio and Kentucky as we pulled into the dock. The Great American Ballpark was beautiful at night! Later that night we stayed up pretty late playing rummy. Good times.

Camping Pictures